A blog for people in organisations.
With useful tips from experts.
Performance analysis beyond code
Software developers often try to solve problems in the code. Why does a performance analysis beyond code make sense and what tips are there for it?
Systemic questionnaire technique
The Systemic Questionnaire Technique is a method for qualitatively recording expectations of an initiative. How does it work?
Columbo’s rules
How can Inspector Columbo’s questioning techniques improve communication and cooperation in organisations and solve problems?
Why so many agile transformations still fail
Many agile transformations fail. How important are procedure, communication, trust, mistakes and security for the success of a transformation?
“Let’s do Flight Levels” they said….
The Flight Levels Model is a communication tool for organisations. How can it be successfully introduced and applied? A field report.
Productivity and humanity – contrast or win-win?
Productivity is considered a natural goal of successful companies. What does this mean for cooperation and what are the consequences?
My OKR is broken!
Often, OKR do not deliver what organisations expect from them. Why is this and what can organisations do better?
Agile task critique in the public sector
A task critique examines which tasks will be carried out in the future and in what way. How does a remote, agile task critique work?
Remote Sprint Review in Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS)
What is the purpose of the Sprint Review in Scrum and how could a Sprint Review in Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) with multiple remote teams be facilitated?
Pragmatic interface design of a mechatronic system
What is the importance of interfaces in the design of mechatronic systems? And what tips exist for interface design?
Languishing and Dahinsumpern
What is languishing and flourishing? And what role does digital facilitation play in successful team development?
From why questions to miracle questions
You certainly know why questions, but do you also know miracle questions? An entertaining description of questioning techniques, perspectives and answers.
10 tips in a project crisis
Risks and problems can easily lead to project crises. What 10 practical tips help to get projects out of trouble?
The radical transformation of a manufacturer
The transformation of a mechanical engineering company is a big task. A practical report with many important findings and insights.
Welcome to Python!
Python is a popular programming language. How can it be installed, what are the basic concepts and how can first instructions succeed? A guide.
Our experiences with Objectives and Key Results (OKR)
How does the introduction and implementation of Objectives and Key Results (OKR) work? A field report from a specialist in trade fair planning and construction.
Teaching programming to beginners: The path is secondary
What is important when teaching programming to beginners? And what is the importance of programming language, IDE, programming paradigm?
Intrapreneurship redefined
Intrapreneurship plays an important role in the development of companies. How can it be promoted and which characteristics are essential?
Tutorial: Setup Single-SPA with Angular and React
How can a Single-SPA be set up with Angular and React? Which steps are important and in which order? A tutorial.
Internal Agile Coaching
Many organisations rely on internal agile coaching. What models are there, what are the advantages and disadvantages and what should organisations look out for?
Creativity in companies
Creativity is an important ingredient for the success of companies. How creative are organisations and what tips promise improvement?
The training of software developers
While the need for software developers is growing, training is lacking in many places. What helps is a different approach to learning software development.
Giftedness and high sensitivity in companies
Chances are good that your company also employs people with giftedness. How can you use the potential?
Agile Mindset? I know of something much better!
In demanding an agile mindset, the paradox of agility becomes visible and the nature of complexity is overlooked. What helps is a …
How vulnerable is corporate data?
Many medium-sized companies increasingly fear for their corporate data. What are the threats and how are they perceived?
Scrum Master and Agile Coach in comparison
Scrum Master and Agile Coach are two roles with parallels and differences. A comparison of tasks and knowledge during a conversation in the coffee kitchen.
Sustainability and open source
Why does it make sense to think about sustainability and open source together and what is the significance of digital sovereignty for companies and citizens?
Resilience is more than a buzzword
Resilience is suspected to be a buzzword, yet it is something that individuals and organisations should consider. Why and how?
The good old change of perspective
The change of perspective helps in change processes and makes it easier to let go of one’s own positions. But what can be done about systemic blockages?
Customer Experience in B2B – unnecessary or underestimated?
What is the importance of customer experience in business-to-business transactions? And how can the overall service be improved?
How does the True Leader bring the Agile Mindset into the team?
Is there such a thing as an agile mindset, why is it needed, why should it be changed and what role does a true leader play in this?
Decision-making techniques for self-organised project teams – Part 3
What does “making decisions” mean in a VUCA world? And what decision-making techniques help with complicated or complex decisions?
Team topologies in adaptive organisations
If you want to design modern software architectures, you have to adapt your organisation. The time is ripe for team topologies.
Respectful interaction
Respect is a subjective value. Successful communication is based on respect. And how can we deal respectfully with each other?
Value streams in DevOps
If you think about value streams in DevOps, you quickly end up with Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. But that is usually too short-sighted.
Empowerment and self-organisation – good preparation is everything
Empowerment and self-organisation sound positive and promise numerous advantages. But the road is often long – what does it depend on in detail?
PMO and Uncertainty
At first glance, Project Management Offices (PMOs) and uncertainty contradict each other. How could the interaction of both issues work?
Hunting for key figures
Key figures are omnipresent in organisations. What are their purposes, what effects do they have and what blind spots loom?
Completeness of specifications – A new approach
Particularly in safety-relevant developments, the completeness of specifications is very important. A new approach helps here.
Team Secrets – The hidden patterns of team development
What are the secrets of successful team development? And how do dysfunctions complement the development phases of teams?
Constructivism in organisations
Constructivism says: objectivity is an impossibility because each individual constructs his or her own reality. What does this mean for organisations?
And he does play dice…
Can you imagine making decisions by dice or coin toss? What are the advantages, what are the flaws in thinking and what are the limits?
Spotlight on: Encourage!
Encouragement is a sign of attention that encourages others or oneself. How can we encourage in practice?
Dealing with change
Changes pose major challenges to people and organisations. Do models help normalise or predict responses?
Practical tips for SMART goals
People and organisations often find it difficult to achieve goals. One reason for this is the lack of formulation of SMART goals.
People are quite different, aren’t they?
People have different communication preferences. Those who know their own and their conversation partners’ preferences are at an advantage.
Home-Office-School Balance – is it possible?
Home Office and Home Schooling at the same time is a big challenge. How can a Home-Office-School Balance possibly be achieved?
Candidate Experience
Candidate Experience – just another term for buzzword bingo or what is behind it? What phases exist and how does it work in practice?
Dark Data
What is Dark Data? What are the prominent and lesser-known examples and should companies collect and monetise dark data?
Agile risk management – do we need it?
How can risks be addressed in an agile approach without setting up classic structures? A method proposal for agile risk management.
The Scrum Master as agile learning coach
How can a Scrum Master or agile learning coach support a team in learning? What are the consequences for refinement, planning, sprint and review?
Sokoban on a milk carton display
The computer game Sokoban can be played on various computer systems since 1982. And recently also on milk cartons. A guide to tinkering.
Silo mentality – no one likes it, everyone knows it
Silo mentality exists in many companies. How does it develop, what are the levels and what can organisations and employees do about it?
The consultant – the all-in-one solution?
How do companies look for reinforcement in requirements engineering? What is the role of the consultant and what skills are required?
A maturity model for agile requirements engineering
How can a maturity model be used to evaluate agile requirements engineering in cross-functional development teams? A field report.
Decision-making techniques for self-organised project teams – Part 2
What influence do values and principles have on decisions? Which decision-making techniques help with simple, complicated or complex decisions?
Effective management
Effective management provides a framework in which more performance can emerge in organisations. But how does a manager act effectively?
Why agile when there is antifragile?
How can companies develop into antifragile organisations? And what are the differences between antifragility and agility, robustness and resilience?
How to negotiate leadership
How does leadership in self-organisation work? What food for thought is useful for collaborative leaders and for self-organisation in a team?
Trojans in practice
What forms of Trojans are there? How can you build a Trojan yourself and why do you need to be particularly careful with construction kits?
Secure password wanted
There is no such thing as a secure password. What criteria and tips help to set a less insecure password?
Solving Cross-Cutting Concerns through patterns
Cross-cutting concerns relate to software architectures and all services required in an application.Which 4 patterns help to solve problems?
Working on the system? On people? Both!
Not the people but the systems in companies should be adapted. This is a frequent demand. Why is it an “either-or” at all?
Kamishibai and Kanban for (too) interdisciplinary teams
Balancing project work, support and maintenance tasks is a challenge. Kanban combined with Kamishibai allows a holistic view.
Consensus, consent or what?
What is the difference between consensus and consent? And how do a Red Circle Solution and the Morphological Matrix help in decision making?
What we can learn from starship Enterprise
The TV show about the Starship Enterprise presents knowledge from research into uncertainty, which even today is not very widespread. What can we learn from it?
Change projects work! – Part 2
Do you already use project parliaments and consensus workshops in your change projects? And what about decision-making by consent?
Decision-making techniques for self-organised project teams – Part 1
For self-organised project teams it is important to know and use decision-making techniques. How do they find the appropriate techniques?
Boost your backlog – Part 2
Do you want to optimise your backlog? Then practical tips on how to deal with specifications, documentation, story splitting, refinement and DEEP will help.
Giving better feedback with the EPIQ Model
The intention of feedback can be very different. And so can the quality, position and empathy. Time for a look at the EPIQ Model.
Change projects work! – Part 1
Change projects present organisations with major challenges, especially if they cling to old concepts. What is a sensible alternative?
Tips for online onboarding
Onboarding is important for the integration of new employees into an organisation. What are the challenges and tips for online onboarding?
Boost your backlog – Part 1
The daily work in and on backlogs is a challenge. Read 10 practical tips for dealing with user stories, story maps, acceptance criteria etc.
A buzzword is a buzzword
What is a buzzword? What effect does it have? Why is it subjective, what is behind the labelling of terms and what is the most secret buzzword?
Boom! School bus hits project manager!
Project managers can work in a project and on a project. This difference is very important in practice, as the “yellow school bus” test shows.
Agility 4.0 – seven points for agile projects
Many companies want to carry out projects in an agile way. Which seven points are important for agile projects and why is their interlinking necessary?
The sports metaphor as motivator
Sports metaphors are often used in companies to describe situations and to increase the motivation of employees. How useful is this?
Effective energy management for relaxed projects
Effective energy management is important for working in projects. 5 tips on perfectionism, impact, clarity, thoughts and feelings.
Learning to code in schools
The question of whether children should learn to code already at school is hotly debated. One point is often overlooked: We need a revolution!
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 5
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 5 of the series deals with agility and learning in a crisis.
Specifications in the agile world
Customer and requirement specifications are classic tools that can also offer advantages in agile projects. Prerequisite: flexible requirements management.
