Posts

Posts by Victor, an experienced scrum master and coach who dedicates himself to continuous learning.

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Events

We’re a Scrum User Group that meets regularly in Irvine, CA. Come join us for coffee and conversation.

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Podcasts

We record one meetup each week and post the audio on iTunes and Stitcher. Think of it as coffee to go.

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ALL the POSTS

Using an Inception to kick off a project

Agile Inceptions are powerful and fast ways to get a team to internalize a vision. It's a two-day investment that saves the company months of up-front planning and allows the teams to begin immediately deliver core product functionality. Overview Since mid-2013, I've been involved with teams adopting the Agile Inception format used by Pivotal Labs to kick off
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ACP002 – what motivates people?

In this second episode of Agile Coffee podcast, Vic (@AgileCoffee) is joined by Jon and they use the lean coffee format to discuss the following topics: what motivates people making a difference body of work coddling teams are we overly idealistic? 50 new Agile coaches hired We mention the following books: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Daniel H Pink The Five
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ACP001 – inaugural coffee

Our first AgileCoffee podcast, recorded live at the Knollwood restaurant in Irvine, CA, on March 13th, 2014. Victor Bonacci (@AgileCoffee) is joined by Brett Palmer, Jon Jorgensen and Curtis Gilbert. We can be reached at: Jon: @waterscrumban (twitter) & jon.jorgensen@gmail.com Brett: @brett_palmer (twitter) Curtis: cfgilbert@outlook.com Vic: @agilecoffee (twitter) & agilecoffee1@gmail.com Links: Southern California Agile User Group Agile Open California 2014 Items mentioned
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20 Questions

Agilists are everywhere. We come in all stripes. Combine these two observations and you realize that at any time the opportunity can present itself to broaden your perspective on Agile practices.  When we meet other practitioners, it's routine to ask a few basic questions; but if we take a disciplined approach to our inquiry, the encounter becomes
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upcoming Diana Larsen workshop in San Diego

Great news for those of you in sunny SoCal: expert agilist Diana Larsen is holding an Advanced Retrospectives workshop in San Diego on March 6th. The full title of the workshop is Advanced Practices for Leading Agile Retrospectives: New Techniques and Activities, and full details can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-retrospective-techniques-with-diana-larsen-tickets-8807454333 from her abstract: Agile Retrospectives improve any project or
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presenting “Agile for Start-ups: SG’s History with Agile”

In November I presented at SoCal Code Camp (USC) on the topic of my company's history with Agile (from start-up to 200+ employees and 160B emails). It was my first time to present this topic, and it was tailored for an audience without much Agile experience. (For those interested, here's a link to the slides: http://www.slideshare.net/VictorBonacci/agile-for-startups-sendgrids-history-with-agile-2013-bonacci# (If you're
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LeanCoffee in Ohio

Just got back from a relatively relaxing Thanksgiving pilgrimage to Ohio for family and football. While there I hopped over to Starbucks to host a LeanCoffee in Ohio (I'd posted it on Meetup a few weeks prior). As I'd expected, attendance was nil. Not sure if that speaks more to the fact it was a holiday
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Packing my lean bags for Agile2013

I'm excited to be heading to Nashville in only a few days, and not just because it's a fun-sounding place that I've yet to visit. Agile2013 is a 5-day event that kicks off on Monday August 5th. I'll be looking to connect with very smart people and share stories of successes (and failures). It's
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Everyday Progress

Just read @zxed's post on skills you don't have which had me reflect on my own style. I believe there are many skills (an unknowable amount and always in flux) essential to elite leadership. More than this, I believe that to become a great leader, everyday must be oriented toward greatness, no matter the increment. In my
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Scaling Me, Scaling You

I just scheduled our next meetup and threw these two questions out: How many teams is too many for one roving scrummaster? How many members before a team is too large? What's great is that the group can discuss / debate the question. Despite being in Scrum environments for over six years, I don't have THE answer,
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