Questions tagged [team-management]
This tag is for all questions related to leading and managing project teams and project team members either directly or indirectly.
83
questions
72
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5
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Is Scrum a status report meeting or a developer meeting?
I'm a developer and we started using Agile last year (October 2011). And, it has been rough to say the least. I was always taught Scrum was to discuss the following:
What you did yesterday
What you ...
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81
votes
11
answers
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Why can't the ScrumMaster and the project manager be the same person?
How a ScrumMaster does compare to a traditional project manager, and can either role coincide with the role of product manager or project sponsor / project owner?
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9
votes
16
answers
7k
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Project Management Software for a web development company [closed]
I have been doing freelancing with PHP, Ruby, and mostly open source frameworks for a long time. Now that I have a certain client base, they are giving me regular projects.
I have decided to go in ...
116
votes
14
answers
16k
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How to Avoid Micro-Managing a Software Development Team? [closed]
I've managed a few projects over the last few years, and one of the biggest challenges I face is avoiding becoming a micro-manager. I worked with a team once where I worked with a group of software ...
- 9,537
33
votes
5
answers
3k
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How can I manage team distractions like chit-chat?
I work with a team of developers who are talented but often distract each other with chit-chat. They can waste hours of the day with these 20-30 minute, non-project related jam sessions. Since I am PM ...
- 331
19
votes
9
answers
125k
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What are the differences between project leader and project manager
Is there any difference between a project leader and a project manager? Is their involvement different in any aspect?
What are the tasks performed by project managers? What are the tasks performed ...
- 623
13
votes
5
answers
491
views
Discerning estimate validity
I've had experiences in the past where different developers will give different qualities of estimates--which then have to be consolidated into a single project plan--only with a twist.
One ...
- 233
5
votes
4
answers
4k
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Is there are a resource handler or gantt chart creator tool for JIRA? [closed]
I'm hoping someone has some experience on tools and/or better keywords to describe this problem:
I have JIRA system for developers where they provide estimates and track time completed. The estimate ...
- 153
34
votes
7
answers
7k
views
Advice for dealing with a cowboy programmer in an agile team
We have a cowboy coder in our team i.e. he likes to take advantage developing some new features or tools that are not always requested nor useful. We use scrum/kanban for development, and it is quite ...
- 1,219
18
votes
3
answers
950
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Motivating younger (Generation Y) members
I realize many articles have been written about generational differences in the workforce, but I'd like to know specific things you've done to help motivate younger team members.
I belong to "...
- 1,013
17
votes
9
answers
5k
views
Different ways of running Retrospectives
I'm about to facilitate another Retrospective with my team. I'd love to hear what different types of Retrospectives you do, to prevent falling into a routine. How do you improve such meetings to keep ...
- 1,766
13
votes
5
answers
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What are the fundamental differences between a functional manager and a project manager and is it possible to switch between the two?
What are the fundamental differences between a functional manager and a project manager
Is it possible to switch from a job as project manager to one as a functional manager? (provided I know about ...
- 8,849
11
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Open Source Project Management Software [closed]
There are many users here who might be using one project management software or the other. Some may be using paid or some stick with opensource.
Paid are good and have good set of features. But whats ...
26
votes
11
answers
4k
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As a PM, How do you select your project team members?
I’m new to project management and it’s not a fulltime job; in other words a programmer turned project manager, still do some coding :-)
I was following this site’s proposal from the beginning, and ...
- 805
23
votes
10
answers
4k
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What are the best 3 pieces of advice you would give to a new project manager? [closed]
I ask this question because I have noticed that in our community, we have some new project managers. We have also very experienced project managers. I would like our more experienced collegues to ...
- 688
19
votes
11
answers
8k
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Does project management mean managing people?
Does project management mean managing people? So far, from my understanding, managing people is somehow part of project management. But I don't have any formal training in this direction and I can't ...
- 435
19
votes
8
answers
2k
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How to manage a Web Project
I'm a web developer, working in a small web development firm. usually we have small set of projects, using PHP & MySQL, and a small team with less than 4. But some times its hard to recollect ...
- 293
19
votes
7
answers
3k
views
How to better balance resources in a cross-functional agile team?
I am the project manager for a team composed of employees who were hired specifically as QA or development prior to agile/scrum being adopted by the organization. Just for background, I came into the ...
- 833
18
votes
8
answers
1k
views
How can I track the work done by a remote team of coders?
I just started a project with a team of coders working remotely. I trust that they will get the job done, but I want a way to track their progress day to day. I know they are using a Git repository to ...
- 283
15
votes
5
answers
5k
views
What Should a Project Manager Do If Development is Not Completed On Time?
I am a project manager of a development team. Oftentimes, the deadline for the development project is not met.
About my team:
I have 4 people in my team, and they are older than me.
Sometimes I ...
- 321
14
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How do you "project manage" when you are the only developer?
Targets in a one man developer team?
When you are the only developer on a new startup, how do you think the project management should move forward. Because I am the only person with a technical ...
- 243
13
votes
5
answers
5k
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Justifying a Project Manager
I work at a small company our development team is just me and a jr. developer. We just hired another intern.
I'm having a hard time justifying to my boss that we need a project manager. What are ...
- 1,699
10
votes
10
answers
3k
views
How to determine the skills of a software developer in a job interview?
I have come to a new challenge in my career that involves handling some job interviews, and I must determine if the applicant really has mastered the skills he/she lists in his/her CV.
How do I ...
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36
votes
11
answers
3k
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How can I avoid team burnout?
I work for a small web company that deals with a lot of projects, a few at any given time are development heavy for us (400-1500 hours or more) and I've been noticing developers get extremely burnt ...
Shawn Dalma
25
votes
14
answers
5k
views
Are 40 hour work-weeks (no overtime) acceptable for development teams?
No matter what our current conditions are, it seems like my team is always working 40 hour work-weeks.
Under normal work conditions this would be fine, but as we approach a deadline on a major ...
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25
votes
15
answers
13k
views
Dealing with a coworker who keeps making the same mistakes over and over
I've been struggling in a peculiar situation since a while ago and would like your inputs on it. In our project (which is a maintenance project), there are some tasks that are done from time to time (...
- 8,549
18
votes
6
answers
41k
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What's the difference between a Team Lead and a Team Manager?
Full disclosure: I am not a project manager. However, no other group on stack exchange seemed more likely to be able to comment constructively.
In the company where I am about to begin work, each ...
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16
votes
11
answers
7k
views
How should I handle an argumentative team member?
I have a developer on my team who is otherwise very productive but is getting more and more argumentative and disrespectful to the team and to the project managers. For some reason (possibly ...
- 161
16
votes
8
answers
1k
views
How to choose, motivate & develop a newbie programmer?
Imagine that you need to hire new programmer, however you are 100% sure that there are not experienced (what you need) developers on the local market and you need to work with newbies. A couple of ...
- 630
16
votes
7
answers
4k
views
Handling unskilled / unmotivated team members
I am a project manager, for a major project at school. One of my team members had joined the team as a developer, without knowledge of particular languages. The member has spent almost half the ...
- 263
15
votes
7
answers
376
views
How to Virtually Co-Locate: Operating across two offices
Apologies if this is the incorrect exchange to post this on but none of the others seemed appropriate.
We are currently investigating the possibility of opening a second office. We are a web ...
- 151
15
votes
5
answers
2k
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Self-Managing Teams - Reality or Myth?
I recently read an article that had my stomach churn. A "Project Management Professional" said that he does not believe "self-managing" teams are possible. They "need to be managed at some level." - ...
- 475
15
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How to motivate offshore teams and trust them to deliver?
I joined a company where the development is outsourced in an offshore location. I have heard that the people offshore won’t deliver unless they are chased to do so.
In other words, when they are left ...
- 1,358
14
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How to get burned out team back engaged again?
You get the project and development team which is assigned to it recently finished one of those hard-core projects, where everyone is working overtime for long months just to end up being completely ...
- 19.9k
13
votes
10
answers
2k
views
How to manage remote developers?
I have a small company that produce commercial WordPress themes. Things are working well and I want to hire a freelance Front End Developer to help me. I never managed a remote person(the city I live ...
- 239
13
votes
5
answers
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What is the best way to reward a small project team? (specially, at New Year event)
Let me explain a little about this "reward". I don't know if it is common everywhere, but companies in our country often offer some reward at the end of the year (Lunar New Year, or maybe Christmas). ...
- 798
13
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Should small teams use Continuous Integration?
I recently switched to a start-up organization providing a social network site. In my new organization, we are a small team of 8 developers/designers.
I heard a lot about continuous integration (e.g. ...
- 233
12
votes
10
answers
13k
views
What is the purpose of 1 on 1 ?
Every week I have a one-on-one meeting with my manager. This is a new thing we started at my workplace. I am not quite sure what kind of things can/should I be asking in this meeting. Can someone give ...
- 221
12
votes
3
answers
26k
views
How to structure a software development team
Given a 15x strong software development team working on individal projects, and small, medium, and large projects; what is the best way to structure this team and what is the best software development ...
- 273
12
votes
2
answers
482
views
Can somebody be his/her own Scrum Master in a programming company?
If a programmer in a small company wants to be his own Scrum Master, and Scrum teams are supposed to be self-organizing, does that mean no one can manage him? If that's true, then:
How can he manage ...
12
votes
2
answers
524
views
Improving leadership skills for project managers
As a project manager, what are some ways to improve one's effectiveness in leadership on a team?
Certainly it may depend on the context; but, generally speaking is it naturally the role of the ...
- 1,699
12
votes
4
answers
9k
views
How to manage R&D projects in a R&D department?
Background
We have got a R&D department within our company. It consists of a few 'core team members' who work full time. They are open-minded technical people who jump into new ideas and try to ...
- 1,043
12
votes
4
answers
480
views
Partially introduce Scrum into a team
The CEO of our small company (14) asked me to introduce some elements of Scrum into the working process of our development team.
Problem is: the piece he would like to see introduced is not really ...
- 2,172
11
votes
11
answers
4k
views
How to deal with programmer that thinks they are "The next best thing"
I have a colleague who will never accept he made a mistake or that his idea is just wrong. He thinks he is "the next best thing". He is also arrogant in his way of talking to people around him in ...
- 268
11
votes
2
answers
874
views
Remote start up company software development
I'm handling a team of 6
2 Software Engineers
1 Software Architect
2 Creative Artists
1 System Administrator
for a remote start up company, what could be the best project management and software ...
- 263
11
votes
6
answers
421
views
How to balance Teamwork and Babble?
I have sensed conflict in an organization, which works like this:
They want to encourage teamwork and good personal relationships
They want discuss work-related personal matters and design decisions ...
- 111
11
votes
3
answers
5k
views
How to integrate a remote person in a Scrum team?
We have hired a new team member who lives in another country.
This is not like a team split across 2 locations - he is alone there. What things should we consider doing in such a case:
in order to ...
- 781
11
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Maintenance Project: How to evaluate team's performance?
Year end is approaching, and on the company I'm working (and pretty much all other IT companies) it's time for year's performance evaluation.
Evaluating people is always a sensitive and insightful ...
- 8,549
10
votes
1
answer
978
views
How to improve the team-work?
Recently our team was informed that they will be joined to another team.
We work in a big system and there are several subsystems that demand specific competencies, currently we have:
Team-A --> ...
- 2,141
10
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Advice for a Non-Technical Newbie Scrum Master
I have recently joined a fantastic company which prides itself on its Agile philosophy and work ethic. I am a VERY junior Project Manager, and the more I learn about Scrum and Agile, the more I want ...
- 153