PROJECTCON | AGILECON Midwest 2019 in Indianapolis on May 10, 2019 Presenter: Natalie Warnert The Women in Agile Story - History of the Movement through MVP Experiments Women in Agile started like most movements do, with a problem and a small grassroots effort. Now it has grown to a non-profit organization with local groups across the world and many conference pairings under its belt all in a timeframe of a few years. Women in Agile utilized targeted experiments to determine how to expand meaningfully and sustainably while examining data and experience collected along the way. This session discusses how Women in Agile got to where it is today, what is in store for the future, and how you can take our lessons learned to grow organizations and ideas in a successful and sustainable way. Event Website: https://projectconevent.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcon-llc Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ProjectConEvent Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/projectconevent YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLLG1SGPs1L5YLoFndvGGhQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/projectconevent Presentation Slides: https://slideshare.com/projectcon Post Event Trailer: https://youtu.be/1_RzFBnZ7bo ProjectCon AgileCon Project Management

1. The Women in Agile Story – History of
the Movement Through MVP
Experiments

2. Natalie Warnert
President & Exec Director
History of the Movement Through
MVP Experiments
Women in Agile Org
The Women in Agile Story

3. Where are all the
women?
There was a known and noticeable lack
of gender parity in conferences,
speakers, bloggers, and other agile
events

4. Agenda
• Current condition
• Baseline experiments
• Understanding the problem
• Product Kata experiment model
• Experiments and learnings
• Impact and new current condition
• How you can get involved

5. So we did a few “experiments”
WiA
Open
Space
2013
WiA
Dinner
2013
Stake-
holder
Mtg
2014
Dream
Sessio
n 2015
WomenInAgile site
launch
Blog on Coaching
Agile Teams
Face to face
meetings
#WomenInAgile

6. BUT WE STILL DIDN’T
UNDERSTAND THE
PROBLEM…

7. Thesis Research: May 2015
-Natalie Warnert
When asked to people of both genders:
Why are you less involved in the agile community?
When thinking specifically of women, why do you think they are
less involved in the agile community?

8. Thesis Research: May 2015
-Natalie Warnert
When asked to people of both genders:
Why are you less involved in the agile community?
Intimidation from lack of diversity
■ Women 9% (individually)
■ Men 3% (individually)
When thinking specifically of women, why do you think they are less involved in the agile
community?
Intimidation from lack of diversity
■ Women 33% (perception of women)
■ Men 60% (perception of women)

9. It’s not that women aren’t capable or
willing to be involved. It’s that there
is a high barrier to entry when
everyone thinks you’re one of the
loneliest people in the room
It’s a self-serving bias – that serves
ourselves but doesn’t serve others.

10. “You’d go in and you are the only female; I can see how a lot of
people might drop out and be deterred from that fact. It’s not
like in a college setting, where there’s three women and 28 guys,
and the professor can call on you and boost your self-esteem and
say that you’re just as smart as everyone else in the room, there
isn’t that community across states and in the country. I think it’s a
little more probably intimidating for women to look at all these
people writing these blogs and articles, and they seem super
smart and you compare yourself to them.”
--(anonymous personal conversation, February 2015)

11. WE EXPERIMENTED ON
HOW TO CHANGE THE
PERCEPTION AND CURRENT
CONDITION

12. But it wasn’t that easy…

13. We didn’t have targeted goals
• Grassroots movement
• See how it grows
• Try something else or not
It wasn’t targeted, therefore it wasn’t strategic…we got lucky
Hypothesis and Goal: We believe Women in Agile Org can inform,
empower, extend, and activate more women to develop and share
their ideas and skills with the agile community.

14. Source: Melissa Perri - https://melissaperri.com/blog/2015/07/22/the-product-kata

15. Open Space Experiment (2013)
Hypothesis: We believe by creating awareness of the inequity in diverse
speakers and attendees at agile conferences we can increase the
diversity in the future.
Current Condition Obstacle Step Expected Learned
There are too few
women speaking
and attending
agile conferences
No one is talking
about it
Bring up a topic in
Open Space
(Scrum Gathering
2013)
Women show up
to talk about it
and find solutions
This is something
many women
have noticed
There are too few
women speaking
and attending
agile conferences
We don’t know
why women
aren’t speaking
and attending
conferences
Discuss more face
to face at next
conference – get
list from Open
Space
Many women
from Open Space
show up at next
conference
(Agile2013)
The WiA
movement is
concentrated to
face to face and
this is systemic
problem

16. Website Experiment (2013)
Current Condition Obstacle Step Expected Learned
The WiA
movement is
concentrated to
face to face
There is no online
presence
Create a website
(Natalie paid for
hosting & domain)
People visit
website to learn
about WiA
Website was quick
and easy to put
up (albeit ugly)
We have a WiA
website
We don’t know if
anyone is visiting
or using site
Add contact
information and
analytics (JetPack)
to the website
Understand if
people are using
website
There are very
few visits to
website
Hypothesis: We believe by creating a website it will become a place
women can collaborate toward common agile and professional goals.
Larger current condition: There are too few women speaking
and attending agile conferences

17. Blog Experiment (2013)
Hypothesis: We believe by posting women’s blogs on a heavily
trafficked website, we can expand the brand of Women in Agile and
generate content and excitement.
Current Condition Obstacle Step Expected Learned
There are very few
visits to website
WiA website is
the only channel
that exists for
info sharing
Pair with Coaching
Agile Teams (Lyssa
Adkins) to co-post
there
Many women will
want to post on
partner site
We need
volunteers to
coordinate/write
the posts
There are very few
visits to website
We don’t know
how to get ahold
of volunteers
Utilize list of
women gathered
from initial open
space
Pool of women
volunteering will
expand
Many women
expressed interest
in helping
There are very few
visits to website
Many women
didn’t follow
through
Utilize close
network of
acquaintances
We will find many
more interested
women
We need a
broader channel
that is utilized

18. Timeline of ExperimentsLarger current condition: There are too few women involved in
the agile community.

19. Women in Agile, Inc. Est 2018
A 501(c)(3) Non-profit Organization (May 2019)
The Women in Agile community drives toward equality and
inclusion of diversity representation, expertise, and involvement in
the agile community. We value diverse idea representation to
empower the agile community and enterprises and believe
everyone is better off when more ideas are shared.
We support this mission through three programs:
Conference Allyship
Seeding Local Communities
Launching New Voices
Executive Board
Deema
Dajani
Natalie
Warnert
Joanna
Vahlsing
Eric
Willeke

20. Make safe spaces where all genders work together
to discuss problems and find solutions together.
Program - Conference Allyship
Agile Alliance Initiative 2016-2018, SAFe Summit 2017-2018, Business Agility Conference 2019
(Pictured above: Agile2018 Women in Agile Initiative)
Conference Ally Local Groups New Voices

21. Extending Reach
Program - Seeding Local Communities
● 2013 - inspired by South Florida Women in Agile, and
2017 SAFe Summit WiA breakfast, several local groups
started to form organically in the US with support from
Deema Dajani, Laura Powers and Liza Rigeway.
● 2018 - the local groups movement and the Women in Agile
Agile20xx program reps joined forces to form a an entity
called WomeninAgile.ORG, and filed for non profit status.
● 32 - local groups in the world and continues to grow.
● The Local program has two key goals: growth through
launching new groups and nurturing vibrant active
groups
Mission - Reach
Nurture small autonomous groups that
sustain the support and connection year
round, beyond conference events and
cities, for women and allies in the agile
community.
Conference Ally Local Groups New Voices

22. 24
2
1
1
2
Women in Agile Local Groups
1
1

23. Lower the barrier to entry in getting new
voices mentored, recognized, and heard
Program - Launching New Voices
● 2017 - Launching New Voices
Program Established
● 2 - International Events Held
● 6 - New Voices Launched
(speakers)
● Expanded to podcasts, writing
etc.
Conference Ally Local Groups New Voices

24. Experiment Summary
Current Condition Obstacle Step Expected Learned
There are too few
women speaking
and attending
agile conferences
Confidence, time,
money…etc.
Women in Agile
Org - experiments
Women
conference
speakers (and
other
involvement)
increases)
We are making
an impact!

25. Our Impact
■ Flagship Conference Events Held: 6 (largest with 230+ attendees), 3
slotted in 2019
■ Local Groups Started: 32
■ New Voices Launched: 6
■ Countless local meetups & regional conference pairings
■ Code of Conducts added to conferences: 2
■ Female Conference Speaker Increase (previous current condition)
– 2013-15 Female Agile20xx conference speakers: ~25% (avg)
– 2016-18 Female Agile20xx conference speakers: ~30% (avg)
– 2018 (solo) Female Agile2018 conference speakers: ~35%

26. Get engaged!
Connect
#WomenInAgile
@WomenInAgileOrg
Speak or mentor
www.WomenInAgile.org/voices
info@WomenInAgile.Org
Join a local group
www.WomenInAgile.org/local
Start a local group
www.WomenInAgile.org/starting-a-local-group
Become a member
www.WomenInAgile.org/membership
Sponsor/Donate
impact@womeninagile.org

27. How else can YOU volunteer?
• Website development and graphic design (Wordpress)
• Write a blog, submit a podcast topic
• Volunteer coordination
• Suggest a special program
• Partnership with other organizations (non profits or for profits) or
conferences
• What else can you share?

28. Natalie Warnert
Women in Agile Org
President & Executive Director
natalie@womeninagile.org
www.womeninagile.org
@womeninagileorg