November 15, 2020
I thought One-On-Ones were this secret tool that I had in my toolbelt that no one knew about. Turns out, many of us know about them. But sometimes they are a mess. And they are definitely something that can take a while to master. And doing them remotely is an added complication that you might not have seen coming. That’s okay, the good stuff is always hard to do. Here is the full episode here on Remotely Prepared.
November 14, 2020
This is the question that many of us can’t answer. What do we actually want? We look at user stories and features, what is in the backlog, what was discussed in a meeting and we assume that is “what the user wants”. But it really isn’t. How many times have you built something, thinking it was the right thing to build only to have an end user go – “that’s not what I was looking for.” It’s not until that you ask someone – “What do you want?” – that you get the answer you need, unencumbered by technology, domain
November 13, 2020
The word alone raises images of bureaucracy, slowed down deliverables, and processes that seek to create more processes. Let’s not even get into committees that report to commitees. The thing with committees, is they are safe. But change that membership name to a group and it becomes something different. The people involved are engaged, eager to work with each other and they have a common goal in mind. Change it to a team and it becomes something even stronger – the members have worked with each other before, they know who does what on the team and where they need
November 12, 2020
But do they really want that? (This is usually the first response to when someone hears what the client wants). Maybe we could sell them on this? (This is the second response that involves trying to sell the client something they don’t want.) What if we give them this instead because we don’t have a lot of time? (This is what the client fears will happen even though the project started six months ago). Here you go. (This is what the client receives, it kind of does what they want, kind of not, but it is delivered with very little
November 11, 2020
It sucks. Yes it sucks. It’s not easy (I don’t think it was ever meant to be). A fantastic interview with Heather Caudill on how she has navigated the last year of leading teams remotely and not shying away from the hard conversations that need to happen for her team to succeed. Full episode is here.
