Is your team ever surprised by how long things take? Do you hear things such as: Team members say, “I’ve been waiting for code review for more than 2 days.” (See Measure Cycle Time, Not Velocity to see the various durations for solo, cooperative, and collaborative work. Cycle time is a team-based measure of feedback […]
This week’s podcast is from Effective Public Speaking. I need to finish proofing the book before I add the index. That will tell me how large the cover dimensions need to be, and I can continue. These are all the little details I just can’t stand, but I need to do them. Enjoy! The Podcast:
In a recent conversation, an unemployed agile coach asked, “What’s the point of a project manager, anyway?” Here’s what effective project managers do: They create the environment for the team to succeed. Here’s how effective project managers start: If the team does not yet have a project charter with the product goal, they facilitate or
A colleague recently asked me how a team can deliver something useful in the next four to five weeks. “That’s all? Just four to five weeks?” I asked. Yes, that was all the time they had remaining. They’d worked on this product for a while, but that was the time they had left. This problem
This week, my podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. My copyeditor is zooming through the chapters. I hope I can finish the manuscript next week to get ready for print, etc. The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 1, 2025, where I read
I’ve heard that the AA/PMI wants to create a manifesto for enterprise agility. I’m not sure we need a manifesto, but that’s fine. Here are the necessary conditions for enterprise agility: A culture of flow efficiency thinking. That means everyone collaborates across the organization to optimize up for one overarching goal. Limited planning horizons, with
My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I am happy to report my copyeditor has the book. I’m looking forward to his comments. In other news, I have finally finished renaming the blog posts from their original (and repetitious) “60 Seconds” to useful titles that match the content. I have not
This is Johanna Rothman’s July 2025 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Mike, a new senior leader, wants to know when Engineering will deliver specific projects. He would prefer more accurate estimates, but he’s okay with relative sizing, such as: Small projects: Not more than a quarter (12
This week’s podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. As of this morning, I have four more chapters to review and then, the book is off to the copyeditor. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: While you might want to speak about your general expertise, many speakers prefer to narrow their topics to their specific
Several of my fellow writers are busy writing their nonfiction books. Since I’ve published a number of books, they’ve asked me to take a look at their book covers. Too often, the cover does not do the book or the author justice. The title is too small, the author’s name is way too small, and