Articles

Warning: No News is Not Always Good News

When your customers aren't complaining about the services you provide, it's easy to assume you have happy customers. But that could be a serious mistake. In this week's column, Naomi Karten describes what happened in two organizations that misinterpreted the absence of customer complaints.

Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
A Community of Practice Retrospective

In this article, Jennitta Andrea explains how a community of practice retrospective differs from a project retrospective. She also explores the motivation for a community to perform this type of retrospective.

Jennitta Andrea's picture Jennitta Andrea
Releasability status Ready to Ship?

On the surface, a Broadway musical, a newspaper, and software may not seem to have much—if anything—in common, but they have one common thread. All are delivered on a fixed schedule. But of the three, software tends to stray the most from the fixed schedule. In this week's column, Jeff Patton says that by focusing on the readiness of the entire product—as done in theatrical performances and when publishing a newspaper—and not just on the completion of the planned bits of work, you can produce software on a fixed schedule that you know is ready to ship.

Jeff Patton's picture Jeff Patton
My Manager Thinks I'm Holding Her Hostage

You don't need to look any further than to your coworkers to see how many different personalities and work styles are in effect. Despite the differences, certain predictable behaviors occur between staff and management when personalities clash. Jonathan Kohl defines a few managerial behavioral anti-patterns that could undermine your project. He also sets the ground work for ways to improve the relationship between staff and management.

Jonathan Kohl's picture Jonathan Kohl
Building Team Trust, Front to Back

Trust is more than a feeling. In a project, it is something that can be grown from careful planning and development of good requirements. Ellen Gottesdiener describes three types of trust which can be built from good requirements and team management.

Ellen Gottesdiener's picture Ellen Gottesdiener
Repaying the Happiness Debt—with Interest

The pace of production depends on the capability of those at work. When an increase in profit is desired, production is sped up. Yet those forced to work faster aren't necessarily more productive. Unhappily experienced at being forced to work harder and faster resulting in less productivity, Clarke Ching found a way to slow down expectations and increase productivity.

Clarke Ching's picture Clarke Ching
How to Annoy an Audience

Many people who give presentations have habits that are innocent but that can annoy the audience. In this week's column, Naomi Karten identifies some of the potential annoyances she's seen among the technical professionals she's coached or observed.

Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
When Conflict Is Baked In: Bridging Structural Conflict

No two people or groups are the same, but their differences don't have to force them apart. In this column, Esther Derby uses the example of feuding operations and development groups to explain how focusing on the source of structural conflict can help build a bridge across the disagreements.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
The Agile Tipping Point

Nirav P Assar uses Malcom Gladwell's best selling book , The Tipping Point to discuss what's necessary to fully, and successfully implement agile, in order to take advantage of all that it can bring to a software development team.

Nirav Assar's picture Nirav Assar
Six Behaviors to Consider for an Agile Team

If you've been tasked with creating an agile team, first consider what differentiates an agile team from a non-agile team. In this column, Johanna Rothman highlights six behaviors of people on successful agile teams that candidates for an agile team should possess.

Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman

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