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.

HTP, interview

What Would You Like to Know?

Bruce Eckel has a nice post, What Questions Would You Ask?, especially for developers. I really like the question about books :-)Here’s how I would expand on that for project managers and testers: How do we you make project decisions? Can you give me an example? What happens at the end of the project? or […]

MPD, schedule

Probabilistic Scheduling

I’m writing my project management book. I have no idea how far along I am. (Wait, I promise to explain.) When I write, I have several phases: the exploratory phase, where I write articles, the write-it-down phase, where I write the whole thing down (in chunks, of course), and the editing phase. I’m in the

hiring strategy, HTP

Using Essays Instead of Resumes

Last week at SD, I met up with Brian Robertson of Ternary Software, a small consulting company in the Philadelphia area. They have a different approach for their first contact with a candidate: they ask candidates to fill out essays (scroll down to see the essay questions).These essay questions reflect the culture of the company.

hiring strategy, HTP

Reviewing Resumes for an Agile Team: Summary

I hope that when you read these posts, you came to the same conclusion I did. It’s almost impossible to detect from a resume whether or not a candidate is accustomed to an agile project, or could work on an agile project successfully. Keywords, especially, are useless when it comes to reviewing resumes. So what’s

MPD

Teaching Moments Occur Less Often Than We Think

  Last week at SD Best Practices, I led an experiential half-day session about coaching. A significant number of the participants thought their job was to teach the other person what to do. (I think one person actually said “lead them to enlightenment.”) While it may be true in sports or school coaching, peer-to-peer coaching

MPD, writing

Need Help with a Phrase

  I’m writing the project management book. I’m noting that sometimes PMs (and teams) perform activities that have no lasting useful effect on the project. One example is doing estimation with feedback. If you estimate but never check reality against those estimates, that’s an example of “mental masturbation: it feels good but there’s no lasting

management, MPD

What Were the Managers Thinking?

I read RadioShack employees get pink slip via e-mail and at first thought I must have read it wrong. I was stunned to think that anyone would think an email notification of a layoff was acceptable. What were the managers thinking?

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