I had lunch a few days ago with a colleague who spent almost two years looking for a job. He’s happily employed now, and told me his secret weapon: “All you need is a business card. “When he saw my surprise, he explained. “To effectively network, you need to give people your email address and […]
Last week at the Software Development conference, I met a software director. His group, a total of about 30-40 people (I’ve forgotten the exact number) is responsible for all the software his company produces. He has two managers managing those folks. He’s busy, so although he requests that his managers have one-on-ones with their staff,
Hiring mistakes are common. Too often, we don’t consider in advance what our critical criteria are, and we make mistakes. Here are some I made early in my management career: I hired a prima donna developer, because I didn’t listen to my gut telling me he was wrong for our culture. The rest of the
First read Esther’s entry about the Secrets of Motivation for some great pointers on not demotivating people. If you’re having a cynical day or need a chuckle go to Despair.com. At dinner last night, some friends were talking about motivational posters — and we all laughed. One colleague told me about these sarcastic motivational
Originally published in Computerworld. During the past few years, we’ve been bombarded with news of outsourced call centers, help desks, testing, development, projects and entire IT infrastructures. It sure looks as if outsourcing is the way to go. Before you jump on the outsourcing bandwagon, ask yourself this question: What’s the value of the knowledge
Hal asks a fascinating question in Variation is an Enemy Enabler of Project Success: How can we take advantage of serendipity rather than forcing an outcome in our projects? (paraphrased) One technique is to observe and listen to the project. When PMs observe their projects, they look at and listen to: How people work together.
If you’re wondering how to network with people in person, take a look at Susan RoAne’s The Secrets of Savvy Networking, Chapter 4. I haven’t read the whole book, just the chapter she posted online. I like the part about magnificent minglers.For those of us who never made it to charm school, bring your self-esteem
Whether you’re a hiring manager or a candidate, read Staying Networked. (Sorry, link no longer exists.) If you’re a hiring manager, you’ll want to network to find people, otherwise you’ll be overwhelmed with not-necessarily-appropriate resumes. If you’re a candidate with more than a few years of experience, networking is your best way to find a
I was reading David Anderson’s Working Smarter Not Harder and thought about managers. David’s right, a few small improvements can dramatically increase a team’s productivity and therefore lower the cost of development. But I contend that most of the productivity costs in software is the way we mismanage software projects. If managers worked smarter, they
We all do it, but it’s pricey: Context switching demands valuable time and energy. Ranking priorities can help you manage that melting clock. Bob, the VP, told Sam, the PM, “I have three high-priority projects. I trust you. I want you to run those projects.” Sam’s flattered, but queasy: He knows that if he tries to