1st DKB Group Agile Summit
In our Agile Methodologies Chapter we have formats that provide us a platform to exchange and learn from each other. This helps us to cope with daily challenges. Nevertheless, it is sometimes hard to consider the whole reality of an issue. The 1st DKB Group Agile Summit was aimed to provide exactly that: An exchange of personal experiences and questions for Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters across organizational borders.
written by Emre Sönmez, Chapter Lead Agile Methodologies
Agile Coaches are usually on their own. Of course, they are also part of their respective chapter but at the end operationally they act as lonesome riders in the organization. As experts they support teams and individuals in solving problems quickly and delivering their work efficiently. In their day-to-day work Agile Coaches are confronted with complex challenges that arise at a certain point. It can be challenging to grasp the full picture of a problem since the context and the actual root-cause for it could be located anywhere in the system. Especially if we consider our environment that can be overwhelming with the different organizations and departments across the whole bank.
On the 12th September more than 20 Agile Coaches across the DKB group came together at FS200 to get to know each other better and to discuss work-related topics. Among the participants were colleagues from DKB, DKBS and the Agile Methodologies Chapter of Code Factory. The Summit started with some check-in activities that allowed the group to break the ice and get in touch with others. This gave everyone the chance to get an early impression on the different backgrounds and experiences within this big round. Afterwards the group collected topics for the Lean Coffee format. The participants were distributed into smaller breakout groups to discuss and reflect on the topics with most interest. These were topics that deal with the mindset and culture within the bank, with the organization and collaboration between Agile Coaches, with challenges of hybrid/remote collaboration within teams or also with agile frameworks. The summit ended with some good pizza and further talks about current issues that concern people in their daily work. The great feedbacks proved that this first episode of the DKB Agile Summit was a great success.
It gave us the opportunity to get in contact with different people from different departments and areas of DKB and to build synergies on a comprehensive level. Additionally, it helped to break down artificial boundaries established by our environment and with that to identify commonalities amongst our work. It was great to see so many different people with different backgrounds and profiles having still similar challenges. We had the chance to gain valuable findings and learnings on personal and technical level. Last but not least this was a first great step to create a community of inspiration and development.
Thanks to Martin Rapp (Chapter Lead – Agile Center of Excellence @ DKB) for the great cooperation in the preparation and realization of this important event. And the next one is already coming up: The second edition will take place in January 2024...this time at the DKB. I am looking forward!