Getting work done at work is so hard because of all of those meetings. And so many of them don’t feel like a good use of time. So, I’m working on having fewer unproductive meetings. If you want to meet with me, you’ll have to tell me: Intent of the meeting (and why it can’t be… Continue reading Working at work
Category: Agile
Time is a resource
As Project Managers we are taught to “manage resources.” Too often, however, the only resources that are managed are the people. There are others though, and I find the most important and often overlooked is time. Time is not the enemy. We don’t fall short of the mark because time ran out on us; time… Continue reading Time is a resource
Care where it counts
I care a lot. I always assumed my frustration or disappointment at work was because I cared too much. Friends and family always told me that I had to learn to care less. “Leave work at work” was the sage advice I was given again and again. Since you, kind reader, may not know me, allow… Continue reading Care where it counts
Stop managing and start helping
Last week, I read an old blog post on As Chris Daily said, people need to “let go of the perception that they are in charge. In reality, you were never in charge, but you told everyone you were.” His words sat with me while I did my usual routine in trying to shepherd code from development to… Continue reading Stop managing and start helping
Building cross functional teams
Scrum is a style of Agile software development that has become very popular. However, like its namesake in Rugby, the development methodology depends on the ideal that the team is at its greatest power when it moves ahead together as a unit: a scrum. “Scrum relies on a self-organizing, cross-functional team. … The team is cross-functional… Continue reading Building cross functional teams
Just getting it done is getting me down
I am demanding. I want work to be done perfectly every time. I expect everyone to have the same attention to detail and follow through as me. Guess what? It’s frustrating and the frustration doesn’t yield better results. Even worse, the frustration is mine alone and doesn’t help anyone (specifically the person I’m frustrated with)… Continue reading Just getting it done is getting me down
The bottleneck of false import
I have only been at my current organization one year, but somehow I am already the definitive source for information. I am no technical expert, but find myself making technical decisions. I care so much about getting the job done (both well and on time) that I weigh in on technical decisions just to expedite.… Continue reading The bottleneck of false import
Development Tools
Developers do the work. It’s just the truth. I can coach and teach but I don’t make the product go. It’s a frustrating a rewarding thing to be the coach. But it also means that I have the responsibility to get the team whatever they need to get the job done. Today I want to talk about… Continue reading Development Tools