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.

hiring strategy, HTP

What Do Agile Testers Look Like?

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I recently spoke with a recruiter. “I don’t understand the QA market anymore. No one is hiring except for agile people. And they want people who are developers. What’s happening to QA?” Manual testing was never quality assurance; it was testing. And, manual testing is low-value, high cost work, especially when you compare it to

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MPD, personal

Regaining My Equilibrium

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I’ve had a rough month. When I returned from Agile 2009, my right ear didn’t unblock from the plane. I couldn’t hear out of it, and it was blocked. I didn’t think much of it–I went to the doctor who said, “yup, you’ve got fluid. Take decongestants.” I did, and the vertigo got worse. Finally,

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Articles

Choosing the Strategically Important Work

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Project portfolio management is how we choose the strategically important work—the work that provides the most business value to the organization now. There are two pieces to project portfolio management then: how to choose the work, and for how long. Many organizations struggle to use ROI (Return on Investment). You can try to use ROI.

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Articles

Agile Project Management: No Planning Needed?

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Linda manages a large program LargeEngCo calls “Sales Order Support,” SOS. The SOS program contains four projects. The goal is to provide to the salespeople in the field the list of what products this customer had previously ordered, and what was now available as add-ons for those products. Linda has asked Paul, her CIO, when

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lifecycle, MPD

Do What's Effective For You

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I’ve been working and speaking with whole bunch of people who want to “go agile.” They are not set up for agile. They have gates for approval. They don’t have teams that projects flow through; they assign people to whatever project whenever. (growl. People are not fungible. growl) They have geographically distributed team bits (I

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MPD, portfolio management

When Managers Can’t Hear No

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I recently wrote an article on how to say,  No: Such a Difficult Word, and a twitter follower wanted to know what to do when your manager can’t hear no. First, understand why your manager can’t hear no. Is it because the business pressures are so great that the cost of saying no seems insurmountable?

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hiring strategy, HTP

What Salary Do You Expect is Another Bad Question

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Hiring managers, recruiters, anyone on the phone or in the interview with a candidate: Don’t ask the “What Salary Do You Expect?” question. It puts people on the defensive before you’ve had a chance to build rapport. Instead, as part of the phone screen, say, “This job is in our ‘senior engineer’ level, which has

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MPD, project management

Yak Shaving This Week

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I’m yak shaving this week. When I returned from the Agile conference, my right ear didn’t clear. It’s all clogged now, and the left one isn’t totally clear either. I have vertigo. I’m moving slowly and look drunk when I walk. In the meantime, I have articles to write, proposals to finish, work to do.

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