Tag Archives: meetings

What I Wish I’d Said for the Lightning Talk: 100% Utilization

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Johanna Rothman

I did decide to talk about how we got started on 100% utilization and what to do about it. I didn’t say everything I wanted to say, so here is what I wish I’d said: How 100% Utilization Got Started … Continue reading →

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A Few Rants on Meeting Etiquette

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Johanna Rothman

I get to see a lot of meeting behavior. A few rules I use for meetings: End the meeting at 5 minutes before the hour. Most people have another meeting starting on the hour, and this gives them a shot … Continue reading →

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Resorts Aren’t Necessary for Strategic Planning

Posted on October 8, 2008 by Johanna Rothman

I’m sure you’ve read of the AIG scandal by now. (Here is the Fox News story and here is the CNN story.)  Shame is too small a word for those executives. I would love to know where their entitlement comes … Continue reading →

Posted in strategic planning | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Meetings, Project Portfolio, and Lean

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Johanna Rothman

I’ve been writing pieces of the project portfolio book, and was wondering how to explain how managers get caught in the trap of having too many projects. Then I read Joe Ely’s Minimizing Work-in-Process for Knowledge Workers, and had an … Continue reading →

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Why Does a Meeting Need Buckets?

Posted on April 11, 2008 by Johanna Rothman

I’ve been working with managers of varying stripes, and a middle manager was proudly explaining how he deals with getting people’s attention at meetings. “I get a big bucket and put it on a chair next to the door. Everyone … Continue reading →

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Whose Standup Is It?

Posted on June 20, 2007 by Johanna Rothman

  Esther and I were teaching a Behind Closed Doors tutorial at Better Software yesterday. One of the participants was a program manager. He couldn’t see the value of the standup meetings the Scrum teams used every day. “They talk … Continue reading →

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Visible Progress

Posted on January 23, 2004 by Johanna Rothman

  Rick commented on my last post that some engineers think that status checking slows them down. Mark said that engineers push back on demos and pointless measurements and then said in another comment, “progress metrics can always be free.” … Continue reading →

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I’m Not Against Team Things, Really I’m Not

Posted on July 3, 2003 by Johanna Rothman

I’ve been subjected to a bunch of team building activities that fell flat for me. My Last Word column in this month’s STQE talks about alternatives to team building. Here’s the quick recipe: Choose a topic the team has a … Continue reading →

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