Archive - July 2011

JUL

Book Review: Implementing Lean Software Development by Mary and Tom Poppendieck

28 JUL 2011 | Author admin

Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash (Addison-Wesley Signature)

by Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck

This book draws on the Poppendiecks’ unparalleled experience helping development organisations optimize the entire software value stream. You’ll discover the right questions to ask, the key issues to focus on, and techniques proven to work.

Mary and Tom Poppendieck present case studies from leading-edge software organisations, and offer practical exercises for jumpstarting your own Lean initiatives.

JUL

Making Agile Work in Government

19 JUL 2011 | Posted in agile governance, Agile in Government, Agile in public sector, Government, procurement | Author John Wright |

2 Comments

The current Government governance process directs project managers to think in a waterfall way and set projects up that way.

It is all too easy to do the big up front analysis and specification and then reuse existing contracts for the supply of software than it is to think of whether there is a better way.

JUL

Onsite Forums vs LinkedIn

18 JUL 2011 | Posted in communities of practice, LinkedIn, membership organisation, NFP, social media, website | Author Alex McLachlan

For many membership organisations, there are very good reasons for wanting forums on their own websites rather than using LinkedIn.

Some membership organisations have very successful vibrant online forums. Some other organisations I come across have spent a significant amount of money without any meaningful take up.

JUL

Communication and Trust is Key

15 JUL 2011 | Posted in agile governance, contracts | Author John Wright |

3 Comments

So what really makes for good IT delivery? Efficient process re-engineering, good developers, clever technology, pragmatic project managers, robust QA? All of these things can contribute towards success, but the one thing that will result in failure is poor communication and a breakdown in trust between those trying to deliver business value and those implementing IT to support that.

JUL

Implementing Basic Governance

14 JUL 2011 | Posted in ADAPT, agile governance, agile project management, lean, planning, project velocity | Author Rob Smith |

2 Comments

Last week I wrote a small blog post again pointing out the need for governance of Agile projects. In response Joseph Motha commented that my post would be more interesting if I explained how governance could be achieved. So here goes...

JUL

Virtuous Cycle

13 JUL 2011 | Author Jason Smith

Many congratulations to John Wright and his team on travelling from London to Paris in 24 hours. I expressed surprise, when John told me the news, that Eurostar took that long. However, he then pointed out that they'd done it by bike. And hadn't even stopped for coffee and pastries. I'm sure they were all peddling much faster as a result of having to wear lycra cycling shirts designed by Rob Smith, our managing director.

JUL

Governance is Essential

07 JUL 2011 | Posted in agile governance | Author Rob Smith |

2 Comments

In the last few weeks I’ve met with a number of organisations that have reported similar problems in the implementation of Agile. Typical examples include: lack of control over solutions, timescales, cost and risk; teams working as silos; no standard Agile process; and no standard way of monitoring/reporting on work.

JUL

Rethink on Charity taxes, a potential boost to the not for profit sector?

05 JUL 2011 | Posted in charity, NFP | Author Anthony Flack

I read today that leaders in the charity and non-profit sector are meeting with Treasury officials to try to make improvements to the various taxation rules in order to boost charitable donations.