© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Some project managers considering moving to iterative, incremental, or agile lifecycles, stumble when it comes time to move to rolling wave planning. They aren’t sure how to start it, how to continue it, or how to see where the project is without using a more traditional Gantt chart and planning the […]
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Sometimes there’s no time to use the usual hiring process. When you’re in a crunch, you need new thinking. Imagine this scenario: you’ve just discovered there’s a high-risk/high-return project. It won’t take long, but it will take people you don’t have right now. Is there a way to hire people to
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Defining the people who fit your projects You’ve probably heard the adage, “Hire for attitude, train for skills.” There’s a good reason to do so. Hiring for attitude means that you won’t have to fire people who don’t fit into your culture. But that still isn’t easy. Finding people who can
The last few times I’ve taught project management, I’ve explained that multi-project context switching wastes time. The project managers agree with me. But then they ask the question, “How do I explain this to my management? They refuse to believe me.” Managers, especially senior managers, don’t believe context switching wastes time because all they do
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. So you’re managing people and projects around the world. It’s not easy, and it seems to be the norm these days. I’ve worked with global projects for the past 15 years, and here are three of my tips to making them successful. Define Clear, System-Based Milestones One of the biggest problems
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Compensation isn’t just about money; for some workers, it’s about a job that satisfies them in other ways. Discover their interests and you just might save on salary. One of the toughest problems facing hiring managers is determining a fair and reasonable offer. Offer too little money and a candidate will
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. They may not have a traditional work history, but college grads do have experiences. Learn how to glean what they do know. It’s spring, and college seniors are starting to look for jobs. I’m assuming you’ve done a job analysis, to determine the essential personal qualities, preferences, and skills that your
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. This column originally appeared on Stickyminds.com Summary: Every manager has a story to tell. Find out how one management professional tackles a fictional dilemma. The story may be made up, but the solutions are tried and true. In this installment, Johanna Rothman recounts the tale of a wayward project rescued by a
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. If your agile projects are like most of the projects I’ve encountered, they started because a bunch of people already in your organization decided they needed to use agile techniques to be successful. Those projects have been successful, and now it’s time to hire more people. Now there’s an even more
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Your new hire has just come on board. Now it’s time to integrate him into your business as quickly as possible. You’ve just hired a new person. You’re fully staffed, so now you can pay attention to the work, not more hiring. But how do you bring this person up to