Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 6, 2023

” These people claim there is no need for either role in an effective team, especially an agile team because the team can manage its own deliverables. While some agile teams can manage their own deliverables, that's not the only role for a project or program manager. Clarify the Product and Team Objectives. I'm not alone.

Management 108

Management Agile How To Productivity 108

Johanna Rothman

DECEMBER 11, 2019

We had (and still have) too many products to keep the same teams on them for a long time. For programs, the team stayed together and moved to a different feature set/internal product until the program finished. We could move to a new product and/or a new team. My job was to smooth the way for people to deliver products.

Agile 60

Agile Productivity Management Meeting 60

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 20, 2020

I discussed the origins of the agile approaches in Part 5. In this post, I'll discuss how you can create an agile approach that fits your context. Why should you create your own agile approach? Because your context is unique to you, your team, project, product, and culture. What do you need?

Agile 60

Agile Culture Productivity Development 60

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

The managers don't believe the teams need product owners, so the teams don't have POs. Those outcomes can help teams decide which agile approach(es) to start with and adapt. Let's start with who wants the teams to use an agile approach. Who Wants the Teams to Use an Agile Approach? They're having trouble with Scrum.

Agile 108

Agile Management Comparison Productivity 108

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 14, 2020

Anytime I've seen a successful innovation culture, I've seen these principles. Let me address a little about business agility and innovation. Business agility allows us to create a culture where we plan to change. Too many people think business agility is about the ability to do more of the same, faster.

Agile 83

Agile Efficiency Culture Resources 83

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

For years, managers have been trying to find ways to make software product development faster and easier. “Agile” as a way to do much more work in much less time. (NO! AI to take the place of humans in product development. There is one silver bullet for product development—the speed of team learning time.

Agile 82

Agile Tools Productivity Development 82

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 15, 2020

Isn't every iterative and incremental approach an agile approach? We often hear agile approaches are a mindset. An agile approach requires a change in culture at the team level, at the portfolio level, and in management. Agile approaches change what we discuss, how we work together, and what we reward.

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Agile Training Training Culture 70

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 14, 2019

In Part 1 , I wrote about how “Agile” is not a silver bullet and is not right for every team and every product. This post is about how management fits into agile approaches. Too often, managers think “agile” is for others, specifically teams of people. What and how we reward people.

Agile 69

Agile Management Efficiency Culture 69

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

Strategy and Product Feedback Loops About 20 years ago, I taught a project management workshop to IT people. Their products and services did not ship outside the building—their products and services enabled the organization to make money. Adam, a product leader, has changed his meetings and workshops.

How To 124

How To Efficiency Meeting Productivity 124

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 21, 2019

I started asking if you actually need an agile approach in Part 1 and noted the 4 big problems I see. Part 2 was why we need managers in an agile transformation. Part 3 was about how people want a recipe. This post is about what you can do to create an agile culture, regardless of where you are in the organization.

Agile 65

Agile Culture Efficiency Guidelines 65

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 29, 2022

Manage your environment or culture. See Create Your Successful Agile Project for more details.) Also, see the Pairing, Swarming, Mobbing post so you can see how people might work together, keeping the team's WIP low. Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

Development 120

Development Productivity How To Efficiency 120

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 12, 2021

You want business agility. The teams have worked hard to change how they work. The people and teams continue to experiment with agile behaviors. Every team's agile journey is unique. So is each manager's agile journey. If some people aren't sure, they might not be as far along in their agile journey.

Agile 51

Agile Cash Flow Education Management 51

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 3, 2019

At the Influential Agile Leader workshop earlier this year, I led a session about scaling and how you might think about it. I asked if any of the teams succeeded at using an agile approach at the team level. I didn't know how to map our cycle time. I explained how in Agile and Lean Program Management.).

Agile 70

Agile Telecommunications Wireless System 70

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 15, 2019

I started this series asking where “Agile” was headed. This part is about how people want a recipe, The Answer, for how to get better at “Agile.” ” Before we can address what an answer might be, your need to know your why for an agile approach. Can “Agile” deliver on that?

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Agile Software Efficiency Construction 67

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 22, 2018

Introduction to an Agile Transformation series… I’ve seen several agile transformation challenges. Since I want to address those challenges, this is a series of posts about agile transformation. The problems I’m planning to address are: Understanding why agile, why now. You might have another reason.

Agile 47

Agile Culture System Productivity 47

Johanna Rothman

JULY 20, 2021

We talk a lot about empowered or self-organizing teams in the agile community. Everyone does the best job they know how to do. Instead of talking about empowerment, let's discuss how we trust teams and people to do their best job. And managers don't realize inspect-and-adapt is a necessary part of an agile culture.).

Leadership 141

Leadership Agile Policies Tools 141

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 14, 2020

Anytime I've seen a successful innovation culture, I've seen these principles. Let me address a little about business agility and innovation. Business agility allows us to create a culture where we plan to change. Too many people think business agility is about the ability to do more of the same, faster.

Agile 40

Agile Efficiency Culture Resources 40

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 9, 2022

” “Each resource has at least two projects so they stay productive and efficient.” ” These managers have created a resource efficiency culture, not a flow efficiency culture, as in the image above. In contrast, a flow efficiency culture watches the flow of the work. What does your culture value?

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Efficiency Culture Resources Management 75

Harvard Business

MAY 15, 2018

Increasing volatility, uncertainty, growing complexity, and ambiguous information (VUCA) has created a business environment in which agile collaboration is more critical than ever. How to make your company more nimble and responsive. Marina Nasr / EyeEm/Getty Images. This story is not unique. Insight Center. Competing in the Future.

Agile 46

Agile How To Efficiency Groups 46

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 23, 2019

Many people in the agile community promote a product orientation over a project orientation. That's possible because an organization has product or feature teams. That works until you have more products than teams. If you keep teams together, you can still use projects in a product-oriented organization.

Productivity 60

Productivity Agile Efficiency Strategy 60

BCG

AUGUST 17, 2016

Agile development has gone mainstream, but the software development methodology that helped hundreds of Silicon Valley startups explode onto the scene has delivered decidedly mixed results for more traditional organizations. In most cases, there is a critical point of failure: the product owner. Article Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

Agile 40

Agile How To Methodologies Software 40

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 3, 2018

This series is about how you might move to a product-based organization. Part 1 was about how when we organize by function, the recognition and rewards might prevent a successful agile transformation. Part 2 was about one possibility for moving to a product-based organization. Project and Team Measures Change.

Productivity 64

Productivity Agile Efficiency System 64

Johanna Rothman

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

In Part 1 , I suggested that when we organize by function, the recognition and rewards might prevent a successful agile transformation. In this part, I’ll discuss an option for a product-oriented organization. Consider a Product-Oriented Organization. That includes product ownership. How Many Managers Do You Need?

Productivity 65

Productivity Agile Efficiency Management 65

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 7, 2023

If you're trying to use an agile approach, what do you care about in terms of finishing: That the team finish the work, regardless of the personal or team cost? When teams collaborate, these managers have no idea how to assess anyone's performance. Agile teams always know who did what. Collaboration decreases learning debt.

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Agile Efficiency Management Culture 55

LSA Global

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

In some win at all costs organizational cultures , declining a request can have negative consequences. To mitigate the fallout while making sure that unreasonable targets don’t negatively impact the health or productivity of you or your team: Understand the Impact on Your Team It can be easy to overreact. Is your team agile enough?

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Agile Leadership Culture Data 36

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 9, 2020

In the agile and lean communities, we talk a lot about transparency. This image is the transparency principle we used in From Chaos to Distributed Agile Teams. I see the most product and program success when the various teams create transparency between them, the middle of the continuum. That's the full-product transparency.

Management 59

Management Agile Balance Sheet Metrics 59

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 6, 2024

In Effective Agility Requires Cultural Changes: Part 1 , I said that real agile approaches require cultural change to focus on flow efficiency , where we watch the flow of the work , not the people doing tasks. What about those cultural changes? How Much Feedback Does Your Project Need? 1,2 and so on.

Agile 80

Agile Culture Efficiency Metrics 80

Harvard Business

JULY 19, 2017

Many companies are attempting a radical — and often rapid — shift from hierarchical structures to more agile environments, in order to operate at the speed required by today’s competitive marketplace. At Bain & Company, we do not believe that companies should try to use agile methods everywhere. This takes time.

Agile 28

Agile How To Enterprise Metrics 28

Johanna Rothman

MAY 1, 2024

When you ask the elimination or dirt-bag questions, you can see how well the candidate fits in the organization. Yes, ask the cultural fit questions before you ask the technical skills questions. Especially if you want to use agile approaches. The candidate's question is: How fast can I see if this job is for me?

Consulting 76

Consulting Interviews Resumes Agile 76

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 27, 2019

Here are ways to think about your context for how to create minimum requirements documentation: How much does the team collaborate? Note: In From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams , Mark and I recommend any other approach than an agile approach if you don't have enough hours of overlap. See Manage It!

Agile 68

Agile Guidelines Efficiency Productivity 68

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 8, 2018

How do we move from a project-based organization towards a product organization? There are at least two systems of work we need to change: The management system and the culture of management. How the teams work and their team culture. Work Toward the Product Organization with Team Behaviors.

Productivity 60

Productivity Efficiency System Management 60

Organizational Talent Consulting

MARCH 28, 2022

Emotional intelligence helps you build better relationships, reduce workplace stress, create productive conflict and improve employee retention. Cultivate Your Cultural Agility. Culture is one of the most potent forces in business. I experienced the importance of cultural agility early in my career.

Leadership 52

Leadership Emotional Intelligence Agile Culture 52

Brimstone Consulting

JANUARY 3, 2022

How do you lead change? Grit, curiosity, agility, courage and so much more. Learn how community and business leaders like Father Gregory Boyle, Jack Ma, Daniel Barenboim, and Katherine Johnson overcame adversity to lead real change. ” How company culture can thrive in a distributed, hybrid world. Big Change.

Video 82

Video Leadership Pharmaceuticals Education 82

Harvard Business

MAY 22, 2018

I know it is critical for the leadership to embrace agile, but the sad reality is that I’m not sure our leadership team will start before it’s too late. Rather than debating the advantages of agile teams, why not start demonstrating them? How to make your company more nimble and responsive. What can I do?”

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Agile Energy Retail Case Interview 33

Harvard Business

MAY 4, 2018

Called Agile, the process put customers at the center of product development, encouraged rapid prototyping, and dramatically increased corporate speed and agility. While Agile began as a product development innovation, it sparked a corporate strategy and process revolution. Maximize engineering productivity.

Agile 28

Agile Development Methodologies Software 28

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Maybe even draw a picture of when the story/product completes. (I All the ways John's code connected—or didn't—to the rest of the product. They learn how to think with others. In addition, they work to simplify their code and the entire product. Agile thinking and culture shows us that no, we don't.

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Development Management Efficiency Agile 98

Harvard Business

JUNE 19, 2017

If software has eaten the world, then agile has eaten the software world. And there is no shortage of information and advice on how agile should be implemented in your tech organization. For example, a Google search for “agile software development” returns over 14 million results. Related Video.

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Agile Software Case Interview Video 28