enough for a timebox, and resolve obstacles quickly. Management may still ask for a Gantt chart even though you don't need one.
If you're a developer or tester, you need to collaborate closely with your team to accomplish "done" for each feature. If you've never worked feature-by-feature before, this can be quite difficult. And while the timebox helps you stay focused, the intensity of the timebox might be different from how you are accustomed to working.
Moving to agile and seeing how the whole product comes together before the end of the project is a reward in itself. Try it.
Author's Acknowledgements
I thank Esther Derby, Tobias Fors, and Don Gray for their review of this column.
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About the author
Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” helps organizational leaders see problems and risks in their product development. She helps them recognize potential “gotchas,” seize opportunities, and remove impediments. Johanna was the Agile 2009 conference chair. She is the technical editor for Agile Connection and the author of these books:
- Manage Your Job Search
- Hiring Geeks That Fit
- Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects
- The 2008 Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management
- Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management
- Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People
Johanna is working on a book about agile program management. She writes columns for Stickyminds.com and projectmanagementcom and blogs on her website, jrothman.com, as well on createadaptablelife.com.
