First, let me say that I’m a huge fan of roadmaps as information radiators for projects, programs, or the enterprise. If done well, communicating large amounts of information in a beautifully simple set of boxes, text, and lines is nothing short of art. However, done poorly and you’ve got yourself a multi-colored, pain-in-the-neck to update, distraction. Continue reading “Five Signs That It’s Time to Ditch Your IT Roadmap”
Are you happy?
How many times in your life have you been asked this simple question? How many times have you asked it of others? How many times have you asked it of yourself?
Are you happy…at you job?…in your relationship?…where you live?
How often have you said yes? How often have you said no? Continue reading “The Happiness Question”
I recently had my first negative visceral reaction to seeing a Microsoft Project plan in a meeting and I’m both frightened by it and sort of proud of it. Continue reading “A Visceral Reaction to a Project Plan”
It’s been said that developing software is messy and it’s always messy..that’s just how it is…even with established technology and an experienced development team. But when you throw in new technology, things can even get messier because teams often are learning the technology at the same time they are building. Continue reading “Balancing Innovation with Stability”
You may have read the title and thought…duh…everyone know that. But to be honest, I think people forget it sometimes, especially in an fast-paced place like Northern Virginia. What made me think about it was that I was listening to NPR a few weeks back and heard a story about the compensation of the CEO of Metro. Continue reading “Salary Does Not Equal Importance to the World”
I often spent time thinking about what makes great organizations “great”…and the other day I had a sort of revelation that I thought was worth sharing. It’s a characteristic of strong organizations that I hadn’t really thought of before and doesn’t typically show up on the standard list of things organizations should strive for. Continue reading “We Learn from Each Other”
Preface – by change control process I’m referring to managing changes to software and not the process of promoting those changes into production. The latter is configuration management (to me anyway) and that process is independent and critical no matter how changes are decided. Check out the concepts of DevOps for ways to link development and operations together. Continue reading “A Form is Not the Answer…A Starting Point to Agile Change Control”
I first learned the terms Agile and Scrum when I joined my current employer Excella Consulting in 2010, so I guess I was late to the game. Up to that point in my career (10 years) I had just sort of winged the usual cycle of gather requirements, work with the developers to build something, test, show the customer, repeat. Continue reading “We Weren’t Agile”
As a project manager I’ve come to recognize the warning signs of a failing IT project and learned the best methods to get the project back on track. Here are three (of many) things to keep and eye out for and what to do if you find yourself experiencing these common issues…or better yet things to avoid from the beginning. Continue reading “Warning!…Signs Your IT Project May Fail”
Agile Grit. Keep Moving Forward. 