Over the years I have given many trainings and hosted just a much of workshops. I try to create a friendly atmosphere where people are free to make mistakes and be themselves. This enables the participants and try new things. Important because each training, workshop or game should be both educational and fun.
I like to do my best to get the message across. My training style is open, informal and interactive. I like to paint the whole picture, but I am not scared to go into technical detail if that is required to make the tips and theory applicable in daily practice.
Below a summary of the serious games and workshops I developed:
Teams Unfolded – about agile teams, skills and some hidden pitfalls
In the Teams Unfolded game we use simple construction assignments to make teams discover the importance of skills and expertise’s. Participants experience the impact they have on their flow, their output, and the solutions they implement. We’ll recognize some antipatterns and discuss how we can eliminate them. We’ll recognize local optimizations hinder a value flow and we discover that a fixed team structure is not always the best solution.
The workshop is for people who are working in teams, challenge existing teams on their composition (SMs, Agile coaches, Project leaders, team managers) and those involved in skills and knowledge development (Chapter leads, Guild-leads, HR).
Built-in Quality, how do you build quality in?
In this workshop the attendees will not only lean what BIQ is, they will also apply it to their own context. After a short introduction of BIQ the attendees will plan BIQ measures that fit their organization. In small groups the attendees will identify problems and goals, plan feedback loops that fit their software development lifecycle, design the feedbackloop, select improvement measures that fit the feedbackloop. The result is a personal, improvement plan that fits the goals and the problems off the organisation. The tutorial is highly interactive. There will be small parts in which the BIQ theory is explained. But most of the time the attendees will work in small groups planning and refining feedback loops and BIQ-measures.
The green traveler – Thinking and planning releases with business value
Backlog ordering can be cumbersome. In this workshop we learn how to order our backlog based upon business value and define a roadmap that delivers a workable release. The workshop is based upon the green-traveler case. A travel agency that offers environmentally friendly journeys. Based upon a given backlog we will work in teams to learn how to define powerful MVPs and make a release planning.
Practices make perfect – It’s a balancing act!
Skill-up! One of the biggest challenges is the shortage of experienced developers. That’s why it’s crucial to create an environment where team members can grow, take on challenges, and take pride in their work. This is where the serious game “Practices Makes Perfect” comes into play.
This game is designed to provide insight into these challenges and help them find a balance between fulfilling stakeholder needs and improving development practices. It’s all about delivering maximum impact, while avoiding technical debt, handling incidents and showing resilience in unexpected situations.
During “Practices Makes Perfect” teams compete against each other in an exciting board and card game that lasts about an hour. The target? Not only to win, but also to stimulate in-depth discussions about what went well and what could be improved. It is a powerful instrument that not only strengthens teams, but also encourages organizations to reflect and improve.
The Stage – Organizing your team structure.
In this workshop we focus on the structure of the organization and use the case of a small movie cinema (called “the stage”) to gain understanding of the challenges and benefits of a good team structure.
The case offers a recognizable setting, and we’ll follow the growth of the organization and the choices they must make. How do we keep teams small, and should we structure the organization according to discipline, product, or customer journey? In each step of the workshop participants will try to create a structure by moving the resources across the board and discuss advantages and disadvantages of the chosen scenario. They will reflect on how this translates to their own setting.
This workshop aims to create understanding and awareness of how the team structure impacts the value delivery. It helps to raise the topic in your own organization and deliver a valuable contribution to the discussion.
Derk-Jan de Grood 
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