IAPM Essentials #23 - 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!
Logo of the IAPM Essentials number 23.

IAPM Essentials October 6, 2020

This week, these three articles were particularly inspiring:

Der Organisationsrebell – doch eine gute Idee?
Until recently, Michael Schenkel was convinced that the term organisational rebel was complete nonsense. But he is also the one who likes to make a phone call at 11:07 every now and then – to make a change on a small scale. When he drew parallels between his actions, or rather his attitude, and the definition of "organisational rebels" by some of his colleagues, he began to reconsider his aversion to the term. He imagined a positive organisational rebel and came to the conclusion that this term is also intangible. From his point of view, it is not important to be a rebel, but to question existing processes and initiate changes.
Click here to read the original article.


Options, Not Roadmaps
Many people feel safe when they are pursuing a long-term plan, a strategy. Ryan Singer, author of Shape Up, clearly believes that it makes more sense to have options rather than a plan. He prefers to be aware of his options and not follow a strict list. The reasoning is simple: if you have a fixed plan, it can happen that it is not realisable - there are simply too many uncertainties. With a fixed plan come expectations that will not be fulfilled if there are deviations. As a result, you will feel guilty. So, if you do not have a plan that cannot be implemented for whatever reason, there are no unfulfilled expectations and therefore no feelings of guilt. Options on the other hand are exactly what the name says: optional. If they are implemented, it is good, and if not, it is not bad at all.
Click here to read the original article.


SMART Sprint Goals Are Stupid
Goals should be specific, measurable, activating, reasonable and time-bounded - in other words, SMART. SMART formulated (sprint) goals are objective and unexcited. And this is exactly what Maarten Dalmijn dislikes. In his opinion, sprint goals should be exciting. They should be concrete and at the same time they should motivate the Scrum team. They should not be boring due to objectivity. His tip is to formulate each sprint goal as a statement that the team members are curious and enjoy working towards the goal. One of his sprint goals is formulated like this: "Donny says 'yes' to the dress". Do you now ask yourself how such a statement can be concrete? Quite simply by the team formulating this goal together and knowing what is meant by it.
Click here to read the original article.

Further articles worth reading and podcasts worth listening, you should not miss:

15 Collaboration Tools For Remote Teams (That Aren't Slack) To Boost Productivity
Click here to read the recommended article.

A Beginner's Guide to Kanban Boards
Click here to read the recommended article.

Agile Missverständnisse: Wenn es am Mindset fehlt …
(en.: Agile misunderstandings: If the mindset is missing...)
Click here to read the recommended article.

Das Product Backlog
(en.: The product backlog)
Click here to read the recommended article.

Hofnarren: Eine bedrohte Art
(en.: Jesters: A threatened species)
Click here to read the recommended article.

Komplexität meistern
(en.: Mastering complexity)
Click here to read the recommended article.

Leading With Open Ended Questions
Click here to read the recommended article.

Q&A on the Book-Problem? What Problem? with Ben Linders
Click here to read the recommended article.

Psychologische Sicherheit
(en.: Psychological safety)
Click here to read the recommended article.

When Scrum Doesn’t Fit …
Click here to read the recommended article.

Wissen, das Projektbeteiligte wollen
(en.: The knowledge that project participants want to have)
Click here to read the recommended article.

Your opinion matters!

You probably noticed that we have changed the structure of the IAPM Essentials. Do you like this adaptation, or do you prefer the former format?

Author: IAPM intern
Keywords: IAPM Essentials, Links, News

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