Managing multiple projects can be a real pain. But should it be? Most managers use endless and complicated excel sheets to collect, track, and process data. It is completely okay, but only if there isn’t an easier way. The problem is that if you do the project reporting manually, it takes too much time. Time […]
Edgar Schein, Sloan Professor of Management Emeritus at the MIT, describes three levels of organizational culture: artifacts, the visible sign: from dress code to how employees communicate espoused beliefs: the values by which business is conducted, it can be brought out by talking to people underlying assumptions, the invisible component: hard to describe, often unconscious, […]
Does this title sound confusing? Don’t worry. By the end of this article, you will see that it is simpler than you think. You will be able to measure the right cycle time with your eyes closed. For those of you who are not so familiar with the term, cycle time is one of the […]
The key to understanding the true meaning of efficiency is striving to eliminate all waste of resources in accomplishing desired results. Perhaps the only constant when discussing ways to achieve efficiency is the dynamics of the term. It implies the mindset of continuous monitoring, assessment, and improvement. The process efficiency in the knowledge work domain […]
In my line of work, I’m often called to help an organization “go agile” or do an “agile transformation.” My first question usually gets the most awkward pause: “Why do you want to do this?” After some discussion, we often get to something like, “We need to be faster,” or “We’ve got some tight deadlines, […]
The traditional waterfall approach to building software (and other things) has been anathematized as being the worst thing that can happen to a company and has practically been banned from the industry for good. Its successor – agile has been discovered and promoted as the only way to do things properly. Is this applicable to everyone?
Are you wondering what is the best way to prioritize tasks using Kanban? If you are a Kanban beginner or you struggle with work prioritization, we are here to share our experience. Setting up priorities over the loads of work we have on our plates is indeed a challenge we all face today. If not […]
Grasping the difference between adopting the Agile methods into the work process (doing Agile) and shifting to the Agile mindset (being Agile) is a fundamental step to achieving a real transformation of the workflow, boosting engagement at all levels, and being productive. No matter your position at a company, the project you are working on, […]
Stakeholder analysis plays a pivotal role in project management. Of course, if you look at it from an “Agile” perspective, some variances occur – and that too for the better. For starters, the Agile approach jumps over a few hoops to get things done quickly. We are no longer looking at traditional methodologies for managing […]
Traditionally, answering the question “When will it be done?” happens in a deterministic way where teams prepare strict deadlines for their projects. And while this approach works for stable projects, operating in a volatile environment requires a way to reflect our plans’ uncertainty. This calls for probabilistic planning, where project managers communicate possible outcomes (forecasts) […]