-
A Project Manager’s Guide to Proper Care & Feeding of Project Issues
Learn how to manage the small, seemingly harmless complications before they escalate and damage your career.
By Ron Montgomery, Management Consultant & Owner, OnPoint, LLC
Your project kick off meeting was a great success and the team is beginning to execute the plan. Then some nefarious trolls begin to arrive in your email inbox. They vary in external appearance, but they have a common name: Project Issues. When they first arrive, they are small and appear to be harmless. When ignored, they grow and multiply and sometimes damage the project manager’s career....Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on November 12, 2012
Add to My Toolkit
-
Successful Project Managers - The ‘Ninjas’ of Influence
What behaviors define successful project managers and the people who sponsor them?
By Ron Montgomery, Management Consultant & Owner, OnPoint, LLC
It’s a common complaint among project managers; “I have the responsibility, but I don’t have the authority.” It’s true that project managers rarely have formal authority, and the lack of such authority makes it difficult to meet project objectives and ensure that issues are resolved in a timely manner. However, successful project managers still manage to get the job done without formal authority. ...Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on September 24, 2012
Add to My Toolkit
-
User Stories – Simple, But Not Easy
Define your needs so that Agile Software Developers will act.
User stories are used in agile software development to provide concise descriptions of desired system functionality. They are written from the perspective of the person who will use the functionality and they utilize the following structure:
“As a (list the type of user), I want to (identify the desired outcome) so that (identify the user’s intent).” An example would be “As an investor, I want to see the unit value of my mutual fund so that I can see if I am...Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on August 1, 2013
Add to My Toolkit
-
Agile Success Factors: The Product Owner Role
3 Success Factors for Product Owners Plus The Support Needed From Senior Management
By Ron Montgomery, Management Consultant & Owner, OnPoint, LLC
Scrum, an agile software development process for managing software projects, specifies only three roles: 1) Product Owner; 2) Scrum Master; 3) Developers / Testers
The role of Product Owner is critical however not always fully appreciated. For years, those of us who develop software have decried the lack of user involvement in our projects. The same can be said for any major development project no matter what the industry...Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on April 11, 2013
Add to My Toolkit
-
Six Things to Consider Before Assigning a Project Leader
Is your next project doomed to failure?
By Ron Montgomery, Management Consultant & Owner, OnPoint, LLC
Finding the right person for the job is always an important hiring decision, but often overlooked when assigning project leadership roles. Why do you think that is the case? Many times project leadership roles are “assignments” instead of “appointments”. That distinction creates a mindset that can set your project, your employee, and your company up for failure. Ask yourself: Does your company...Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on December 27, 2012
Add to My Toolkit
-
5 Tips for Helping Agile Teams Avoid “Squirrel Moments”
Here’s some great advice for any team trying to maintain focus.
The “squirrel moment” arrives unexpectedly. The instant message pops up with a question about functionality in a recently deployed release. A new production support ticket arrives from the customer service team. The product owner stops by for an ad hoc brainstorming session about a new feature that might be added to the backlog. And the entire team stops what they are doing in order to meet the squirrel. The squirrel provides welcome relief from the drudgery...Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on February 5, 2014
Add to My Toolkit
-
Agile Transformation – Five Tips for Getting Team Members On Board
Like any change initiative, agile transformations take time.
The agile movement values collaboration among team members, self-organizing teams, and technical excellence. In theory, one would think that everyone would want to be part of an agile team. It just doesn’t work that way in practice and some team members will need additional support to become comfortable with this change. Following are five tips for getting team members on board with agile.
Tip #1 – Listen First
In the world of software development, most people have developed...Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on December 4, 2013
Add to My Toolkit
-
Testing Within The Agile Framework – Learn What’s Different
A New Approach to Programming Requires a Different Approach by Management
By Ron Montgomery, Management Consultant & Owner, OnPoint, LLC
Agile is sometimes perceived as “cowboy programming,” devoid of discipline, and structure. This perception is fueled by flawed rollouts that overlook the agile principles that espouse “working software.” When properly implemented, agile is very disciplined and results in high quality, reliable software that is tested extensively. Agile testing, however, requires a new approach.
Why is...Continue reading
By Ron MontgomeryPosted in Project & Process Management on February 21, 2013
Add to My Toolkit