Some Agile teams, especially those in their early days of the agile journey face the classic conflict of autonomy and control. They might resist the typical command and control measures that are inherent in many classical organizations. But agility requires a delicate balance of autonomy and control. Delivery of quality end products to customer satisfaction […]
Autonomy and Control in Agile Projects – the balancing act Read More »
Kanban popularity is on the rise these days in software development. But why do we want to use it anyways? What would be the goals that anyone would like to set when they embark on this journey of continuous improvement using Kanban. David Anderson summarizes this excellently in the form of 8 goals to aspire for with
8 Goals to aspire for with Kanban Read More »
The all familiar iron triangle represents the essence of project management. Conceptually its very simple. Scope, Schedule and Cost are the three corners of the triangle. Impact on one or more of these factors results in a positive or deteriorating effect on quality. For most projects (and most fall under this category by the very
Iron Triangle, Uncertainties and COTS Implementations Read More »
The benefits to be accrued from having realistic estimates of project costs and timelines cannot be overemphasized. This article explains how optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation can lead to forecasting errors. The author recommends proactive strategies that can be employed by both the buyer and the seller of project services to limit their negative impact.
Expectation versus Reality: Reducing the Estimation Gap Read More »
The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of the time, and the last ten percent takes the other ninety percent. The quote aptly summarizes the fate of many software projects – especially the large ones. Most software projects begin with meticulous planning, yet they fail to meet their objectives. Why is it
Flatten cone of uncertainty and reduce cost of change Read More »
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy – said Field Marshal Helmut von Moltke. It’s impossible to have a perfect plan given the variety of factors at play during execution. At best, plans denote one possibility, the best possibility that we think at a given point in time of how the things might unfold. No
Progressive Elaboration, Planning Onions And The Reality Check Read More »
Software companies have used waterfall methodologies for decades now. Agile has made major inroads in the product development area but still its a long way to go for non product development related IT projects. A classic example are software vendors with commercial off the shelf (COTS) products. They have been using implementation methodology with their
Agile. Why ? Whats Wrong With Waterfall ? Read More »
Levi Strauss started to upgrade its informational technology system to a single SAP system across geographies for a proposed budget of approx. $ 5 million. After roll out the problems were so severe, the company had to a take a $192.5 million charge against earnings to compensate for the several problems created by the project.
Estimation Number Games – powered by Optimism Bias and Strategic Misrepresentation Read More »
