IAPM Essentials #106 - News from the project management world
What was eventful last week? What has happened in project management? Here you can find articles worth reading and links to videos or podcasts that we warmly recommend.
To put it briefly: Essentials from the world of project management.
Enjoy reading!
To put it briefly: Essentials from the world of project management.
Enjoy reading!
IAPM Essentials May 17, 2022
This week, these three articles were particularly inspiring:
The Five Anti-patterns of Estimating User Stories
Implementing Scrum correctly is not an easy undertaking. Especially when estimating the effort, mistakes are often made. For example, the first mistake is to agree on the halfway as a compromise. If one person estimates the effort to be 8 and the other estimates it to be 3, the effort is not 5. It should be discussed and understood why the numbers are so far apart. The second mistake is to rely on the most experienced team member for the estimate. In most cases this will be correct, but it undermines the performance of the entire team. Another mistake is to set unrealistic expectations. Setting a high goal is not a bad thing in itself; in many teams it provides motivation and very good performance. However, it is important not to overshoot, because repeated setbacks due to not reaching the goal will lead to demotivation and poor performance. If you are interested in a detailed description and want to know two more anti-patterns, we recommend you to read the original article.
Click here to read the original article.
Using Artifacts to Make Our Thinking Visible
Tackling a problem with a whole team is much more fruitful than solving a problem alone. However, for that to be productive, it can be helpful to represent the thoughts in a visible and tangible way. This representation should have four characteristics - "analog, complex, persistent, and revisable." Analog offers the advantage that all working people can come together to work on a problem. This can be achieved, for example, by taking notes on a bulletin board. Complex means that the representation should not be oversimplified and still adequately represents reality. Persistent means that it should be permanently available, for example as a paper document in a specific location, and it should also be changeable (revisable). Another point that supports productive work in a group is the size of the representations - small representations are difficult to read and the large representation enables the connection of physical movement in the form of gestures and thinking, which improves the thinking process.
Click here to read the original article.
Agile Principles: Adaptive Self-Organizing
„The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.“ This is the eleventh principle of agile software. The people who do the work should also be able to determine how they do it. Unfortunately, this way of working can also cause a number of problems. For example, it can be difficult to ensure a sustainable way of working across all teams. An example: the team leader works long hours and rarely takes vacation, creating an expectation, albeit an unintended one. While this may not be a problem for one team, it can be a very difficult way of working for another. Another problem can be that the team (again, unconsciously) adopts the work style of the most experienced group member, even though this is not always the most productive work style for the team. You can read about other disadvantages in detail in the original article. To preface this, though: The advantages outweigh the disadvantages - self-organised teams are often more engaged, more satisfied, more innovative in problem solving, and thus more efficient than top-down managed teams. Perhaps it's worth giving this approach a try.
Click here to read the original article.
Implementing Scrum correctly is not an easy undertaking. Especially when estimating the effort, mistakes are often made. For example, the first mistake is to agree on the halfway as a compromise. If one person estimates the effort to be 8 and the other estimates it to be 3, the effort is not 5. It should be discussed and understood why the numbers are so far apart. The second mistake is to rely on the most experienced team member for the estimate. In most cases this will be correct, but it undermines the performance of the entire team. Another mistake is to set unrealistic expectations. Setting a high goal is not a bad thing in itself; in many teams it provides motivation and very good performance. However, it is important not to overshoot, because repeated setbacks due to not reaching the goal will lead to demotivation and poor performance. If you are interested in a detailed description and want to know two more anti-patterns, we recommend you to read the original article.
Click here to read the original article.
Using Artifacts to Make Our Thinking Visible
Tackling a problem with a whole team is much more fruitful than solving a problem alone. However, for that to be productive, it can be helpful to represent the thoughts in a visible and tangible way. This representation should have four characteristics - "analog, complex, persistent, and revisable." Analog offers the advantage that all working people can come together to work on a problem. This can be achieved, for example, by taking notes on a bulletin board. Complex means that the representation should not be oversimplified and still adequately represents reality. Persistent means that it should be permanently available, for example as a paper document in a specific location, and it should also be changeable (revisable). Another point that supports productive work in a group is the size of the representations - small representations are difficult to read and the large representation enables the connection of physical movement in the form of gestures and thinking, which improves the thinking process.
Click here to read the original article.
Agile Principles: Adaptive Self-Organizing
„The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.“ This is the eleventh principle of agile software. The people who do the work should also be able to determine how they do it. Unfortunately, this way of working can also cause a number of problems. For example, it can be difficult to ensure a sustainable way of working across all teams. An example: the team leader works long hours and rarely takes vacation, creating an expectation, albeit an unintended one. While this may not be a problem for one team, it can be a very difficult way of working for another. Another problem can be that the team (again, unconsciously) adopts the work style of the most experienced group member, even though this is not always the most productive work style for the team. You can read about other disadvantages in detail in the original article. To preface this, though: The advantages outweigh the disadvantages - self-organised teams are often more engaged, more satisfied, more innovative in problem solving, and thus more efficient than top-down managed teams. Perhaps it's worth giving this approach a try.
Click here to read the original article.
Further articles worth reading and podcasts worth listening, you should not miss:
5 kanban boards to help you better manage big projects
Click here to read the original article.
Tools for people
Click here to read the original article.
And the kernel of truth behind them
Click here to read the original article.
Your DevOps Teams Can Do Better. Here's How.
Click here to read the original article.
Projektanforderungen mit User Story Maps darstellen
(en.: Display project requirements with user story maps)
Click here to read the original article.
Wie Projektleiter Stress vermeiden
(en.: How project managers avoid stress)
Click here to read the original article.
3 ways to make encouragement count
Click here to read the original article.
How to identify the right project management methodology
Click here to read the original article.
Trello vs Jira: How to choose the best project management software for your team
Click here to read the original article.
Project management software: What features are necessary for marketing?
Click here to read the original article.
Click here to read the original article.
Tools for people
Click here to read the original article.
And the kernel of truth behind them
Click here to read the original article.
Your DevOps Teams Can Do Better. Here's How.
Click here to read the original article.
Projektanforderungen mit User Story Maps darstellen
(en.: Display project requirements with user story maps)
Click here to read the original article.
Wie Projektleiter Stress vermeiden
(en.: How project managers avoid stress)
Click here to read the original article.
3 ways to make encouragement count
Click here to read the original article.
How to identify the right project management methodology
Click here to read the original article.
Trello vs Jira: How to choose the best project management software for your team
Click here to read the original article.
Project management software: What features are necessary for marketing?
Click here to read the original article.
Author: IAPM internal
Keywords: IAPM Essentials, Links, News