Author Archives: Maria Alfredeen

True Grit

“Individuals high in grit are able to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods despite experiences with failure and adversity. Their passion and commitment towards the long-term objective is the overriding factor that provides the stamina required to “stay the course” amid challenges and set-backs.”

Most of my posts have played a part in a long story about a web development program, the people in and around it and a crucial overall transformation.

Last week we agreed we are done with the transformation in the sense that we are in a good enough state to switch main focus to new areas. It took two years. While erasing our large, now paid-off, tech debt board I thought about what was really the key to getting to the very pleasant state where we are today. Continue reading →

The Enterprise and Mob Programming

This post is about learnings and reflections of our mob programming teams from an enterprise perspective. Not so much about the benefits for the team itself, but the impact on the organisation and its processes, the obstacles that may appear, and the ways to navigate around those obstacles. Continue reading →

The Enterprise and Getting Things Done

In April 2010, the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull’s dramatic eruption caused an ash cloud that kept the travel industry in its vicious hands for several days. The closure of the european airspace resulted in 100,000 cancelled flights…

Seven years later, one morning in March, two meetings take place.

Meeting 1: Replanning of Enterprise Project X

Project X has been running for more than two years and has reached a serious state. The implementation involves 10+ teams and an external vendor. Not only are the budget, plans and scope dark red from a traditional PMO RAG status view, but energy and motivation are drained, teams are exhausted, and project management is lost. Continue reading →

Standard Products and Differentiators: Getting the Worst of Two Worlds

Time to retire the dinosaur system born in the seventies. How hard can it be with today’s technology? There are plenty of standard products out there that can do the job. And you get so much additional functionality instantly plus all the features planned in the beautiful product road map! Continue reading →

Applied Kanban Values: Transforming the PMO, Part 4

In April a colleague and me went to visit our partner in Delhi. Over breakfast in the hotel we reflected on the difference between the restaurant service there compared to Stockholm (this was a normal chain business hotel).

First, there were more people working with service in the restaurant than there were hotel guests having breakfast. Second, most people working in the restaurant had a very specialised responsibility. Finally, people working in the restaurant had time for the extra details: chatting, decorating and… smiling :-). Continue reading →

Culture Matters: Understanding My Colleagues (and me) Better

Culture is a collective programming of the human mind

One thing I love with my job is working with people from many different countries. This not only makes you learn about other cultures, you also learn a lot about your own.

But working together across cultures is also sometimes a challenge. To learn more  I participated in an intercultural management training last week. This is my summary and thoughts. I have focused on data and examples for countries I often work with. My class consisted of colleagues from our offices in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France and Sweden. Continue reading →