Monthly Archives: October 2003

Slow to Post This Week

Posted on October 29, 2003 by Johanna

I’m at the STAR West conference this week. I presented a tutorial, “Becoming a Great Test Manager,” and keynoted this morning, “Managing the Management Balancing Act.” Esther and I are facilitating two dialogues sessions, so the week is full. I … Continue reading →

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Showing Project Progress (NOT percent complete)

Posted on October 22, 2003 by Johanna

  Last night at my SPIN talk someone came up to me at the end of the talk. I’d discussed earned value and inch-pebbles in my talk but hadn’t specifically discussed how to avoid the dreaded “percent complete” reporting problem … Continue reading →

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No Decision is a Decision

Posted on October 19, 2003 by Johanna

  The Boston area still isn’t over the Red Sox loss last week, and one good thing to arise from their loss is a discussion of management decisions. In A cautionary tale: management counts, Douglas Eisenhart says “If you think … Continue reading →

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The Never-Ending Search for Higher Productivity

Posted on October 15, 2003 by Johanna

  On the face of it, higher productivity looks like a Good Thing. More products for less time. Who wouldn’t want this? But I wonder about this search for higher productivity. What do managers really want? If you want to … Continue reading →

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Predicting Project Completion

Posted on October 14, 2003 by Johanna

  It’s fall conference season, and I’ve been quiet because of the travel and final preparations for sessions. One of my sessions at the AYE conference is called Predicting Project Completion. I decided it was time to explore how to … Continue reading →

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Agile Techniques are Discipline from Within the Team, not Control from the PM

Posted on October 8, 2003 by Johanna

  I’m at the 13ICSQ conference this week. One person (at least) was confused about agile processes: Conference attendee: “Agile processes are a license to hack!!!!!!!” JR: “No. Every agile team I’ve seen is highly disciplined. No hacking there. I’m … Continue reading →

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The Project Manager Defines the Process for a Project

Posted on October 7, 2003 by Johanna

  I met a test manager recently who was excited about starting a new position as a QA manager: “I really want to make a difference in the company, so I’m going to be the quality manager and set up … Continue reading →

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