Tags
Agile career Change collaboration Communication consulting context switching continuous integration Dealing effectively with conflict decision Decisions estimation Facilitation Feedback hiring implement by feature Individual Influence leadership management meeting metrics multitasking Organization participation Perception Planning Problem Solving program management project management project portfolio Quality Requirements Retrospective Risk Satir schedule games Systems Thinking team technical debt testing training
Category Archives: Articles
Who Decides What Done Means for a Program?
© 2012 Johanna Rothman When I start working with new-to-agile teams, one of the first things we do is to discuss what done means. Chances are good they have not discussed what done means before. The developers don’t agree with … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Agile, collaboration, Communication, program management, project management, Risk
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions: Should you Commit, Kill, or Transform?
© 2012 Johanna Rothman If you’re working on more than one project at a time, or if your managers are asking you to do so, it’s time to make some decisions. You shouldn’t start every project. You shouldn’t even finish … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged decision, management, multitasking, Organization, project portfolio
Leave a comment
Always Ask the Zeroth Question About Your Projects
© 2012 Johanna Rothman Sometimes, you wonder why you are doing this project. You spend all this time on it, you’re sure there isn’t much value from the project, and still, the project is on the top of your manager’s … Continue reading
Why Not Ask Why?
© 2011 Don Gray It all started with a tweet I posted: “Why” questions trigger feelings bypassing data input and thinking. #dontdothat As this got retweeted, interesting questions started coming my way: What about the Five Whys? Do you have … Continue reading
Stop That Mole Now
©2010 Steven M. Smith Do you have a mole undermining the work of your team? Someone who constantly complains privately to any teammate who will listen but refuses to bring that same complaint publicly to the team? Someone whose actions … Continue reading
Self-Facilitation Skills for Teams
(c) 2004-2010 Esther Derby Self-organizing teams don’t just organize the technical work. They make technical (and non-technical) decisions. Not every situation requires facilitation, but when a team faces an important decision, applying facilitation skills to the problem saves time and … Continue reading
Skills for Software Smoke Jumpers
©2007 Don Gray Do you know about smokejumpers? They’re brave, self-sufficient firefighters who parachute into remote areas wearing eighty pounds of gear and ready to fight a forest fire. If the jump goes well, they land safely. After extinguishing the … Continue reading
When Your Projects Are a Program
©2009 Johanna Rothman. I was supposed to start coaching with a project manager, Trish. She postponed our weekly coaching call-for the third time. I said, “Trish, are you postponing again because you have too much work to do?” “Yes!” “Then … Continue reading
Framing Your Thoughts for Management
©2009 Steven M. Smith, www.stevenMsmith.com You have what you believe is an important thought to share with management. You’re concerned though that management may dislike what they hear. How do you assess how safe it is to share your thought … Continue reading
Coaching Whiners
Ban whining. It’s destructive communication inside organizations. Read this story about how a manager coached an employee to transform a whine into a complaint with recommendation. Continue reading
Temperature Reading
©2009 Steven M. Smith, www.stevenMsmith.com Virginia Satir developed this method for discovering a group’s temperature — what we in technology often call the system’s state. A facilitator leads the discovery. He or she keeps the group focused on each agenda … Continue reading
The Virtual Cyber Cudgel
by Gerald M. Weinberg In 1977, Tom Gilb and I published a book called Humanized Input: Techniques for Reliable Keyed Input. We hoped to improve the pitiful state of input design for computer systems, and ten years later, we imagined … Continue reading
Make Your Mission Possible
Copyright 2008 Johanna Rothman, originally published in Better Software Janice strode down the hall and made a sharp right at a cubicle decorated with dragons. “Hey, Steve, got a minute? I need your help with a problem.” “Janice, the last … Continue reading
The Blame Game
©2007, 2009 Don Gray and Jerry Weinberg Engelbert watched Pam nervously chew on her knuckle as she stood in the door of his office, answering his call. “Come in and close the door.” He motioned her to a seat, then … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged career, collaboration, Dealing effectively with conflict, Individual, leadership, management, Organization, Systems Thinking
1 Comment
Drawing Out the Facts: The Art of the Discovery Interview
(c)2007 Steven M. Smith “What?” raced through Janet’s head as she read the email. “Now that’s a surprise.” The message was from Jack Johnson, vice president of development. It said she would receive a meeting request from Rajan Alak, an … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Communication, Feedback, management, Organization, Problem Solving, team
Leave a comment
No Exit
Always have an exit strategy. ©2005 - 2009 Don Gray, Gerald M. Weinberg “The thought that disaster is impossible often leads to an unthinkable disaster.” - The Titanic Effect, The Secrets of Consulting, pg 95 Engelbert, the Software Engineering VP, … Continue reading
Is Collaboration the Right Way to Work?
©2008-2009, Esther Derby As a manager, your job is to organize people and work for success. That includes work design-figuring out whether you have a group or a team, and creating an environment where people can do their best work. … Continue reading
Catch Them Doing It Right
(c)2008 Steven M. Smith A smile formed on Eleanor’s face as she saw me approach her doorway. She and I were meeting to discuss her views on recognizing and rewarding employees. She had been my manager for three years when … Continue reading
Transitioning to Agile in the Middle of a Project
©2008 Johanna Rothman. This article was previously published on stickyminds.com “My company has decided to transition to agile after the team and I started this project,” Gina complained. “I know what agile is, but I still don’t understand how I’m … Continue reading
The Technology of Cooperation
©2009 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com IT professionals must be good team players, but what does that mean? For one thing, it means they must know how to come into a situation and quickly cooperate and gain cooperation, but cooperation takes … Continue reading
Becoming a Better Estimator
(c)2007, Dave W. Smith As software developers, and managers of software developers, we have a reputation for making pretty lousy estimates. Part of that rap is unfair; many times the requirements that we’re asked to provide estimates for are vague, … Continue reading
Approaching a Conflict in Style
©2006-2007 Esther Derby This column originally appeared on Stickyminds.com. Conflict is inevitable at work. Sooner or later, you will disagree about what to test, when to test or how long to test software. How you.and the person you disagree with.approach … Continue reading
Building a Requirements Foundation Through Customer Interviews
© 2004 Esther Derby “Our customer doesn’t know what he wants,” complained Sandy. “I try to get him to talk about the product and tell me what he wants, but it’s like pulling teeth.” Whether you are building a brand … Continue reading
An Appreciative Retrospective
©2007, Diana Larsen, FutureWorks Consulting “Our retrospectives have become so repetitive,” Fran told me over lunch one day. “We seem to cover the same ground no matter what problem-solving approach I try.” “Have you tried AI yet?” I inquired. He … Continue reading
Communicating Up
© 2004 Esther Derby This column originally appeared on Stickyminds.com Imagine this scene - you’ve just gotten back from lunch and you’re checking your email. The first email you open is from the VP: Effective immediately, starting with the release … Continue reading
Communicate Early and Often
©2002 Naomi Karten, www.nkarten.com Have you ever had an experience where you gave your all for your customers and still they were unhappy? One possible reason for their reaction is that you implemented a major change without preparing them for … Continue reading
Collaborating With Other Consultants
©2004, Johanna Rothman This article was originally published in Diamond Harvard Business Review, May 2003. - I’m so busy, I barely have time to think. I don’t have enough money to hire on someone full time, but I’d like to … Continue reading
Climbing Out of Technical Debt
© 2002 Johanna Rothman, www.jrothman.com Have you ever had a conversation like this one? Vice President: In the last release, you were able to bring the release date by over a month by cutting the testing. Do that again, ok? … Continue reading
Client 101
© 2001 Sherry Heinze I work as a test analyst for a consulting company. Every 6 to 12 months, I start on a new project for a new client. I love the variety and the opportunity to learn about a … Continue reading
Choosing Facilitation
© 2003 Johanna Rothman, www.jrothman.com Meetings are a fact of our lives. Most of the time we don’t need a facilitator to help move our meeting along; we can manage to accomplish the goals of the meeting without a formal … Continue reading
Chinese Contracts
© 2003 Jim Bullock Several cultures contain a fable about a horse, a Farmer, and a wolf. After a time both plagued by the wolf the Farmer and horse agree to work together to defeat their common foe. The horse’s … Continue reading
Charting a Course for Requirements
© 2002 Becky Winant, www.beckywinant.com This article originally was originally published on www.StickyMinds.com Projects are like voyages; they both start with a launch. Ever wonder what happens before we get into the boat and it pushes off from shore? I … Continue reading
Change That Fits
© 2003 Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com Cedric moved through his office packing up his personal belongings. His boss, Sheila, stood in the doorway, looking uncomfortable. As he started the last box, Cedric sat down in his chair. “How did it come … Continue reading
Change is a Disease
© 2000 James Bach, www.satisfice.com “That idea won’t work here, because we’re different.” is a refrain familiar to the ears of consultants everywhere. Some people respond to this defense by using evidence and argument to persuade their clients that they … Continue reading
The Black Hole
© 2003 Naomi Karten, www.nkarten.com A black hole is a place in the cosmos where things get swallowed up, never again to emerge. Although I love to travel, it’s not the sort of destination I’m eager to visit. This is … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
Bi-Quinary Search
© Gerald M. Weinberg, 2004 www.geraldmweinberg.com “1,073,741,823 lines of correct code, but one unknown bug is going to send us into that Sun.” “Do not panic.” Peri said, using Calming Voice. “We have adequate time to find it.” “Peri is … Continue reading
Beyond Blaming
© 1996 Jean McLendon and Gerald M. Weinberg, www.satir.org and www.geraldmweinberg.com “England, though at present enjoying a very high state of prosperity, still shows some symptoms of a decaying nation. Propose to an Englishman any principle, or any instrument, however … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Communication, Dealing effectively with conflict, Feedback, Organization
2 Comments
Beyond Belief
(c) 2001 Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com This article originally appeared in STQE, March/April 2001. Let me tell you a little story, a true story, about how our beliefs influence what we see in the world and affect our ability to solve … Continue reading
Beware of the Quick Fix
© 2003 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com P.T. BARNUM said there’s a sucker born every minute, but Barnum was a conservative estimator — or else he didn’t know any IT managers. For more than 45 years now, I’ve watched an endless … Continue reading
At What Cost?
© 2002 Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com This column originally appeared in STQE magazine, July/August 2001 Not long ago, I reread a discussion about Internet Time on Jerry Weinberg’s SHAPE Forum (www.geraldmweinberg.com), and it got me wondering: Now that many dot-coms have … Continue reading
Are We Solving the Real Problems
© 2001 Nynke Fokma, www.moebius.nl The meeting had been underway for about half an hour. Our departmental and quality assurance managers were debating what specifications should we measure against and what database would we need to keep the data in. … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
The Appreciation Gap
©2004 Esther Derby In a recent workshop, I described an exercise for expressing appreciation. “That won’t go over here,” stated Patty, one of the managers in the workshop. “These are engineers; they don’t want that mushy stuff. Besides, they know … Continue reading
Always Be Second
© 2002 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com These days, with all the talk about “internet time,” professional workers are always trying to be the first with new ideas. But is that really the only path to success? Is it, indeed, a … Continue reading
Advice for Software Development Managers
© Gerald M. Weinberg, 2004 www.geraldmweinberg.com Software Development Magazine recently interviewed Jerry. Here are some of his answers. Q: What’s the most important piece of management-related advice anyone has ever given you? GW: If you blame your employees, you’re a … Continue reading
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
©2002 Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com A software project is a complex thing. It involves many players, many tasks, and lots of things that could go wrong (and often do). If not for dogged optimism, some projects might not be tackled at … Continue reading
How Much Work Can You Do?
Developing and Managing Your Project Portfolio (c) 2005 Johanna Rothman This article appeared previously on stickyminds.com. I meet many managers in the course of my work, and they all share a common complaint: They have too much work to do. … Continue reading
Humor and Stress, or How the Universe Gave Me an Opportunity to Practice
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
How to Improve Meetings When You’re Not in Charge
©2004, Esther Derby This column originally appeared on Stickyminds.com Are you tired of attending endless meetings where the conversation goes in circles and nothing gets done? Even if you can’t stand up and take control, you can nudge the meeting … Continue reading
Lullaby Language
©2004, Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com Late one summer, I was called in to help an IT client learn to work better with their customers. I don’t ordinarily travel in the summer, but this sounded like a real emergency, one where … Continue reading
Real-Time Feedback
©2003 Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com Twice a week, I go to the gym and weight train with Brooke Darst, a Certified Personal Trainer. As I perform my exercises, Brooke provides a constant stream of feedback: Minor corrections, “Chin in! Lower your … Continue reading
Treaties to Deal with Communication and Conflict
©2002 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com On a typical day, I get 100-200 email messages, and some of my clients in large projects receive even more. Though emails improve my ability to communicate clearly and quickly, they may also prove a … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Communication, Dealing effectively with conflict, Planning, Problem Solving, Quality, Requirements
Leave a comment
Focus Your Project
©2003 Johanna Rothman www.jrothman.com Do you ever wonder what you’re really supposed to focus on for your project? Companies create a variety of products, and different releases of those products, for many reasons. Some product releases can tolerate glaring defects; … Continue reading
Decide As a Team
©2007 Steven M Smith Do some members of your team make agreements during meetings but fail to support them afterwards?If this behavior is happening, I suspect your team is using an obscure process to make decisions. Identifying Obscure Process An … Continue reading
How to Kill a Software Company
©2002 Don Gray A Software Project By Any Other Name Most software practitioners and managers are aware of a project’s three legs. These legs are features, schedule and quality. (1) While all of these are important for a successful project, … Continue reading
Pennywise
©2005 Esther Derby This column originally appeared on Stickyminds.com Back in the late 90s, both demand for qualified people and salaries were high. Hiring managers scrambled to make offers within hours of seeing a promising resume and bidding for the … Continue reading
Safety Margin
©2005 Steven M Smith Jake tossed and turned. He looked at the bedside clock. 3 AM. “I need sleep,” he thought to himself. But sleep would not come. Only worry about tomorrow’s meeting. Edmund, Jake’s manager’s manager, enjoyed probing managers … Continue reading
Lunches, Looks, and Loops
©2004, Don Gray Michelle works as a software engineer. Recently we discussed the “utility” concept (Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations, Austin)1 and she asked, “Can’t we just measure for the sake of learning?” Measuring for learning is a wonderful … Continue reading
Reasons
©2001 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com [Note: In September, 2000, at the SEI’s Software Engineering Symposium in Washington D. C., Jerry was the recipient of the 2000 Stevens Award. The award recipient is recognized for outstanding contributions to the literature or … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Communication, Dealing effectively with conflict, Feedback
Leave a comment
Twenty Years Ago
©2000 Steven M. Smith I’m forty-five, with a mainframe background. I often hear complaints from colleagues — associates who are my contemporaries — that younger workers with experience in hot, new technologies are getting paid as much or more then … Continue reading
Getting To Know You: Using A Roundtable To Start An Event
©2005 - 2006 Adrian Segar
Posted in Articles
Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress
©2005 Johanna Rothman This article was originally published on Stickyminds.com Your CIO has two projects he wants finished in the next month. “We can share this project manager and that test team on both of these high-priority projects,” he declares … Continue reading
The Secret Ingredients of High Morale
©2004 Esther Derby This column originally appeared on Stickyminds.com Jessica and Sean scowled as they headed back to their cubicles after the company spirit meeting. “I can’t believe they wasted two hours of our time with that award ceremony and … Continue reading
What’s on Your Not-To-Do List?
©2005 Johanna Rothman If you’re like most of my clients, you have too much to do. Recently, an Engineering Director, Stephanie, explained all the things she “had” to do: monitor the projects, participate in the requirements sessions, draw up a … Continue reading
Humor and General Systems
© Michael Bolton Jonathan Miller is one of the great Renaissance men of popular culture. He has been a medical doctor, an opera director, a television documentary writer and producer, but he first gained prominence as a performer in the … Continue reading
Performance Without Appraisal
©2007 Esther Derby The idea of merit rating is alluring. The sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for;motivate people to do their best, for their own good. The effect is … Continue reading
Do We Have to Choose Between Management and Leadership?
©2006-2007 Esther Derby This column originally appeared on stickyminds.com In a recent discussion on the state of a software company, a programmer declared, “We don’t need managers around here, we need leaders!” I’m always puzzled by statements like this. “How … Continue reading
Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings
©2007 Steven M Smith Stand up meetings are popular in software development organizations now. What makes a stand-up meeting more effective than a traditional meeting to socialize status information? Nothing. The effectiveness of a stand-up meeting, like the traditional status … Continue reading
Getting Ahead
©2005 Johanna Rothman. This article was previously published in Computerworld, April, 2005. I was talking to a relatively young developer the other day. I asked him about his career plans. “Oh, I don’t do career planning myself. I wait until … Continue reading
Multiuse Model
©2007 Donald E. Gray Models are like kitchen utensils. You need a variety of them, and you should know when and how to use them. They should be useful for more than a single task. I recently started exploring the … Continue reading
Seeing the Other Person’s Big Picture
©2000 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com You’re entering a new situation, and you’re ready to gather the Big Picture of the other people involved. Whatever you do, don’t try the following process without first getting a Big Picture of yourself, as … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Communication, consulting, Dealing effectively with conflict, Feedback, Systems Thinking
Leave a comment
Delivering Effective Feedback
©2003, Esther Derby, www.estherderby.com Josh was dumbfounded when his boss, Brad, fired him. As far as he knew, his work was just fine. But Brad believed he’d given Josh ample warning that his work and work habits weren’t up to … Continue reading
Move Past Distractions: Give Yourself an Ice Cream Cone
Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
Planning for Delays
©2000 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com As some of you know, a group of consultants are producing a conference for our colleagues and clients. It’s called AYE, for “Amplifying Your Effectiveness.” One of the main goals of this distributed project is … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Change, management, Planning, project management, Systems Thinking
Leave a comment
Tell Him?
©2006 Steven M Smith It’s ironic that the Baseball Writers Association of America named Joe Girardi the National League’s 2006 Manager of the Year. Giardi was recently fired by the Florida Marlins despite managing a young, low-rated team into contention. … Continue reading
Our Management Process Can’t Tell us How to Get From "Repeatable" to "Defined"
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings, Part 2
©2007 Steven M Smith I argued in my first article about stand-up meetings that the right participants were the key to a successful meeting rather than whether the participants were standing up or sitting down. Despite my dislike for forcing … Continue reading
Communication Disconnects
©2007 Don Gray “Why doesn’t my manager listen when I explain the details?” “Why doesn’t the developer just give me what I ask for?” If you’ve ever heard these complaints-or made them-you’re not alone. Questions like these are a symptom … Continue reading
Going the Distance: Five Tactics to Compensate for Distance on Distributed Teams
©2006 Esther Derby When people communicate face-to-face, they not only hear words and inflections, but also see facial expressions. This helps each communicator understand what the other is saying and gives clues to assess when people are mad, sad, or … Continue reading
My Company Won’t Pay! How To Get Approval To Attend Conferences or Training
Posted in Articles
Leave a comment
Seeing Your Own Big Picture
©2000 Gerald M. Weinberg, www.geraldmweinberg.com The editor of Contract Professional chose the name for my column there, “The Big Picture.” He told me he chose the name “because you (Jerry) look at the business of contracting and consulting and the … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged Communication, consulting, Feedback, Individual, Systems Thinking
Leave a comment
What’s Wrong With Wednesday?
©2005 Johanna Rothman Many of the project schedules I review contain milestone completions on Fridays and new task or phase beginnings on Mondays. With a Friday or Monday milestone, what you’re really saying is that people can work overtime all … Continue reading
Designing Useful Metrics: Using Observation, Modeling, and Measurement to Make Decisions
©2000 Esther Derby www.estherderby.com Originally published in STQE magazine, May/June 2000 As a manager, you want to increase effectiveness and improve the quality of software. Using measurement as a tool for accomplishing this, however, may be something you’re skeptical about. … Continue reading
The Identified Patient Pattern
©2006 Don Gray and Jerry Weinberg Engelbert frowned, trying to understand why Pamela had been acting strangely. Her programming skills were among the best in the company. She had a way of getting things completed. That’s why he made her … Continue reading