How do you motivate people on projects?

Its amazing what a small group of motivated people can achieve when given the chance. It is also amazing how many project managers launch into planning and running their projects without thinking about how to motivate the people delivering the project and then struggle against the tide to try and deliver the work they planned. […]

Agile fables: Penny goes to a management meeting

Penny didn’t used to think that testing and management had much to do with each other, but she was about to learn that the most testing people of all were the managers.

What is happening to business analysts in agile projects

I went to a conference recently and someone asked about the impact of agile projects on the role of the business analyst (BA). The panellists all explained that BA’s are really important members of the team. This was comforting for the audience but didn’t really address the question.

Penny and the agile support team part two. Zara tries hard to explain things.

If you have just joined our story, Penny was promoted to run the new third level support team and she has been told they have to be agile. Penny decided to start their second day with a team meeting and she bought everyone a coffee as a welcome to the team kind of gesture. Penny […]

Penny Wise and the Agile Support Team–episode one

The story so far Penny worked in the IT call centre. Her title was quite bland (she was a Second Level Support – Analyst Class 4), but she pictured herself as a young Sherlock Holmes.

One the other hand, your question compass is better

I have my own favourite set of questions to ask at the beginning of any assignment or project. I call this my “question compass” because the questions help me to find my way at the ambiguous beginning of most of my projects. People often write the questions down when I explain them, so I assume […]