Agile teams have shown to be a great way to deliver high quality software products. The agile values favore quality, and there are several agile practices that are applied by agile teams to develop high quality software.
The Capability Maturity Model - Integration (CMMI) supports organizations in planning and implementing process driven improvements. The CMMI Roadmaps are an alternative approach, which delivers quicker and long lasting process improvement results.
Many books have been written about teams and team working – but very few pay attention to the needs of individual team members. The book "iTeam - Putting the "I" Back into Team" from William Perry does, and describes how you can build an effective team with individuals.
I expect that in 2012 the adoption of Agile continues, and we will see Agile and Lean more together to develop teams that deliver business value. And I expect Lean Startup to take off in 2012, to get companies in contact with their customers and deliver what they really need.
My wish for 2011 was to see more healthy organizations, with happy people. Did my wish come true? A reflection on 2011, and my renewed wish for 2012.
This article describes how Project Management drives quality. Understanding what drives quality enables you to take action before problems actually occur, thus saving time and money.
Measurements can help you to manage and improve software development. An important issue when implementing measurements is to decide what should be measured?
I started blogging in july 2010, and after less then 16 months I've written 100 blogs (the one you're reading right now is number 100). Did I reach the goals that I've defined when I started blogging? Have I delivered any value, and which benefits did I get from blogging? It's time for a retrospective!
Do you love taking decisions? Most people don't. The more options, the more information, the more effort to evaluate, the more likely that we are dissatisfied with the result. KPIs won't work, empowerment will.
I've worked in a multi-site Process Improvement Team that defined and deployed "Golden Rules”, to understand the agile approach, and to work together in a smooth, efficient and positive way.
The serie on “What Drives Quality” describes both technical activities and supporting activities; this one describes how operational management drives quality. Understanding what drives quality enables you to take action before problems actually occur, thus saving time and money.
There are not that many books who take a look at the software development profession. The book "Emergent Design: The Evolutionary Nature of Professional Software Development, by Scott L. Bain" is one of them, it takes a look on how the profession has developed and is still developing.