What we're about

AG, or Agile Groupies, is an Ann Arbor based user group focused on expanding the Agile body of knowledge within our community. We meet regularly to share ideas, hear presentations, and network with like-minded enthusiasts and practitioners. Agile Groupies was formed by and is still managed by Helene Gidley and has been around since April 2008.

Many thanks to our sponsor, A2Agile (https://www.a2agile.com/), for all their support in building a robust agile community.

Upcoming events (2)

Agile/Scrum/Lean Discussion

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We know that implementing Agile and Scrum can be challenging. Each new Scrum event, role, artifact is a culture change from the status quo. And culture changes are hard. If you’re hearing “That won’t work here” and “We can’t have any more meetings on our calendars”, you know you’re getting pushback from the kinds of things you’re trying to implement.

If you're facing these issues, join our Agile, Scrum, and Kanban Discussion Group. Following a Lean Coffee format, this will be a place for you to share what is and isn’t working and get insights from others. A place to ask questions about passing your Scrum.org Agile certification exams. A place to learn how to apply the Agile/Scrum and Kanban practices for your teams. And when to use each one.

We’ve structured these as informal sessions. Jump in on one or all discussion group sessions. Use it when you need a little boost, moral support, or positive energy injected into your week. Come to share something really great that you've discovered!

Facilitated by A2Agile Founders Helene Gidley, Tom Meloche, and Agile Coach Tom Bellinson.

Dismantle the Driver Mentality and Learn to Facilitate Team Magic

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Have you ever seen an “agile” team led by a person employing classic project management strategies? How effective was it? Many former project managers assigned to lead agile teams find that their standard approach yields mediocre to terrible results. How might a person who has been doing things one way for years adjust to an approach which requires light-touch facilitation for success?

We’ll look at the experience of one Team Lead who found that their standard approach was creating disengaged team members, confusion, churn, sub-par work and rework. Let’s talk about ways the Lead could be more personally effective. Then let’s discuss what the team might do to up their game. What else might need to happen to get to a relatively smooth running, strong and effective agile team?

In the session, we will cover resources, tools, and techniques for helping a Team Lead evolve away from classic management approaches and learn to create the right space for a group of individuals to be collectively stronger than the sum of their parts.

Join us as Marie Toft presents this engaging and interactive session.

Marie is a seasoned agile practitioner and facilitator with 13 years of experience. She has worked for the last eight years as an agile coach and scrum master. During this time, Marie has worked with upward of 25 scrum and kanban teams. She has experience with team level, program level, and enterprise transformations. Marie believes that leadership requires humility, curiosity, and active listening.

Past events (99)

Cross-Post for World Information Day- call for presenters

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