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What Is a Good Project Manager?

The definition of a "good project manager" varies depending on what skills you value most of this person. In this week's column, Payson Hall explores the root of the definition, highlighting the key characteristic he believes is the true hallmark of a good project manager.

Payson Hall's picture Payson Hall
The Marriage of Lean, Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP)

Many flavors of Agile have emerged: Scrum, Lean, Feature Driven Development (FDD), and Extreme Programming just to name a few. These methods have numerous complementary and distinguishing features, but the gamut of choices can be confusing and disorienting - as if being told to choose the best from 31 flavors of ice cream. Return on Investment (ROI) is important to me, so Lean must be the answer. But wait, I also want to be agile with my business priorities so I’ll choose Scrum. We are left wanting a simple question answered: “Which Agile method should I choose for my organization?”

Geoffrey Bourne's picture Geoffrey Bourne
2020 Best CIO Acceptance Speech (penned in 2010)

In the 2010 article, ThoughtWorks consultant Tiffany Lentz pens the speech a successful CIO might write ten years hence in 2010. She talks about the ways that agile principles had become the norm in development and spread beyond software teams in into IT and corporate planning and project execution.

Anupam Kundu
Insights From Three Agile/Lean Product Development Thought Leaders

Here is what Mark Lines (Unified Process Mentors, Co-Founder) has to say:

The fact that basic agile concepts are so easy to learn, as well as the proliferation of certification courses with very little investment required has had both positive and negative effects. Certainly the mindshare of methods such as Scrum has exploded in our industry and people are excited about the benefits that agile can deliver in terms of elimination of waste and timely delivery of systems with immediate ROI.

 

Mark Lines
Successful Agile Needs Teamwork

Agile embraces the concept of self-organizing teams but they are inherently unstable and are only successful when the ‘Leadership – Self-Management’ dilemma is understood and dealt with. Too much central control destroys agility, inhibits creativity and resists change. Too much self-management leads to chaos and anarchy and destroys a team. A successful Agile Team needs to operate as far along the continuum towards self-management as it can, without tipping over into chaos. You can’t just eliminate the PM role and say to a software development team, “OK, you’re now an Agile Team – you need to self-organize”. This is a recipe for failure, and one of the reasons why many organizations resist the Agile approach.

 

TechWell Contributor's picture TechWell Contributor
Active Following

Great leaders don't always lead the charge, stand in front, or offer direction. They know when to step aside to let others step forward. Yet, this type of leadership is often mistaken for passivity or overlooked entirely. Esther Derby shows how "in front" leadership actually can cause gridlock and loss of productivity and destroy the good spirits of a team. You can avoid these pitfalls by noticing when the most effective leadership means choosing to follow.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
When Is Communication Not Really Communication?

Complaints in the workplace about insufficient or inadequate communication are common, yet that very word "communication" is subject to multiple interpretations.

Here's an example of what I mean: A director had a survey conducted to determine the cause of his employees' low morale. One of the key findings was their desire for more communication. Eager to put things right, the director began circulating more reports and email than ever. And as a voracious reader, he started to extract articles from his many periodicals and circulate them to everyone.

Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
Agile 2009 - Johanna Rothman - Manage Your Project Portfolio
Podcast

Agile 2009 - Johanna Rothman - Manage Your Project Portfolio

Bob Payne's picture Bob Payne
Agile Removes Limitations—You Must Now Change the Rules

If you're practicing agile methods but continue to reach back to the rules and structures your organization used before adopting agile, you might be asking for more trouble than you know. In this article, George Schlitz discusses the mingling of old and new rules in organizations in different phases of agile adoption and offers a four-step method to help sort out the confusion.

George Schlitz's picture George Schlitz
Agile 2009 - Olav Massen - Real options
Podcast

Agile 2009 - Olav Massen - Real options

Bob Payne's picture Bob Payne

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