Simone, a French project manager, emailed me. “Johanna, we are having trouble getting the people together. These people worked together before on the previous release. But on this release, they are not working together. I’ve done these things,” and she listed a number of smart ideas. I replied by email, “Where’s the project charter with
Vol 9, #3: Always Ask the Zeroth Question About Your Projects Jan 17, 2012, ISSN: 2164-1196 Sometimes, you wonder why you are doing this project. You spend all this time on it, you’re sure there isn’t much value from the project, and still, the project is on the top of your manager’s list. There’s
Are You Being Guilted Into Doing More? Ned, a development manager I know, looked exhausted. “I’m trying to keep development going, and support pre-sales, and support post-sales, and support customer support. When is my group supposed to have time to do development??” He has a point. If his team does all the nice-guy work, they
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc. Vol 9, #1: Are Your “Shoulds” Driving Your Decisions? Jan 6, 2012 ISSN: 2164-1196 In This Issue:
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc. Vol 8, #9: Focus On One Thing at a Time Dec 30, 2011 ISSN: 2164-1196 In This Issue:
Vol 8, #8: Three Myths and Three Tips I have been fortunate this year to be working and speaking internationally. And, almost everywhere I go, some manager or project manager takes me aside. “Johanna, can I ask you a crazy question?” I always answer that I’m sure the question is not crazy. The manager shakes
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc. Vol 8, #7: Organizing Programs Oct 11, 2011 ISSN: 2164-1196 In This Issue: Organizing Programs Johanna’s Speaking Calendar
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc. Vol 8, #6: Plan Now for Your Next Time Out of the Office Sept 7, 2011 In This Issue: Plan Now for Your Next Time Out of the Office Johanna’s Speaking Calendar New to the Pragmatic Manager? Plan Now for Your Next Time Out of the Office I met with a
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc. Vol 8, #5: Who Decides What Done Means for a Program? July 26, 2011 In This Issue: Who Decides What Done Means for a Program? Want to Explore More About Large Agile Programs? New to the Pragmatic Manager? Who Decides What Done Means for a Program? When I start working
Solve Problems With the Rule of Three You may have noticed in these Pragmatic Manager emails that I articulate a problem I’ve seen and then offer you a minimum of three potential reasonable solutions. Sometimes, I even offer four solutions. That’s because I use the Rule of Three to help develop these solutions—and it works.