How to apply agile principles in atypical contexts

Monday 24 June 2024| 18.00h – 20.00h
Spoor 18, Stationsstraat 55, 2800 Mechelen  

  

Ever wondered whether Agile could be valuable beyond software development?  
Well, yes! Because the underlying principles are universal and applicable in any environment, not just in IT. 

But how do you apply these Agile principles? Because you can’t just copy-paste the way of working. Which assumptions should you overthrow? What is relevant and what is different? 

Our agile coaches Geneviève Loriaux and Maarten Van Elsen share their experiences implementing agile principles in atypical environments: broadcasting & infrastructure at VRT and manufacturing at Barry Callebaut. 

It promises to be an insightful and fascinating evening, so turn the heat up for our Summer Edition. 😉  
  

What can you expect?  

The goal of this Agile Kitchen’s edition is to reflect on using agile principles outside typical code-focused or tech environments. Illustrated by two real-life cases, you’ll get insights on how to start. 

From chocolate… 

After a quick introduction, our agile coach Maarten is joined by Stijn Van Durme from Barry Callebaut. Together, they will take you through the Agile Journey of the famous chocolate factory. Barry Callebaut wanted to land innovation projects faster, hence: agile! Right? However, a typical approach of using Scrum or Kanban principles did not feel right for this manufacturing environment. Instead, the team decided to start from a lesser-known framework ‘Rapid Learning Cycles’. Maarten and Stijn will share the challenges, successes and learnings from Barry Callebaut’s agile journey, and hope to inspire you with their insights. 

To TV… 
Next up is our agile coach Geneviève Loriaux, taking us through the agile story of VRT’s Broadcast and IT infrastructure team. However an IT environment, it’s very different from the typical code-oriented setting where Scrum and sprints make sense and the cost of change is low. Geneviève will tell you all about how exactly it differs, and how agile principles were used for several challenges. 

During this Agile Kitchen session, we will reflect together on some important questions to ask when working in atypical contexts: 

• Which assumptions are we making and which ones do we need to overthrow?  
• What 
• What makes an agility learning path different in several contexts and why is that important? 
• Can standard agile best practices backfire? 
• What’s the impact of certain decisions? How big is this cost of change? 

Next to providing you with some good practices, learnings and tools like Rapid Learning Cycles, we will learn from each other’s outcomes. 

Why you should join  

Agile Kitchen sessions are all about networking, learning and sharing your knowledge. But some might have reservations – let’s bust some common concerns: 

• “Learning is expensive.” 
  Not today! Everything is free, except transportation (free parking) 
• “I am not a pro in networking.” 
  Neither are we. That said, we foresee all the means to reduce the barrier to make the first step. 
• “Will I really learn something?” 
  Yes, we are pretty sure you will be inspired during this session. Most literature and training on Agile still focuses on practices that perfectly suit an IT development context. In this session, however, you will explore agility far beyond the borders of Scrum & Kanban! 
• “I am a team manager, so I might not fit the target audience.” 
  We welcome everyone who is Agile-curious. We aim for a healthy mix of Agile professionals (coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, …) and people working on the business side of the organization. This Agile Kitchen is the perfect opportunity for you to discover other ways and get more background information. After this session, you will communicate better with Agile professionals in your organization. 

  

Questions anyone?  
If you still have questions, join the well-deserved drink to talk to the presenters & network with like-minded people.  
  

Agenda for the evening:  
18:00 The evening starts with sandwiches and drinks  
18:40 Introduction, cases and interactive session  
20:00 Wrap-up of the evening with a drink and the opportunity to network