Does your organization use a PMO as a way to manage the various P functions: project, program, and portfolio management? Plenty of organizations do use PMOs. However, I rarely see them as effective in furthering the organization’s operational excellence or the strategy. Instead, I too often see them as yet another function that creates delays […]
My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I expect all the technical review comments back in about a week. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 30, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing
If you are like most people I know, you have way too many meetings. That leads to an overcrowded calendar and delayed decisions. Worse, it means the time you spend in meetings prevents you from doing “your” work, whatever that work is. That’s especially important the more responsibility you have. The greater your responsibility, the
My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. The book is in technical review, which always feels like I met a big milestone. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 23, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute
This is Johanna Rothman’s May 2025 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Have you noticed that some teams seem to be more effective than others? Most of the time, they manage their WIP (Work in Progress). They learn together. Often, they collaborate across the organization. But the big
My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I am in technical review. That’s the part of the book writing process that tells me if I messed anything up. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for May 16, 2025, where I read
Tim, a fellow consultant, explained he’d taken a transatlantic flight to deliver a keynote at a conference. I asked, “How was the business class on that airline?” He said, “I don’t know, I flew coach.” It was at least a nine-hour flight for him. Surprised, I asked, “Why?” “The conference told me they could not
Pawel Brodzinski has a terrific LinkedIn post about the value of hiring women. In his experience, they stay longer than the men. That means the investment the company makes in these people has a longer payback time. That’s an example of a safe hiring decision. That’s been my experience, too. But I didn’t just hire
Because I am finally over my cold and I fixed my website, I managed to write and record a podcast this week! What a pleasure for me. And I hope for you. The podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna
I’m a huge fan of team-based collaboration to complete small stories through the architecture. (The image above shows three small stories implemented through the architecture.) More collaboration means lower WIP (Work in Progress). That lower WIP allows the team to increase their throughput (finished features) and lower cycle time (release something useful faster). (See how