I view Delivery, Product and Technical as the three legs of software management stool. I have people responsible for these elements at both programme and project/team level.
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Tag Archives: agile
PDCA – Plan Do Reflect Improve. Um, sorry, I mean Check Act
I’m a huge fan of the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. It was originally intended for process improvement within manufacturing but I now see it everywhere. But, being an Agile kind of guy I wish Deming had put “Reflect” and “Improve” into the name.
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Are Sprints Just a Way to Organise Releases?
Are Sprints Just a Way to Organise Releases?
I’m increasingly convinced that some teams cling to Sprints / Timeboxes because they facilitate release planning. A Sprint = a mini-Release = real simple. However, continuous delivery means these “Sprints” are not real Sprints.
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Contracts do not fix incompetence
“Contracts are the least powerful in getting people to do something. A contract does not fix incompetence.” Not my words, they come from Rajesh Mathur, but I completely agree.
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Programmes are more than Big Projects
Some projects deliver products and some programmes also deliver products. The difference is the goal. The goal of those projects is to deliver the product. However, the goal of these programmes is to deliver benefits deriving from the new product. I’ve written about the difference between programme, project, portfolio and product management before, but feel in need of a new rant – a rant brought on by DAD.
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Focus – “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one”
Whether a Russian hunter or a software/project/programme team the proverb “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one” offers useful advice.
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Shaping a team – Get good people and put them in the right role
“When will Stu stop playing with code?” The question was about Stu Fieldhouse, a Technical Project Manager working on my programme. My answer was “Never”. I had brought Stu in exactly because he plays with code. Or, more constructively, he fixes problems and lets us move on. Fast.
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Unfortunately Corporations Equate Weight of Paper with Safety
I believe in barely sufficient documentation but Corporations equate paper weight with safety.
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User Stories are Experiments
Mini-experiments are a key aspect of the Lean Startup movement, so I like the idea of user stories as experiments.
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Work Item Tracking, to See or Not to See?
Work Item Tracking, to See or Not to See? This is always an interesting debate. The lists are much longer but for simplicity I’ve surfaced a few salient points. So which is best? Physical or virtual? For me physical boards win hands down, but there are occasionally good reasons for a careful blend.
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