The Pomodoro® Time Management Course

A 100-Hour Programme

THE CHALLENGE: Every software system undergoes changes: features get added, removed, or modified. In software development, the "cost of change" curve represents how the cost of making changes to the software increases over time. The challenge? To flatten this curve, ensuring the cost of change remains low, predictable, and constant. It shouldn't matter if you're developing a certain user story today or in six months - the costs shouldn't spike. To achieve this result, continuous work is required to reduce the complexity of your software system.

Software Development teams, inclusive of management, product and tech units, often struggle with a growing cost of change curve. Despite adopting agile methodologies or similar approaches, their cost of change curve always rises. For them, introducing a certain feature now is less expensive than doing it in six months. This is because, over time, their software system becomes more complex, and therefore, hinders change. The marginal cost per unit of change often grows exponentially, making delivery times unpredictable.

MAIN GOAL

Reduce the cost of change by simplifying your system complexity

Enable a skilled cross-functional team to apply a process that develops software capable of accepting changes and flattens the cost of change curve.

Our programme brings together managers, product teams, and software developers, all working towards a common goal: to flatten the cost of change curve. Our primary objective is to reduce the cost of change in your software system by helping your team simplify its complexity. The result is more functionality delivered in less time, reduced stress, and predictable outcomes. Ultimately, we aim to empower your team to evolve into a highly-skilled, self-organized, and cross-functional unit. Our programme equips your team to shape a unique software development process, skillfully integrating industry best practices. In addition, our programme aids in building a shared language among management, product, and tech teams, facilitating effective change management.

DETAILED GOALS
Group
Goal
Details
People
Focus on creating a virtuous circle of win-win practices
Strengthen trust
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Enhance employee retention
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Empower employees
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Boost employee skills
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Process
Apply an adaptive software development process
Foster a shared vision of the product and software system
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Create a truly cross-functional team without silos
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Equip your team to develop software that thrives on change
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Product
Learn practices and techniques
Assess the adaptability of your software system
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Control and reduce the complexity of your software system
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Achieving Continuous Delivery is a result of system simplification, not an exertion of brute force
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BENEFITS

MORE

Group
Result → More
People
Building a shared language among management, product and tech teams
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Clear role definitions
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Comprehensive training
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Cross-functional unit
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Effective and sustainable work practices
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Highly-skilled
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Increased awareness
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Motivation
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Opportunities for skill enhancement
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Promoting versatility in skills (despecialization)
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Self-organized
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Streamlined meetings
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Process
Enabling everyone to contribute to product/system improvement
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Establishing clear responsabilities
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Improving quality
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Predictable outcomes
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Promoting versatility in skills
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Simplifying software system
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Skillfully integrating industry best practices
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Unique software development process
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Product
Effective change management
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More functionality
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LESS

Group
Result → Less
People
Fear
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Stress
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Process
Confusion and uncertainty
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Eliminating waste
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Product
Delivery in less time
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Tour Program: Destinations

By the end of this section, you'll have a clear roadmap of our programme and a comprehensive understanding of how we plan to flatten your cost of change curve.

Note

The modules within our programme can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your company. Work sessions can be arranged in blocks of 4, 6, or 8 hours, depending on the requirements of your business.

When we refer to the 'development team' in this text, we're speaking about the complete team, which functionally consists of managers, product developers, and tech developers. In some companies, there might be separate UX or QA teams. While these teams haven't been explicitly considered in this description for the sake of simplicity, they can certainly be integrated into the programme if they exist within your organization. This functional distribution is the starting point of our programme, aiming to create cross-functional teams.

In the programme, we use two different icons corresponding to the different profiles:

check_box means that we recommend it to that profile
check_box means that the activity is also suitable for that profile.
Type
Activity
Length
Mgmt
Team
Product
Team
Tech
Team
Stop #01:
Part 1 - Flatten the Cost of Change Curve in Software Development

This part focuses on the understanding and mitigation of the cost of change curve in software development. The idea is to make the team understand how simplifying system complexity can reduce the cost of changes.

Mentoring
Flattening the Cost of Change Curve in Software Development: Challenge and Goals
3 hours
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"Object Technology Lets You Build Software Ten Times Faster" --Steve Jobs
3 hours
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The Laundry Object: Practical Lab
2 hours
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Mentoring
Flatten the Cost of Change Curve - How?
2 hours
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Stop #01:
Part 2 - Tailoring and Assembling Your Own Development Process

This part aims to give the team insights on different software development processes. The team will gain insights into how to customize their own development process to better suit their needs and work culture.

Course
Dealing with Growth and Change: The Waterfall Lifecycle
2 hours
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Dealing with Growth and Change: The Iterative and Incremental Lifecycle
2 hours
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Dealing with Growth and Change: Introduction to Adaptive Lifecycles
1 hour
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Dealing with Growth and Change: Extreme Programming (XP) - Business Practices
2 hours
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Dealing with Growth and Change: Extreme Programming (XP) - Tech Practices
2 hours
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Mentoring
Choosing your Process
4 hours
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Stop #01:
Part 3 - Pomodoro® Technique for Teams

This part introduces the Pomodoro technique to enhance team productivity and manage time more efficiently.

Course
The Pomodoro® Internal Process
3 hours
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The Pomodoro® Core Process
3 hours
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The Pomodoro® Daily Process
3 hours
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The Pomodoro® Team Process
3 hours
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Mentoring
Pomodoro® Technique for Managers Q&A
(Note - One or more sessions)
3 hours
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Stop #01:
PART 4 - LET'S WORK ON YOUR SOFTWARE SYSTEM TOGETHER: THE PRODUCT TEAM

The focus here is on equipping the product team with skills to communicate the value of their digital product effectively. This includes understanding and implementing use cases, user stories, and scenarios.

Course
Requests, Requirements, Use Cases, User Stories and Scenarios: What's the difference? An Introduction
2 hours
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Use Case Modeling: Identifying and Structuring Value
3 hours
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Use Case Modeling: Use Case Relationships
3 hours
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Writing User Stories and Scenarios
3 hours
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Splitting User Stories
3 hours
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Mentoring
Workshop: Working on Requirements, Use Cases, User Stories and Scenarios
4 hours
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Stop #01:
ART 5 - LET'S WORK ON YOUR SOFTWARE SYSTEM TOGETHER: THE TECHNICAL TEAM

This part is geared towards the technical team, providing practical techniques to address potential design and architectural issues.

Course
Anti-IF Workshop: Collaboration Diagram Applied
Thinking before coding
3 hours
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Mastering Design Patterns Variations and Dynamics: Strategy State and Command Patterns
3 hours
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Mediator and Observer Patterns
3 hours
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Test-Driven Development in Action
Let's develop a functionality together using the original XP's Test-Driven Development (TDD).
3 hours
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The Story Behind This Programme

Francesco Cirillo, the creator of the Pomodoro® Technique tells the "Pomodoro Story."

"I was a student at the university in 1987 and I had to take the sociology exam in September. I couldn't keep my mind focused on my book. I was constantly getting distracted. I made a humble bet with myself: 'Can you stay focused for two minutes without distraction?' I went to the kitchen, grabbed a timer and came back to my table. The timer was red and shaped like a Pomodoro (tomato in English). I wound it up to two minutes and started reading my book. When the timer rang I had won my bet against Time. Surprised, I began to ask myself why it had worked? I gradually increased the amount of time when I set the timer. I got to one hour, but that was too much. I didn't take too long to realize that, for a number of factors, the ideal unit of work was 25 minutes followed by a 2-5 minute break.

There, on that table in September 1987, I hadn't noticed yet but for the first time I had managed to turn time into an ally. Exactly at the moment when Time appeared to be such a vicious predator to me I managed to stop in front of it, and still and afraid ask this simple question: "How can you, Time, be useful to me now?

For the first time I used time instead of running away from Time. I decided to use Time, spend it to take a break, favour my mental processes, allow my mind to organize the information it had acquired in the working time and put me in the best situation to start my next Pomodoro."


Diploma of Attendance

Upon fully participating in and completing our programme, participants will be awarded a Diploma of Attendance. This diploma represents more than just a certificate; it stands as a symbol of your commitment to enhancing your skills, your understanding of software development, and your determination to boost the overall efficiency of your team.

This document marks your accomplishment in learning to flatten the cost of change curve and simplify complex processes. It is evidence of your preparedness to address the challenges of software development now and in the future. The knowledge, skills, and practices you have gained will continue to serve you and your team beyond the receipt of this diploma.


Price & Offers

Understanding that every team and company is unique, we've developed a suite of flexible options to ensure our programme can be tailored to your needs.

Delivery Format: We value flexibility and convenience. Whether your team is remote, in-office, or a combination of both, we offer our programme in both online and in-person formats to deliver our comprehensive programme in the way that suits you best.

Customization: We understand one size doesn't fit all. That's why we're prepared to adapt or modify specific modules to address the unique challenges your team faces.

Volume Discount: Registering multiple teams from your organization for our programme? We offer a discounted rate to ensure larger organizations can benefit from our expertise.

Adaptable Scheduling: Whether your team prefers a compact, full-time schedule or spreading the course over several weeks with 4-hour weekly sessions, we offer flexible scheduling to meet your needs.

Follow-Up Support: To ensure the ongoing success of your team post-course, we provide follow-up sessions at a reduced rate to address any emergent challenges or reinforce learning.

Group Coaching: Alongside our standard training, we offer focused group coaching sessions that can concentrate on resolving specific problems your team may be experiencing.

Please complete the form below, detailing your team size, composition, and the particular challenges you wish to overcome. This information will allow us to tailor a solution that fits your needs, delivering maximum value and helping your team truly flatten the cost of change curve.

We look forward to working with you and your team.