Project Management

Refactoring Success

“I don’t know how much more emphasized step 1 of refactoring could be: don’t touch anything that doesn’t have coverage. Otherwise, you’re not refactoring; you’re just changing shit.” – Hamlet D’Arcy It’s no secret that Agile and Lean methodologies have a lot in common. At Code for America we try to apply them both: inRead… Read more »

Could BYOD ease budget cuts? And local government challenges — different from those at the federal level

Today on the DorobekINSIDER BYOD — bring your own device. It is something that could be possible, but there are issues. We’ll talk to somebody who is actually doing it, Kimberly Hatcher at EEOC. Click here for the full post. There are challenges facing federal agencies, but there are many challenges facing cities and countiesRead… Read more »

Theory X Software Project Managers

I’m going to make a very specific case today. Let’s review the Theory X / Theory Y models, knowing full well they are just models. There is no purely Theory X or Theory Y manager. Theory X Assumes project team members: are lazy by default will avoid work if they can inherently dislike work willRead… Read more »

FEMA’s Strategic Foresight Initiative Webinar and Upcoming Events

The Strategic Foresight Initiative (SFI) is a project managed by FEMA whose goal is to engage the diverse emergency management community in a collective exploration of issues, trends, and other factors that could impact the future environment, and to support expanded strategic thinking and planning for the future. Following is information from the June 2012Read… Read more »

Reorganizing Management Functions: A Manager’s Checklist for Doing It Right

Here’s a terrific checklist of questions managers should be able to answer as they undertake a consolidation of infrastructure or management functions. It is buried in a new report by the Government Accountability Office. Sometimes GAO does terrific work but couches it in ways that its value may not be immediately obvious to busy readers.Read… Read more »

Mobile Technologies and Collaborative Project Management

I’m interested in interviewing project managers about their experience using mobile technologies such as smartphones and tablet computers to support their project management work. A particular interest is the impact of such technologies have on the communication and collaboration that occurs during the course of a project. I’m currently writing an article about using mobileRead… Read more »

Theory of Constraints 101

I’m a Theory of Constraints (TOC) enthusiast. I use the concepts of project and feeder buffers to different degrees in my own projects. These are from Critical Chain, which is TOC applied to project management. The techniques really help you get a grip on Parkinson’s and Student syndrome and have early warning signals when thingsRead… Read more »