At aitronik, we believe in continuous learning and staying ahead of industry trends. That’s why we’re proud to share the insights of Giovanni Marco Cordella, Scrum Master at aitronik, who attended the Italian Agile Days 2024 on November 8th and 9th. Over two days, Gianmarco explored the latest trends in agile practices, gained invaluable insights, and reflected on how to bring greater value to our teams and clients.
Here’s Gianmarco’s account of this enriching experience.
Scrum Doesn’t Guarantee Agility
Attending the Italian Agile Days 2024 felt like diving into a laboratory of ideas and collaboration. For a Scrum Master, this event is an essential opportunity to reflect, learn, and embrace what agility truly means. My key takeaway? Scrum is a tool, not the goal.
One of the most striking lessons was that Scrum alone doesn’t guarantee agility. How often do we implement frameworks without considering context or people? Agility, as I learned in several sessions, is not a checklist but the art of shortening feedback loops to adapt quickly and create value.
Day 1: Unconference and Open Discussions
The first day’s unconference was a truly enriching experience. The Open Space Technology format transformed every attendee into an active participant, allowing us to propose topics and form discussion groups. Here are some highlights from the sessions I attended:
- Kanban vs. Scrum for Small Organizations: this session explored how choosing the right framework depends on factors like workflow type or request stability. For instance, Scrum’s fixed sprints work well for projects with clear objectives, while Kanban is ideal for continuous workflows.
- Backlog Refinement: Paolo Sammicheli emphasized the importance of backlog refinement, a practice often overlooked. I learned that dedicating time to define “what” to do helps better prepare for deciding “how” to do it during planning. This approach leverages the brain’s natural default mode network to foster creative solutions.
- Value Obsession: perhaps the most resonant takeaway was the importance of framing conversations around value rather than agility itself, particularly when working with stakeholders unfamiliar with agile methodologies. As one speaker noted, “The product you create is a means to deliver value,” a statement that perfectly encapsulates the purpose of agile practices.
- Metrics: “You Can Only Improve What You Measure”: this session reinforced the importance of tracking metrics such as “days since last” (e.g., deployment or feedback cycles) to monitor progress and identify areas for improvement. It was a powerful reminder of how data-driven decisions support continuous growth.
- OKRs: Challenging Yet Achievable Goals: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) emerged as a practical tool to align teams and organizations with ambitious yet realistic goals. Key results serve as checkpoints, helping teams track progress and adapt strategies to stay on course.
- Managing Anxiety in Agile Work: a particularly engaging session addressed the emotional toll of balancing agility with strict deadlines—a recurring challenge in some contexts. Learning to manage anxiety within teams is crucial for fostering a truly agile mindset and workflow.
Day 2: Tools for Holistic Agility
The second day at the Italian Agile Days 2024 featured structured talks where experts such as Andrea Provaglio and Stefano Marello tackled both practical and deep topics:
- Achieving Technical Agility (Andrea Provaglio): Provaglio stressed that technical agility is the foundation of any transformation. Before applying Scrum or Kanban, we must equip teams with the tools and skills to reduce feedback costs.
- Breaking Organizational Silos (Stefano Marello): The future lies in T-shaped people—individuals with both vertical expertise and cross-functional skills. This made me reflect on how to encourage cross-functional growth within my teams.
- Emotional Dynamics in Teams (Daniela Del Re): Managing team emotions using models like the DABDA cycle or the niko-niko calendar made me consider the psychological well-being of my team. A happy team is often a more productive one.
- Listening to Employees (Marco Calzolari): Marco shared insights on the importance of listening to employees and understanding how team members want to be involved in their work, which boosts engagement and productivity. Empowering team members to share their preferences fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration, leading to higher motivation and better results. As Scrum Masters, we should focus on creating an environment where team members feel heard and valued, which is fundamental to agile success.
- Effective Retrospectives with Creative Tools (Sara Grilli): creative tools like Rory’s Cubes can turn retrospectives into more engaging and productive sessions, helping teams innovate and reflect meaningfully. Rory’s Cubes are designed to encourage participation and creativity during retrospectives, helping teams reflect on past sprints in a more engaging way. The key takeaway here was how retrospectives can go beyond simple feedback sessions and become a space for real innovation and team bonding.
- Balancing Quality with Time-to-Market (Ivan Diana): Ivan introduced strategies for maintaining high quality while reducing time-to-market. This challenge is common in agile development, and he shared techniques for balancing the demand for speed with the need for quality. Focusing on streamlined processes and continuous integration can help teams achieve faster delivery cycles without sacrificing product excellence.
- Agile Principles as Goals (Dimitri Favre): agile principles should be treated as goals to achieve, not checklists to tick off, stressing the mindset of flexibility and continuous improvement. Agility is not about rigid adherence to a set of practices, but rather about embodying a mindset of continuous improvement, flexibility, and learning. This aligns with the idea that true agility requires adaptation and growth rather than mere compliance.
Scrum vs. Kanban: A Comparison
Throughout the sessions, the comparison between Scrum and Kanban sparked lively debates. Here’s a summary:
| Feature | Scrum | Kanban |
|---|---|---|
| Work Cycles | Fixed sprints (2-4 weeks) | Continuous flow |
| Defined Roles | Yes (Scrum Master, PO, Dev Team) | No |
| Adaptability | More rigid | Highly flexible |
You can dive deeper into these frameworks with this guide by Atlassian.
Conclusion: Agility as a Holistic Approach
The Italian Agile Days 2024 reminded me that agility isn’t about tools or frameworks. It’s a continuous learning journey focused on people, communication, and value creation.
If you also attended the event, what were your biggest takeaways? Drop us a message—we’d love to hear how you’re applying these ideas in your organization!
