11
votes
Accepted
How to form scrum teams
Your asking many questions here:
component teams (platform, front end ... ):
You are correct, that goes against Scrum. If you want to lose time with handover then do this :-)
shared team members
Also ...
- 376
9
votes
How do you ensure code quality when having a weaker programmer on your project?
It's great to hear that Code Reviews went smoothly and you are seeing results soon, you have seen it's effective and that means the junior programmer is keen to learn (All good stuff)
Few things I ...
- 434
9
votes
Accepted
Management wants to start doing "1 on 1"s as "2 on 1"s. Good or bad idea?
Group Discussions Don't Replace One-on-One Communications
While there's a place for more leadership involvement, I certainly wouldn't replace one-on-ones with larger meetings. Especially in IT, this ...
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7
votes
How to hire great people for a new startup company?
Notwithstanding my comment about the proper exchange, you are dealing with a normal problem of 1) prediction of future performance, and 2) how to attract good employees.
The first problem is a huge ...
- 36.6k
7
votes
Management wants to start doing "1 on 1"s as "2 on 1"s. Good or bad idea?
I have no academic backing on what I am going to write as my answer here but am drawing on my experience plus my own predicted reaction if I were a subordinate meeting with my boss and his/her boss.
I ...
- 36.6k
6
votes
What are the key Agile points to be considered in a small startup company, with a team of 5-6 people
Getting started with Agile Project Management
What are the key points I have to consider in terms of Project Management and Agility.
Looks like you want to follow agile project management, but ...
- 10.9k
5
votes
creating a process that works "without team members' realizing" makes a manager good or bad?
T think this actually marks you a s good leader even more than a good manager.
This has always been one of my favorite quotes:
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when ...
- 6,771
5
votes
Accepted
Everyone wants to talk, but no one listens
Help the team to move from storming to norming, see stages of group development. You can achieve this by:
Present your observations to the team. Take care that you talk about observations and not ...
- 1,767
5
votes
Ample free time
How to keep the team motivated
Ask the team.
Chances are, the team knows both:
What they want to do
What improvements to their process would help most
...far better than you (or, most certainly, ...
- 14.7k
4
votes
Everyone wants to talk, but no one listens
A good project manager is a good facilitator. Someone who can guide healthy conversations and help the team get to, remember and follow through on their commitments and decisions.
Taking a people ...
- 12.4k
4
votes
Accepted
What to do with an Agile non-believer
TL;DR: Maybe a bit harsh, but get rid of him/her.
Most companies have a defined culture or core values. Suggested is to use your core values in the hiring process. I think the same goes for the ...
- 5,453
4
votes
How to handle scrum team member that is never at his desk
He is usually visiting friends in the company or outside smoking.
I don't think it's your personal responsibility to talk to that guy about it, as long as he attends the mandatory meetings and ...
- 7,530
4
votes
Story Points given by task owner leads to disagreement
There are a lot of problems with what is going on here.
The first thing that stands out is what what you describe as a team doesn't seem to be a team. A team is "a group of individuals (human or ...
- 17.2k
3
votes
Source code email notifications benefits to your team?
No matter what sort of benefits source-control-emails may or may not bring to your team, they are going to be strongly counterpointed by the negative feelings your team will undoubtedly have from you ...
- 14.7k
3
votes
How can I deal with a developer who isn't on board with a new PM and programming framework?
TL;DR
Since I've only heard your side of things, I'm unwilling to assume the problem is the individual you're talking about. While I agree that there is a problem, the problem is one that involves ...
- 47.4k
3
votes
What to do with an Agile non-believer
The team must address the issue. If discussions do not affect the individual, that is okay; not all are willing or able to work as a collaborative team member. Then that person needs to be removed ...
- 1,614
3
votes
Activities to introduce new team members
Any activity could be ok. I don't think it is necessary something extraordinary, simple events can be a good solution.
Probably the best would be, even before they start to work with the team, to ...
- 379
3
votes
Accepted
Activities to introduce new team members
There are three areas I'd consider when introducing new team members.
1) The Work: A week is not much time to get used to working together. Pairing or group/mob programming could be a great way to ...
- 16.7k
3
votes
How to deal with difficult developer
TLDR: Rather than treating him as a problem, one perspective is to view his actions as an opportunity to improve your process.
Code Reviews
he refactored some part of the application without ...
- 14.7k
3
votes
How to deal with difficult developer
Manage him out, sooner rather than later. The short term pain of his loss will lead the rest of the team to learn what the indispensable man knew and inspire fewer indispensable men in the future. ...
3
votes
How to handle scrum team member that is never at his desk
You have an employee that appears not to be doing work. You describe only the optics of his performance but make no mention of measurable output. Appearance of busy can be deceiving. And making it ...
- 36.6k
3
votes
team building activities for remote team
From the university courses and companies I was at remotely / with some distance, it was common to use a Facebook Group from where we all would connect and discuss relevant content (updates from the ...
- 2,074
3
votes
Accepted
team building activities for remote team
I'm a fan of using a web conference with video to highlight the team member's individual work environments. Kind of like an MTV Cribs-type virtual tour get together that allows each team member to ...
- 910
3
votes
Reward for recognizing mistakes but disincentivize low standards
Don't use money to reward quality.
Studies show that money is an excellent motivator for routine tasks that involve no thinking, and a terrible motivator for tasks that require creativity.
Experts ...
- 14.7k
3
votes
Unfilled project team roles for grant proposal
In my experience, proposals that require named project employees will submit the resumes for every role no matter the level of commitment. This means that, if the proposal is selected, the 'actual' ...
- 36.6k
3
votes
Unfilled project team roles for grant proposal
RFPs: What's Legal, Ethical, and Practical are Neither the Same nor Orthogonal
On the consulting side of things, many RFPs treat those names and resumes the same way movies treat directors or actors &...
- 47.4k
2
votes
creating a process that works "without team members' realizing" makes a manager good or bad?
In my opinion this makes you a great manager. The ability to fix the problems within the team without burdening the team with it, is something i would like to be able to do. This not only improves the ...
- 371
2
votes
Enhance Participation
There are several soft techniques for trying to beef up participation that I am sure others will elaborate upon. I am going to restrict my answer to how you should handle it if you are unable to get ...
- 4,414
2
votes
Everyone wants to talk, but no one listens
I think the two answers provided by Joel and Tobias are very good. I want in my answer to focus in on just your title of the problem: "Everyone wants to talk but no one listens."
I can almost hear ...
- 36.6k
2
votes
How do you ensure code quality when having a weaker programmer on your project?
Do Pair Programming. I often find that Code Reviews tend to demoralize people, because you criticize (potentially a lot of) their completed work. Even if you are good at giving feedback and the other ...
- 861
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible