Developers are different from other folk. Introverted is an understatement. My four days of silence really highlighted this.
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Tag Archives: project management
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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Plug for Henrik Kniberg’s Agile Product Ownership in a nutshell
Just a small plug for Henrik Kniberg’s video Agile Product Ownership in a nutshell. Genius. Watch it.
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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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Lean-Agile is micromanagement but not in an excessive way
Is Lean-Agile micromanagement? Mike Cohn says “yes” but Mike’s use of the term excludes the “excessive” aspect of the conventional definition. An attention to detail is a good thing, making for better management, and Lean-Agile has the tools to make the detail transparent. Excessive attention to detail leads to the Fallacy of Control and horror – I don’t see this in Lean-Agile teams.
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No need for a PM for a team of one. Professionals manage their own time
What do you do when you’re asked to project manage a team of one? Personally I say “okay” then do nothing. I believe the smaller the team the lighter the process necessary to run the team. When project management merges into time management you don’t need the project manager any more. Professionals manage their own time. I manage teams.
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