Blogs
Start Your Agile Project Right and Coaching Master Class in London, May 16 and 17, 2013
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 04/12/2013
I am going to be in London, May 16 and 17, 2013. I am offering two interactive public workshops, one on starting your agile project right, and a master class on coaching. See the detailed syllabus and signup page for Starting Your Agile Project and Coaching Master Class here. The syllabus for Starting Your Agile Project Right on May 16, 2013 is: Introductions Chartering a project (vision and release criteria) Working with sponsors to define the tradeoffs Iterations, kanban, or both? Create...more »
Self Assessment Tool for Transitioning to Agile
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 04/11/2013
Over on agileconnection, a user asked about a self-assessment tool for measuring agile maturity. That’s not exactly the right question, because agile transition is a journey, not a destination. But, I can understand why he asked the question. I tried to be helpful. I supplied a set of questions to ask. Maybe you can go over there and add more to my list. I still think the best question is this: What benefit will you gain from learning this answer? In any case, here are some questions I...more »
Coding By Google
Posted by: James Harmon on 04/03/2013
I almost named this post "I haven't written a line of code in years!" but that would not literally be true.Actually I've written a lot of code, but probably as much (or more) has come to me through cut and paste from a Google search.It struck me that what started as a helpful but infrequent technique to augment my work, has become the work itself. At first it was a line of code, then entire methods. But now GitHub (and SourceForge) have made the cloning of entire applications not...more »
The command line is coming back - get ready
Posted by: James Harmon on 03/31/2013
Recently I've rediscovered the command line and I'm really enjoying the improved productivity I'm getting. Also, I'm learning the tools that I work with better because I'm seeing the command directly rather than just picking menu items in Eclipse.So I'm having more fun but it has also occured to me that now is the right time to start switching back to the command line. Let me explain.Why is it named the "command" line? Because you give it commands. And how do you "give"...more »
Dear Eclipse
Posted by: James Harmon on 03/31/2013
Recently I've rediscovered the command line and I'm really enjoying the improved productivity I'm getting. Also, I'm learning the tools that I work with better because I'm seeing the command directly rather than just picking menu items in Eclipse.So I'm having more fun but it has also occured to me that now is the right time to start switching back to the command line. Let me explain.Why is it named the "command" line? Because you give it commands. And how do you "give"...more »
Demand dropping for JavaScript skills
Posted by: James Harmon on 03/31/2013
Of course, I'm biased, but I'm always looking for signs that the 2nd wave is ending. Just a reminder of how I define the waves - Wave 1, The PC Age, 1980 - 1995, giant mainframes replaced by more agile desktops Wave 2, The Internet Age, 1995 - 2010, connectivity rules the day Wave 3, The Mobile Age, 2010 - 2025, all the computer you need right in your pocketThis article seems to be showing the end of the browser age. It will never go away but it...more »
Telecommuting, Hoteling, and Managing Product Development
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 03/28/2013
There are two sides of this conversation about telecommuting: the employee side and the management side. I hope you stick around for both sides. You can yell at me at the end. Employees: You Owe the Company a Full Day of Work I’ve been thinking since Marissa Meyer’s announcement what I would say about the end of telecommuting at Yahoo!. Best Buy employees now have to have a conversation with their managers about how they will manage their telecommuting. People who work remotely...more »
Presenting Play Framework at Devoxx UK & FR 2013
Posted by: James Ward on 03/26/2013
This week I’m at Devoxx UK and Devoxx FR presenting about Play Framework. Here are the sessions: Tuesday March 26 @ Devoxx UK: Mobile Apps with HTML5 & Play Framework – With Nicolas Leroux Wednesday March 27 @ Devoxx FR: 6 Minute Apps! Build Your First Modern Web App – With Nicolas Leroux Thursday March 28 @ Devoxx FR: Play Framework vs. Grails Smackdown – With Matt Raible It’s going to be an awesome week!more »
Intro to Play Framework This Week in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal
Posted by: James Ward on 03/19/2013
This week I’ll be in Canada presenting an Introduction to Play Framework: Toronto Scala Meetup on Tuesday, March 19 Ottawa Scala Enthusiasts on Wednesday, March 20 Scala Montreal Meetup on Thursday, March 21 I’m looking forward to meeting our Scala northerly neighbors!more »
Organizing an Agile Program, Part 3, Large Programs Demand Servant Leadership
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 03/18/2013
In Organizing an Agile Program, Part 1, Introduction, I suggested you think about the communication paths of your programs. Instead of hierarchies, I suggested you think of networks of teams. In Organizing an Agile Program Part 2, Networks for Managing Agile Programs, I showed you how loosely connected networks might work. I explained how you need communities of practice. I brought in the idea of roadmaps, architecture, managing the backlog and status. Now, it’s time to discuss what...more »
Who Is Invested?
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 03/18/2013
I have another management myth up on Stickyminds. This one is Management Myth 15: I Need People to Work Overtime. Managers, especially senior managers, want people to be “invested” and “motivated” to do a great job. Often, the only measure they have for that is to see people work overtime. Why? Because that’s what senior managers do to show that they are invested or motivated. They work overtime. This is not smart, or often, needed. But they do it anyway. And, then...more »
In Praise Of The Full Time Employee
Posted by: Demian Neidetcher on 03/17/2013
As software engineeers we have to turn our attention to thought leaders. These might be consultants, blog authors, book authors, speakers, software authors. Usually they have short engagements with companies. Their skills run deep into their chosen technologies. I think it’s right for us to look up to these guys and to use them as resources. But I also think we tend to overlook the FTE of the software world. Their careers might not be as sexy, they might not work with the latest...more »
Managing Programs with Agile and Traditional Projects Posted
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 03/14/2013
I have a new article up on projectmanagement.com, Managing Programs with Agile and Traditional Projects. You know the problem with a program: you have some agile projects and some not-agile projects, and maybe some projects who suffer from an identity crisis. They might think they are one or the other. You might not agree with their categorization! Here’s the key: ask for deliverables. You might need to coach the project managers or use your influence. Now, go read the article. Please...more »
AgileIndyConf Slides Posted: Agile Managers Essence of Leadership
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 03/13/2013
I spoke at AgileIndyConf last week. I had a blast. Met lots of great people from Indianapolis, got to hang with people like Christopher Avery (@christopheraver), Ron Jeffries (@ronjeffries), Chet Hendrickson (@chethendrickson), Angela Harms (@angelaharms), Mike Kelly (@ michael_d_kelly), Joe Astolfi (@joeastolfi), and many more. (If I missed you, please add yourselves in the comments because I’m having what other people call a senior moment. I thought I was too young to have them. I guess...more »
Q&A at the Seattle Scala User Group Tonight
Posted by: James Ward on 03/12/2013
Tonight I will be doing a question and answer session at the Seattle Scala User Group. So bring your Scala, Akka, and Play Framework questions! Hope to see you there.more »
Servant Leadership Needs Influence
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 03/07/2013
I’m at AgileIndyConf today and tomorrow. Today, I’m leading a tutorial about Agile Project Management. Tomorrow is my keynote about Agile Management. And, that got me thinking about agile management, again. To be a great agile manager, you need to be a servant leader. Okay, you understand that part. To be a great servant leader, you need to polish your influence skills and your coaching skills. How else can you ask people to consider networks for programs? Or, moving to real...more »
Organizing an Agile Program: Part 2, Networks for Managing Agile Programs
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 03/05/2013
In Organizing an Agile Program: Part 1, Introduction, I discussed the difference between hierarchies and networks. I used Scrum of Scrums as an example. It could be any organizing hierarchy. Remember, I like Scrum as a way to organize a project team’s work. I also like lean. I like XP. I like unbranded agile. I like anything that helps a team deliver features quickly and get feedback. I’m not religious about what any project team in the program uses. What works for small programs is...more »
Speaking at an AgileConnection Meetup Feb 28
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 02/26/2013
Want to ask me questions about anything agile? Are you available Thursday Feb 28 at 12:30 pm Eastern? We’re doing our first Online AgileConnection MeetUp. Since it’s the first, and we don’t know what you want, we thought we’d do a lean startup approach to it. We’re doing questions-and-answers. I’ve noticed lately that when I speak, it doesn’t matter how carefully I prepare. What you folks like and tweet is the Q&A. So fine. Let’s jump right to...more »
Organizing an Agile Program: Part 1, Introduction
Posted by: Johanna Rothman on 02/25/2013
If you want to organize an agile program, so you can manage the stream of features in your agile program, you have some options. It depends on the size of your program. The communication structures in your agile program matter. How Large Is Your Agile Program? I think of programs as small, medium, and large. Yes, it’s a generality, and it’s been helpful to me. A small program is up to three teams. A medium program is four to nine teams. A large program is ten teams or more. Your...more »
Smoke Tests For Your System
Posted by: Demian Neidetcher on 02/24/2013
Me and another team member took our most recent lab week to do something incredibly un-sexy. Our resumes have no new libraries, buzz-words or languages that we can add. We decided to use some old-school tools to create a very tactical set of smoke tests for our system and for the back-end systems that we depend on. Our system is used by many clients. When we get requests we then turn around and talk to about 20 different back-end systems. Many times we are caught in the middle when there are...more »
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