Classes Offered

• Certified ScrumMaster Training
• Introduction to Agile
• Agile Project Management
• Product Owner Basics

Additional Services Offered

• Facilitation
• General Consulting
• On-Site ScrumMaster
  

Certified ScrumMaster Training
Two-day workshop

Sliger Consulting workshops combine interactive instruction, exercises, and simulations to provide attendees with a broad learning experience.

This public or on-site workshop provides attendees with an overview of the Scrum methodology and how to apply Scrum practices in software development teams. Delivered by Michele Sliger, an experienced ScrumMaster and prominent Agile community contributor, this course explains the Scrum basics such as managing the product backlog, planning the sprint, tracking and reporting progress through the use of burndown charts, and reviewing the sprint. Following the successful completion of the course, each participant will be designated as a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM). This certification includes a one-year membership in the Scrum Alliance, where exclusive ScrumMaster-only material and information are available.

This course is taught by a PMP certified instructor. PMPs may file for up to 14 PDUS under Continuing Certification Requirements’ “Category 4: Other Providers.”

If the public course schedule or locations are not convenient for you, consider having an on-site course for your team or department. Call 720-279-8445 or email info@sligerconsulting.com for more information about availability and pricing.

Who Should Attend?
This workshop is appropriate for anyone who would not only like to learn more about Scrum but also leave with the knowledge necessary to get started using Scrum. All roles can benefit: developers, testers, analysts, technical writers, architects, project managers, business managers, and executives. A maximum of 25 attendees allows each person to get the most out of the interactive exercises and discussions.

Topics covered:

• What is Agile?
• History of Scrum
• The Scrum Framework
• Scrum Values and Benefits
• Roles and Responsibilities on the Scrum Team
• Scrum Practices:
• Preparing the Product Backlog
• Backlog Grooming and Estimation Techniques
• The Sprint Planning Meeting
• Tracking the Sprint
• The Sprint Demo and Review
• Planning Beyond the Sprint
• Scaling Scrum
• Common Pitfalls to Avoid
• Getting Started with Scrum

Price: $1200 per attendee

Companies that purchased this workshop also bought:
Facilitation: Enterprise Agile Roll-Out Planning Session
Agile Project Management

Register Online Now

Back to top^

Introduction to Agile
One-day workshop

Sliger Consulting workshops combine interactive instruction, exercises, and simulations to provide attendees with a broad learning experience.

This on-site workshop provides your entire team with an overview of the benefits of Agile by exploring the underlying principles of Agile and the fundamental practices of iterative and incremental development. At the end of the workshop your team will have a shared context for applying Agile practices within your environment and a roadmap for getting started with Agile development.

Who Should Attend?
This workshop is focused on beginners, and is appropriate for anyone who’d like to better understand Agile software development. If piloting Agile in your organization but unsure of how to begin, attendees may include executives and middle management. If a pilot team has already been selected, then the entire team should attend—this includes the developers, testers, technical writers, business owner, project manager, and any other individual who will be involved in the project. A recommended maximum of 15 attendees allows each person to get the most out of the interactive exercises and discussions.

Workshop Outline:

• Introduction to Agile Values and Principles
• The Agile Frameworks
• Roles and Responsibilities on an Agile Team
• Planning in an Agile Environment
• Implementing Agile Practices
• The Vision and Product Roadmap
• Agile Release Planning
• Agile Iteration Planning
• Agile Iteration Tracking and Monitoring
• Agile Iteration Demo, Review, and Retrospective
• Next Steps for Your Adoption of Agile

Call 720-279-8445 or email info@sligerconsulting.com to schedule this workshop in your organization.

Companies that purchased this workshop also bought:
Facilitation: Iteration Planning Session
Facilitation: Enterprise Agile Roll-Out Planning Session

Agile Project Management
One- or Two-day workshop

Sliger Consulting workshops combine interactive instruction, exercises, and simulations to provide attendees with a broad learning experience.

When software development project teams move to agile methodologies, their project managers are often left feeling as if they’ve been cast aside. Traditionally trained project managers wonder what their new roles and responsibilities will be in an environment that no longer needs them to make stand-alone decisions. Self-organizing agile teams still need guidance and assistance in achieving goals, however, and the agile project manager now concentrates on these activities. Based on her forthcoming book “The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility,” co-author and instructor Michele Sliger conducts this two-day session as a public course or on-site workshop that focuses on redefining the job of the software project manager. Special emphasis is placed on the shift to servant leadership, with its focus on facilitation and collaboration. Mapping of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) best practices to Agile practices is discussed at length. After attending this workshop, project managers should have a better understanding of what changes they need to make professionally, and how to make these changes in order to survive the transition to an Agile software development approach.

This course is taught by a PMP certified instructor. PMPs may file for up to 14 PDUS under Continuing Certification Requirements’ “Category 4: Other Providers.”

Who should attend?
This workshop is geared toward traditionally trained software development project managers and executives who want to learn more about Agile by using the traditional lexicon of project management.

The two-day Agile Project Management workshop will answer the following questions:

• What is “Agile” and how is it different from other methodologies?
• How can I relate what I know about PMI’s best practices to Agile practices?
• What are the Agile equivalents to the work I’m currently doing?
• How do I “sell” Agile in my company?
• How do I get an Agile team started?
• How will my role as a project manager change?
• Can Agile succeed in a waterfall enterprise?
• What are the next steps my team needs to take in their adoption of Agile practices?
• What are the next steps I personally need to take?

Call 720-279-8445 or email info@sligerconsulting.com to schedule this workshop in your organization.

Companies that purchased this workshop also bought:
Certified ScrumMaster™ Training
Facilitation: Enterprise Agile Roll-Out Planning Session

Back to top^

Product Owner Basics
One-day workshop

Sliger Consulting workshops combine interactive instruction, exercises, and simulations to provide attendees with a broad learning experience.

This public or on-site workshop helps Product Owners apply Agile techniques in requirements management, requirements communication, and business value assessment. In organizations adopting Agile practices, the Product Owner becomes one of the most influential roles on the product team. Product Owners quickly learn that an Agile development environment prescribes an altogether different way of managing stakeholders, customers and requirements. Moving from fixed-scope to flexible requirements management takes education and understanding. Moreover, in Agile software development, the Product Owner becomes an active part of the team, collaborating with team members about each product increment. This workshop will help the Agile Product Owner understand and put into practice their new responsibilities: communicating the product vision, creating and maintaining backlogs, working with the delivery team, working with other Product Owners across multiple Agile teams, and prioritizing not only backlog items but also projects according to their business value.

Who Should Attend?
This workshop is best suited for business representatives and product owners who are transitioning to Agile and who wish to better understand how their role and responsibilities will change as a result. An basic understanding of Agile principles and practices is required.

Workshop Outline:

• How the Product Owner Fits Within an Agile Framework
• Backlog Basics
• Writing User Stories
• Defining Conditions of Satisfaction (Acceptance Tests)
• Communicating the Product Vision
• Participating in Planning Meetings
• Working on a Delivery Team
• Working with the Customers and Stakeholders
• Portfolio Management – Another Backlog!
• Working with Multiple Teams and Multiple Backlogs

Call 720-279-8445 or email info@sligerconsulting.com to schedule this workshop in your organization, or plan to attend one of the public courses below.

Companies that purchased this workshop also bought:
Certified ScrumMaster™ Training
Facilitation: Story Writing

Register Online Now

Back to top^

Facilitation

Facilitation includes the preparation, setup and use of the necessary tools and techniques required to have productive and efficient meetings. The Sliger Consulting facilitator will talk with participants in order to better understand the business objectives, the issues facing the group, and the key deliverables or decisions required to declare the meeting a success. The facilitator prepares the agenda, kicks off the meeting, and provides guidance throughout in order to assist the team in staying focused and achieving its goal. While available to facilitate any meetings you may need to schedule, Sliger Consulting specializes in the following:

Enterprise Agile Roll-Out Planning.  This facilitated session prepares your executive and management teams for an enterprise-wide transition to Agile. Discuss ways to determine the progress and success of your Agile adoption, conduct a gap analysis between the current state of your processes and how Agile you wish to become, define the timeline for the roll-out, and identify the tooling and coaching support you will need. The results of this one-day planning session include the overall Agile adoption plan for the organization, a prioritized backlog of management and technology issues to be addressed, and a communication plan for an organization-wide understanding of what’s to come.

Release Planning. This facilitated session helps your team determine their overall velocity and plan for the upcoming release. Once average team velocity is determined, the team will review their prioritized backlog, estimate features, schedule iterations and plan the release, capturing a list of “last responsible moment” decision points, assumptions, constraints, dependencies, and risks throughout the course of the session. Upon completion of this session, your team will have a complete view and schedule for the upcoming release.

Iteration Planning. This facilitated session provides a structured approach to help your team determine its velocity, define what “done” means for the team, establish team norms, and define and estimate the tasks for the upcoming iteration. Assumptions, constraints, dependencies, and risks are also identified for the iteration. The end result is an iteration plan that includes the features and tasks that the team commits to completing in the iteration.

Demo, Review, and Retrospective. This facilitated session is the venue for your team to demo the features completed in the iteration and collect feedback that will affect the team’s direction. A review of the metrics, outstanding issues, and a retrospective of the iteration and agile procedures help the team to make decisions about how to improve in the next iteration. Upon completion of this session your team will have a complete view of the success of the iteration, a list of new priorities for the next iteration, recommendations and the action items to support their implementation, and an updated set of team practices.

Story Writing. This facilitated session provides your team with a prioritized product backlog consisting of items that are written in “story” format: “As a <user role> I want to be able to <do a business function> (in order to achieve <business value>).” Starting as a brainstorming session and ultimately converging on a clear definition of the product to be developed, the end result is a ranked backlog of features sized appropriately and estimated by the agile team.

Companies that purchased facilitated sessions also bought:
Introduction to Agile
Agile Project Management
Certified ScrumMaster™ Training
Product Owner Basics

To schedule these working sessions in your organization or inquire about others,
call 720-279-8445 or email info@sligerconsulting.com.

Back to top^

General Consulting

Sliger Consulting offers strategic and tactical advice customized for your specific needs. Already doing Agile but need some help to get to the next level of proficiency? Do your team members need some one-on-one sessions for advice and problem-solving? Would you like an objective assessment of your current practices? Are you an executive or manager that would like a package of phone and email coaching to assist you in your agile adoption? For these and other custom consulting engagements, please call 720-279-8445 or email info@sligerconsulting.com for more information.

Companies that purchased general consulting also bought:
Introduction to Agile
Certified ScrumMaster™ Training
Facilitation: Iteration Planning

Back to top^

On-site ScrumMaster

Michele Sliger is available for limited engagements with companies seeking an experienced ScrumMaster for their project team(s). The intent is to work with team for only a few sprints, just long enough to help them become comfortable in the knowledge that they are following the correct Scrum procedures and are mastering the art of collaborative decision-making. Please call 720-279-8445 or email info@sligerconsulting.com for pricing and availability.

Companies that contracted for an on-site ScrumMaster also bought:
Certified ScrumMaster™ Training

Back to top^