The Agile Tour Kuala Lumpur 2024 was held on October 4th. It was a remarkable gathering of agile enthusiasts, practitioners, and thought leaders from around the globe. Learning, networking, and inspiration to Agile practitioners, including but not limited to Scrum Masters, Product Owner and team members.
It wasn’t just a conference but a movement towards better processes, products, and people. It offered valuable insights and practical knowledge to enhance the Agile journey of veterans and new to the Agile methodologies. They gained access to a global community of practitioners, learned from their successes and challenges, and left with actionable strategies to implement in their organizations.
The speakers and the organizing committee of Agile Tour Kuala Lumpur 2024 (Credit: Scrum 60, supported by CI Agile)
Setting the Stage
As organizer and speaker, I witnessed firsthand the power of the Agile community. The transformative impact of sharing real-world case studies. And the benefit of meeting people face to face in a networking conference setting.
The theme for this year’s conference, “Better Process, Better Product, Better People” reflected a commitment to continuous improvement and growth within the Agile community, especially in the Southeast Asia region. It featured over 15 global speakers from various industries who shared their insights and experiences in implementing Agile methodologies effectively.
It started early with warm smiles and coffee. Then attendees registered and headed to the main room for the opening ceremony. The day was packed with insightful sessions and opportunities to hear real-life case studies from speakers around the world. So it did not disappoint the audience!
Energized attendees ready for the day (Credit: Scrum 60, supported by CI Agile)
There are 2 most common misconceptions about Agile events. They are mainly for IT or technology teams. They are for sales workshops for Agile methodologies. We wanted to debunk this and foster community spirit at these events. In reality, Agile practices extend to multiple disciplines and industries. Listening to real case studies from various disciplines and industries is crucial to address the misconceptions. The face-to-face sessions add value to networking and community-building.
Diving into the Sessions
The introduction of speakers and their topics (Credit: Scrum 60, supported by CI Agile)
The event started with a keynote topic by JJ Sutherland, CEO of Scrum Inc., invited by CI Agile. He shared fascinating case studies on implementing Agile in government sectors. It was eye-opening to see how Agile can transform even the most traditional environments and intrigued questions from the audience.
The agenda was filled with 12 sharing sessions led by decision-makers from various industry sectors – oil and gas, banking, insurance, agriculture, FMCG, and construction. Leaders showcased how they are paving the way for Agile practices in their organizations by tackling issues and challenges day by day. The detailed agenda can be found here: https://event.ciagile.com. Case studies are typically available only in articles or on websites, so hearing live experiences made it much more valuable.
Feedbacks received from the participants described the sessions to be meaningful, significant, bringing new perspectives and new experience to them. One person said, “This event broadens my awareness of how Agile and Scrum can be applied to different contexts and industries”. Another one shared, “It emphasized the importance of adapting to change and accepting that even with the best planning, not everything will go as expected. This session highlighted the need to be flexible and ready to pivot, when necessary, which is crucial in Agile project management”.
In this event, unlike usual, we included the people elements a little bit more by having four slots in the people track, it was well received and appreciated. A comment that touched our heart was, “I love to hear the stories about energizing people to thrive in business transformation through emotional agility, because almost everything I heard about Agile is about increasing speed. It is refreshing to know that you also considered the human aspect when striving for output”. Another one said, “With all the principles of Agile and framework, without people we can’t move forward, hence the focus should start with managing people and helping them move forward”. Some mentioned how the sessions are interactive and easily relatable not only to their work but personal daily life.
Speaking at the conference
I also enjoyed speaking about building strong Agile Transformation teams for lasting and sustainable success. My topic was, “Is it a good idea to hire a commercial agile coach as an employee?” Sharing my journey and insights on maintaining energy and sustainability in a company and team’s transformation journey was both exhilarating and rewarding. The audience’s engagement and questions made the session interactive and fun.
I chose this topic to emphasize to leaders of companies and project deliveries that it is essential to take the time to adopt and embrace Agile practices from within the company, long enough and at pace so that it could change the company culture. A short-term change by continuing to hire a commercial agile coach without building internal teams’ capabilities won’t make a lasting impact, let alone change the behavior and culture of a company. This topic is close to my heart, and the audience well received it. I hope they leave the session upbeat and return to their respective companies and drive change.
I would like to take a moment to thank my organizing teams, who have allowed me to focus on preparing the speech and thought process in the midst of the hectic preparation for the conference overall. Many thanks, folks in CI Agile and Scrum60 community! Much appreciated for the help and support.
Questions from the floor (Credit: Scrum 60, supported by CI Agile)
A Day to Remember
As the day wrapped up with an “Open Space” session, where groups discussed the topic on the situational scene of …When your boss says, “Agile is not for us!” with leading sub-topics statements like “Agile is not for us because banks don’t change”, “Agile is not for us because our industry is very traditional”, “Agile is not for us because it didn’t work last time” and “Agile is not for us because we are small”. These interesting topics created exciting conversations and sharing. I felt a sense of accomplishment in the community to have such a healthy conversation. The event was more than just a conference. It was a gathering of like-minded individuals passionate about making a difference through Agile methodologies.
The event highlighted the importance of adaptability and teamwork. It tested our ability to respond to changes and address challenges as they came. Professionally, the event created a sense of togetherness and diversity of perspectives. And also emphasized bringing agile values and principles to life across many domains and industries. I highly recommend it if you ever get to attend or speak at an Agile event in your community or close to your network. It’s a chance to grow, connect, and be inspired by the best in the industry. Until next time, keep iterating and innovating!
Cheers,
Alyaa Abdul Jalil
Scrum60 Community Lead
Host and speaker at Agile Tour Kuala Lumpur 2024
Director of Agile Foundation Studies, CI Agile
The organizing committee of Agile Tour Kuala Lumpur (Credit: Scrum 60, supported by CI Agile)
