Michelle’s official backstory
Michelle is an Enterprise Agile Coach for WPS Health Solutions, Wisconsin's leading health benefits provider. Over her 15 years working in Agile environments she has held every accountability—from Product Owner and Scrum Master to Developer, coach and leader. Michelle’s 360-degree perspective helps her see all sides of a problem to help teams find the best path forward. She has a remarkable ability to build bridges and gain consensus while identifying impediments and working with leadership to remove them to reach goals and deliver value.
Michelle’s introduction to Agile
Michelle was on a software team in the late 90s with some other developers trying out new things, including Scrum. It was through trial and error that she ended up on a team using Agile, and it was a miserable failure. Michelle explains, “Sometimes passion isn’t enough to get you over the hump—we didn’t have a Scrum Master or a Product Owner; it was really organic.”
Fast forward several years after a boatload of experience, Michelle became one of the leaders who helped bring Agile to new teams at UW Credit Union. “I learned a lot along the way, mostly that Agile is about people, not the framework,” she states. “It’s about getting people on the same page and working together to deliver small increments of functionality and then asking if we’re on the right path forward?”
Biggest Success with Agile:
Michelle had the opportunity to work with a team redefining their products and reorganizing their teams around them to optimize value delivery. She recalls that the best part of this experience was facilitating a self-organization session in a remote environment for over 60 Agile team members. “It was such an exciting, empowering adventure and a pleasure to see how much the team’s morale improved when they realized they could control how they work together to deliver value. It was such a night and day contrast, and I am proud to have been a part of it.”
What Michelle looks forward to at Scrum Day USA?
Michelle says she is looking forward to learning from other passionate practitioners in the field—getting inspiration, and sharing stories of the journeys everyone has taken along the way. “Agile is not a destination, it is a constant evolution and learning path in the way people work, and it’s always exciting to connect with others in the movement.”
Scrum Day happens September 14, 2023, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Don’t miss out on hearing from Scrum.org CEO Dave West and our other incredible speakers!
Get your ticket to Scrum Day today while early bird pricing lasts.