Category Archives: Project Management

We’re All in Sales

It is often said that everyone who works at a company is in sales, and there is some truth in that.  Every time you interact with someone outside of your company you represent your company.  You are being evaluated, and … Continue reading

Posted in agile, costs, information, listening, motivation, peopleware, process, Project Management, software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kanban with kids

I recently had a day at home with my kids and we decided (well I decided) that we’d try a new game.  I explained the rules: “Today we are going to get lots of jobs done, but before we do … Continue reading

Posted in agile, estimates, kanban, planning, Project Management, software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Who Said the Software’s Late?

We are always hearing about software projects being late.  My current experience tells me that my own software team will deliver their software later than planned. So why is that?  Let’s firstly get the assumption that the team is somehow … Continue reading

Posted in agile, costs, estimates, information, planning, process, Project Management, software development | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Building Roads

We are often told when managing software projects that things should be more predictable, more repeatable and that our projects are less in control than others.  As we saw previously, I’m not convinced. I’ve been watching with interest over the … Continue reading

Posted in agile, estimates, planning, Project Management, software development | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Speed vs Predictability

Understanding which trait is most important to a project can be a big factor in whether that project is seen as successful. It can also help determine the best way to “manage” a project (in a “project management” sort of … Continue reading

Posted in agile, planning, process, Project Management, software development | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Progress – Part 3 (What still needs improving?)

In the previous parts, we looked at how things used to be in the development team, and then looked at how things are now.  This time, lets look at the areas that still need improving. As a small company trying … Continue reading

Posted in estimates, peopleware, planning, process, Project Management, software development | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Learning from Mistakes

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone learnt from their mistakes?  Well, I like to think I’m a glass half full sort of person, so I believe that people do learn from their mistakes.  However, what happens when they don’t realise … Continue reading

Posted in costs, planning, Project Management, reading, software development | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Planning Genius or Stupidity?

Here’s a little story of a project I was recently involved in. I always enjoy the chance to watch and learn from other people’s work, so with an external Project Manager I was looking forward to this one. Things started … Continue reading

Posted in estimates, information, listening, planning, process, Project Management | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What Makes a Good Manager?

I have worked with many managers over the years.  Some of them I have found inspirational, others absolutely unbearable, but I’ve tried to learn from them all. So, what is it that makes a good manager? Well, here’s my 5 … Continue reading

Posted in motivation, peopleware, planning, process, Project Management, time management | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Risks

I remember being a technical lead on a project and working with our project manager and his newly introduced risk register.  Something bothered me about that risk register and the way it was being used and I’ve recently managed to … Continue reading

Posted in planning, process, Project Management, software development | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment