Review of publications for the week
About widely used tools – Definition of Ready and Definition of Done: what is the difference, what and in what situations should be used, with examples of checklists and recommendations.
The Third Kanban Metric. Part 1
For Kanban aficionados and connoisseurs: an overview of the three main metrics for improving work processes, with an emphasis on the third, the Run Chart (or similar Scatterlot), which allows you to identify trends when analyzing the history of completed tasks.
Project Management. RACI Matrix
An overview of a popular tool for managing stakeholders and working with a project team, plus some tips on how to use it.
7 Simple Questions About the Discovery Process: Key Frameworks, Methodologies, and Research Rules
The guys from Agima talked about the Discovery stage, which precedes the requirements gathering in product (and often project) development. The main thing is the use of HADI, working with in-depth interviews, CJM, usability testing, surveys and A/B tests.
How To Improve Project Visibility In 6 Simple Steps
The authors talk about the “visibility” of the project – this is the degree of “transparency”, accessibility of the progress and results of the project for all interested parties, which improves communication and reduces risks. Visibility can be improved by various software, the implementation of RACI, systematic and convenient reporting, reducing the share of manual operations, etc.
Facilitating Effective Sprint Reviews
About how to make a retro or sprint review more effective. The focus is on inviting and working with stakeholders, taking notes and analyzing opinions expressed during the review.
14 Project Management Metrics to Track to Quantify Success
Updated material on the difference between “metrics” and KPIs and the key project management metrics themselves with formulas, including schedule deviation, cost deviation, resource utilization (utilization), a number of quality indicators (satisfaction index, etc.).
Agile Myths That Decrease Agile Performance
About the myths that prevent agile teams from achieving their goals: “leaders can be passive”, “managers are not needed”, “agile is not manageable”, “agile does not need planning”, etc. All, of course, with debunking.
Microservices as the average developer sees it, and how it really works
In conclusion – some useful materials on the “IT hardware”. This text is in accessible language about the myths and misconceptions of ordinary people, managers (and not only) regarding microservice architecture in its traditional (and incorrect) opposition to a monolith.
Data Warehousing: An Overview of Technologies and Design Approaches
An excellent educational program on Data WareHouse (DWH) – basic approaches to design, evolution of architecture, data modeling issues.
Project Manager and Team
More than scripts: the importance of communication in the world of information technology
A good and smart base about how important it is not just to learn soft skills in courses, but to develop them through experience, communicate, and accept colleagues with their special features.
Rescuer Syndrome: How to Stop Taking on Too Much?
The savior syndrome is when a person always tries to help others, even if it harms him. Such people often put other people's interests above their own, which can lead to problems in life. The material from Sber tells about the strategy for combating the syndrome.
Delegate it
How to benefit the team and yourself rather than harm them when delegating? In short – adequate expectations, the right choice of the performer, formulating the image of the result for the performer, intermediate control and feedback.
Harmful advice for an IT employer
And again the favorite genre! This time even in verses – suddenly you lack poetry in your work.
How to evaluate the efficiency of IT teams and debug processes wisely
The Sbermarket team (now Cooper) shares the secrets of measuring team efficiency. They use Lead Time and Cycle Time metrics, supply chain analysis, identifying blockers and come to systemic improvements. The material is generally for delivery managers, but project managers will also find it interesting.
CRM (Crew resource management) or conscious insubordination
CRM (specifically about the team) came from aviation as a tool for reducing “human error” – pilots did not listen to the opinion of the crew, and in vain. The publication is about the transfer of CRM practices to the soil of business and team building, about the benefits of this approach for the survival of teams and projects.
How Employees Can Sabotage a Company
The author examines the famous CIA “Sabotage Manual” and comes to the conclusion that sabotage practices are more than alive in modern organizations.
Three weeks of coding saves two days of design
Everyone knows that design, planning and careful collection of requirements at the start are useful practices. The author dug deep enough and described a system in which a lot of time is devoted to design, and not only the architect and BA participate in it, but also the programmers themselves, who write a document before implementing the task.
Leader vs. Team: What Seemed Impossible Became Reality
On the transition from an authoritarian method of team management to a “respectful” one: “It’s difficult, with unpleasant obstacles, difficult decisions, changes in habitual patterns of behavior and management. But this is the path of a leader, next to whom the team is ready to grow and develop.”
About unusual and informal methods of knowledge exchange in a team: stand-ups about mistakes, reports from managers, internal conferences. And about how to implement a culture of such communication.
Experience, cases, tools
190 projects every day: how not to lose quality in software development
The Simbirsoft team – about values and principles that allow you to do many projects at once with high quality: work with the customer's team as if it were your own, be on the same page with the customer, do the best you can, check in at intermediate stages, and correct mistakes correctly. It sounds trivial, but it supposedly works – read the details and nuances in the post.
The authors have recently implemented flexible methodologies, already see the advantages (and disadvantages, too, by the way), and describe the progress of implementing scrum tools.
We created a grading system for employees so that they could “level up” and earn more
They also implemented Agile and switched to calculating salaries by grades (instead of the previous intuitive (!) approach to accruals). The authors share the details of grading, so if you are going down the same path, take a look.
How We Launched the Most Expensive Button on Avito
As usual, Avito publishes great articles, this time about the profile linking button. The value of the material is in the detailed description of the entire process of creating a new feature.
About tools against burnout – quick wins, presentations of intermediate results, bringing to release, etc.
Case: Reduced production defects from 60 to 7% in 4 months
Neogenda – about the impact of OKR on production, the complexity of implementation and the importance of choosing the right “goal” for optimization, which ultimately led to increased sales and profits.
Using Agile to Recover Failing Projects
How to use Agile in situations when a project is in the collapse phase or is significantly behind schedule. Key points: conduct a retro, build a “burndown chart” and understand the speed/deadlines, talk to stakeholders and… start working according to Agile principles (yes, it’s a bit like the “how to draw an owl” meme).
“Creating Effective Bug Reports”: A Quick Guide
Most likely, like me, you often catch bugs on projects and somehow organize work with them. The article will help you do this more systematically and productively.
How Google Performs Code Review
Finally, a translated material about Google culture and methods of working with code and the team. In short: everything is very fundamental and boring, they use their own tools to ensure that the code complies with standards.
This was the week of publications about projects. If we missed any interesting material, share it in the comments.
Digest archives and new materials – Here (digests have been running weekly since the beginning of 2023).
