May 29, 2008 - Attacking the Project Portfolio Before it Attacks you
Whether you’ve been Agile for a while or still thinking about it, you have one thing in common with all other software teams. You have too much work to do.
One of the valuable aspects of moving to an Agile approach for projects is the choices you have in managing the portfolio. You can use a kanban approach, a first-come-first-served queue, or one of several evaluation approaches to select which project to do next.
There is no one-size-fits-all for determining which work to do next. In this talk, Johanna will explain the different approaches and discuss when to consider which.
We’ll discuss all the kinds of work your group takes in, and which questions to ask to see if that work should even be done at all. Then we’ll explore techniques for project prioritization, and a bit about how to deal with the inevitable push-and-pull across the organization when others are dissatisfied with your prioritization. You’ll see a project portfolio plan at the highest level and the lowest level, and see how to apply rolling wave planning to your project portfolio. We’ll discuss ways you can evaluate the projects in your portfolio and when to review the portfolio.
Speaker:
Johanna Rothman helps managers solve problems and seize opportunities.
She consults, speaks, and writes on managing high-technology product development. She enables managers, teams, and organizations to become more effective by applying her pragmatic approaches to the issues of project management, risk management, and people management.
Johanna publishes The Pragmatic Manager, a monthly email newsletter, and writes two blogs: Managing Product Development and Hiring Technical People. She is the author of several books:
- Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management
- Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management (with Esther Derby)
- Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People
- Corrective Action for the Software Industry (with Denise Robitaille).
TIME: 6:30 - 9:00pm
Networking: 6:00 - 6:30pm
LOCATION: MIT (room to be announced
COST: free
RSVP: None required.
DIRECTIONS: (to be provided)
March 27, 2008- Developer Workspaces Enable Agile Teams
Workspace Managememt is often an afterthought for teams, agile or
not. For teams to work effectively developers need machanisms to help
ensure that their changes will integrate well with others' work. Good
workspace practices also improve team productivity by avoiding "works for me" conversations and by decreasing ramp up times when
people start new projects.
This talk will discuss some of the patterns and practices for
workspace management that you can apply to help developers be more
effective.
(Note: This session was originally scheduled for March 6 - it will now be held on March 27.)
Speaker:
Steve Berczuk , Cyrus Innovation. Steve Berczuk has been developing software applications for over 20 years, and is an evangelist for practices that enable agile teams. Steve is a Certified Scrum Master (Practicing), the author of Software Configuration Management Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration and a columnist for CM Crossroads.
TIME: 6:30 - 9:00pm
Networking: 6:00 - 6:30pm
LOCATION: MIT E51-315
COST: free
RSVP: None required.
DIRECTIONS: MIT Tang Center, Building E51, room 315. Directions