Podcast with Tom Cagley Posted
Tom Cagley, of Software Process and Measurement fame, interviewed me a couple of weeks ago. The podcast is here. Enjoy!
MPD, podcast
HTP, Recruiter
Flipping the Bozo Bit on Recruiters
Recruiters are people, too. But when they do something not-so-bright, candidates tend to flip the bozo bit–not just on the recruiter, but on the company also. A colleague is looking for a job. His resume clearly states 5 years at BigCompany. Recruiter from BigCompany sends him email in response to his resume posted on a
MPD, podcast
New Podcast at Pragmatic Bookshelf
Daniel Steinberg, my editor for Manage It! interviewed me a couple of weeks ago. The podcast is here. We discussed some of the issues I’ve seen in organizations on projects. Some of the ideas we discussed were: What does the project manager do, even for an agile project? Has anything changed in project management? What
MPD
Certifications Are for Cars, Not People
There’s an car dealership advertising a multiple-point certification for pre-owned vehicles. To me that translates into “checklist for used cars.” That’s what a certification for people based on book knowledge is also–a checklist that a person knew the right answer. Nothing about the experience or if the experience that led to that knowledge was successful.
lifecycle, MPD
Using Multiple Life Cycles in Combination on a Project, Part 3
I’ve also used Agile life cycles (Scrum with different size timeboxes) in combination on a project. Here, the developers in the corporate location had a series of features that were big. I did suggest they break the features apart into smaller chunks for ease of estimation and implementation, but they didn’t want to 🙂 The
lifecycle, MPD
Using Multiple Life Cycles in Combination on a Project, Part 2
I’ve used another variation on multiple life cycles, especially for larger projects where the project staff or project management didn’t want to or know how to use an agile life cycle. This combination life cycle has two incremental pieces. The developers (at the top of the picture) use Staged Delivery. Since this is not an
lifecycle, MPD
Using Multiple Life Cycles in Combination on a Project, Part 1
I’m not a purist. I use whatever tools make sense for the context I’m in, and when it comes to organizing projects, I use whatever life cycles–in whatever combination–make sense to me. In response to a mailing list query, here are ways I’ve used life cycles for a few projects. Let’s assume you’re collaborating with
management, MPD
Personal Integrity
If you haven’t yet read Esther’s Promises Involve Self, Other, and Context, do so. Here’s a single quote I like: There’s another part of integrity that involves cleaning up your own messes. Cleaning up the messes you create is difficult and necessary.
HTP, job analysis
What’s the Position Worth?
In my recent consulting (workshops and assessments), several technical staff and their managers have told me they’re not sure they are being paid what they’re worth. I ask “How do you know?” They tell me all the ways they’re working for the organization and how much that benefits their managers. I ask the next question,
Articles
What’s Important to You About a Candidate?
As candidate evaluations go, you gotta hand it to the 2008 presidential candidates. They are “interviewing” for the job for longer than the apprentices on the TV show. I was watching the news recently about polling results of the 2008 presidential election. I wasn’t surprised at the top few qualifications: experience, competence, values, and character.