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All knowledge areas are important but some are more important than others
Kiron Bondale
JUNE 2, 2019
I am occasionally asked by learners in my project management fundamental classes which is the most important knowledge area in the PMBOK® framework.
Kiron Bondale
Agile advice from our ancestors
Kiron Bondale
JUNE 9, 2019
Old sayings might not be the first thing which comes to mind when considering agility, there are many proverbs which are apropos. Two heads are better than one (or the similar Maasai proverb “One head cannot hold all wisdom.”)
The perils of over proactivity
Kiron Bondale
JUNE 16, 2019
At the start of our vacation, we had one stop en route to our final destination. We were supposed to have a two hour layover, but after landing we learned that our outbound flight would be delayed by another hour.
What’s the right sprint length for your team?
Kiron Bondale
MAY 5, 2019
The Scrum Guide calls sprints the “heart of Scrum” and also indicates that they should be one month or less.
Ask the "Right" Questions: Your Analytics-Guided Product Strategy
Speaker: Yoav Yechiam, Founder and Head Instructor, productMBA
Analytics are highly important for product managers - and yet, analytic implementations often fail to actually help us. It's not the technology, and it's not the tactics. In most cases, it's our approach that's misguiding us! Analytics are there to answer important product questions, not just to collect data. How can we be mindful of our analytics so they enable us, rather than confine us? Join Yoav Yechiam, Founder and head instructor at productMBA, as he explains best practices for a data-guided strategy that helps product managers get to the "why" of their biggest product goals.
Change management helps when implementing risk responses
Kiron Bondale
MARCH 3, 2019
A student in a project management class I taught shared the concern that it was very hard for her to get risk responses implemented.
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Songs for when you are in a project management state of mind
Kiron Bondale
FEBRUARY 24, 2019
As a teenager who had an eclectic taste in music, one of my hobbies was attempting to create the perfect mix tape to fit the theme of different activities I would do such as studying, working out or just relaxing. So how about project management? To quote Barney Stinson: “Challenge accepted!”
How much technical knowledge should a Product Owner possess?
Kiron Bondale
APRIL 14, 2019
In an earlier article I’d written about the pros and cons of a Scrum Master or agile lead having deep technical expertise in the solution space but what about a Product Owner (PO)?
Defeating the multitasking monster
Kiron Bondale
MAY 19, 2019
Multiple research studies have shown the negative impacts of multitasking. Whether it is the waste generated by context switching, the elevated stress levels for staff or the increased cost of poor quality, few people would assert that it is a good practice for knowledge-based work.
There can be only one (and it is not YOUR project)!
Kiron Bondale
APRIL 28, 2019
Managing a high priority project can be a wonderful experience.
What Is (and Isn’t) Product Management?
Speaker: Steve Johnson, VP of Products, Pragmatic Institute
Product Management is one of the most exciting - and most misunderstood - functions in technical organizations. Is it strategic or tactical? Is it a planning role or a support role? Many product professionals are unclear about what is (and isn't) product management. After all, product management spans many activities from business planning to market readiness. In this session, we’ll examine many product activities and artifacts for product strategy, planning, and growth, and introduce a simple tool that you can use in your organization to clarify the roles of product management and others. Steve Johnson explores the many roles of Product Management in this fun talk focused on why product managers should obsess on problems instead of solutions.
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Justify yourself!
Kiron Bondale
DECEMBER 9, 2018
A project manager asked me this week whether I was aware of any studies which could be used to justify the assignment of a “real” project manager to manage a project as opposed to having this function performed by someone else within a team.
Are you being (responsibly) transparent?
Kiron Bondale
MARCH 17, 2019
We might assume that transparency should be a given when delivering value through our projects so why is it that the actions of teams or the stakeholders supporting delivery don’t always demonstrate that basic hygiene factor?
Proactive dependency management with agile approaches
Kiron Bondale
APRIL 7, 2019
When we are managing projects using a predictive delivery approach, dependency identification and tracking is done as part of the BPUF (Big Planning Up Front) exercise using the activities from a work breakdown structure and the collective wisdom of our team members and key stakeholders.
Innovation: Five Signs You Might Be Faking It
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A camel is a horse designed by a committee
Kiron Bondale
APRIL 21, 2019
The old saying about committees came to mind when I was considering the default approach companies often use to achieving a control objective. Bringing together diverse perspectives can help to reduce bias, but in many cases a simpler approach might result in a better outcome.
Just because you have information radiators doesn’t mean senior stakeholders will review them!
Kiron Bondale
MAY 12, 2019
Information radiators are a great idea. After all, who wouldn’t want to reduce the effort involved in keeping stakeholders up-to-date about a product or project or increase the consistency in messaging to all stakeholders?
How effective are your agile ceremonies?
Kiron Bondale
DECEMBER 2, 2018
We hope that by conducting effective ceremonies we will achieve the agile trinity of improved value delivery, better quality and more fun. But these objectives might be reached via multiple paths so we might not be able to prove causality between our ceremonies and those objectives.
Improving organizational culture through retrospective recognition
Kiron Bondale
NOVEMBER 25, 2018
After observing the frenzied shoppers competing with one another at Black Friday sales this week, one might be forgiven for forgetting that Thanksgiving was originally about expressing gratitude.
Plan for Product Launch Success with Data and Analytics
Speaker: Piyanka Jain, President and CEO, Aryng
When you launch new feature (or an entirely new product), there are many questions that you'll need to answer. Is the feature being adopted? Do your customers like it, or does it need to be improved? Was the launch successful? Well, that all depends on how you define success. Join Piyanka Jain, President and CEO of Aryng, as she explains why - and how - you should use data and analytics to define and track a successful launch.
Do you need a Definition of Ready for your agile ceremonies?
Kiron Bondale
JANUARY 27, 2019
A Definition of Ready (DoR) is an agreement established by some agile teams to help them assess if a given product backlog item can safely be accepted by the team to be worked on. It is not expected to be used as a gate but rather as guidance.
Breaking habits requires substituting one routine for another
Kiron Bondale
FEBRUARY 10, 2019
I was asked to facilitate a lessons learned session for a program team using a retrospective format.
What if the PMBOK Guide was a Choose Your Own Adventure® book?
Kiron Bondale
MARCH 10, 2019
I’m midway through reading Choose Your WoW! from Scott W. Ambler and Mark Lines of the Disciplined Agile Consortium.
How hidden are your hurdles?
Kiron Bondale
MARCH 24, 2019
My article last week discussed the need for team members to act with responsible transparency. Each team member requires discipline and wisdom to judge when an issue preventing them from completing their work items can be resolved quickly without the need for broader communication or escalation.
The Magic of Intent: Start Knowing The Goals of Your Users
Speaker: Terhi Hanninen, Senior Product Manager, Zalando, and Dr. Franziska Roth, Senior User Researcher, Zalando
It's important to know your users - what are their preferences, pain points, ultimate goals? With user research and usage data, you can get a great idea of how your users act. The tricky part is, very few users reliably act the same way every time they use your product. Join Terhi Hanninen, Senior Product Manager, and Dr. Franziska Roth, Senior User Researcher at Zalando, as they explain how they were able to reach a new level of user understanding - by taking their user research and segmenting their users by point-in-time intent. You'll leave with a strategy to change how your product team, and organization at large, understands your users.
Because “It’s there” is not a good reason to pursue agility!
Kiron Bondale
OCTOBER 7, 2018
I’m seeing increased similarities between online hype surrounding agile and the marketing of weight loss products. Losing weight or being agile are being promoted as the main objective when both of these are just a means to an end.
What’s blocking your benefits realization?
Kiron Bondale
JANUARY 20, 2019
PMI just released the Benefits Realization Management practice guide this month which provides comprehensive but still easily consumable coverage of a benefits management framework covering principles, practices and roles.
How do you know when your agile ceremonies are Done?
Kiron Bondale
FEBRUARY 3, 2019
In last week’s article, I wrote about the benefits of having a Definition of Ready for agile ceremonies as one method of ensuring that they are adding value and not being perceived as just more wasteful meetings. But how do we know that we achieved what we were hoping to from the ceremonies?
Scrum values can help your team become psychologically safe
Kiron Bondale
MARCH 31, 2019
While teaching a class earlier this week, a learner asked how will team members start to feel psychologically safe, especially if they are working in a company whose culture isn’t fully supportive of this critical ingredient to a high performing team.
Meet Your Goals with a Practical Product Strategy
Speaker: Nils Davis, Principal, NPD Associates
Whether you manage a feature, a product, or a whole suite of products, you likely have some goals that you're trying to meet. But do you have a strategy? Strategy and goals are different. It's your strategy that allows you to make decisions that help you meet your goals in the first place. For example, if you want grow your revenue, your strategy may be to enter a new market - and you may decide to make your product stand out in that market by adding analytics. If you want to have an articulated strategy that you can use to make decisions, stay on-track, and meet your product goals, this is the webinar for you! Join Nils Davis, author of The Secret Product Manager Handbook, as he explains how you can get your team aligned to a practical product strategy.
Will all improvement ideas from a retrospective consume capacity?
Kiron Bondale
NOVEMBER 18, 2018
The Scrum Guide indicates “ The Scrum Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during the next Sprint.
How many hats should a Scrum Master wear?
Kiron Bondale
SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
I’ve run into a few situations recently where Scrum Masters (SMs) are performing multiple roles and while they might have the capacity to do so, on any moderate sized initiative, it might be difficult for them to fulfill all the responsibilities of the SM role.
Evaluate your ceremonies with a W5 check
Kiron Bondale
FEBRUARY 17, 2019
I’m midway through Priya Parker’s book The Art of Gathering and her insights into how to make an event a meaningful gathering rather than “just another boring meeting” are apropos to ceremonies.
Your 2-Part Metrics Audit for High-Value Products
Speaker: Sam McAfee, Product Development Consultant, Startup Patterns
You know what they say: what's measured improves. As product managers we're in a golden age of being able to get all sorts of metrics and run all sorts of experiments. But what are your measurements and analytics focused on? Are they really truly objective? Do they contribute to the ultimate vision of your product? And is everybody clear on that vision? Join Sam McAfee, Product Development Consultant, as he takes you through a two-part measurement audit. First, you'll learn how to make sure your measurements actually align with your product strategy. And second, you'll learn how to evaluate your culture of using measurements, so future experiments will more consistently provide high-value results.
What are the tipping points for your agile transformation?
Kiron Bondale
NOVEMBER 4, 2018
I’ve frequently said that agile transformations are marathons and not sprints. But when someone runs a marathon there are mile markers to understand how far they’ve come and to help them get their second (or third or fourth) wind.
What’s in YOUR sprint backlog?
Kiron Bondale
JANUARY 13, 2019
The Scrum Guide states that a sprint backlog “ is the set of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus a plan for delivering the product increment and realizing the Sprint Goal.
Is increasing agility a recurring resolution?
Kiron Bondale
DECEMBER 23, 2018
As we kickoff the final week of 2018, many of us will be making New Year’s resolutions. While some of these resolutions might relate to achieving a specific goal or objective (e.g. I resolve to run a marathon this year), most relate to changing our behavior (e.g.
Control partners should have skin in the game!
Kiron Bondale
JANUARY 6, 2019
I finally completed reading Nassim Taleb ‘s book Skin in the Game which I had written about in a recent article. In that piece I had applied his principles when comparing the benefits of a product-centric orientation to the project-centric model which is still found in many organizations.
Task Management For Project Managers
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