Johanna Rothman, Management Consultant
Expert in Managing Product Development
When we talk to new managers, we ask them, “How many of you received management training?” Fewer than 50% raise their hands. As an industry, we don’t do a great job of grooming managers. Sure there are exceptions—bosses who mentor and develop the people in their groups to move into management and companies with strong …
Continue reading “Congratulations! You’re a Manager. Now What?”
On the face of it, higher productivity looks like a Good Thing. More products for less time. Who wouldn’t want this? But I wonder about this search for higher productivity. What do managers really want? If you want to understand about productivity for software organizations, read Putnam and Myers’ new book, Five Core Metrics: …
Continue reading “The Never-Ending Search for Higher Productivity”
We all do it, but it’s pricey: Context switching demands valuable time and energy. Ranking priorities can help you manage that melting clock. Bob, the VP, told Sam, the PM, “I have three high-priority projects. I trust you. I want you to run those projects.” Sam’s flattered, but queasy: He knows that if he tries to …
Steve Smith commented on yesterday’s post, “I think managers have a tough job, especially middle managers. I think that middle managers who are respectful to their employees but choose to execute to abide with their management team’s decision are acting in a dignified manner.” Steve is right, and it’s not always easy to balance …
Continue reading “Balancing Needs: Corporate, Employees, Self”
After my presentation last night at the Detroit PMI chapter, an attendee asked me, “Is context switching really as bad as you say it is?” Yes, it is. I believe Weinberg’s estimate of losing 10-20% of possible work-time every time you attempt to take on one more project. And, if you read Hal’s entry today, …
I’m at the Software Development conference this week. One of the hot topics I discussed in my presentations and with attendees during and after the talks were about context switching and multitasking, Focused Performance and Breakthrough Thinking on Worker Productivity and Multi-tasking Makes you Stupid, studies say.We agreed that: several pieces of work at different …
Sometimes, it’s not clear that you should fund or staff a project. If you’re not sure how to discriminate between alternative projects, here are four questions to ask: What’s the strategic reason behind this project? (Does the strategic reason behind the project change the importance of the project?) How does this project fit into …
by Johanna Rothman. This article was originally published in Software Development, January 2003. When the avalanche of work piles up past your eyebrows, sending for a St. Bernard won’t help. Ask yourself six crucial questions—and use the answers to dig out of trouble. Part 1 of 2. Raul, a CIO, arrives at work at 7:45. Between …
by Johanna Rothman. Originally published in Cutter’s Business-IT Alignment E-Mail Advisor, October 17, 2001. Too many projects? Not sure which projects are most important? Welcome to project portfolio management. A client, Tim, is having trouble with his portfolio management. Senior management is organizing next year’s budget and hiring plan. They want more projects in the …
© 2000 Johanna Rothman. This article was originally published in Mass High Tech, 2000. “We’ll sell some consulting along with our product, until we’re making enough revenue. Then we’ll phase out the consulting, and be just a product company.” — senior manager at a Boston-area web-based startup Many startup software/web-based companies decide on a business model …
Continue reading “Being a Successful Product and Services Company”