Bridging the Gap: Agile by the Book vs Practice

​

Beyond the ideas of what is Agile and what is not, there is a research field. Rashina will meet you there! Hidden in these lines adapted from Rumi’s poem, is the acknowledgement that too often we get caught up in defining what Agile is and isn’t. Perhaps a more interesting conversation is how and why Agile practice differs from Agile defined in the books.

 

In this talk, Rashina will present her grounded ‘Theory of Becoming Agile’ as a journey map of what it takes for software teams to transform into Agile teams, beyond the software development practices. She will also share the ‘Agile Practice Umbrella’, a research-based Agile practice classification for teams, managers, and customers to assess their own Agile practice with a view to drive continuous improvement.

​

Bio

​

Rashina Hoda has been researching industrial Agile practice since the mid-2000s. She is constantly in awe of how practitioners make Agile work, despite the practical challenges. With her research teams, she has developed evidence-based theories and published over 100 research articles on topics such as self-organising teams, self-assignment, role of the project manager in Agile teams, coordination in large-scale Agile, and human values in agile methods.

 

In 2017, Rashina received a distinguished paper award on her ‘Theory of Becoming Agile’ at the International Conference on Software Engineering, which she later applied to present the idea of ‘Agile Nation’ to address wider societal challenges in a 2019 TEDxAuckland talk. Rashina was selected as one of the 2020-2021 ‘Superstars of STEM’ by Science and Technology Australia and has reached out to more than 450 girls in Melbourne schools to share her journey into software engineering and inspire them to consider careers in STEM disciplines. 

 

Rashina enjoys presenting the ‘Voice of Agile Research’ to a wide range of audiences and has spoken at Agile New Zealand, Agile India, and the XP conferences over the years. She is an Associate Professor in Software Engineering at Monash University. For more, see www.rashina.com

 

​

​

​

​