I’ve been quieter than usual on all the socials and in my writing because I’m deep into finishing the Effective Public Speaking book. (I’m proofing that book today.) That’s because I’m stuck between the tension of finishing this project and starting a new project. I love starting projects. Once I decide to start a project […]
This week, the podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I am in the midst of the final proofing before I go to print. (Thank goodness!) Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 4, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a
I’ve been working with several supposedly “agile” teams and their managers. Everyone knows their project is in trouble. And they have no idea what to do about it. The team members say, “We’re on a death march. We have no predictability. Everything takes longer than we think it will.” The managers say, “We have no
This week’s podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I finished the index and am about to get the various print layouts ready. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 29, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some
Today’s podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I am deep into the indexing. Yes, this is part of the finishing that makes me somewhat nutso. That’s okay. I have promised myself a delightful beverage tonight, as long as I finish it today. (To be honest, I will have a delightful beverage whenever I
I have options for all kinds of work I want to do today: The creative work, which includes a wide variety of writing (articles, blog posts, and yes, more books) and more workshops Paperwork. Yes, I have accounting and all kinds of spreadsheet reconciliation. Client preparation work for when they return from their summer vacations.
This week’s podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. A funny thing happened on the way to the podcast. I’ve been heads-down, proofing and finishing the book. I plan to start the index today. That’s all finishing the book. I hate this part, but if I don’t do it, I can’t publish the book.
Is your team ever surprised by how long things take? Do you hear things such as: Team members say, “I’ve been waiting for code review for more than 2 days.” (See Measure Cycle Time, Not Velocity to see the various durations for solo, cooperative, and collaborative work. Cycle time is a team-based measure of feedback
This week’s podcast is from Effective Public Speaking. I need to finish proofing the book before I add the index. That will tell me how large the cover dimensions need to be, and I can continue. These are all the little details I just can’t stand, but I need to do them. Enjoy! The Podcast:
In a recent conversation, an unemployed agile coach asked, “What’s the point of a project manager, anyway?” Here’s what effective project managers do: They create the environment for the team to succeed. Here’s how effective project managers start: If the team does not yet have a project charter with the product goal, they facilitate or