I know that it might sound a bit pretentious but I believe that SPS values #know-more-to-be-more and #give-back are the most powerful drivers that connect SPS Commerce as an organization and as SPS employees with the society we live in. Not only the various charity initiatives that SPS conducts year after year, but also educational programs for the younger generations and knowledge sharing at professional conferences and events is what makes SPS recognizable within local communities.
One of my objectives for 2020 was to apply and participate as a speaker at the Ukrainian technological conferences as I had in previous years. However, all my plans have been destroyed by the notorious COVID-19. No conferences, no live presentations, no socializing… which I enjoy a lot. The most used words we hear in 2020 are “don’t,” “no,” and “can’t.” We have to do many things differently.
That is why I didn’t hesitate for a second and accepted the invitation I had from my friend, ex-colleague, and SAFe trainer Helen Lubchak to speak at the SAFe remote PI planning: case study webinar. As many professionals struggle with the complexity of the remote planning, the success of the Scaled Agile planning approach at SPS Commerce is the great case study to get acquainted with.
About 50 people from different regions of Ukraine connected to the event.
I took over a speaker’s seat after an impressive story of the project manager who conducted a pretty stressful remote PI planning with her Dutch colleagues last spring. Once more, I realized how solid, well-organized, and fully-equipped the SPS Scaled Agile approach is.
It was a real joy to share our experience and answer questions about our twice successful planning in a fully-remote mode in order to help other people save time on the research, avoid potential mistakes, and get prepared for the challenges they will definitely see in their Scaled Agile practice. In spite of the new pandemic reality, we always have an option to give back and let people know about SPS and our success stories. So, let’s get after it.
