The good news is the economy’s coming back slowly. The bad news is that it is *slow*. In a slow economy, companies fund line positions – positions that directly affect how well the company can complete its projects. The company may need staff positions, such as process improvement or administrators, but they won’t fund those […]
If you’re a project manager, a functional manager, a technical lead, or someone who wants to improve their work, start a journal or a log. When I was an engineer, I kept an engineering notebook. I discovered a bunch of ways I created the same defects. (Yes, developers create defects as they create products,
The Pragmatic Manager, Volume 1 #1 Feature Article: Three Parts of Estimation Project work estimation has three components: the initial first cut, commonly known as a SWAG (Scientific Wild Tush Guess), tracking the estimate against the actuals, and using the schedule to see what’s happening in your project. Part 1: Initial Estimate If you’re a
I use the CMM in my work. The CMM/CMMI is a wonderful collection of key process areas. Every product development environment can use many of the key process areas to improve their work. The keyword in that sentence is *many*, not all. When companies aim for a particular level of the CMM/CMMI, they do
Ok, so you’re all nodding your heads saying, “JR, why wouldn’t I ask about what’s important? Do you think I’m an idiot?” No. You are absolutely not an idiot. You may not remember to ask about everything that *is* important. A colleague on Jerry Weinberg’s Shape forum was discussing a problem she had with a
Auditions are an interviewing technique that lets you watch the candidate in action. Actors audition for parts, why shouldn’t technical people audition for their work?Here’s how to develop an audition: Define the behaviors you want to see in an audition. You can’t see everything about a person, just a 15-30 minute snippet, so define the
I talked to a project manager recently who was so busy fussing with the schedule (WBS) that he didn’t have time to make decisions on the project. He was a project administrator, not a project manager. If you’re working on a difficult and complex project, spend time on the schedule. You need to review
If you’re looking for a job, make sure you describe the benefits of your work to potential employees. Especially if you’ve been performing staff work such as QA or process improvement, try to quantify the benefits of your work. Here are some examples: Instead of saying “Led process definition” consider: Managed process improvement project, leading
Have one or two open reqs? Want to make the most of them? Follow these steps: Define the job. Don’t create a laundry list of tools and technology. Create a set of requirements for the position: Who will the person interact with, and how What the person needs to know about the product domain
How much time should your project spend on development vs. time on quality? I’ve received a bunch of email over the past year asking me how much time a project should allocate to development and how much to quality. To me, that’s a funny question, because I think of quality as integrated with development. So,