Software Process and Measurement Cast

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 286. SPaMCAST 286 features our interview with Brian Wernham, author of Agile Project Management for Government. Agile government does not have to be an oxymoron. Brian Wernham has more than 30 years of experience in adaptive change program leadership. He is an independent consultant and works in both the public and private sector. He has extensive international experience in the USA, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany and offshore development in Bangalore. By the time that the term ‘Agile leadership’ was first coined, Brian had already been successfully leading iterative, adaptive projects for over 10 years on both sides of the Atlantic. He works as a hands-on program director and has real-world implementation expertise together with a comprehensive understanding of the related international research. He has consulted for major strategic international organizations such as Deloitte, PwC, Gartner Group, the National Audit Office in London and Seer Technologies in North Carolina. His comprehensive public sector experience includes the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the United Nations (Geneva), and local government authorities. Brian is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management, a Fellow of the BCS and has a MBA from Henley Management College. He applies adaptive planning approaches as an offshore Yachtmaster and as a keen off-piste skier. He is currently consulting for the UK Government in London. Read Brian’s blog, visit his website and of course buy the book! Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our essay on Scrumban. Scrumban is the combination of agile (Scrum) and lean (Kanban) concepts that can be used to manage projects. Upcoming Events StarEast I will be speaking at the StarEast Conference May 4th – 9th in Orlando, Florida. I will be presenting a talk titled, The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Test and Project Teams. Follow the link for more information on StarEast. An ITMPI Webinar! On June 3 I will be presenting the webinar titled “Rescuing a Troubled Project With Agile.” The webinar will demonstrate how Agile can be used to rescue troubled projects. Your will learn how to recognize that a project is in trouble and how the discipline, focus, and transparency of Agile can promote recovery. Register now! Upcoming DCG Webinars: May 22 11:30 EDT – Agile User StoriesJune 19 11:30 EDT – How To Split User StoriesJuly 24 11:30 EDT - The Impact of Cognitive Bias On Teams Check these out at www.davidconsultinggroup.com I look forward to seeing or hearing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners at all of these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 285. SPaMCAST 285 features a compilation of frequently asked questions of a consulting kind. Working as a traveling consultant, podcaster and blogger provides me with a fabulous mix of experiences. Meeting new people and getting to participate in a wide range of real life experiences is mind expanding and invigorating. Many of the questions that I have been asked during a client engagement, on the blog or in response to a podcast have similar themes. Since most of the answers were provided in one-on-one interactions I have compiled a few of the questions to share. If these questions spark more questions I promise to circle back and add to the FAQ list! The SPaMCAST 285 also features Kim Pries’s column, The Software Sensei. In this edition, Kim tackles the concept of failure mode and effects. Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature an interview with Brian Wernham author or Agile Project Management for Government. Combining Agile and government used in the same phrase does not have to be an oxymoron. Upcoming Events StarEastI will be speaking at the StarEast Conference May 4th – 9th in Orlando, Florida. I will be presenting a talk titled, The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Test and Project Teams. Follow the link for more information on StarEast. ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. ITMPI Webinar!On June 3 I will be presenting the webinar titled “Rescuing a Troubled Project With Agile.” The webinar will demonstrate how Agile can be used to rescue troubled projects. Your will learn how to recognize that a project is in trouble and how the discipline, focus, and transparency of Agile can promote recovery. Register now! I look forward to seeing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners at all of these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 284. SPaMCAST 284 features our interview with Evan Leybourn, author of Directing the Agile Organization. We had a wide-ranging discussion on Agile business management. Agile is not just for IT anymore! Evan’s Bio Evan is an experienced leader, coach and published author in the developing field of Agile Business Management; applying the successful concepts and practices from the Lean and Agile movements to corporate management. Evan has a passion for building effective and productive organizations, filled with actively engaged and committed staff while ensuring high-levels of customer satisfaction. Evan's experiences when holding executive and board positions in both private industry and government has driven his passion for lean business management. His background in Agile Project Management and Business Intelligence informed his understanding of the need for evidence-based decision making and quantitative analysis, to measure corporate success. As well as writing "Directing the Agile Organization", Evan currently consults to organizations around Australia and SE Asia on Agile management and governance. All of Evan’s contact information and blog can be accessed on his website Buy the book Paper Kindle Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week the essay will be a collection of questions you have asked on the blog, on the phone or in person. They are great questions when we discussed them one on one, it is time to share the answers with a broader audience. Upcoming Events QAIQuest 2014 I will be facilitating a ½ Day tutorial titled Make Integration and Acceptance Testing Truly Agile. The tutorial will wrestle with the flow of testing in Agile projects and will include lots of practical advice and exercises. Remember that Agile testing is not waterfall done quickly. I will also be around for the conference and look forward to meeting and talking with SPaMCAST readers and listeners. More confernce information ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. StarEast I will be speaking at the StarEast Conference May 4th – 9th in Orlando, Florida. I will be presenting a talk titled, The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Test and Project Teams. Follow the link for more information on StarEast. ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. I look forward to seeing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners at all of these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 283. The SPaMCAST 283 features our essay on user stories. A user story is a brief, simple requirement statement from the user perspective. User stories are narratives describing who is interacting with the application; how they are interacting with the application and the benefit they derive from that interaction. If you would like to read the original blog entries that formed the basis of this essay they can be found at: User StoriesCardsEpics, Themes and IssuesProblemsSame as Use Cases and Traditional Requirements? Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our interview with Evan Leybourn author of Directing the Agile Organization. We discussed agile business management. Agile is not just for IT anymore! Upcoming Events QAIQuest 2014 I will be facilitating a ½ Day tutorial titled Make Integration and Acceptance Testing Truly Agile. The tutorial will wrestle with the flow of testing in Agile projects and will include lots of practical advice and exercises. Remember that Agile testing is not waterfall done quickly. I will also be around for the conference and look forward to meeting and talking with SPaMCAST readers and listeners. More confernce information ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. StarEast I will be speaking at the StarEast Conference May 4th – 9th in Orlando, Florida. I will be presenting a talk titled, The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Test and Project Teams. Follow the link for more information on StarEast. ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. I look forward to seeing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners at all of these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 282. In the SPaMCAST 282 we feature our interview with Ben Linders and Luis Gonçalves. We discussed retrospectives and their great new book Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives - A Toolbox of Retrospective Exercises. Retrospectives power the continuous improvement all projects and organizations need to deliver more value over time. Luis Gonçalves is an Agile Coach, Co-Author, Speaker and a Blogger. He has been working in the software industry since 2003, being an Agile practitioner since 2007. Luis is the co-author of “Getting Value Out of Agile Retrospectives” and a co-founder of a MeetUp group in Munich called High Performing Teams. He likes to write and share ideas with the world and this made him passionate blogger. You can follow his blog: http://lmsgoncalves.com. People can find Luis on twitter: @lgoncalves1979 Ben Linders is a Senior Consultant in Agile, Lean, Quality and Process Improvement, based in The Netherlands. Co-author of Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives. As an advisor, coach and trainer he helps organizations by deploying effective software development and management practices. He focuses on continuous improvement, collaboration and communication, and professional development, to deliver business value to customers. Ben is an active member of several networks on Agile, Lean and Quality, and a frequent speaker and writer. He shares his experience in a bilingual blog (Dutch and English) and as an editor for Agile at InfoQ. You can find him on twitter: @BenLinders. Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our essay on user stories. A user story is a brief, simple requirement statement from the user perspective. User stories are narratives describing who is interacting with the application; how they are interacting with the application and the benefit they derive from that interaction. Upcoming Events ISMA 9 I will be attending the International Function Point Users Group conference and workshops in Madrid, Spain on March 27th with workshops on March 25th and 26th. More information QAIQuest 2014 I will be facilitating a ½ Day tutorial titled Make Integration and Acceptance Testing Truly Agile. The tutorial will wrestle with the flow of testing in Agile projects and will include lots of practical advice and exercises. Remember that Agile testing is not waterfall done quickly. I will also be around for the conference and look forward to meeting and talking with SPaMCAST readers and listeners. More confernce information ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. StarEast I will be speaking at the StarEast Conference May 4th – 9th in Orlando, Florida. I will be presenting a talk titled, The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Test and Project Teams. Follow the link for more information on StarEast. ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. I look forward to seeing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners at all of these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 281. SPaMCAST 281 features our essay on value chain mapping. Value is generated through the transformation of raw materials into a new form, which is represented by a value chain. Driving effective change requires an understanding of your organization’s value chain. Value chain mapping is a representation of how an organization transforms raw materials into a product and then delivers that product to its customers. Value chains are developed so that the organization can get a full understanding of the process to see how they can generate the greatest possible value for the organization and the customer. Once you understand the flow, it is far easier to improve it. Value Chain Mapping is a lean technique. Like Kanban, which focuses on the flow of work and which steps add business value, Value Chain Mapping helps to target process improvements. Listen to the rest on SPaMCAST 281. The SPaMCAST 281 also features Kim Pries’s column. The listeners have spoken and Kim’s column now has a name: The Software Sensie. In this edition, Kim tackles big data in his illuminating and technical style. Here are the related value chain mapping blog entries: Value Chain MappingValue Chain Mapping: Value Chain or Process Map?Value Chain Mapping: ComponentsValue Chain Mapping: A Simplified ProcessValue Chain Mapping: TroubleshootingValue Chain Mapping: Creative Tension Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our interview with Ben Linders (this is Ben’s second appearance on the podcast) and Luis Gonçalves. We discussed retrospectives and their great new book Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives - A Toolbox of Retrospective Exercises. Retrospectives power the continuous improvement all project and organizations need to deliver more value over time. Upcoming Events Agile Philly March Meeting: I am speaking at Agile Philly’s March 18th meeting on the topic of Function Points. The meeting begins at 630 PM EST – 830 in King of Prussia, PA – Details at http://www.agilephilly.com/events/function-points ISMA 9I will be attending the International Function Point Users Group conference and workshops in Madrid, Spain on March 27th with workshops on March 25th and 26th.More information QAIQuest 2014I will be facilitating a ½ Day tutorial titled Make Integration and Acceptance Testing Truly Agile. The tutorial will wrestle with the flow of testing in Agile projects and will include lots of practical advice and exercises. Remember that Agile testing is not waterfall done quickly. I will also be around for the conference and look forward to meeting and talking with SPaMCAST readers and listeners. More confernce information ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. StarEastI will be speaking at the StarEast Conference May 4th – 9th in Orlando, Florida. I will be presenting a talk titled, The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Test and Project Teams. Follow the link for more information on StarEast. ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. I look forward to seeing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners at all of these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 280. SPaMCAST 280 features our interview with Mark C. Bojeun, author of Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics (Kindle version). Mark makes a very strong case that project and program managers can impact team culture and dynamics. The team’s culture is directly linked to productivity, quality and morale. Mark’s Bio Dr. Bojeun has more than 20 years experience in providing strategic management and leadership through portfolio, project and program management. His experience includes developing and managing multi-million dollar portfolios, programs and projects, facilitating the achievement of strategic objectives, and creating best practice processes for program and project management efforts. Dr. Bojeun has designed and implemented multiple Enterprise Program Management Offices (EPMOs) for domestic and multinational firms and has extensive experience in organizational change management through transformational leadership, strategic support and staff empowerment to management professionals in the development and implementation of organizational vision, mission, objectives, and goals. Dr. Bojeun holds a Program Management Professional (PgMP), Project Management Professional (PMP) and Risk Management (PMI-RMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI), is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), and has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, an MBA from George Mason University and a PhD in Organizational Leadership. Dr. Bojeun’s new book, Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics as part of CRC Publishing’s Best Practices and Advances in Program Management Series addresses the need for effective leadership styles in managing programs and projects achieving high performing teams that consistently exceed expectations. Over the last ten years, Dr. Bojeun has provided commercial training courses in all aspects of Program and Project management and has been an Adjunct Professor for a number of universities. Dr. Bojeun is currently an Adjunct Professor at Strayer University where he actively teaches business, logistics and project management courses for both undergraduate as well as graduate students. In addition, he provides motivational presentations to leaders throughout the world. Contact Mark on LinkedIn or email at mark.bojeun@dc.gov Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our essay on value chain mapping. Value is generated through the transformation of raw materials into a new form, which is represented by a value chain. Driving effective change requires an understanding of your organization’s value chain. Upcoming Events March 18Agile Philly March Meeting:I am speaking at Agile Philly’s March 18th meeting on the topic of Function Points. The meeting begins at 630 PM EST – 830 in King of Prussia, PA – Details at http://www.agilephilly.com/events/function-points ISMA 9I will be attending the International Function Point Users Group conference and workshops in Madrid, Spain on March 27th with workshops on March 25th and 26th.More information QAIQuest 2014I will be facilitating a ½ Day tutorial titled Make Integration and Acceptance Testing Truly Agile. The tutorial will wrestle with the flow of testing in Agile projects and will include lots of practical advice and exercises. Remember that Agile testing is not waterfall done quickly. I will also be around for the conference and look forward to meeting and talking with SPaMCAST readers and listeners. More confernce information ALSO I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE…. Email me at spamcastinfo@gmail.com or call 440.668.5717 for the code. StarEastI will be speaking at the StarEast Conference May 4th – 9th in Orlando, Florida. I will be presenting a talk titled, The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Test and Project Teams. Follow the link for more information on StarEast I look forward to seeing all SPaMCAST readers and listeners at all of these great events! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Check out Software Process and Measurement Cast 279. SPaMCAST 279 features our essay on Agile and risk management. Many think of Agile and risk as an oxymoron. However, we will show how Agile Risk Management can be used to improve the value projects deliver. Has the adoption of Agile techniques magically erased risk from software projects? Or have we just changed the mechanism and timing of how we recognize and manage risk? Or more frighteningly, by changing the project environment through adopting Agile techniques, might we trick ourselves into thinking that risk has been abolished when it really still exists? The charts referred to in the podcast can be found below:Agile and Risk Management: Prioritization Techniques, Part 1Agile and Risk Management: Prioritization and Measurement Techniques, Part 2 Other risk related blog entriesRisk Class Structure (Sort Of)Classic to Agile Risk Management ComparisonA Framework for Evaluating Agile Risk ManagementAgile and Risk Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our interview with Mark C. Bojeun, author of Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics (Kindle version). Mark makes a very strong case that project and program managers can impact team culture and dynamics. The team’s culture is directly linked to productivity, quality and morale. The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Check out Software Process and Measurement Cast 278. SPaMCAST 278 features our interview with Diane Zajac-Woodie discussing the role of the business analyst (BA) in Agile. Scrum is mute on the topic of the BA, does that that mean the BAs should pack their bags and look for re-training options? Single word answer, no. The BA role is an important driver of facilitation and communication. Diane clearly lays out not only what the BA should be doing in an Agile project but what is possible with a little facilitation. Diane Zajac-Woodie (also known as @agilesquirrel on Twitter – explained in the podcast) has spent the last six years redefining the business analyst role as more than a requirements dictator. Through open and honest conversations, Diane guides her business partners toward creative solutions that solve problems and eliminate waste. She shares this same approach with her technical teams, facilitating communication, cooperation, and continuous learning to ensure success. Diane craves knowledge almost as much as chocolate and would make question-asking an Olympic sport. Her recent passion is to free those mired in the status quo even if she has to pull them out one at a time. Diane’s alter ego makes her thoughts transparent on her blog, http://agilesquirrel.blogspot.com/. Diane is currently a co-chair for the Collaboration, Culture and Teams track for Agile2014. She is giving her BA talk at Agile and Beyond 2014 in February and will be speaking at the Agile Development Conference West in June. Remember to register for the "Influential Agile Leader" events led by Johanna Rothman and Gil Broza. Check out the full details at www.InfluentialAgileLeader.com Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our essay on Agile and risk. Risk or risk management and Agile are topics that many might think of as an oxymoron when combined. However in the SPaMCAST 279 we will show how Agile Risk Management can be used to improve the value projects deliver! The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

Check out Software Process and Measurement Cast 277. SPaMCAST 277 features our essay on Scrumban. Scrumban is the combination of Kanban (lean) and Scrum (Agile) techniques. Each contributes different things to the hybrid framework. Kanban contributes a focus on flow, while Scrum contributes a focus on people and timeframe. Together, both focuses bring value to process improvement. The understanding of how these two sets of techniques and philosophies can be combined provides change agents with another powerful arrow in their quiver of available options. Also in SPaMCAST 277 Steve Tendon discusses the limitations of Scrum. Many people believe Scrum is a silver bullet for every situation. Steve will attempt to dissuade you of that opinion! Remember to register for the "Influential Agile Leader" events led by Johanna Rothman and Gil Broza. Check out the full details at www.InfluentialAgileLeader.com Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature an interview with Diane Zajac-Woodie. Diane and I talked about the role of business analysts (BAs) in Agile projects and Agile teams. BAs can play an extremely important communication and leadership role in Agile projects which enhances the team’s ability to deliver value. The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor. As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI's mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world's leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI. Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: "This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.