Talk: Transformed! The Story of an Agile School
Speakers directory
Speaker:
Naveed Khawaja
Talk description
Title:
Transformed! The Story of an Agile School
Short synopsis:
We strongly believe that Agile is the key to addressing challenges beyond just software and technology delivery teams. In this session, we look past automation, continuous integration, and high-velocity delivery teams. Instead, we look at the whole picture, helping the organization as a whole to embrace Agile culture and mindset from every direction and in every department. Naveed tells the story of how he helped initiate a school-wide transformation, using teachers instead of just the operations department to create the pull for adopting Agile. By optimizing the operations towards excellence, feedback from the parents increased by over 20% year over year, and staff motivation improved by 30%. How did the school achieve such dramatic results especially with so many volunteers without any monetary incentives? That is not all, this year, parent feedback and staff motivation are on track to improve by another 20%. Come join in and share the passion for agility beyond IT & profitability.
Max size: 500 chars
Long synopsis (optional):
On any given Saturday (in St Albans, UK), Naveed Khawaja can only be found at the not for profit school where he has been volunteering for the last six years. The school has approximately 250 children enrolled, about 40 staff members (heads of department, teachers, teaching assistants & operational staff) employed, and 17 different classes for ages 5 to 59. Naveed's work with the school is his key contribution to the community, as he has not taken a single penny for his consultancy and leadership at the esteemed institution. As part of the leadership team, he helps oversee that the teaching staff and operations are structured to the school's vision throughout the three terms that school is in session (per year). Typically, while teachers are enthusiastic as the first term begins, they lack the necessary focus to stick to the curriculum, oftentimes overlapping on topics taught by other teachers within the same grade. This lack of integration results not only with confused students, but with frustrated teachers and administrators who crave for communication and collaboration. Four years from when the school was founded, Naveed introduced the idea of possibly using elements of Agile to help bridge the communication gap and enhanced focus for a common vision. Instead of long-term, yearly planning, he rolled out the idea of planning program increments with the entire school staff, and honing in on the vision by working in shorter sprints (termly focus). Agile helped the school save more than an hour every week to wrap up the school (saving thousands of pounds yearly). However, by re-emphasizing on the shared vision, the higher collaboration led to better & deeper lesson planning that resulted in higher quality experiential sessions (improving the parent feedback by 20% year over year). A much bigger win and outcome. A re-energized parent-teacher association (PTA) and parent engagement up by 50%. The result is a school with growing attendance figures and a much happier and more focused staff. Naveed will recount the story in depth, highlighting various instances showcasing the versatility of Agile in this particular setting. Learning outcomes Agility beyond operations is crucial for overall cultural improvement. Re-emphasis of sharing vision needs to be structured within the termly process. Beyond IT and tech organizations, Agile mindset can benefit the education system tremendously.
Max size: 5000 chars
Tags:
Speaker directory:
Listed in directory
Not listed
Speakers directory