Author name: Johanna

I help you identify and solve the problems that prevent you from releasing systems, hiring the right people, deciding which project to work on next. I take a pragmatic approach: what will work best for you, now? Some people call me a focuser. Some call me an accelerator. When I work with people, first we define our goal together. Typically, it's to get a better product out the door faster. I work with my clients to help managers figure out how to do the managing better, and how the technical contributors can contribute better, not to create a by-the-book system. I work with you, your staff, and your current product development practices. Together, we learn what works well for you and what doesn't. I believe in changing only what needs to be changed at the current time, to maximize your success. We work together to develop a blueprint for the future, and to build in capacity to recognize and implement change.

management, MPD

StarWest Slides Posted on SlideShare

I delivered a keynote last week at StarWest, Becoming a Kick-A** Test Manager.” If you want to watch me in action, you can register for the virtual conference, and see a number of the keynotes and talks. I had an interview, too. I try to build interaction into all my talks, including my keynotes. I […]

Articles

Management Myth #9: We Have No Time for Training

“Hey, George, I want to talk to you about training for my group,” Andrea said. “Don’t start with that again,” George said. “I know you have a group of developers who need training. Two years ago, when you ran testing, you had a group of testers who needed training. Why do all your groups need

newsletter

How Do We Treat Each Other?

Rothman Consulting Group, Inc. Vol 9, #15: Your Culture:How Do We Treat Each Other? October 3, 2012                                                                                  ISSN:2164-1196 In This Issue: Your Culture:

management, MPD

Management Myth About "No Time for Training" Posted

I have another management myth posted on Stickyminds. This one is about training. “Management Myth #9: We Have No Time for Training” is up on the site. Now, I have to admit, that when I was a new manager, I fell for this myth. Oh, I knew enough to make sure that we had lunch-and-learns.

MPD, portfolio management

Gold, Silver, Bronze Comparison for the Project Portfolio Requires Collaboration

When I was in Brazil teaching the project portfolio workshop, one of the participants explained that his organization sometimes did a form of gold/silver/bronze comparison among the projects. Here’s how it works. Everyone wrote their project names on stickies. The first cut is everyone self-assigns their projects to Gold, Silver, Bronze categories. That’s right, everyone

HTP, interview

Interviewing for an Agile Project Management Job

Now, say you are looking for a job as an agile project manager. Some people might say that’s a crazy job. But hang in there with me for a minute. Imagine you have two or three teams, larger than two pizzas might feed. So, you might well need an agile project manager to coordinate the

HTP, interview

Interview Questions for Project Managers

If you are looking for a project manager, what questions might you ask? Well, it might depend if you are agile, or geographically distributed, or how large a project or program you have. All of those pieces of your context are going to feed into your question development. I hope you ask behavior-description questions. That

management, MPD

Management Myth About Managers and Technical Work

My most recent management myth is up on Techwell, Management Myth #8: I Can Still Do Significant Technical Work. I see managers catch themselves in this one all the time. Maybe you do too. Maybe you disagree with me. Comment over there, please. BTW, This article is a partial attempt to answer the question, “How

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