42
votes
What to do with developers who don't follow requirements?
Tom is an unguided projectile. Regardless of why he does what he does (whether he believes himself to be better or simply lacks proper guidance), the core issue here is that he not only second-guesses ...
- 626
21
votes
What to do with developers who don't follow requirements?
Flater's answer is really good; let me add something that will also help: Acceptance Criteria (AC).
Acceptance Criteria
Every single story should have Acceptance Criteria, describing the functional ...
- 357
11
votes
Accepted
What to do if team can't be made cross-functional?
First off, I should note that, as per my understanding of the term 'cross-functional team', it is not a team where every member can do everything. Rather, it is a team that is capable of doing ...
- 14.8k
10
votes
How to efficiently manage a Scrum team when one member is much less productive?
First, stop measuring individual velocity. Velocity should be measured on a team level for a Sprint, and not for individuals. Your team delivers a potentially shippable software product after even ...
- 19k
8
votes
Sales team keep on setting aggressive deadlines
Reflect the pain back.
As things stand, your boss is not feeling the pain the team is feeling in delivering against artificial and aggressive deadlines. Your challenge is to make sure they see the ...
- 19.5k
8
votes
Does Scrum makes sense for 12 members in a Development Team?
It's important to recognize that Scrum does not say that a team must be between 3 and 9 individuals. The Scrum Guide says that Scrum is most effective with a Development Team size of between 3 and 9 ...
- 19k
8
votes
What to do with developers who don't follow requirements?
This is a problem most of the PMs face when there are really skilled Developers in their teams.
My answer will be a practical approach to handling this issue.
I hope you have been a PM for quite ...
- 181
8
votes
What is the good response to convince project manager about testing process?
Modern testing is all about how you assist to "Accelerate the Achievement of Shippable Quality".
Do your reviews help with accelerating? What metrics do you use to create proof of that? ...
- 5,543
7
votes
Accepted
What is "SPOCK" exactly?
If you really mean SPOCK then you are probably referring to the testing and specification framework for Java and Groovy applications by SpockFramework.org
Spock is a testing and specification ...
- 4,562
7
votes
What to do with developers who don't follow requirements?
I work as a developer and can so clearly see myself in the shoes of Tom; I guess he reminds me of myself. I can see in your profile that you've written about Tom in July as well, so I realize that ...
7
votes
How to estimate delivery date with unidentified tasks
By estimating iteratively.
Look into the cone of uncertainty.
At the start of the project, the amount of uncertainty is high, and the cone wide. Thus, your estimate would be 'between 2 and 6 months'....
- 14.8k
7
votes
How to handle stakeholders' different understanding of project requirements?
This is a great question. Several years back I analysed the bugs reported in a team and found that over half of them came about as a result of misunderstanding of requirements.
Some things that can ...
- 19.5k
7
votes
What is the good response to convince project manager about testing process?
What do you mean by "reviews" in this context? Many development teams do peer-reviews of code and analysis because they find that reviews improve productivity and quality. Many teams also ...
- 6,251
6
votes
Emotional Intelligence vs Conflict Resolution
EI and conflict management goes hand in hand.
EI will be useful in all areas -
Negotiations with client during inconvenient situations
Motivation to resources who may not be happy with
their role/...
- 507
6
votes
What to do if team can't be made cross-functional?
Optimize for Flow, Not Utilization
In Scrum, when picking a set of stories to accomplish in one sprint, some sprints will have mostly art-heavy stories queued up, and some sprints will have mostly ...
- 50.1k
6
votes
Accepted
How to solve a code challenge from a manager perspective
Fascinating question and an excellent interview question. (Technically a poor fit for PM:SE because there is no authoritative answer - which is what makes it a great interview question). That said, I ...
- 8,728
6
votes
What to do with developers who don't follow requirements?
This is a behavioral problem and not specific issue which can be addressed by any framework or development methodology. As a leader with specific goals to be achieved in defined timelines you need to ...
- 171
6
votes
What is the good response to convince project manager about testing process?
I think it is a very fair question for the PM to ask. Evaluating the proposed effort against its benefits, costs, and risks is proper leadership and management. If you have a proposal for testing, you ...
- 37.1k
5
votes
Accepted
In JIRA, how can we have separate boards/views for the PO and the team in the same sprint?
You can use swimlanes or Quick Filters to separate those views for your POs.
Using Quick Filters:
On your board page:
Go to Board->Configure
Select "Quick Filters"
Add a new Quick Filter with Query ...
- 146
5
votes
Accepted
How do you handle scheduling with developers who always come up with new cases in specifications?
The main reason Agile came about is that people realised that change is inevitable in software development. This change comes from several sources:
Requirements change - People are notoriously bad at ...
- 19.5k
5
votes
Stories for new team members?
Depends where you work, really. I don't believe there's anything official in the Scrum documentation for handling this.
What I've seen work well is to just include a lot of pair programming until ...
- 14.8k
5
votes
How to efficiently manage a Scrum team when one member is much less productive?
So it is hard to know what exactly is going on. [...]
How can I improve the productivity of the slower developer?
First, check your expectations. Are they supposed to do the same work? Do they have ...
- 8,471
5
votes
How to efficiently manage a Scrum team when one member is much less productive?
'the other developer should do this it was originally delegated to him'
Scrum works best as a pull-model, not a push-model. No work should be delegated to anyone, ever. The Team pulls work into the ...
- 14.8k
5
votes
Accepted
How can I complete 6 months of work in less than 2 months?
Oooooh boy... Where to start....
If you're almost finished but you're "stuck" on testing and debugging you are definitely doing something wrong in the first place. Waterfall much?
If you, or your ...
- 567
5
votes
How do I split a 13 person team
Self-Organized teams start with self-organization.
The normal advice I give to clients is to create a User Story for what is a "good team" with clear acceptance.
Then you get everyone in a room. ...
- 12.5k
5
votes
Accepted
What decision should I take regarding a team of front-end developers which delivers unstable releases
Product is currently in beta stage and never been public, only client
team and the team of testers have access to this.
How often is the client checking in? Do you have regular reviews? You want ...
- 4,065
5
votes
Separation of multi-team project into several projects
TL;DR
In most cases, you should only have one project per product. The desire to split a single product into multiple projects is usually a sign that inter-team collaboration and iterative ...
- 50.1k
5
votes
Accepted
What do you do if developer takes on a task that was intended for you and he can't finish it in time?
Your processes look broken.
The Sprint is not meant to be a commitment the business can use to punish developers for not meeting.
I fear this will reflect badly on me since I was intended to write ...
- 14.8k
5
votes
What to do with developers who don't follow requirements?
This sort of thing isn't as uncommon as you might expect. At the top level, you have basically three options:
Work with him to "behave" and meet the requirements within the sprint cycle. That's ...
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