The Critical Path by Derek Huether Free Project Management Information, Advice, and Templates

Know who you are and what you represent

– May 20, 2010Posted in: Project Management

The other day I met Scott Simko, who I “knew” through This Week In Startups and Thomas Kiblin, CEO and Founder of Virtacore. I met them as the founder of HueCubed, a web startup company offering a flashcard engine that we plan to scale like Weblogs, Inc. or Stackoverflow. (Create a niche product and then scale it in other vertical markets) Our flagship product, PMPrep Flashcards, was released in March and I wanted to meet the people who are hosting our product(s).

Up to this point, I have introduced myself as Derek Huether, Project Management Professional® and adviser. But these people don’t know me as that. They were meeting me as Derek Huether, entrepreneur and founder of a web startup. As a result, I stumbled when it was time to introduce myself. Don’t make this mistake!

If you wear multiple hats in your organization, you may need to know who you are to different stakeholders. Is your specialty in Waterfall, Agile, or Kanban? Take a moment and imagine you are being introduced to someone. What are you going to say? This is part personal branding and part stakeholder management. What I needed was a solid 30 second elevator pitch. What’s the takeaway from this post? Know who you are and what you represent. It may be different, based on the company you keep.

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Tags: Agile, HueCubed, Kanban, PowerVPS, TWiST, Waterfall

The 22 Minute Meeting

Derek Huether

– May 17, 2010Posted in: Video

After looking at my calendar, I noticed I’m booked solid this Friday. From the moment I arrive until I leave for the weekend, I’ll be in meeting after meeting. Do you think this time could be spent doing more productive things? At present, only one of the meetings has an agenda. I actually have something to do with that meeting so kudos to my colleague on that one. If she’s out, I’ll be running the meeting. As for the other two, if there isn’t an agenda, it’s going to be an example of Parkinson’s Law (Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion). If you suffer from this regular time suck, also known as a meeting, please enjoy the 6 minute video. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

As mentioned in the video, here is a link to the 22 Minute Meeting Poster. I’m not going to take credit for finding this video. I was commenting on Mark Suster’s blog and found it in the comments. (Mark was explaining the right way to cancel a meeting.)

What I like about the idea of a 22 minute meeting is it would work, regardless of the project approach.
Are you using Agile, Waterfall, or Spiral? It doesn’t matter! Are you the vendor or customer? It doesn’t matter!

Like the image? Find it at Pictofigo

New Show Announced on ThisWeekIn Network #TWiCCourtesy

Derek Huether

– May 17, 2010Posted in: Project Management

You heard it here first, the ThisWeekIn Network is announcing its latest show titled This Week in Common Courtesy. In this week’s episode, Derek Huether expounds upon the topic of common courtesy.

Guest 1:

Our first guest is none other than TWiVC host, Mark Suster. Mark had quite a bit to say about the right way to cancel a meeting. I certainly agree with his frustrations.

Thank you Mark for the short but to-the-point reply.

Guest 2:

After a (Generation Y) Mahalo employee gave his resignation notice via email, CEO of Mahalo and TWiST Host Jason Calacanis, calmly explained the value employees provide, just by showing up for work. He went on to provide valuable insights to help some Generation Y understand their place in the world and what they deserve.

After this very instructional message, you’d think members of Generation Y would have had the common courtesy of listening. A few days later, I reported an average performance rating for a (GenY) subordinate. She then argued with me about not giving her a perfect 10. When push comes to shove, I’m the one doing the assessment. Have the common courtesy of respecting that and ask how to excel in your position, not just show up. Jason’s supporting comment to me was:

Jason, though she is no longer with our organization, I will make sure she gets her trophy.

That’s all the time we have for this week.

I would like to thank @PowerVPS We’re powered by the cloud

& @Jason We are entertained!

Don’t forget to thank our sponsors and use the hashtag #TWiCCoutesy

Popularity: 1%

Tags: Mahalo, Parody, PowerVPS, Startup, ThisWeekIn, TWiST, TWiVC

People who know me know that I drink a lot of coffee. I’ll drink it hot. I’ll drink it cold. I’ll drink it from the pot, 9 days old. OK, not 9 days old. That’s just gross. One of the places I like to drink coffee is a diner. 9 out of 10 times, diner coffee is good. It’s simple, it’s basic, and…did I say it was good? Don’t tell me it’s organic, fertilized with bat guano from El Salvador. I really don’t care. The other think I like? It’s usually $1 for endless refills, printed with pride on the menu.

This post isn’t about cheap coffee. It’s about a pet peeve of mine. It applies to me ordering drinks at a restaurant. Here comes the rant.

Today, my family and went out for lunch. At the restaurant, I plainly saw the prices for everything on the menu but one thing. Beverages. Yes, drinks. Where the hell are the prices for the drinks? Is this some kind of trick or tactic? Am I to be embarrassed by the fact that I am unwilling to pay $3.00 for a fountain soda or $8 for a beer? Chances are, if you don’t post the prices for your drinks, I’m going to order plain old tap water. Screw you and your clever lack of information. It’s not my job to ask you how much my drink is going to cost. You are providing me with a service and that includes prices for the food and drink I’m willing to have with my meal.

If you leave the post at that, I think it stands on it’s own. If you want me to put a project management spin on it, here goes. If you are a vendor, and you’re doing contracted work, don’t make your customer ask. I hate the big reveal. If you’re going to do contracted work, and you fail to inform your customer what the cost is going to be, you should eat it. Yep, eat the cost. Why? Did you promise to throw in a pair of Ginsu knives when you delivered that product? I’m going to go out on a limb and say no. Then why would you expect a customer to give you more money for services rendered or product delivered?

I know there are always exceptions. What if you, as a vendor, don’t know how much it’s going to cost? That’s fine. Communicate with your customer. Treat them like the intelligent beings they are. They were smart enough to hire you, right? Then keep them informed and guide them through the options. Don’t sneak that $5 cup of coffee onto the final bill and expect a 20% tip.

Takeaway?
Vendors: Keep your customers informed and don’t make them ask.
Customers: Don’t let vendors get away with the big reveal. It will just leave you feeling short-changed.

Popularity: 1%

When Agile is no longer agile

Derek Huether

– May 14, 2010Posted in: Project Management

One of the things I like about Mike Cottmeyer’s blog is he sometimes asks philosophical questions, if he knows it or not. He posed the question, How agile is Agile?

When I’ve asked vendors if they leverage Agile practices, I’ve discovered many shades of gray. I’m sorry to say, I’ve seen people pervert the original 12 principles of the Agile Manifesto to the point the mere mention becomes the punchline of jokes. It’s easy for me to become incited, when Agile becomes the scapegoat for poor leadership or process. I still believe the 12 principles are the framework in which we decide if Agile is still agile. If the Manifesto is no longer the Agile bellwether, perhaps it should be refined?

Agile will stop being agile when we start to detail all possible inputs and outputs and actually believe we can predict or plan our way out of every situation. I think it will also stop, if the Agile community as a whole, disagrees with the Manifesto. All laws can come before the U.S. Supreme Court and be argued as to their constitutionality. Sometimes I wish projects or activities within Agile projects had a measurement of their agility and then blessed by a governing body. Granted, the Agile Manifesto is not the U.S. Constitution and the Agile community does not need a Supreme Court.

The best measuring device I can rely is my own limbic system; My gut feeling. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. It is not as easy to say something feels Agile as it is to say it does not feel Agile. When did this all become so overly complicated?