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Some keywords:
Agile software development Scrum Kanban
In summer 2015 I got to try something completely different – to represent the company towards the public. Gothenburg was the final destination of 2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, which quickly became a big event. Such events are usually seen as marketing opportunities and this one was no exception. Therefore, a temporary pavilion was built to represent Ericsson at Bananpiren. There were a few stations inside the pavilion and a small team of Ericsson employees who were ready to tell interesting things about the company. Actually, the dedicated team was so small in the beginning that even our head of the whole packet core organization had to announce: "Please help if you can! We have too few people there!" I simply could not stand seeing her that desperate. Of course, I decided to join in. (To join in helping out, not in being desperate.)
It was a long week – I had shifts every day. Sometimes during afternoons, more often during evenings. I quickly lost count of how many times I got to demonstrate and tell about the project. It was quite fun to see changes in people's attitudes. Telecom is known for being complex, which scared quite many in the beginning. But once they saw me showing Muhu island on the map of Estonia with real-time and historical data from smart electricity meters, they became curious. Seeing some visual statistics, ongoing maintenance and especially opportunuties to save money on utility bills usually helps to raise interest. I got a lot of questions. Quite a few people in Gothenburg became aware of Networked Society during that week. Many people even looked disappointed when they heard that I am not from Estonia. A few times I also saw my manager in the pavilion. But she got to talk about packet core instead. I guess, just one severely injured hand would be enough to count all people who approached her those days. But the really positive thing was the fact that she finally noticed my interest in doing other things (not only programming) and taking broader responsibility. It was about time to notice indeed. Especially after her being my manager for the previous three years.
A few months after Volvo Ocean Race a few serious discussions were started about my becoming a scrum master. I was sent to internal leadership courses and to a few scrum courses, including the official certification. It really looked like a preparation for the next step. Most of that knowledge became useful in the future. But... There are quite a few people who like talking about numerous paradigms, methodologies and practices. For some reason, they often tend to be management consultants. For them I would recommend finding someone else to talk to. However, my background might be helpful to those who are more interested in finding someone with practical experience in agile software development. Especially if they are looking for ability to reflect. Despite having the official certificate in Scrum, I have not become religious about it. Instead, I believe in common sense. For example, in situations when one needs to handle an inflow of issues, Kanban might be much more useful. From April 2016 I became scrum master in addition to my role of software developer.