A blog for people in organisations.
With useful tips from experts.
Tolerance and the diversity of opinions
Differences of opinion often lead to conflicts. How can tolerance and the recognition of patterns help to eliminate conflicts?
That’s no Scrum
Organisations that have difficulties with Scrum often have to listen to accusations that they are not applying Scrum properly. Is the accusation true?
Is feedback a gift?
Feedback is often called a gift. But is feedback really a gift? What is the intention and what is the true effect of feedback?
Knowledge Sharing is power
Changes present people with great challenges. Knowledge sharing as a conscious sharing of expertise and information can help to manage change.
Is content marketing worthwhile?
Content marketing is a good approach to attract interested parties. But is it really worth it? And what would be an alternative?
Encouragement leads to courage
Courage is a competence that is becoming increasingly important in and for companies. But demanding courage does not help. Something else is essential for change: encouragement.
Learning from IT mistakes
Often the tension is high when IT problems arise. Once these are solved, things usually continue as before. Until the next problem arises. What can organisations learn from this?
Avalonia UI – Cross-Platform WPF application development with .NET Core
Avalonia UI is a cross-platform .NET framework inspired by WPF. What are the advantages and differences to working with WPF? Is it worth the effort? A field report.
Team building in requirements engineering
Team building in requirements engineering is not easy, because it depends on the strength of character, trust, discretion, skill and confidence of the consultant.
Certificates or networking – what is more important in projects?
For successful project work, networking is more important than the truth claim of a certificate. How does internal and external networking succeed? And which formats are useful?
I love it when a plan doesn’t come together
Companies often try to plan everything and leave nothing to chance. But coincidences can also be positive. A report about accidental discoveries.
Remote retrospective – tips from many years of practice
Remote retrospectives often pose challenges for organisations. Which tips and principles help in practice? A field report.
Home office and leadership
When organisations deal with the topic of home office, it is often said: “Trust, but verify! But leadership is even better than verification.
Lean Kanban, Agile Kanban
What is Lean Kanban and what is Agile Kanban? What are the differences and what are the experiences with the introduction of a Kanban board?
More courage for experiments
Small and medium-sized enterprises often find it difficult to develop innovations, partly because they lack expertise in conducting experiments. How can SMEs experiment more?
Avoid unnecessary conflicts
Conflicts can lead to constructive changes in cooperation, but they are not of general benefit. How can unnecessary conflicts be avoided?
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 4
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 4 of the series deals with planning, measurement, metrics, feedback, persistence, tools and diversity.
Corporate communication with methods
Crises often present companies with communication challenges. 5 points of communication and the 4/4 = 1 method can help.
App development with NativeScript
How does developing an app using NativeScript with Angular integration work? What are the advantages and limitations? A field report with coding.
Purpose? I got one: To stay alive!
Companies often look for their purpose. Is it useful or pointless to discuss the means and purpose of companies? An opinion.
Requirement analysis, but remote
The requirements analysis knows numerous methods and techniques. Which methods work remotely or online? And what additional tips are available?
Five tips for building a low-code team
Low-code platforms promise fast, cost-effective and thus efficient software development. How can low-code teams be set up? Five tips from the practice.
Why I am not superfluous as a software architect
Nowadays, teams take on many tasks in the course of developments. This also changes the role of the software architect. One opinion.
Leadership in uncertain times
How does leadership work in a global crisis? How does security arise in times of uncertainty and what are the do’s and don’ts of leadership?
Unique Selling What?
Companies are often asked to find their differentiator and define a Unique Selling Proposition. But does this USP even exist?
Burnout, digitalisation and the hamster wheel
More and more people suffer from burnout. What role can digitalisation play in this, what does the famous hamster wheel say about the viewer and what might help look like?
Why I ended up with Godot
There are numerous engines for game development. Why is Godot Engine and Gdscript a good choice? A journey from löve2D, via MonoGame, Unity, Unreal Engine to Godot.
Systemic thinking and acting at the workplace
The systemic approach is appreciated as a coaching and therapy tool for individuals, couples or groups. How can it also help in the workplace?
Oh my dear tender
Tenders cause great effort. What can contracting authorities do to improve the work with tenders? And why not only contractors benefit from this?
Quo vadis, meeting culture?
Employees spend a lot of time in meetings. And many of these meetings are inefficient. Which tips and rules help to improve the meeting culture?
Welcome, Digital Natives
What should employees be prepared for when they encounter digital natives in their organisations? How can good cooperation be achieved?
Learning is not a sexy subject. Or: Learning from Scotty.
Do you want to improve your situational actions in unexpected situations? Then you should train your learning by doing. A look at starship Enterprise will help you do this.
Do you believe in agility?
Agility is about mindset, values and best practices. It’s not about wording, and the agile manifesto is not a sacred scripture. An opinion.
Communication in small and large companies
Is there a change in communication “in business”? Does the same apply to communication, rules and channels for both small and large companies?
5 myths about the agile target system OKR
There are many myths surrounding Objectives and Key Results (OKR). Time for a look at the target system and the strategy, cascading and method.
The Viable System Model and responsible leadership
Responsible leadership means securing, promoting and developing the viability of companies, teams and individuals. How does the Viable System Model help?
The secret superpower for project managers
There is a superpower that many people neither know nor perceive. Which superpower is that and why is it more important than the quality of the project work?
Modern Agile Principles: Agile work made easy
What remains if we put aside the methods, processes, frameworks and certifications when it comes to agility and focus on what is important? 4 modern agile principles!
Candidate Journey
Companies find it difficult to recruit new employees. Applicants find it difficult to identify suitable companies and positions. Time for a look at the Candidate Journey.
An alternative to Scrum for contract projects
Not all IT managers have had positive experiences with Scrum in contract projects. How could an alternative look like in the context of low-code developments?
Hybrid organisations – solution or problem?
The transformation from traditional to agile organisations inevitably leads to hybrid organisations. Is this a problem or maybe even a permanent solution?
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 3
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 3 of the series deals with career paths, bonuses, privileges and images of people.
Shifting Mindsets – is that even possible?
Many initiatives for change in companies fail because systematic errors in thinking are made. Why do these errors occur and how can change succeed?
Mobile-free zone – detox totales
Ten years ago the first smartphones came onto the market, today they are everywhere. Time for a digital detox. Time for a self-experiment and a list of findings.
Why management consultants should be Servant Leaders
Servant Leadership is not a management technique, but a value-based attitude. What are the characteristics and success factors and how can Servant Leadership be implemented?
The fairy tale of the eye level
Acting at eye level is considered to be the order of the day. But how does reality look like? A modern fairy tale with king and subjects, with sleeping beauty and musketeers.
Create smartphone applications with Flutter
With Flutter, mobile applications can be developed for both Android and iOS. An example including implementation of a data layer and calling a service.
Psychological AI – Via language to motives
People’s motives are expressed in language, but capturing motives from language is costly and time-consuming. Artificial intelligence can help.
From the idea to the prototype
The rapid testing of product ideas is very important for many companies. How can prototypes and especially click dummies help? And which procedure is the right one?
Free the world from boring lectures! Provotain!
A picture says more than 1,000 words, an experience more than 1,000 pictures. How does Provotainment succeed in conveying pointedly provocative, friendly and entertaining content?
The three most common misconceptions about vision
Why do corporate visions often not have the desired effect? Because organisations fail and make mistakes when creating visions.
My New Year’s resolution is the same every year
Intuition is helpful in many situations, but how important is it compared to intellect, reason and reflexion? A New Year’s resolution.
WebApps in the address bar of the browser
How to program a WebApp that is small enough to fit into the browser’s address bar? A technical gimmick with a concrete use case.
Managing change and transformation successfully – a misunderstanding?
Can change processes be managed? How meaningful are most change management studies? And how could a transformation perhaps succeed? A statement.
The selection of management consultants
Small and medium-sized enterprises are often reluctant to engage with business consultants. How does a good selection work and what should companies pay attention to?
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 2
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 2 of the series deals with typical problems in introducing and implementing agility.
Be more courageous about user testing!
There are many excuses why organisations do without user testing. Why is user testing important and how can it be done with little effort?
Tooling in hybrid project management
The integration of classic project management and agile procedures is a success factor for many companies. Why is this the case and what is essential when it comes to tooling?
Do we need a digital mindset?
In many companies, digitisation leads to numerous adjustments. How important is a digital mindset and what is the basic requirement?
5 Strategies to build inner strength
Permanent changes unsettle many employees in companies. Inner strength is needed here. How can you build it up? Which strategies can help you?
The one talent we need in the digital future
The demands to teach school children programming at an early age are becoming louder. But how meaningful is this and which talent will become even more important in the future?
Who needs long-term goals?
How important are long-term goals for companies in agile times? How exactly are goals defined in organisations and when do they offer benefits?
Agility? We tried it! Does not work! – Part 1
There are many reasons why agility does not work in companies. Part 1 of a series about misunderstandings, problems, obstacles. With many tips, but without a recipe.
The destructive path to requirements
Products and systems are often misused. What are the reasons and why are such Misuse Cases suitable for determining requirements?
What computer manufacturers can learn from farmers
Can you imagine milk and petrol being transported in the same tank? In a figurative sense, computer manufacturers do just that, and that has consequences.
The cover letter – duty or freestyle?
The cover letter in the application process is not popular with many companies and also with applicants. Why does it make sense, however, and what tips are there for writing it?
What if? – A call to thought experiments
“What if” is a questioning technique to question mental and self-imposed boundaries – e.g. in organisations. A field report.
Lean Kanban in Change Management
Many change management methods do not deliver what companies expect from them. Why is Lean Kanban a better approach to initiate lasting change?
The development of skills
The development of competences is very important for the world of work 4.0. What learning formats are there and what are the differences to learning specialist knowledge?
Strategic Scope Management
The scope is a central factor in project management. How can it be structured, how important are dependencies and which goals are addressed by scope management?
From Monolith to Microservices
How can you develop a monolith into a microservice technology? A field report on stability, performance, automation, testability, maintainability.
The Product Owner Team
When does it make more sense to use a product owner team than to work with a single product owner? A practical report on projects, tasks, responsibilities and conflicts.
Deficits of the computer architecture
Hackers consistently exploit deficits in the computer architecture. What are the deficits and what could a computer architecture of the future look like?
How can I avoid uncertainty?
Many people associate uncertainty with a loss of control, hence they want to avoid it. This is understandable, but not effective. What is the alternative?
The Agile Organisation of Work in the Craft Sector
How can a medium-sized craft enterprise improve if the products are good but the organisation of the work is not yet perfect?
The discovery of sustainability
Sustainability is becoming more important for many companies. What is sustainability, what concepts and approaches are there for organisations?
The Implementation of Clean Code
The principles and practices of professional software development are not enough to implement clean code. How can clean code be developed?
10 Characteristics of a Digital Mindset
What mindset is needed in the digital world and how do we educate our children so that they can survive and succeed the day after tomorrow?
Google Ranking Factors
What are the main Google ranking factors? Read backgrounds and a classification of important aspects and often repeated statements.
VUCA, so what?!
We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. What does VUCA mean for companies and how can the challenges of the VUCA world be mastered?
I spy with my little eye: stakeholder
Although dealing with stakeholders is important for the success of organisations, it is often neglected. How does good stakeholder management work?
Cultural differences in projects
In international projects, cultural differences often have to be moderated. What does this mean for project implementation?
Jobs to be done
“Jobs to be done” refers to the needs that a user really wants to meet with a product. How can the needs be determined in a workshop?
New Work and Old Work – An interview with Dr. Andreas Zeuch
Many organisations are in a state of upheaval. New concepts for new work are being sought. An interview with Dr. Andreas Zeuch about New Work and Old Work.
Perfectionism and Procrastination
Are you a perfectionist? Are you prone to procrastination? What are the differences between perfectionism and procrastination and what can you do in case of doubt?
Train soft skills by computer simulation
Personal, social and methodological competencies are becoming increasingly important for organisations. How can these soft skills be trained in a team using computer simulation?
With SCARF towards a more agile organisation
What is the SCARF model, on which principle is it based and how does it help in managing employees in the course of organisational change processes? An opinion.
Agility begins with the heart
Many organisations try to become more agile, but the “Excellarator”, the “Statusrititis” and the “General” have something against it. Empathy and heart are needed here.
Argue – but do it right
Businesses waste valuable resources in conflicts when they focus on problems rather than solutions. How do you resolve conflicts?
Work agile or be agile
Agile living can be stressful for organisations because complex challenges require complex and original solutions. What should organizations do?
Advantages of Remote Work
Remote work offers several advantages for companies. What are these? How does Remote Work get started in organisations and does it work permanently?
Digital collaboration of distributed teams
When distributed teams work together, it is often difficult to know who is doing what, when, why and how. It’s time for a different approach.
Liberating Structures – Freedom for Better Communication
What is behind Liberating Structures (LS)? What is the benefit of LS, which mindset is necessary for the application, which principles are there and what are the advantages?
Digital Transformation – A Plea for Quality
The IT world is turning slower than expected. What is the reason for this, what awareness is important for companies and what should they value? A plea.
The agile label fraud
Many organisations call the project manager the Scrum Master, the product manager the Product Owner. Why isn’t that a good idea?
Conway’s one-way street
If a software architecture created in an organisation reproduces its structure, how does an adaptation of the organisation affect existing architectures?
Don’t Uber yourself
Uber is a synonym for disruptive business models. Who can learn from Uber? How does benchmarking work and why does a comparison with Uber often make no sense?
Use Working Out Loud to develop competencies for agile work
What is Working Out Loud (WOL)? What are the core principles, what are WOL’s goals, and how can WOL be used to develop competencies for agile work?
Health as a strategic success factor in companies
How can companies operate economically successfully without the increasing demands for performance and learning being detrimental to the health of their employees?
The superfluous Scrum Master
The roles of Scrum Master and Product Owner are increasingly being merged in organisations. What are the reasons for this and what are the consequences?
Agile administration and local politics
Agility in public administration is gaining in importance. How can agile methods improve the interaction between administration and politics? A discussion impulse.
Agile Requirements Engineering
Does agile requirements engineering replace traditional requirements engineering? Where are the limits and where does the use of conventional techniques still make sense?
Recruiting competencies
The recruiting of many companies is biased and subjective. How can modern recruiting be successful and what competencies are important?
Is the world getting more complex?
It feels like complexity is increasing in many areas. What impact does this have on making decisions, planning projects and using models?
Communication at work
There are many tips and advice for communication in the workplace. However, there are many situations where attitudes and perspectives influence communication.
Fear and courage – two unequal siblings?
What are organisations afraid of? Do changes automatically trigger fears? And how can fear be overcome in both private and professional contexts?
Artificial Intelligence and our Future
Is artificial intelligence merely the continuation of a known development or will it revolutionise life as such? An opinion.
Learning coaching, but agile
Learning is individual, it depends, for example, on previous knowledge, the learner’s interest and the type of learning objective. This is where the agile learning coach and the learning coaching come into play.
Requirements Management with Jira and Confluence
How can Jira and Confluence be used for integrated requirements management? Which tool should be used for which tasks and what are the limits?
My wish list to Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is an important role in many organizations and projects. If you could wish for something from a Scrum Master, what would it be?
Allrounder executive
What should executives be like? How important are they for the success of companies and what can organisations do to best support executives?
The interactive beacon
Interactive beacons could revolutionize communication between people and with machines. Which technologies and which application scenarios already exist?
Communication trends
What does nudging mean? How does communication change in companies? What trends are there in podcasting and what beliefs can be observed in older people?
Design Emergency
Design Emergency is a phenomenon in which the design of a software gets worse and worse during the development period. What can you do to eliminate this state of emergency?
Change needs time
Change processes in companies often take a long time and are difficult. Why is this so? What is the magic of change and how important is a vision?
Courage, the miracle cure for the future?!
What is courage? How important is it individually in professional life and for corporate innovation? How is it encouraged in organisations and how can courage be trained?
Scrum – The Rules of the Game
Scrum is a game in which the rules of the game create meaning for certain actions. What is the essence of game rules and what do they do in organizations?
Is agility the solution to all problems?
Putting the focus on the customer, working together better and deciding faster – such statements are omnipresent. Can agility be the solution to such demands?
Modern personnel selection vs. skilled worker shortage
Many industries complain about a shortage of skilled workers. What can companies do in their personnel selection to address applicants better and win them over?
Developer 2019 – Facts and Figures
88,883 developers from 179 countries participated in Stack Overflow’s annual survey of methods, technologies and their working environment. A selection of the results.