Scrum

I interviewed a number of project manager candidates recently and one of my favorite question was how they do estimation. A common response I got was that people would estimate a task/deliverable based on past experience, speak with tech leads, architects and various business stakeholders. Very seldom do I hear people mention that they would consult with the developers who would do the actual work. Another extreme would be that end users or senior management would set an end date and dictate scope, then Project Managers would reverse engineer the date to come up with estimates.  Read more...

Last week I attended a Certified Scrum Master course. I was keen to gain perspective on the role of a Scrum Master; specifically coming from a testing / QA background, I wanted to understand who ‘best’ fitted the role. Going into the course, I had the pre-conceived idea that Developers were best suited to operating in this role; as if the team raised blockers during a stand-up, they are likely to understand the problem and be better placed to work towards a solution.  Read more...

Sometimes bed is not an option

How many times do you hear that to do the right thing is “Not an option” because of your client engagement.

I sometimes suspect this is much more driven by fear of the engagement than by the actual need – Sometimes being unpopular is the only option. Let me illustrate a fairly common scenario for you.  Read more...