Software Process and Measurement Cast

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 368 features our interview with Pedro Serrador. We discussed his research, paper, and presentation titled “Does Agile Work?” Pedro lays out his research on whether and not Agile really works. Pedro’s Bio The Software Process and Measurement Cast 368 features our interview with Pedro Serrador. We discussed his research, paper and presentation titled “Does Agile Work?” Pedro lays out his research on whether or not Agile really works. Pedro’s Bio: Pedro M. Serrador, PMP, P.Eng., MBA, PhD is a writer and researcher on project management topics and owner of Serrador Project Management, a consultancy in Toronto, Canada He specializes in technically complex and high risk projects, vendor management engagements, and tailoring and implementing project management methodologies; he has worked on projects in the financial, telecommunications, utility, medical imaging, and simulations sectors for some of Canada's largest companies. His areas of research interest are project success, planning, and agile and he has presented a number of peer-reviewed papers on these topics at academic conferences. He an author of books and articles on project management and is also a regular speaker at PMI global congresses. He currently teaches project management as a part-time faculty member at Humber College in Toronto. He was the recipient of the PMI 2012 James R. Snyder International Student Paper of the Year Award and the Major de Promotion Award for best PhD Thesis 2012-2013 from SKEMA business school. Contact Data LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedro-serrador-326b751Website: http://www.serrador.net/index.html Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “No Silver Bullet, Refired.” Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Details on 2016 Conferences that include QAI Quest and StarEast to name a few in a few weeks! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our essay on stand-up meetings. Stand-up meetings are a combination of tactical planning on steroids and the perfect start to a great day! We will also have new installments of Kim Pries’s Software Sensei and Gene Hughson’s Form Follows Function Columns! 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.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast includes two columns this week. The first is our essay: Scaled Agile Charters. A scaled Agile charter is not just a thicker team charter because a scaled Agile project is not just a bigger Agile project. Scaled Agile charters need to be assembled part by part based on the needs of the project. This week’s essay provides a path to getting value from scaled Agile charters. The second column is a new installment of Jeremy Berriault’s QA Corner! We discussed using communities of practice to spread testing knowledge. A community of practices is a wonderful tool to transfer knowledge and to generate a network among practitioners. Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “No Silver Bullet” Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference EastNovember 8-13, 2015Orlando, Floridahttp://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. In the next few weeks we will start to lay out the 2016 conference calendar. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature our interview with Pedro Serrador. We discussed his presentation titled Does Agile Work?, based on the paper he co-authored by the same name. Pedro lays out his research on whether Agile really works. The answer is . . . see you next week. 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 for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

The Software Process and Measurement Cast features my interview with Jeff Dalton. Jeff returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the 12 attributes of successful Agile organizations. Jeff talks about the relatively small set of attributes that successful Agile organizations possess and exhibit. These attributes don't occur by accident, but rather are a reflection of hard work and consistency of purpose. We can all reflect and adopt these attributes in our pursuit of success. Jeff shows us how! Jeff's Bio: Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword, a Certified Lead Appraiser, CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster and author of "agileCMMI," Broadsword's leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement, as well as many published articles and ebooks on performance innovation. Jeff has been selected Keynote Speaker at numerous conferences including the International Conference on CMMI in Lima, Peru, the PMI Great Lakes 2013 Symposium, the 2014 QUEST Conference and Expo, the CMMI SEPG Conference 2014, the CMMI Global Congress 2015, the PM Symposium Indianapolis 2015 and the PM Symposium Chicago 2015. He has appeared multiple times at Agile Development West, Better Software, Agile Processes and Tools, AgileDC, and at Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) and Agile Leadership Network (ALN) meetups throughout North America. Jeff served as the Chairman of the Partner Advisory Board at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and CMMI Institute from 2011-2014 during their transition period. He has been president of Great Lakes Software Process Improvement Network, and is a recipient of the prestigious Software Engineering Institute's SEI Member Award for Outstanding Representative for his work uniting the Agile and CMMI communities through his popular blog "Ask the CMMI Appraiser." He holds degrees in Music and Computer Science and builds experimental airplanes in his spare time. Jeff can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com. Contact Data: Email: appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com. Twitter: @CMMIAppraiser Blog: http://askthecmmiappraiser.blogspot.com/ Web: http://www.broadswordsolutions.com/ also see: www.cmmi-tv.com Previous Appearances on the podcast: SPaMCAST 296 – Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Agile, Resiliency SPaMCAST 176 - Jeff Dalton, CMMI, Scrum and Agile Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month returns this week when we tackle the essay titled "The Other Face" Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference East November 8-13, 2015 Orlando, Florida http://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast returns to the topic of Agile Project Charters, tackling the concepts needed to scale a charter to an Agile project or program. When Agile projects scale up to handle larger efforts additional steps are often required. Additional steps can lead to bloat if you do not take care. We will also have a new installment of Jeremy Berriault's QA Corner! We discussed the definition of test cases and why they are so important to delivering quality code! 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 for you or your team." Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here. Available in English and Chinese.

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast includes three columns! The first is our essay on Agile Project Charters. Project charters, done correctly, can play an extremely important role in the initiation of projects. The essay lays out how Agile projects can get the benefit of a project charter, without the bloat and shelfware that often get attached to project charters. Software process and Measurement Cast 365 also features the return of the Software Sensei with a discussion of improvisation in software development. Kim Pries writes, “Many people think improvising means making things up, on the spot, without any advance preparation. I prefer a different definition: creating something special from whatever ordinary ingredients happen to be available. I would suggest we can go beyond this definition—good improvisation is a sign of mastery of one’s craft. Furthermore, truly great improvisation always involves ensembles (i.e., leave your ego at the door).” A powerful and important essay for anyone interested in delivering software. Finally, Gene Hughson brings a new installment from his Form Follows Function blog to the Software Process and Measurement Cast with a discussion of his entry titled, “Maybe It’s Time for Customer-Driven Development.” Gene reminds us that the point of all work is pleasing a customer. That is a reminder that we all need to hear over and over and over to ensure it sticks! Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month returns this week when we tackle the essay titled “Hatching a Catastrophe!” Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference East November 8-13, 2015 Orlando, Florida http://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features my interview with Jeff Dalton. Jeff returns to the Software Process and Measurement Cast to discuss the attributes of successful organizations. There are a relatively small set of attributes that successful organizations exhibit. These attribute don’t occur by accident, but rather are a reflection of hard work and consistency of purpose. We can all reflect and adopt these attributes in our pursuit of success. 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.

I am still on vacation (at least for a few more hours), and this week we have another mixtape for you. This week I have included the responses to the “if you could fix any two (or sometimes one) things” question I ask at the end every interview from the three most downloaded interviews of 2014. The top three were: SPaMCAST 302 featured Larry Maccherone. Larry’s two wishes were: That we unlearn the natural tendency to look at how a number can be gamed rather than how it can be used. That he had access to all data and infinite time to analyze the data. Listen to the whole interview with Larry! SPaMCAST 318 featured Rob Cross. Rob wished that: Organizations would realize it is not the tools rather it is the data that counts. Organizations need to change their culture to focus on security. Listen to the whole interview! SPaMCAST 310 featured the return of Mike Burrows. Mike only had one wish this time: Development organizations need to embrace balance as a value. Mike made the list two years in a row! Listen to the whole interview with Mike. If these excerpts tickled your fancy listen to the whole interview by clicking on the links shown above. Next week we will return to regular programming with our essay on Agile Project Charters.

I am on vacation for a two weeks and could not leave you without some Monday morning mind candy, therefore, we are doing two very special shows this week and next. This week I have included the responses to the “if you could fix any two (or sometimes just one) things” question I ask at the end every interview from the three most downloaded interviews of 2013. The top three and one extra were:: SPaMCAST 224 featured Mike Burrows. Mike focused his wishes on: Changes agents need to take their role as change agents seriously. Delay is expensive. Link: http://spamcast.libsyn.com/s-pa-mcast-224-mike-burrows-kanban-values SPaMCAST 246 featured Tobias Mayer. Tobias focused his wish on: People, not management or consultants, need to own scrum. (One wish was enough for Tobias) Link: http://spamcast.libsyn.com/s-pa-mcast-246-tobias-mayer-t-he-people-s-scrum SPaMCAST 270 featured Alan Shalloway. Alan focused his two wishes on: Everyone needs to acknowledge there are laws of software development. Assuming that everyone involved in delivering software is highly motivated. Link: http://spamcast.libsyn.com/s-pa-mcast-270-alan-shalloway-sa-fe-lean-kanban And just because I could . . . a bit of lagniappe, SPaMCAST 138 Featured Jo Ann Sweeney. Jo Ann focused her wishes on: Reminding the listeners that change often starts before IT starts a project there we need to listen carefully to the stakeholders. Project teams should care about end users. Link: http://spamcast.libsyn.com/s-pa-mcast-138-jo-ann-sweeney-communication If these excerpts tickled your fancy listen to the whole interview by clicking on the links shown above. Next week the best excerpts from 2014!

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Chris Nurre. Chris is a developer and Agile Coach extraordinaire. We explored the role of an Agile coach from the point of view of someone that is actively involved in delivering code, both technically and as a change agent. Chris likes to keep his bio short and sweet: Chris is an Agile coach, Apple developer and Clevelander. Co-organizer of Cleveland Agile Group #CleAG Chris’s contact data:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-nurre/4/322/22bTwitter: http://twitter.com/cnurreEmail: chris@atinytribe.com Call to Action! Review the SPaMCAST on ITunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcatcher/player and then share the review! Help your friends find the Software Process and Measurement Cast. After all, friends help friends find great podcasts! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month is in full swing. This week we tackle the essay titled “The Whole and the Parts”! Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference EastNovember 8-13, 2015Orlando, Floridahttp://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Agile Philly - AgileTour 2015October 5, 2015http://www.agilephilly.com/events/agiletour-2015 I will be speaking on Agile Risk Management Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will be a special show. We are going to feature the “if you could fix any two things” question I asks at the end every interview from the three most downloaded interviews of all times. PS I will visiting Krakow and Prague over the next few weeks shoot me an email and let me know where the best places to get a beer are found! 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.

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast includes two columns. The first is our essay on software measurement. When we measure we are sending an explicit message about what is important to the organization, and therefore sending an explicit signal about how we expect people to act. Remember the old adage, “you get what you measure.” Our second column this week is from Gene Hughson and his Form Follows Function blog. In this installment Gene throws down the gauntlet to ask the questions, “Who needs architects?” Call to Action! For the remainder of September let’s try something a little different. Forget about iTunes reviews, and tell a friend or a coworker about the Software Process and Measurement Cast. Let’s use word of mouth will help grow the audience for the podcast. After all the SPaMCAST provides you with value, why keep it yourself?! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month is in full swing. This week we tackle the essay titled “Sharp Tools”! Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference EastNovember 8-13, 2015Orlando, Floridahttp://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Agile Philly - AgileTour 2015October 5, 2015http://www.agilephilly.com/events/agiletour-2015 I will be speaking on Agile Risk Management More conferences next week, including Agile DC! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast features our interview with Chris Nurre. Chris is a developer and Agile Coach extraordinaire. We explored the role of a coach from the point of view of someone that is actively involved in changing the world, one team at a time. 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.

The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature interview with Steve Boronski. Steve and I had a great conversation about Agile and Prince2. The conversation focused on the new Prince2 Agile Project Management Best Practice extension to Prince2 and why the world needs another interpretation of Agile project management. Once you have listened to the SPaMCAST 360 revisit my first interview with Steve on SPaMCAST 184. Steve is a Project and Program Management professional with many years practical experience developed in both the public and private sectors. He specializes in IT enabled Business Change assisting many organizations to use a structured approach to their business changes, from Portfolio to Program and Project delivery mechanisms. Steve now spends most of his time travelling the world, training and consulting, helping people to learn and apply PRINCE2®, PRINCE2 Agile™, MSP® and P3O® all Best Practice Guidance freely available from the UK Cabinet Office for worldwide application. Contact Information:Email: steve.boronski@ilxgroup.comWeb: http://www.ilxgroup.comLinked In: http://ow.ly/azUqhPrince 2 Official Site: http://www.prince-officialsite.com/ Call to Action! For the remainder of September let’s try something a little different. Forget about iTunes reviews and tell a friend or a coworker about the Software Process and Measurement Cast. Let’s use word of mouth will help grow the audience for the podcast. After all the SPaMCAST provides you with value, why keep it yourself?! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month is in full swing. This week we tackle the essay titled “Plan to Throw One Away”! Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Agile Development Conference EastNovember 8-13, 2015Orlando, Floridahttp://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. Agile Philly - AgileTour 2015October 5, 2015http://www.agilephilly.com/events/agiletour-2015 I will be speaking on Agile Risk Management More conferences next week including Agile DC! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will an essay on measurement. When we measure we are sending an explicit message about what is important to the organization and therefore sending an explicit signal on how we expect people to act (remember the old adage, “you get what you measure”). We will also include a visit to the QA Corner and perhaps a new installment from Steve Tendon’s book on the TameFlow method. 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.

This week’s Software Process and Measurement Cast features three columns. The first our essay on Reviews and Inspections. Reviews and inspections are a critical tool for improving quality and team effectiveness. Whether you are using Agile or classic techniques improving your reviews and inspections will directly increase the value you deliver. We also have a new entry in the QA Corner with Jeremy Berriault. Jeremy and I discussed the value of independent QA. Anchoring the cast is a new installment from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. Kim contrasts planned activities and improvisation in software development. Kim builds on the differences in the two approaches to help teams to understand when to do either. Call to Action! For the remainder of September let’s try something a little different. Forget about iTunes reviews and tell a friend or a coworker about the Software Process and Measurement Cast. Let’s use word of mouth will help grow the audience for the podcast. After all the SPaMCAST provides you with value, why keep it yourself?! Re-Read Saturday News Remember that the Re-Read Saturday of The Mythical Man-Month is in full swing. This week we tackle the essay titled “The Documentary Hypothesis”! Check out the new installment at Software Process and Measurement Blog. Upcoming Events Software Quality and Test ManagementSeptember 13 – 18, 2015San Diego, Californiahttp://qualitymanagementconference.com/ I will be speaking on the impact of cognitive biases on teams. Let me know if you are attending! If you are still deciding on attending let me know because I have a discount code. Agile Development Conference EastNovember 8-13, 2015Orlando, Floridahttp://adceast.techwell.com/ I will be speaking on November 12th on the topic of Agile Risk. Let me know if you are going and we will have a SPaMCAST Meetup. More conferences next week including Agile DC and Agile Philly! Next SPaMCAST The next Software Process and Measurement Cast will feature interview with Steve Boronski. Steve and I had a great conversation about Agile and Prince2. The conversation focused on the new Prince2 Agile Project Management Best Practice extension to Prince2 and why the world needs another interpretation of Agile project management. 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.