When I started to work in 1977, we didn’t have testers. I wrote tests for my code, code reviewed with other people, and—every so often—tested other developers’ code. We missed lots of errors, both in logic and functionality. That led to a ton of product and project risks. (Yes, plenty of late and unplanned feedback
This is the October 2024 Pragmatic Manager Newsletter, from Johanna Rothman. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Back in my August newsletter, Two Tips to Tease Apart Sneaky Problems and Make Progress, Axel, a project manager, and Barbara, part of the portfolio team, realized they had a sneaky problem of too
Each week for a little over a year, I’ve been recording a little podcast and video. It’s called “60 Seconds of Johanna’s Writing WIP.” I’m doing this as an experiment for two reasons: Market the writing before I publish it. (Yes, the “launch” is a form of marketing, but I’m also planning to experiment with
In Part 1, I explained the various Costs of Delays with this image: I explained how to calculate the salary costs in Part 1. Now, it’s time to calculate/assess Costs 2, 3, and 4 to decide on the most valuable work. (If you have Manage Your Project Portfolio, there’s an entire section about calculating and
Several of my clients want to plan the product roadmap and then “work to the plan.” They think the roadmap is the long-term goal. But roadmaps aren’t goals. Instead, they are tactics for achieving a long-term goal. That means we need long-term goals based on both the corporate strategy and each product’s strategy. Those are two
A senior leader, Jim, emailed me to clarify how to track a project’s progress. He’s a sales guy by training and is now leading a technology-based company. He’s confused. When he asks about progress, he feels as if everyone takes one step forward and two steps back, just as in the Project Kisses of Death
When I wrote Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management, I included this chart, the Iterations Content Chart as part of a possible dashboard. I created that chart to clarify the challenges a specific team faced. They had problems with multitasking and the inevitable changes. The first way to use an iteration contents
When Mark, my husband, and I moved into this house a decade ago, we faced the problem many other people face: what to keep and what to toss (or recycle, etc.). Mark had a particularly difficult time with the kitchen drawer that held all the old baby dishes and utensils. I wanted to toss everything
Jenny, a product leader, glared at her supposed product backlog. She’d just transferred to this product and now she knew why the teams weren’t making progress. This backlog was more like her overstuffed sports closet. That closet had tennis rackets, a bat, and her two pairs of skis—all sports, but not for any one specific
When agile teams master collaboration, that first agile superpower, they often discover they deliver more features faster. That’s great. However, once the team starts delivering features faster, people ask more of the team. Managers, the product owner—everyone wants more from the team. Worse, those people want more now. Even with collaboration, the team can’t deliver