Johanna Rothman

MARCH 8, 2021

As I've been speaking about the Modern Management Made Easy books, people ask these questions: We're pretty good with our agile approach. These people tell me their career ladder doesn't work to enhance agility. Organizations reward people as individuals—but agility demands collaboration. Became a consultant.

Agile 132

Agile Culture Efficiency Productivity 132

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 19, 2021

So when does it make sense to customize your agile approach to gain a strategic advantage? Example 1: Startup/Small Organization with Few Products. They offer their product in two versions: Pro and Lite. (No They want an agile approach, so they started with Scrum. Let's start with a couple of examples. Others mob.

Agile 105

Agile Tools Productivity Development 105

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 24, 2021

In Part 1 and 2 of this series, I wrote about how an agile approach might offer strategic benefits. And because an agile approach changes your culture, I said the agile approach was part of your strategy. So let's ask this question: Can any tool—agile or otherwise—offer you a strategic advantage? (I

Agile 105

Agile Tools Productivity Analysis 105

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 14, 2021

One of my clients wants to use shared services “teams” as they start their agile transformation. Their developers work on a product for months and years at a time. ” Shared service-thinking denies the reality of effective product development: A cross-functional team learns together as they develop the product. .”

Agile 119

Agile Efficiency Productivity Development 119

Harvard Business

MAY 22, 2018

I know it is critical for the leadership to embrace agile, but the sad reality is that I’m not sure our leadership team will start before it’s too late. Rather than debating the advantages of agile teams, why not start demonstrating them? Perhaps my journey to agile will help you figure out how to begin your own.

Agile 133

Agile Energy Retail Case Interview 133

Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 21, 2021

When I think about agile approaches to work, I think about how fast we can change and the cost of those changes. That's why an agile approach with deliverables every day or week doesn't fit with some kinds of projects, such as events. Here, I assume you want multiple releases for your product.

Productivity 130

Productivity Agile Guidelines Strategy 130

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 26, 2021

They think agile approaches are tactics and agile tools are part of their strategy. That's why they want to Buy an agile approach. Worse, the longer they maintain their custom board, the more they spend on that internal product. And the less they have to spend on products that affect the customers.

Agile 96

Agile Tools Culture Strategy 96

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

The managers don't believe the teams need product owners, so the teams don't have POs. The managers (often with the assistance of a consultancy) decided Scrum was the answer. Those outcomes can help teams decide which agile approach(es) to start with and adapt. Let's start with who wants the teams to use an agile approach.

Agile 108

Agile Management Comparison Productivity 108

Johanna Rothman

JULY 22, 2021

Worse, many of these managers also want business agility. Business agility requires change. Product strategy, to define the value the products offer to the product's users/customers. In addition, you might need these product strategies too: Product architecture, to shepherd the technical value of a product.

Productivity 133

Productivity Strategy Strategy Strategy& 133

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Once the team completes that highest priority feature(s), the team can release the product. When we release, we can regroup and figure out what to do next for this product. Fork another product. (I I did this with several Lite vs Pro products using this approach.). Opportunities for More Agility.

Agile 113

Agile Productivity Management Development 113

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 5, 2023

That's because each project offers different value over the product's lifetime. See Product Roles, Part 4: Product Orientation and the Role of Projects for images of why we want ever-increasing product value, but why we might space the projects out.) However, today, I realized there are also product risks.

Productivity 123

Productivity Agile Management Development 123

Johanna Rothman

DECEMBER 2, 2022

On the ANE panel last night, an agile coach asked, “What's my path forward as an agile coach? Focus on business results, not agility per se. People who facilitate larger efforts, such as product leaders, portfolio managers, and most middle managers, feel the pressure to “deliver” or “perform.”

Agile 110

Agile System Productivity Management 110

Clarity Consultants

FEBRUARY 9, 2025

For example, if your goal is to increase sales, your L&D programs might focus on enhancing sales techniques, product knowledge, or customer relationship management skills. Productivity metrics: Assess changes in output per employee or team efficiency. Output per employee: Track changes in individual or team productivity levels.

Metrics 147

Metrics ROI Training Training 147

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 8, 2020

Back in Part 1 , I wrote about how stage-gate approaches were as agile as we could use at the time. We had one delivery, so our agility was about canceling the project if we couldn't finish it. ” One of the customers realized he wanted something different—something we didn't expect for this product.

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Agile Development Productivity Management 117

Clarity Consultants

JUNE 30, 2023

This is because they are better equipped to handle tasks, solve problems, and deliver high-quality work–all of which impact organizational productivity. The more self-assured they feel, the more motivated they will be to work hard, which of course, also increases productivity. The instructional design consultants make this possible.

Development 265

Development Training Training Agile 265

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Strategy and Product Feedback Loops Many of my middle-management and senior leadership clients want certainty about future work. However, I don't do long consulting contracts—by design. But most of my business focuses on coaching, workshops, or consulting. Does that sound like an agile team to you?

Agile 96

Agile Management Consulting Productivity 96

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 6, 2020

Are you trying to make an agile framework or approach work? Maybe you've received a mandate to “go agile.” Or, maybe you're trying to fit an agile framework into your current processes—and you've got a mess. I've seen plenty of problems when people try to adopt “agile” wholesale.

Agile 111

Agile Software Construction Analysis 111

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 11, 2021

Worse, most career ladders assume we can assess what a person can do, not on their contributions to an agile team. That means most career ladders don't fit agile teams or an agile culture. Instead of individual achievements, we can reward the types of agile leadership we want to see in agile teams.

Agile 95

Agile Engineering Productivity Culture 95

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

Daniel Vacanti and Prateek Singh graciously invited* me to be on an episode of Drunk Agile: Episode 37 Johanna Rothman Part Deux More Bigger Aging. Ordering the work by value, even though agile approaches hope the value changes. (Re)defining That's why agile approaches emphasize “finish something and get feedback on it.”

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Agile Video Management Time Management 104

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 12, 2019

I spoke at Agile 2019 last week. Here are my thoughts and where I think the “agile” industry is headed. Problems I See with “Agile” Here's a summary of problems I saw last week: Too many people think “agile” will solve all their problems. Do You Need an Agile Approach?

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Agile Culture Conference Management 87

Johanna Rothman

JULY 29, 2021

Several of my clients have internal struggles about how to internally see the future of the product. The teams want to use an agile approach so they can incorporate learning. The managers might even think this is roadmap reflects an agile approach. There's nothing about this roadmap that's agile. What can you do?

Agile 143

Agile Productivity Management Data 143

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 8, 2022

The larger your product, the more likely you have components teams. I often see component teams because of the architecture of the product. In this first image, the Integrated System Program, the rest of the product uses the Platform of Common Services as components. InterRelated Program Product.

Productivity 116

Productivity Agile Efficiency Data 116

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 1, 2024

(That link just goes to the first post) My most recent book: Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility. In addition, here's the unedited transcript: Agile _ Adapt – Expert Talk – Johanna Rothman – April 2024 in docx format. I hope you enjoy this one.

Agile 89

Agile Video Interviews Productivity 89

Johanna Rothman

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

More of my clients say they want business agility. Yet, we don't share a common definition of business agility. Actions matter when it comes to business agility. Since managers create and refine the culture, they can create an environment that supports business agility. An Environment that Supports Business Agility.

Agile 89

Agile Management How To System 89

Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 10, 2024

I see many teams and team members who say, “Agile stinks. ” When I ask people what's happening, they say: We're doing an agile death march because someone else already told us what we have to do and the date it's due. And don't get me started on how coaches tend to do life coaching instead of support for agility.)

Agile 88

Agile Culture Efficiency Management 88

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 7, 2022

What do teams need to know about the product now to focus their work? If I was the product leader, I would write which feature sets and which problems they solve in each of these various minimum boxes. Product leaders need the flexibility to replan. Teams use backlogs for the day-to-day tactical decisions.

Productivity 98

Productivity Agile How To Tools 98

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 6, 2022

They want a single product roadmap to serve all these purposes: Focus the team's work for this specific product for the short term. Show customers where the company thinks the product is headed. The more specific overview of when salespeople might expect new features or new products.). What management thinks they want.

Productivity 115

Productivity Agile Data Travel 115

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

Strategy and Product Feedback Loops. Instead of teams being responsible for delivering product, the managers are responsible for explaining when the managers want to decide. What about product decisions? The product value team might need to see product deliverables at least once a week. Or finish a project.)

Productivity 106

Productivity Agile Management Tools 106

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

I have a new book: Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility. I wrote it because I'm concerned about what I see in too many supposedly agile teams: Crazy-long backlogs and roadmaps. See Manage Unplanned Feedback Loops to Reduce Risks and Create Successful Products.)

Agile 85

Agile Productivity How To Management 85

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 21, 2024

I started this series by discussing why managers didn't perceive the value of agile coaches and Scrum Masters in Part 1, resulting in layoffs.) Then, in Part 2 , I asked those unemployed agilists to review their functional skills, the skills people need to do a product development job well. Especially, Agile is Not a Silver Bullet.

Agile 96

Agile Management Metrics Culture 96

Johanna Rothman

JULY 23, 2020

You can do this even if each of you is an expert on various areas or different products when you use flow efficiency. See Who's Playing Agile Schedule Games? ). No More Agile Death Marches. They're able to release more finished features because they're not postponing the work they owe the product.

Agile 91

Agile System Productivity Efficiency 91

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 14, 2020

Let me address a little about business agility and innovation. Business agility allows us to create a culture where we plan to change. Too many people think business agility is about the ability to do more of the same, faster. ” Or mine, “Explore and support effective ways of managing product development.”

Agile 83

Agile Efficiency Culture Resources 83

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 9, 2021

I said that when we focus on individual achievements and deliverables, we ignore the agile system of work. Worse, when we reward individual achievements we prevent an agile culture. That's because agile teams learn together as they create the product. Agile Behaviors for Learning and Working Together.

Agile 69

Agile Productivity Culture Management 69

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 6, 2024

In Effective Agility Requires Cultural Changes: Part 1 , I said that real agile approaches require cultural change to focus on flow efficiency , where we watch the flow of the work , not the people doing tasks. Can you create an agile culture for your team even if you can't change how the organization works? 1,2 and so on.

Agile 81

Agile Culture Efficiency Metrics 81

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 24, 2021

He thought agile approaches would work to “meet” and “enforce” deadlines. I asked Brad these questions: Do you have product or feature teams that are cross-functional and can release alone? ( Component teams create interdependencies and take much more time to finish work.). Why do you have deadlines?

Agile 85

Agile Meeting Software Government 85

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 9, 2024

I was on the Agile Uprising podcast this past Sunday, discussing my most recent book. Some of what we discussed: That managers want agility but do not care about any agile methods or frameworks. While we might think “agile” is another project organization method—or lifecycle—it's not. See (and hear!):

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Agile Culture Productivity Consulting 74

Tom Spencer

APRIL 6, 2019

“Data scientists, fast computers, and advanced software are replacing traditional decision-making processes and disrupting tried-and trusted traditional consulting methodologies, with Big Data being one of the main forces of disruption” ( Tras, 2015 ). So, how does big data create value for consulting firms?

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Data Consulting Agile Industry 106