The Michigan Agile Speaker Series, sponsored by Medical School Information Services (MSIS), brings together thought leaders and practitioners of the Agile methodology to campus to share their experiences, insights, and vision. The Michigan Agile Philosophy for project management focuses on dedicated, self-organizing teams in a co-located space, and includes customers and product owners in a shared work process. Agile is an alternative approach to traditional project management and, while it is often used for software development, it can also be applied to managing any type of work. Although successfully used in many industries, MSIS is one of the first organizations at the University of Michigan to use Agile as a core part of their practice.

The first Michigan Agile Speaker Series presentation will feature Nayan Hajratwala, owner of Chikli Consulting, on “Putting Agile & Lean Principles in Practice.” Agile & Lean principles and practices have great power -- from helping a business be more responsive, to increasing quality of software, and most importantly, to creating a happier workplace. Hajratwala will provide a whirlwind tour of the principles underlying these critical Information Technology skills, explain why you need to understand them and talk about how they can be leveraged to benefit an organization and its teams.