Dave and Bob have great comments on my post, Might Three Backlogs Be Better Than One?. Dave is describing situations where management is making reasonable decisions, not incurring management debt, and by extension, technical debt. Bob and I have experience with significant management debt. (Take a look at Musings About Management Debt for more information
I’ve been working with several clients on their transition to agile approaches to their projects. They all have a common state: Many features to implement Huge technical debt Many defects They want to get a handle on all the work they have to do. I suggested they consider three backlogs, making sure that for a
One of the most important things to do in an interview is to build rapport. I led a session last week at AYE, focused on conversations (not specifically interviews). One of the more memorable things I said is that you need to be personal but not intimate. A participant asked, “What is personal but not
I’ve been reviewing job descriptions from clients that are a laundry list of tools. Or, that ask for “significant experience” with a particular technology. No, no, no. People are not tools. They are human beings who have specific qualities, preferences, and technical and non-technical skills. When you think about those personal qualities, think about these
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc. Pragmatic Manager, Vol. 6#3, You Can’t Do All the Work. Now What? October 21 , 2009 In This Issue: You Can’t Do All the Work. Now What? Manage Your Project Portfolio Only 6 Spots Left at AYE You Can’t Do All the Work. Now What? In the last Pragmatic Manager newsletter,
I’m not a fan of ROI (Return on Investment) measures for software, except in the case where you have waste. Several of my clients have huge technical debt which creates waste for the development staff (not just developers, anyone involved with the development of the product). When you’re dealing with waste, user stories just might
I’m slow to post this one: Giordano Scalzo’s lovely review of Manage Your Project Portfolio is up at Reviewing Manage Your Project Portfolio. I love the part where he says: This book is a must read for everyone involved in IT world, from junior developer ’till C-level executive. As usual, Johanna Rothman uses a very
In their comments to my post, Agile and Remote People: Part 1, Telecommuting, Matt, Lisa, Pete, Abby all had great rebuttals. They successfully make their remote teams work. They have successfully built trust. They use a variety of communications tools that allow their team members to work together. Good for them. (I mean it. I am
A twitter follower was concerned with a piece of my post, Do What’s Effective For You, when I spoke of team bits. Was I saying you could not telecommute and do agile? First, let me explain what a team bit is. A team bit is a person or a group of people grouped by geography
At a prospective client, a senior manager asked me, “In agile, when does the spec freeze?” I said it either didn’t, or did at the end of any iteration in which people wrote a spec. He had a puzzled look on his face, so I explained that if you discuss how to design or what