If the customer claims everything on the product backlog is top priority, and by implication must have, then you’ve a bit of an education job ahead of you. You have to get the customer to the point where only one thing is top priority and even “must haves” are sorted into a priority order. There is a good chance some of those “must haves” turn into “would like to have” and in time disappear.
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Tag Archives: programme management
My four days of silence surrounded by developers
Developers are different from other folk. Introverted is an understatement. My four days of silence really highlighted this.
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Nine Things to do When Nobody on Your New Team Knows Lean-Agile
Last month I looked at what to do when everybody on the team says they know Lean-Agile. This month I look at what to do when nobody on your new team knows Lean-Agile.
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Four Reasons to Book Regular One-to-One Meetings
Rich and Rachel were a bit surprised when they noticed I had a regular weekly one-to-one meeting booked with Michael. I had worked with them closely for over a year, relied on them heavily, but a relative new comer with less responsibility got a dedicated slot from me. How come?
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Everybody on your new team says they know Agile. Don’t believe it
Early in my Agile career I was the only person on my team who knew anything about Agile. Now everybody claims to know Agile and/or to have Agile experience. Certainly this has been true for most people on my last couple of teams. My advice to you is – don’t believe a word of it. Assume they know nothing.
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Corporate control = Project brakes
In general I believe brakes let you go faster. But what if the brakes are locked on? Suddenly you’re not going anywhere. And that is what happens when a project comes under excessive corporate control. The project screeches to a halt.
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What do you do when the business imposes an arbitrary deadline?
My business stakeholders wanted the product launch to align with a major event in the political calendar – happens to have been the state opening of British parliament. The product was all about politics so launching simultaneously with a major political event made perfect sense to the business folk. The trouble was that this was just an arbitrary date as far as the development team was concerned. What do you do when the business imposes an arbitrary deadline?
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What to do when a developer produces too many bugs
Brian and Simon were both young and relatively inexperienced developers. One was fast, the other slow, both had quality issues. Too many bugs. What to do?
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Observing, eavesdropping and overhearing – essential tools for a software development leader
I believe in Management on the Ground and what better way to be on the ground than to be sitting with the team in an open plan office. By simply observing, eavesdropping and overhearing I know what is going on and I also get early warning when I have to intervene.
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I’m Impatient with the Pseudo-action Deceptions
I like to finish things. Get “Done”. Some might say I’m impatient to finish things. But not everybody is like that. Many people suffer from the various Pseudo-action Deceptions, i.e. thinking rather than doing.
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