© 2005 Johanna Rothman. This column was originally published on Stickyminds.com Partway through an assessment, the senior manager asked me, “How long should the testing take?” The answer to the senior manager’s question is, “It depends.” If you do test-driven development, there is rarely more than an iteration’s worth of at-the-end testing. When I coach […]
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. This article was originally published on Computerworld.com There’s some good news in this year’s salary survey. Salaries are up (a little), bonuses are up (a little) and the effects of layoffs, hiring freezes and outsourcing are all down — a little. And training budgets look as if they may be coming
I perform project and process assessments as part of my consulting work. During one assessment, a senior manager took me aside, and said, “I want you to tell me what you think of our testers.” “All of them?” “Yup.” “Ok, why?” “Well, the developers meet all their milestones, but the testers don’t meet any.” Hmm.
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Some project managers considering moving to iterative, incremental, or agile lifecycles, stumble when it comes time to move to rolling wave planning. They aren’t sure how to start it, how to continue it, or how to see where the project is without using a more traditional Gantt chart and planning the
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Sometimes there’s no time to use the usual hiring process. When you’re in a crunch, you need new thinking. Imagine this scenario: you’ve just discovered there’s a high-risk/high-return project. It won’t take long, but it will take people you don’t have right now. Is there a way to hire people to
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Defining the people who fit your projects You’ve probably heard the adage, “Hire for attitude, train for skills.” There’s a good reason to do so. Hiring for attitude means that you won’t have to fire people who don’t fit into your culture. But that still isn’t easy. Finding people who can
The last few times I’ve taught project management, I’ve explained that multi-project context switching wastes time. The project managers agree with me. But then they ask the question, “How do I explain this to my management? They refuse to believe me.” Managers, especially senior managers, don’t believe context switching wastes time because all they do
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. So you’re managing people and projects around the world. It’s not easy, and it seems to be the norm these days. I’ve worked with global projects for the past 15 years, and here are three of my tips to making them successful. Define Clear, System-Based Milestones One of the biggest problems
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. Compensation isn’t just about money; for some workers, it’s about a job that satisfies them in other ways. Discover their interests and you just might save on salary. One of the toughest problems facing hiring managers is determining a fair and reasonable offer. Offer too little money and a candidate will
© 2005 Johanna Rothman. They may not have a traditional work history, but college grads do have experiences. Learn how to glean what they do know. It’s spring, and college seniors are starting to look for jobs. I’m assuming you’ve done a job analysis, to determine the essential personal qualities, preferences, and skills that your