In Part 1, I suggested that when we organize by function, the recognition and rewards might prevent a successful agile transformation. In this part, I’ll discuss an option for a product-oriented organization. Consider a Product-Oriented Organization Instead of organizing by function, consider a product-oriented organization. Again, I am not saying this is the only way […]
One of the big problems I see with a product orientation (as opposed to a project) is in preparing for ongoing work. You might not start the next project for this product after you complete this project. You might have to round-robin projects for various products because you don’t have enough people to do all
Many organizations plan to create certainty, guarantees of some variety. What if we thought about agile planning as a way to manage uncertainty? When I look at long roadmaps with all the “must-do” feature sets and the pressure managers put on teams to commit to delivery, I wonder about this question: How well do we
I explained about objectives and the differences between MBOs and OKRs in Part 1. I’m tackling the issues of “accountability” in this part. Examine Accountability What does accountability mean to you? I’m serious about that question. For many people—managers included—people are accountable when we can blame them for not doing something. If you don’t achieve
I have personal and professional goals. Sometimes, I state them as objectives: complete this book, learn that thing. Those are personal objectives. My personal objectives look like MBOs, Management By Objectives. These personal objectives contribute to my company, but they are not a corporate objective. Some of my goals are corporate objectives: release that book, build
When I teach any sort of product/project/portfolio management, I ask, “Who believes multitasking works?” Always, at least several managers raise their hands. They believe multitasking works because they multitask all the time. Why? Because the managers have short work-time and long decision-wait time. If you are a manager, your time for any given decision looks
Mark Kilby and I are almost done with the chapter on geographically dispersed teams with no (or very few) hours of overlap in our book about distributed agile teams. We are looking for any example of a team—agile or not—who successfully used/is using Follow the Sun. Follow the Sun is a great idea. The idea is
Want a Successful Agile Transformation? Invite Managers Many people start their agile transformation with teams. That’s great, and it’s not enough to build and maintain an agile transformation—to change the culture. Too often, your agile approaches stall or create dysfunctions for the people and teams. If you want a successful agile transformation, invite the managers.
How Do You Tell Your Agile Story? An agile transformation is a change, a big cultural change. Agile approaches change us as individuals, our teams, and our organizations. That means we can tell stories and help other people see what we learned. We’ve been telling each other stories—around the campfire, across the table, from the
I’ve been a part of geographically distributed teams since the mid-80s. I’ve taught and written about agile distributed teams for several years Now, I’m pair-writing a geographically distributed agile teams book with Mark Kilby. We’ve tweeted a little. We’ll be talking about our process at Agile 2018 in an experience report. We need your help.