Topics
- Earned Value Management (RSS) (12)
- Estimation and Pricing (RSS) (14)
- Older Topics (RSS) (33)
- Agile Software Development (RSS) (17)
- News (RSS) (16)
- People Skills (RSS) (14)
- Understanding ourselves (RSS) (3)
Individuals and Interactions
Something’s bugging me. I think we’ve lost sight of our priorities in the agile software movement. We are spending too much time talking about processes and tools, and too little time talking about people and their interactions.
Think back to the Agile Manifesto. At the moment, we seem to … Read more
Big Lessons from a Little Process
I presented a session at today’s Wellington Agile BarCamp. The session was called “Crystal Clear: Big Lessons from a Little Process“. Instead of describing all the details of the process, I outlined four of the most important lessons I have learned from it.
Here are some brief … Read more
Estimation in a Competitive Context
I’m debating an issue with Steve McConnell, over on his blog, and I’d like to hear what others think of the issue.
I have a theory that, when multiple suppliers are competing for the same contracts, market forces encourage selection of those suppliers who have under estimated (either knowingly … Read more
Making Better Programmers
Regular feedback is a key element of agile development. Rapid feedback improves our software. I suggest it also improves us, the people who write the software.
I’ve just read a fascinating article on where talent comes from, over on Freakonomics.com. It outlines research into the key factors … Read more
Scientific Experiments
Steve Yegge points out that it’s very hard to do a valid scientific experiment in software development:
“You can’t have the same team do the same project twice; a bunch of stuff changes the second time around. You can’t have 2 teams do the same project; it’s too hard to
Cutting Scope is Not the (Whole) Answer
Many agile proponents advocate the “Cancel-After-Any-Phase” approach. Work is prioritised by business value and the customer can halt the project after any phase. You can fix price or scope, but not both. Most commonly, the price is fixed and scope is cut if necessary.
This approach is a … Read more
Effort Creep
While scope creep is doing more work than you expected, due to added scope; effort creep is doing more work without added scope. You’re just taking longer to do the same stuff.
Like scope creep, effort creep is inevitable and manageable. To manage effort creep we need to understand … Read more
Negotiating your Development Process
Principled Negotiation also applies to defining your software development process. You can’t choose Agile just because you like it. You have to understand what your customers’ interests are, and you have to seek a process which meets their interests and yours.
For instance: if the customer says they want … Read more
Charting Change
Time and Budget Charts show project status clearly. But what happens when the scope changes? Does the chart still work? If so, how do you update it to reflect the new scope?
The charts can accommodate change in three ways, as follows:… Read more