process improvement
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Design Each Team’s Project to Optimize at the Program Level If you are part of a program, it’s not enough to design your project for your team. You have to consider the needs of the program, too. Each team needs to ask itself, “How do we deliver what the rest of the program needs, as the program needs it?” Aim to meet deliverables—not control your people. |
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Eliminate Workplace Jargon and Get Your Ducks in a Row The business world is full of jargon: words that sound like they mean something, but what exactly isn’t a sure thing. These vague, overused, and trite phrases increase the potential for misunderstanding. Here's why you should think outside the box (there's one phrase!) and eliminate jargon. |
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Playing Devil’s Advocate: Use Premortems for Your Project’s Success Most teams could benefit from having a devil’s advocate—someone who would help the team identify weaknesses in their thinking and seek changes that would prevent or minimize adverse outcomes. A project team can become its own devil’s advocate by using premortems before the project proceeds. |
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Let Your Teams Design Their Own Approaches to Agile If you are thinking of agile as part of a program, each team has to have its own approach to agile because each team has its own risks and problems. If you treat people as adults, explain the desired results, and provide training and other resources they need, they are likely to succeed. |
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Management Fads and How to Avoid Them When a new management fad comes along, it may sound great and gain rapid acceptance. Some organizations do succeed using a popular new concept—but sustaining it takes time, training, effort, money, and high-level support, and several of these are often lacking. Learn how to spot a fad in the making. |
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Project Management Is Not a Dirty Word Some people dislike the idea of agile project managers, but for teams transitioning to agile, there is a place for management. That place is creating an environment in which the team learns how to self manage. Read on to discover how a PM should offer support and servant leadership to an agile team. |
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Using Experiential Activities to Teach Software Development Concepts Experiential learning, or using activities such as simulations, helps people glean lessons on their own rather than having that knowledge presented to them. Activities need not be lengthy to be effective. In fact, simple exercises can help a team understand the complexities of software development. |
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When You Should (or Shouldn’t) Complain at Work Opinions vary as to whether complaining is a positive or negative thing. On the positive side, complaining can help you crowdsource solutions for your problem. But when done with negative intent, complaining is just annoying and detrimental. Learn how to tell the difference before you grumble. |
