Event Description:

Do you like speed?  Expect nano-second response time in all electronic transactions?  Tired of explaining why it takes as long as it does to get your project completed?  Why not try Kanban?

Kanban is gaining popularity thanks to a growing number of organizations, including Corbis & Yahoo!, who have been practicing and learning how to best apply Kanban to software development projects.  Kanban uses lean techniques, such as queue management, flow control and theory of constraints to optimize the workflow of a team.  According to David Anderson, "Kanban is a process that exposes the natural workflow of a system and reduces lead time by limiting the amount of work in progress."

This  meeting will discuss Kanban as a Lean approach to technology based projects.

Attendees will gain an insight in to what it means to use a Kanban system for software development and how to apply the pull based system.  Similarities and distinctions between Kanban and Scrum will be reviewed.  Kanban systems use constant inspection and adaption to identify bottlenecks and defects.  Linda will share her experiences using Kanban and how it helped the team collaborate on a myriad of projects.

Who Should Attend?  

Anyone interested in:
• Improving how projects are managed
• Becoming more agile in project management and product development
• Introducing common-sense processes and process improvement
• Product excellence
• Causing customer delight
• Becoming more consistent and predictable
• Iterative and incremental development

Speaker Bio - Linda Cook

Linda Cook has over twenty years’ experience in the IT industry, she has held positions from developer, forms designer, data modeler, analyst, tester, to methodology lead. She has worked in a variety of industries, including financial systems, insurance, education, research, manufacturing, and IT consulting.  She has mentored colleagues, established formal and informal training programs, and established/improved the processes of numerous software development teams during her career.    Ms. Cook received her bachelors’ degree from the College of Notre Dame in Business Management with a concentration in Computer Information Systems.  She is a certified 'Scrum Master' with the designation of ‘Practicing’, and is active in the international Scrum community.  Ms. Cook is a member of the Agile Alliance, and the Project Management Institute, active in the Baltimore Chapter.  Ms. Cook is co-chair of the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) Maryland Chapter.  Ms. Cook was the coordinator of parent/teacher education for Computer Mania Day 2006 held by the Center for Women in Information Technology (CWIT) at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).  Ms. Cook has helped many companies implement SCRUM, Agile Project Management, Kanban, and several Lean-Agile techniques.