Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Strategy and Product Feedback Loops Many of my middle-management and senior leadership clients want certainty about future work. Does that sound like an agile team to you? However, managers don't create features as agile teams do. Agile teams don't assume they make a final product the first time out.

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Agile Management Consulting Productivity 96

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 19, 2021

So when does it make sense to customize your agile approach to gain a strategic advantage? Example 1: Startup/Small Organization with Few Products. They offer their product in two versions: Pro and Lite. (No They want an agile approach, so they started with Scrum. Let's start with a couple of examples. Others mob.

Agile 105

Agile Tools Productivity Development 105

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 26, 2021

They think agile approaches are tactics and agile tools are part of their strategy. That's why they want to Buy an agile approach. Worse, the longer they maintain their custom board, the more they spend on that internal product. And the less they have to spend on products that affect the customers.

Agile 97

Agile Tools Culture Strategy 97

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 5, 2023

That's because each project offers different value over the product's lifetime. See Product Roles, Part 4: Product Orientation and the Role of Projects for images of why we want ever-increasing product value, but why we might space the projects out.) However, today, I realized there are also product risks.

Productivity 124

Productivity Agile Management Development 124

Johanna Rothman

DECEMBER 2, 2022

On the ANE panel last night, an agile coach asked, “What's my path forward as an agile coach? Focus on business results, not agility per se. People who facilitate larger efforts, such as product leaders, portfolio managers, and most middle managers, feel the pressure to “deliver” or “perform.”

Agile 110

Agile System Productivity Management 110

Harvard Business

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Too many project leaders think rigidly about Waterfall and Agile project management methodologies and believe that they need to choose between the two. But many projects — especially those with diverse stakeholder needs and complex structures — benefit from a hybrid approach that combines aspects of Waterfall and Agile.

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Agile Methodologies Management Productivity 100

Johanna Rothman

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Several of my clients want to use some sort of maturity assessment for their agile transformations. For agile transformation, an assessment can help people see how they change—how they innovate the products and the culture. These are about the product development behaviors I see in the organization.

Agile 128

Agile Culture Data Productivity 128

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.

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Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 6, 2020

In Costs of an Agile Approach for Hardware Products , I suggested that an iteration-based approach for hardware was too expensive. Agile software teams are cross-functional and interdependent. Many agile software teams have somewhere between four and seven people. This hardware team swarms on a product.

Agile 52

Agile Productivity Software Development 52

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 18, 2024

Remember this: If your customers want to use your product, make it easy for them to do so. Because product problems cause several other problems: The customers have to decide if the aggravation of using this product outweighs the defects. Customers will not wait forever for you to fix problems in your product.

Productivity 68

Productivity How To Metrics Tools 68

Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 21, 2021

When I think about agile approaches to work, I think about how fast we can change and the cost of those changes. That's why an agile approach with deliverables every day or week doesn't fit with some kinds of projects, such as events. Here, I assume you want multiple releases for your product.

Productivity 130

Productivity Agile Guidelines Strategy 130

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 7, 2022

What do teams need to know about the product now to focus their work? If I was the product leader, I would write which feature sets and which problems they solve in each of these various minimum boxes. Product leaders need the flexibility to replan. Teams use backlogs for the day-to-day tactical decisions.

Productivity 98

Productivity Agile How To Tools 98

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

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

More of my clients say they want business agility. Yet, we don't share a common definition of business agility. Actions matter when it comes to business agility. Since managers create and refine the culture, they can create an environment that supports business agility. An Environment that Supports Business Agility.

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Agile Management How To System 89

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 9, 2021

I said that when we focus on individual achievements and deliverables, we ignore the agile system of work. Worse, when we reward individual achievements we prevent an agile culture. That's because agile teams learn together as they create the product. Agile Behaviors for Learning and Working Together.

Agile 69

Agile Productivity Culture Management 69

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 18, 2024

That part discusses why managers see agile coaches and Scrum Masters as staff positions, not line jobs. I assume you have some sort of functional product development expertise. If not, why are you in technical product development? This post is about your deep domain expertise, first in product, then in agility.

Agile 82

Agile How To Metrics Productivity 82

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 11, 2021

Worse, most career ladders assume we can assess what a person can do, not on their contributions to an agile team. That means most career ladders don't fit agile teams or an agile culture. Instead of individual achievements, we can reward the types of agile leadership we want to see in agile teams.

Agile 96

Agile Engineering Productivity Culture 96

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

Daniel Vacanti and Prateek Singh graciously invited* me to be on an episode of Drunk Agile: Episode 37 Johanna Rothman Part Deux More Bigger Aging. Ordering the work by value, even though agile approaches hope the value changes. (Re)defining That's why agile approaches emphasize “finish something and get feedback on it.”

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Agile Video Management Time Management 104

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Once the team completes that highest priority feature(s), the team can release the product. When we release, we can regroup and figure out what to do next for this product. Fork another product. (I I did this with several Lite vs Pro products using this approach.). Opportunities for More Agility.

Agile 113

Agile Productivity Management Development 113

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. Remember, an agile approach starts with a team.

Agile 61

Agile Culture Productivity Development 61

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 8, 2022

The larger your product, the more likely you have components teams. I often see component teams because of the architecture of the product. In this first image, the Integrated System Program, the rest of the product uses the Platform of Common Services as components. InterRelated Program Product.

Productivity 116

Productivity Agile Efficiency Data 116

Business Consulting Agency

JANUARY 11, 2024

Creating a skin care product line is a nuanced endeavor that demands a blend of creativity, scientific precision, and industry knowledge. Business consulting services, particularly those specializing in the beauty and skincare sector, play a crucial role in navigating the complexities of bringing a new brand and product line to life.

Productivity 52

Productivity Retail McKinsey Trends 52

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 14, 2024

And even if you can find an agile coaching or Scrum Master job, the pay is so terrible, you don’t want to take it. That’s because these managers think agile coaching and Scrum Mastering is a staff job, not a line job. At what level do you understand the products you’ve worked on? Those are functional skills.

Agile 101

Agile How To Metrics Productivity 101

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

Strategy and Product Feedback Loops. Instead of teams being responsible for delivering product, the managers are responsible for explaining when the managers want to decide. What about product decisions? The product value team might need to see product deliverables at least once a week. Or finish a project.)

Productivity 106

Productivity Agile Management Tools 106

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. Release trains.

Agile 71

Agile Training Training Culture 71

Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 2, 2020

I had a conversation with a hardware engineer whose organization got the mandate, “Go agile or bust!” And, they're trying to show finished product , not simulations. If you have a software-only product, you can minimize the cost of delivery and change, once you create this environment: Short build times.

Agile 41

Agile Productivity Software Engineering 41

Johanna Rothman

MAY 28, 2019

Many of my clients want to create long-term plans, based on data with short validity, even for products in a high state of change. I suspect the first question is how much change do you need in your product, not how good your information is, or how much planning you need. Where Is Your Product in Its Lifecycle?

Productivity 69

Productivity Agile Data Software 69

Johanna Rothman

JULY 23, 2020

You can do this even if each of you is an expert on various areas or different products when you use flow efficiency. See Who's Playing Agile Schedule Games? ). No More Agile Death Marches. They're able to release more finished features because they're not postponing the work they owe the product.

Agile 91

Agile System Productivity Efficiency 91

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 14, 2020

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. ” Or mine, “Explore and support effective ways of managing product development.”

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Agile Efficiency Culture Resources 83

Johanna Rothman

JULY 9, 2019

Now that agile teams stay together, we can change the kickoff to more project-specific work. I wrote an article several years ago, Keys to Chartering an Agile Project. In Create Your Successful Agile Project , I suggested a reframe for the charter. Many new-to-agile-thinking teams want everything defined upfront.

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Agile Productivity Management How To 63

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 13, 2024

Every day, I hear more stories of agile coaches or Scrum Masters losing their jobs. Several reasons: No manager cares about “agile” even if they care about agility. So, selling “agile” into the organization doesn’t create any traction for change. You might not like these ideas.

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Agile Metrics Management Balance Sheet 75

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

They've started to use agile approaches. Capitalization for Agile Work. Let me walk you through an example of a 5-person agile team. Let's assume everyone works together, on one project (product, if you prefer). See Minimum Product Outcomes for more details.). But, what happens if you don't have an agile project?

Software 74

Software Agile Finance Productivity 74

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.

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Agile Tools Productivity Development 84

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Some of my clients have struggled with their project governance as they move to agile approaches. This kind of measurement is antithetical to agile principles. We can see it in an agile approach, because the more time we spend estimating up front, the longer it takes us to deliver that first increment of value.

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Agile Software Government Productivity 68

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

I had a great time on the Agile Coffee podcast, 75. How we might ascribe value to seeing customer situations vs sitting in the office working on the product. We discussed several ideas from the Modern Management Made Easy books: How performance reviews make an agile culture difficult, if not impossible. Managing with Coffee.

Agile 67

Agile Management Culture System 67

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 2, 2019

We have many words for people who shepherd the business value of a product. Here's how I think of the various agile product roles: product managers, product owners, and business analysts. Here's how I think of the various agile product roles: product managers, product owners, and business analysts.

Productivity 74

Productivity Management Agile Strategy 74

Johanna Rothman

MAY 3, 2019

I started this series discussing the issue of the various product-based roles in an agile organization. I suggested a product value team because one person becomes a bottleneck. One person is unlikely to shepherd the strategy and the tactics for a product. Can Your Customer Be Your Product Owner? You don't want to.

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Productivity Agile Management Strategy 70