Pragmatic Manager Newsletter
The Pragmatic Manager: An Email Newsletter
If you’d like some common sense, down-to-earth ideas about how to manage your projects, manage your people, or manage your individual work, you’ve come to the right place. The newsletter is free. The mailing list is private. I will never sell your name or email address. Use the form to the right to subscribe.
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See all previous Pragmatic Manager Newsletters in reverse chronological order here.
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Previous Pragmatic Manager Newsletters by Topic
agile
- Agile Programs: Possible or a Pipe Dream?
- Building or Maintaining Agility in Geographically Distributed Teams
- Developing and Nurturing Respect in Geographically Distributed Teams
- Managing Timezones in Geographically Distributed Agile Teams
- Three Tips for Your Geographically Distributed Agile Teams
- Using Checkins to Create Transparency
- Why Do Iterations Have to be the Same Duration in Agile?
appreciations
automated test
coaching
- Always Ask the Zeroth Question About Your Projects
- Are You Being Guilted Into Doing More?
- Are Your “Shoulds” Driving Your Decisions?
- Explaining Options When You Coach
- Focus on One Thing at a Time
- The Problem Statement is Not Always the Problem
communication
continuous integration
cultural fit
- Great People Create Great Products
- How Do We Treat Each Other?
- Your Culture: What is Okay for You to Discuss?
culture
- How Do We Treat Each Other?
- What Does Your Organization Reward?
- Your Culture: What is Okay for You to Discuss?
dashboard
delegation
done
estimation
facilitation
fault feedback ratio
feedback
geographically distributed teams
- Building or Maintaining Agility in Geographically Distributed Teams
- Building Trust in Any Team
- Developing and Nurturing Respect in Geographically Distributed Teams
- Distributed? Yes. Alone? No.
- Managing Timezones in Geographically Distributed Agile Teams
- Micromanagement is Not Transparency!
- Start Your Geographically Distributed Projects Right
- Three Tips for Your Geographically Distributed Agile Teams
- Timeboxes Help Multisite Teams
- Using Checkins to Create Transparency
Hiring Geeks That Fit
- Great People Create Great Products
- How Do We Treat Each Other?
- How Effective Are You?
- What Does Your Organization Reward?
- Your Culture: What is Okay for You to Discuss?
hiring
- Great People Create Great Products
- How Do We Treat Each Other?
- More People Does Not Equal Better Projects
- What Does Your Organization Reward?
- Your Culture: What is Okay for You to Discuss?
inch-pebble
influence
interviewing
iteration
leadership
Manage Your Project Portfolio
- Always Ask the Zeroth Question About Your Projects
- Are You Being Guilted Into Doing More?
- Are Your “Shoulds” Driving Your Decisions?
- Focus on One Thing at a Time
management
- Appreciations, Personalized Thank You’s
- Choosing Facilitation
- Great People Create Great Products
- How Effective Are You?
- Look for Results, not Time
- Plan Now For Your Next Time Out of the Office
- Three Myths and Three Tips
- When You’re Having a Bad-Manager Day
- Who’s In Charge of Quality?
metrics
multitasking
- Always Ask the Zeroth Question About Your Projects
- Are You Being Guilted Into Doing More?
- Are Your “Shoulds” Driving Your Decisions?
- Focus on One Thing at a Time
- Johanna’s New Year’s Tips
- The Perils of Parallel Projects
- Why Multitasking Doesn’t Work
New Years tip
- A New Year’s Tip: Start Small
- A Small New Year’s Tip: Timebox, Not Scopebox
- Focus on One Thing at a Time
- Johanna’s New Year’s Tips
observation
one-on-one
overtime
problem solving leadership
problem solving
problem
product owner
program management
- Agile Programs: Possible or a Pipe Dream?
- Organizing Programs
- Program Management
- Timeboxes Help Multisite Teams
- Who Decides What Done Means for a Program?
project charter
project management tips
project management
- “It’s Just the First Slip”
- “What Does It Cost You To Fix A Defect?”
- Avoid Death Marches
- Building or Maintaining Agility in Geographically Distributed Teams
- Discovering and Maintaining Your Project’s Heartbeat, Part 1
- Discovering and Maintaining Your Project’s Heartbeat, Part 2
- Distributed? Yes. Alone? No.
- Great People Create Great Products
- Hope is Not a Strategy
- How Effective Are You?
- Making Waterfall (a Serial Lifecycle) Work For You, Part 1
- Making Waterfall (a Serial Lifecycle) Work For You, Part 2
- Making Waterfall (a Serial Lifecycle) Work For You, Part 3
- Managing Timezones in Geographically Distributed Agile Teams
- Recognizing the Bring-me-a-Rock Schedule Game
- Refocusing: 90% Done is Not Almost Done
- Refocusing: Emerging from the Split Focus Schedule Game
- Release Criteria, or “Is it Ready to Ship?”
- Start Your Geographically Distributed Projects Right
- Steering vs. Repeatable
- The Perils of Parallel Projects
- Three Myths and Three Tips
- Three Parts of Estimation
- Use Overtime as a Last Resort
- Using Checkins to Create Transparency
- Who’s In Charge of Quality?
- Why a Project Charter Works
- Why Do Iterations Have to be the Same Duration in Agile?
project portfolio management
- Always Ask the Zeroth Question About Your Projects
- Are You Being Guilted Into Doing More?
- Are Your “Shoulds” Driving Your Decisions?
- Focus on One Thing at a Time
- How Effective Are You?
- How Many Emergency Projects Do You Have?
- Johanna’s New Year’s Tips
- Kill Canceled Projects
- Park Projects You Can’t Staff, For Now
- Starting Strategic Planning
- Three Myths and Three Tips
- When Your Projects Are a Program
- Why Multitasking Doesn’t Work
- You Can’t Do All the Work. Now What?
quality
rapport
recruiting
reflection
release criteria
respect
risk management
risk
rule of three
schedule game
schedule games
- Hope is Not a Strategy
- Refocusing: 90% Done is Not Almost Done
- Refocusing: Emerging from the Split Focus Schedule Game
strategic planning
teams
testing
timebox
- A Small New Year’s Tip: Timebox, Not Scopebox
- Making Waterfall (a Serial Lifecycle) Work For You, Part 1
- Timeboxes Help Multisite Teams
