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SPIN Roundtable schedule
Requested roundtable topics
Boston SPIN Roundtable Volunteers Needed
OVERVIEW:
Each Boston SPIN meeting begins with one or more roundtable discussions
that facilitate an open exchange of information among members. The
discussions literally take place around a table, typically with 10 to 15
people. More or less people are fine as well.
Up to two roundtables take place concurrently before a SPIN meeting. The
"Needs and Leads" roundtable is an ad hoc discussion session meant for
networking about companies and seeking opinions regarding problems
participants share. There is no facilitator for this roundtable. The other
roundtable discussion is on a planned topic led by a facilitator and
announced in the monthly SPIN meeting invitation. Both roundtable formats
are excellent forums for developing new professional contacts.
Volunteers needed! >> View roundtable facilitator
guidelines.
(All are welcome to attend any scheduled Roundtable, no reservation needed. Just arrive by 6:00 pm.)
Boston SPIN Roundtables 2009 - 2010
| Month |
Open Topics for Roundtables
(Please volunteer - suggestions welcome) |
| 9/15/2009 |
Agile in the Traditional Organization
Facilitated by:
Brian Bozzuto |
| 10/20/2009 |
Software Stability Metrics - to find "good" code and "bad" code.
The Stability metric consists of two factors, Code Volatility
(how often code is changing)
and Code Quality (open bugs, cyclomatic complexity, rule violations,
etc).
Facilitated by:
Fiona Dossin |
| 11/17/2009 |
Creating effective corporate decision processes.
The conversation will revolve around creating better self
service web reporting and analytical applications for the masses -
techniques being used now and how they can be improved.
Facilitated by:
Bill Weinar |
| 12/15/2009 |
An iteration in the life of a Agile Scrum Team
This session will provide the participants a taste of Agile
Scrum so they understand what it is and how it works.
Facilitated by:
Mario Moreira |
| 1/19/2010 |
Snowy Day: Informal Group Discussion |
| 2/16/2010 |
Agile, QA, and the Regulated Environment
Facilitated by:
Bill Tsen |
| 3/16/2010 |
Tracking critical project artifacts during a fast-paced
development cycle
The roundtable will explore the most common project artifacts -
requirements, specification and design documents, the relationship
between them, challenges and techniques to keep them up-to-date.
Facilitated by:
Peter Toudjarski |
| 4/20/2010 |
TBA |
| 5/18/2010 |
TBA |
| 6/15/2010 |
TBA |
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Basic Guidelines for Roundtables:
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Please try to begin between 6:10 and 6:15
P.M. The scope must be limited to what can be discussed in 45-50 minutes.
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The facilitator does not need to be a
"subject matter expert".
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It is a good idea to ask participants to
introduce themselves at the beginning. (People may trickle in after the
start time; encourage them to join the discussion.)
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Some facilitators begin with a short
presentation. Others work from an outline or run an interactive exercise.
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Many facilitators bring a few hand-outs of
reference material for the participants.
-
Encourage participants to ask questions and
to share their own experiences.
-
Capture the ideas discussed (a flip chart is
provided). The facilitator can assign someone at the roundtable to take
notes capturing the main ideas discussed. Facilitators are requested to
provide a written synopsis of 250 words or less for within the week
following the roundtable for publication in the SPIN Newsletter. For
examples see
http://www.boston-spin.org/newsletter.html
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Participants are asked to complete
evaluation forms at the end of the discussion.
-
Please wrap up the roundtable a little
before 7 P.M. to allow participants to get settled for the speaker.
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Facilitator
Guidelines:
The facilitator's role is to maximize
participation and ensure that discussion is kept on topic. This is not
meant to be a monologue or a presentation, but an open discussion. It must
not be a sales or marketing presentation. The facilitator should initiate
the discussion with a brief introduction to the topic. This introduction
may include a small write-up (1 page or less). The facilitator should then
ask the participants if they have any questions or if they would like to
discuss their own experiences with how the topic applies to them and why.
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Bring ideas to the roundtable to start the
discussion/brainstorming.
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Encourage everyone to speak - everyone has a
right to speak, not just the vocal people.
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Allow participants time to think before they
participate.
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Focus the discussion on the topic:
> Draw ideas out: "Is this what you mean?"
> Help people continue the current specific
discussion, not sidebar discussions.
> Build on ideas brought forward if possible.
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Pay attention to the person speaking.
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Control the discussion so that unrelated
topics are not introduced during the Roundtable; provide a time for a
later discussion on the subject if the party so wishes.
Participant Guidelines:
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Present your own ideas on the subject.
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Speak up so everyone can hear.
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Be open to the ideas of others.
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Active participation enhances learning
opportunities for everyone.
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Make comments specific, real, focused.
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Comments or ideas will not be attributed to
a specific person when notes are written up.
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You have the option to pass.
Consensus Guidelines:
Consensus is something you can live with,
not necessarily something you like.
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Facilitation books you may enjoy:
Sam Kaner et al, Facilitator's Guide to
Participatory Decision-Making, New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island,
BC, Canada, 1996.
Stanfield, Brian R., ed., The Art of Focused
Conversation, 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace, New
Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, BC, Canada, 2000.
Online resources:
http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/vhosts.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/citizenship/DH7437.html
Practical information about attending
SPIN roundtables:
For directions to SPIN meetings at MITRE
see:
http://www.boston-spin.org/directions.html.
Note: Because of security concerns,
please bring a picture ID. It is best to leave all bags, backpacks, and
briefcases in your car. Any items you do bring with you will be opened and
inspected by building security when you arrive.
The earliest arrival time is 5:45 P.M.
In case the roundtable chairperson isn’t
there when you arrive, the SPIN reception area is just beyond the security
desk. We usually have name tags out for attendees and refreshments. The
round tables will be set up in the atrium area, with flip charts that are
labeled for each roundtable discussion. The MITRE liaison should be
available to help you get situated. The current MITRE Liaison is Sam
Cardman.
Requested Topics: Facilitators are needed for
roundtables on the following topics requested by SPIN members. If you
have experience to share on one of these or another topic please
contact the roundtable chair
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What does the Facilitator gain from the experience?
- Recognition by your company
- Praise from the Steering Committee
- Increased leadership skills (good for your company
and your resume)
- Confidence in public speaking, in a supportive
environment
- Appreciation from Roundtable participants
- Satisfaction for making a difference because you made
a Roundtable happen.
What do Roundtable participants gain?
- Insights on software process improvement from people
of many different backgrounds
- Knowledge shared by more experienced participants
- Pointers on techniques and methodologies
- Practical solutions to real life problems
- Networking with peers
- References to helpful materials
- Satisfaction from sharing their knowledge.
PREVIOUS Boston SPIN Roundtables 2008 - 2009
| Month |
Topics & Facilitators |
| 9/16/2008 |
Performance Metrics for Software Department Leaders.
Best practices in project / department measurement that drive
software execution excellence.
Facilitated by:
Ross Seider |
| 10/21/2008 |
Agile Methods: Dogmatic -vs- Pragmatic
Facilitated by:
Steve Berczuk |
| 11/18/2008 |
Agile Coaching Clinic
Are you trying to shepherd your fellow team mates along the road to
agile? Are you struggling to get your managers to allow time for
refactoring? For pairing? Has your product owner gone AWOL? This
roundtable will discuss these types of issues, present possible
solutions and engage in open conversation to see how organizations
are solving similar problems.
Facilitated by:
Nancy Van Schooenderwoert |
| 12/16/2008 |
Digital Forensics Methodology
Is your company prepared to respond to an E-Discovery request or
employee misconduct involving a company computer? What is a digital
forensics methodology? What are some of the software tools of the
trade?
Facilitated by:
Leo Manning |
| 1/20/2009 |
Managing Software Requirements
Continually updating the traceability from the software requirement
specs to the design specs downwards and upwards through all the
documentation is necessary to prevent or mitigate Requirements Creep
and contradictions among the various specifications. Revising the
requirement specs for technical accuracy and testability is vitally
important. Let's discuss just what that means.
Facilitated by:
Alice Brown |
| 2/17/2009 |
Common mistakes when implementing Agile and Scrum
Transitioning to Agile and Scrum in organizations with different
cultures and project management traditions can lead to perception
problems of agile methodologies. This roundtable will investigate
several of the most common misconceptions and discuss possible
solutions.
Facilitated by:
Peter Toudjarski |
| 3/17/2009 |
Collaboration experiences in Applications Development
Facilitated by:
Rick Wahlberg |
| 4/21/2009 |
Transitioning to agile: solving problems of transition
Facilitated by:
Johanna Rothman |
| 5/19/2009 |
Running Effective Scrum Meetings
All Agile methods include a practice called the "daily standup
meeting". What is the purpose of this meeting? How can we get the
most out of it?
Facilitated by:
Dan LeFebvre |
| 6/16/2009 |
In Agile, where does developer testing end and tester testing
begin?
Even though anyone can work on any task in agile, we still each
bring our own, unique skills to the table. The key to effective
agile is not minimizing our differences, but building upon each
person's strengths. Join us for this discussion on how agile teams
build quality into their process and how each member contributes to
that quality.
Facilitated by:
Abby Fichtner, Nate Oster |
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PREVIOUS Boston SPIN Roundtables 2007 - 2008
| Month |
Topics & Facilitators |
| 9/18/2007 |
Beyond Agile Teams: What Managers Need to Know to Sustain Agile
Adoption.
Exploring reasons why Agile adoption initiatives so often flounder.
Facilitated by: Nancy Van Schooenderwoert |
| 10/16/2007 |
Software Reliability: Models, Predictions, Methods, and Definitions.
Discuss the consequences of software malfunction; how to predict defects before they happen; and methods, models, and tools.
Facilitated by: Obaid Qadri |
| 11/13/2007 |
TBD
|
| 12/18/2007 |
1) Security and web based deployments.
Rick has done "quite a bit of work on web services and the
attendant security" and is interested in hearing what others have
thought on the subject.
Facilitated by: Rick
Wahlberg, PMP
2) Project management challenges associated with
software projects when the performing team is geographically
distributed.
As a starting point, the discussion will explore
development methodology, project organization, management and
development tools.
Facilitated by: Dick
Healy and Spencer Jones
|
| 1/15/2008 |
Web Services Development and Virtual Teams
Facilitated by: Rick
Wahlberg, PMP
|
| 2/19/2008 |
Project Selection and Return of Investment (ROI).
Following an iterative-incremental paradigm, agile projects are
ideal for early and frequent releases. This mechanism enables many
organizations to gain a competitive advantage through accelerated
return-of-investment. With this approach, many projects paid
themselves back before they were even completed. In
addition, iterations can be used to select projects in a more
dynamic fashion, helping development organizations to spend their
resources on their most promising projects.
Facilitated by: Joe
Krebs
|
| 3/18/2008 |
Lean/Agile/Scrum/XP Software Development:
Truth and Myth and Absolute Truth.
There has been an explosion of interest in these approaches to fix our history
of software development disfunction. All of us who have been in the business for
some time, know the failure rate. This roundtable will be a discussion of why
that's the case and what we are learning so we never repeat those mistakes. This
includes includes identifying the invariants in us humans and in our problem
domain. Those invariants can justify a claim of appropriate certainty - in
context. Believe it or not!
Facilitated by: Jay
Conne |
| N/A |
Joint meeting with ASQ
|
| 5/20/2008 |
How can we realistically measure Software Quality Level?
Facilitated by: Stephanie
Beach |
| 6/17/2008 |
How do you track an agile project without a detailed plan?
Facilitated by: Daniel
LeFebvre |
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