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Johanna’s Books
Tag Archives: capacity
A Rant on People, Resources, Men and Women
Rant on. There’s a flame-fest on the scrumdevelopment list about the use of “resources” or “people” to describe the human beings on projects. I like “humans” or “human beings” or “people.” And, I actually prefer “resources” to “man-hours.” I can … Continue reading
Drop the Bottom 10% of Your Work
Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting, advises consultants to drop the bottom 10% of their work every year. That way you have to force yourself to grow and offer new (frequently more lucrative) offerings. The same advice applies … Continue reading
Management : Take Time for Strategic Thinking
Recently, I gave a talk about useful practices–things to consider adopting/adapting in your organization. (I don’t believe in best practices, the idea that something could be best in all situations is just not credible. See UsefulPractices for more discussion. … Continue reading
A Small Rant About Flat Organizations
I met someone at the Software Development conference this week who told me he had too many people to meet with them all–even on a biweekly basis. I asked him how many people he managed. “30.” That’s not a … Continue reading
Management Myth #1: There is One Right Way to Manage
I’m crazy-busy with the finishing of Behind Closed Doors, so I’m starting another series of blog posts, this time about management myths. (When I’m in a series of posts, it’s easier for me to stay focused on writing a … Continue reading
Posted in management
Tagged Behind Closed Doors, capacity, management, project portfolio management
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Succession Planning or Working Yourself Out of Job
In Who Wants to be a Technical Lead? I promised I’d talk about succession planning. Here’s the general idea: as someone who works for a living, your job should be to work yourself out of your current job by learning, … Continue reading
Process Improvement: Start Where You Are
I had lunch with a friend-of-a-friend today. She’s considering moving to a process improvement position. I suggested she not move from a technical lead to a process improvement position — I don’t trust staff positions in this not-yet-robust economy. … Continue reading
Increase Your Value
I was at the Rational User Conference last week. I took away one significant idea from the keynotes and one of the track sessions: Writing software, according to Grady Booch is a “priviledge and a responsibility.” Systems are becoming … Continue reading
You Always Have the Option of Firing Non-Performers
Now that I’m back from vacation, I’m catching up on my reading. I enjoyed David Anderson’s Management versus Leadership on ‘The Apprentice’ which prompted me to think about what I would have done in Kwame’s place. It took me a … Continue reading
Optimization and Capacity, Reprise
Oh dear. I was not sufficiently articulate in my last post. Both Frank and David in their comments asked about capacity, the output of the organization over time. That will teach me to post when I’m tired. (Maybe.) Let … Continue reading
