Do You Have Too Much to Do? If you are like most of the people I work with and meet, you have too much to do. You’d like to say, “No!” to more work, but maybe you’re not sure how. The first step is to gather all the work, so you and everyone else knows
In many of my transitioning to agile clients, the managers want to know when the project will be done. Or, they want to know how much the project will cost. (I have a new book about this, Predicting the Unpredictable: Pragmatic Approaches to Estimating Cost or Schedule.) Managers ask for estimates because they want to
I was thinking about the best projects and teams I know. They work in different industries and have different customers. Some are engineering teams. Some are IT. Some are agile; some aren’t. Some are in transition. One thing they have in common is that they are happy teams. If you asked them to show you
Every time I work with a client or teach a workshop, people want more ways to visualize their project portfolios. Here are some ideas: Here is a kanban view of the project portfolio with a backlog: And a kanban view of the project portfolio with an “Unstaffed Work”
I’ve been talking with clients recently about their managers’ and HR’s transition to agile. I hear this common question: “How do we manage performance of the people on our agile teams?” Reframe “manage performance” to “career development.” People on agile teams don’t need a manager to manage their performance. If they are retrospecting at reasonable
Hiring managers who haven’t read Hiring Geeks That Fit are now asking another irrelevant question: Tell me something no one else knows about you. Now, in case you aren’t sure, this is an irrelevant question. It doesn’t directly help an interviewer learn how the candidate can perform the work or fit with the team. It doesn’t
Update: I titled it Predicting the Unpredictable. I have finished the content for Essays on Estimation. But, I need a new title. The book is more than loosely coupled essays. It reads like a real book, with progression and everything. I have a number of ideas. They are (in no particular order): Predicting the Unpredictable:
I have an article up on agileconnection.com called Common Misconceptions about Agile: There Is Only One Approach. If you read my Design Your Agile Project series, you know I am a fan of determining what approach works when for your organization or project. Please leave comments over there. Thanks! Two notes: If you would like to
I had dinner with a colleague. While we were settling into our coffee, he asked me, “What does post-agile mean to you?” I was no longer calm and relaxed. “That’s a nonsense word. Post-agile!” Here’s why I reacted the way I did. We have known about miniature milestones, or inch-pebbles, since the 1940s. That’s how
I run into clients who believe they are applying agile project management. Yet they are seeing little benefit. Why? Typically these folks try to apply agile while still using a fixed mindset. In this article, I’ll give you core practices and tips for reaping the benefits of agile. Fixed vs. Growth Mindset In agile, we