Harvard Business

MAY 15, 2018

Increasing volatility, uncertainty, growing complexity, and ambiguous information (VUCA) has created a business environment in which agile collaboration is more critical than ever. How to make your company more nimble and responsive. Here’s how: Managing the Network’s Center. Marina Nasr / EyeEm/Getty Images.

Agile 136

Agile How To Efficiency Groups 136

Epicflow

JANUARY 30, 2025

An effective Project Management Office (PMO) in an organization is a must nowadays. It helps standardize project management practices, ensure alignment with organizational strategy, and provide oversight to deliver projects successfully. Enhanced risk management through predictive insights. What is a PMO? What are PMO tools?

Tools 130

Tools Software Efficiency Resources 130

Consulting Matters

MARCH 3, 2021

If you're ready to discover how to talk about what you do in a way that is compelling to your ideal clients, then read on. What I'm NOT going to do is show you how to put sizzle around how to explain your methodology to your client that makes them sign with you on the spot because that is not going to happen. You get me!".

How To 401

How To Methodologies Survey Leadership 401

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. Instead, let's consider how to see management's adaptable and resilient actions. Those actions show that managers change their actions in the face of new information or feedback. That's a good thing.)

Agile 89

Agile Management How To System 89

Harvard Business

JANUARY 4, 2017

I’ve recently been thinking about this with regard to how leaders can be more strategic, able to effectively execute the core of their business while remaining open to trends in the market and adapting to meet them. I’ve begun to view this as the ability to hold two specific traits in balance: consistency and agility.

Agile 144

Agile Course Operations Exercises 144

Epicflow

JUNE 8, 2022

Agile has become the most popular methodology in recent years and has proven its efficiency for millions of companies already so nobody has any doubts about it today. Being agile means being flexible enough to adequately and timely react to any alterations of your project environment and any external changes that may happen at any time.

Agile 130

Agile Resources Management Methodologies 130

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. How do we reward someone based on individual work when we want teams to work together? What does performance management look like when we want to reward people for their collaboration?

Agile 132

Agile Culture Efficiency Productivity 132

Harvard Business

MAY 22, 2018

The most common conversation I have these days with discouraged employees below senior management levels goes like this: “This company’s bureaucracy is killing me. 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.

Agile 133

Agile Energy Retail Case Interview 133

Harvard Business

JULY 6, 2023

Organizational innovation is fueled through effective and agile creation, management, application, recombination, and deployment of knowledge assets and know-how. Leveraging a company’s proprietary knowledge is critical to its ability to compete and innovate, especially in today’s volatile environment.

Training 187

Training Training Data Agile 187

Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 6, 2023

Several people on social media have denigrated the terms “project manager” and “program manager.” ” These people claim there is no need for either role in an effective team, especially an agile team because the team can manage its own deliverables. Facilitating the team's collaboration.

Management 109

Management Agile How To Productivity 109

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 19, 2021

So when does it make sense to customize your agile approach to gain a strategic advantage? They can offer a subscription-based revenue model if they figure out how to release something useful almost every week. They want an agile approach, so they started with Scrum. Then, they Built their agile approach based on their needs.

Agile 105

Agile Tools Productivity Development 105

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Strategy and Product Feedback Loops Many of my middle-management and senior leadership clients want certainty about future work. One of these managers said, “I have so much uncertainty and ambiguity. Does that sound like an agile team to you? However, managers don't create features as agile teams do.

Agile 96

Agile Management Consulting Productivity 96

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 14, 2021

One of my clients wants to use shared services “teams” as they start their agile transformation. The organization lives with many delays when the managers choose a shared services model. That's because the managers think resource efficiency works. They don't realize how much more effective flow efficiency is.).

Agile 119

Agile Efficiency Productivity Development 119

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 23, 2021

I had a terrific time with Chris Williams on his Badass Agile podcast. We discussed the Modern Management Made Easy books. Some of the topics we covered: Are managers born or made? How managers need to collaborate to achieve agility. How managers micromanage at all levels. Congruence.

Agile 106

Agile Management Consulting Company 106

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

The managers don't believe the teams need product owners, so the teams don't have POs. The managers think a Scrum Master can support at least four teams. The managers (often with the assistance of a consultancy) decided Scrum was the answer. However, the managers didn't define the problem(s) they want to solve.

Agile 108

Agile Management Comparison Productivity 108

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.) That's why I then asked people to review their product-oriented domain expertise and agile-focused domain expertise in Part 3. Especially, Agile is Not a Silver Bullet.

Agile 96

Agile Management Metrics Culture 96

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. The spiral model assumes that if you get feedback early enough, you've managed the technical and requirements risks.

Agile 117

Agile Development Productivity Management 117

Harvard Business

JUNE 13, 2018

But, what about the application of AI and ML to agile development, testing and even portfolio management? For nearly two decades, many companies have utilized the principles within the Agile Manifesto to deliver faster time-to-market than traditional, or linear development models. Focus on Outcomes, not Metrics.

Agile 105

Agile Development Management Software 105

Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 14, 2021

I had a great time with Jeff and Squirrel on their podcast, Troubleshooting Agile. We spoke about the Modern Management Made Easy books in Johanna Rothman on Modern Management Part 1. Here's a highlight idea from the podcast: a transition to management is a career change. We had a wide-ranging and fun discussion.

Agile 108

Agile Management Consulting How To 108

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 9, 2021

I had a terrific conversation with the two Jeffs at the Agile Wire. See Modern Management Made Easy with Johanna Rothman for our recording. We touched on many topics in the Modern Management Made Easy books: The system of work. How fast can managers learn? How managers can facilitate the work of others.

Agile 76

Agile Management System Consulting 76

Johanna Rothman

DECEMBER 2, 2022

On the ANE panel last night, an agile coach asked, “What's my path forward as an agile coach? I said that if the coach wanted to move up the hierarchy in the organization, the coach needed some form of management experience. Focus on business results, not agility per se. What do I do next?” Most cannot.

Agile 110

Agile System Productivity Management 110

Johanna Rothman

MAY 18, 2021

I had the pleasure of being on the Agile Uprising Podcast: Modern Management Made Easy with Johanna Rothman. We had a wide-ranging discussion, including: What the manager's job is (and is not). How servant leaders support people taking responsibility. The podcast: Modern Management Made Easy with Johanna Rothman.

Agile 93

Agile Exercises Management Consulting 93

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 29, 2021

How should agile coaches work? I've heard several questions and problems around what agile coaches should and should not do. Should agile coaches focus on: How well the teams use their pre-determined agile framework. For example, how good is their Scrum?). That's why an agile coach offers value.

Agile 102

Agile Recruitment Recruiting Examples 102

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. Yes, cancel.

Agile 111

Agile Software Construction Analysis 111

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

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. Culture requires management involvement.

Agile 87

Agile Culture Conference Management 87

Epicflow

JANUARY 31, 2023

Becoming a competent and sought-after project manager is impossible without constant professional development. So, we’d like to give you guidance in this flow of resources – we’ve selected 11 project management books that any successful project manager should discover. Enjoy the reading!

Management 29

Management Handbook Case Study Case Studies 29

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. An example of how much instead of how little thinking.) Yes, I'm experimenting!)

Agile 85

Agile Productivity How To Management 85

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 want rigid roadmaps. Because the managers want to “know” the teams will deliver it all. What can you do?

Agile 143

Agile Productivity Management Data 143

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

Epicflow

MAY 4, 2023

Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that these projects cannot be successfully managed. Read the article to find out how to cope with the uncertainty in R&D projects and increase the chances of achieving desired outcomes. Read the next section to find out some useful recommendations.

Research 130

Research Development Management How To 130

Harvard Business

NOVEMBER 8, 2016

For far too long, managing risk has been seen as an esoteric business function — designed to control losses and adhere to compliance standards. Senior business leaders and their boards must therefore change the way they think about risk and how they respond to it. Risk agility is a source of lasting competitive advantage.

Ethics 130

Ethics Management Balance Sheet Agile 130

Johanna Rothman

APRIL 14, 2020

Manage for effectiveness. 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. It matters how well the team can create value. Thanks so much.

Agile 83

Agile Efficiency Culture Resources 83

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?

Agile 81

Agile Culture Efficiency Metrics 81

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!):

Agile 74

Agile Culture Productivity Consulting 74

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 15, 2021

When Mark Kilby and I wrote From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams , we differentiated between these types of teams: Collocated, as all the people are within 8-16 m of each other. For the rest of this post, since we're talking about agile teams, let's assume each team has one manager. So are the product managers.

How To 110

How To Agile Management Productivity 110

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 14, 2024

And even if you can find an agile coaching or Scrum Master job, the pay is so terrible, you don’t want to take it. Your previous managers and potential managers don’t see the value of someone in your position. That’s because these managers think agile coaching and Scrum Mastering is a staff job, not a line job.

Agile 100

Agile How To Metrics Productivity 100