I have a friend who, after years being that one guy who was fluent in Cobol and kept that ancient but really important legacy application running, got a new gig at a local Agile tech company. The last time we got together, I asked him how he liked the new …
Author Geraldine Mongold
Org Charts Gone Wild
Of all the visual models that we use in our projects, organizational charts might be one of my least favorite. They can be tedious to elicit and build. Project teams don’t always see the value in them once you have created them. And in many organizations, it will become obsolete …
Total Agile – Part 2
In Part 1, I talked about some of the problems I’ve observed in large enterprises converting to Agile. Now, let’s talk about some solutions to those problems. I’ve been reading around the internet about scaling Agile to enterprises, and there are a lot of passionate and one-sided arguments about the …
Total Agile – Part 1
Having spent the past 3 years working with clients who are going through the transition to Agile, I have observed some of the associated challenges and pain and developed a few opinions along the way. The biggest barrier that I’ve observed to successful Agile is the organization’s overall structure and …
Just the Docs, Ma’am!
Have you ever worked on a project where you were tasked to create documentation after the fact? Have you needed to span that bridge between business analyst and technical writer? I’ve done a couple of these, and the challenge I’ve had each time was effectively estimating the work involved. Many …
The Perfect Product Owner
I’ve been working on a client project where my role has been to coach a newly-hired product owner and help get a brand-new feature team running. The chap who was hired to fill the product owner role came to the team with a lot of business domain knowledge but almost …
Agile vacation
“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” – Winston Churchill This is one of the many awesome quotes by Winston Churchill, and one that is particularly useful to remember on software projects. Or family vacations. We just got back from a vacation, and we had our fair share of …
Modeling the Atom
One of my many odd hobbies is an abiding interest in and passion for science, particularly the quirky, mind-boggling world of physics. For light bedtime reading, I keep a copy of Feynman’s Six Easy Pieces on my nightstand. Yeah, I’m a geek. However, most of physics isn’t so ‘easy’ to …
Project Communication Tips and Tricks
Ever had one of those projects where it seemed you spent most of your time either trying to track down the right person to talk to or trying to get team members to talk to each other? How do you deal with a project team or stakeholder group that has …
BA Advice Column
Have a knotty problem at work? Need help navigating the treacherous waters of a crazy project? Just ask Betty the Business Analyst! She’s here to drop some wisdom on you for the asking. ——————– Dear Betty, I was sitting in a meeting today when my stakeholder started swearing quietly, in …
