Lets go over some basics when working with software freelancers, contractors, and agencies. If you're not new to software or these kinds of groups, this is probably going to be pretty pointless. The Portfolio When you're shopping around you'll likely...

If great teams deliver great products, what do poor teams deliver? At some point, a team will identify a need to refactor, fix, clean up, re-write, or otherwise undergo a highly-technical bit of rework. Without fail, this will be converted into a wor...

It seems like there is always another meeting coming up for most of us. And if your experience is like mine and many others, that thought doesn’t bring a lot of joy. The fact is, most meetings are a boring chore that struggles to accomplish much. The...

No matter where you are in your job, you will have great ideas. How do you get them to your manager in a way that they hear it? I was once doing some prototype work for various databases that the architects and managers were considering. The field ha...

I often wind up with clients who are so fixated on keeping their teams working that they don’t have a clear strategy or vision that they can communicate. They lose themselves in the world of finding more work for the teams to consume. For the few tha...

I started pair-programming years ago, and it has become a huge part of how I code and work with others ever since. Yet, when I go to clients, the very thought of pair-programming or pairing up is met with lots of different objections. They range from...

One of the most important skills for any organization to develop is meeting facilitation. Ever see an invitation pop up on your calendar without a clear statement as to what the meeting will be about? Ever walk into a meeting where discussions happen...

In my previous life as a developer, I would get asked to stay late and work. This happened for only two reasons: There is a production issue. Deadlines Now, I want the projects I work on to succeed. I want the products I build to live up to the hyp...

Sex is pretty great. Most people of a certain age tend to agree on that point. STDs are not great. Most people agree on that too. Software tends to be a little bit of both. I was working for a company where we had some brilliant agile leadership and...

How many times have you heard the phrase “What is the project timeline?” If you were asked this phrase, what was your reaction? Were you waiting with bated breath to speak your thorough analysis and research into an airtight date with milestones? Wer...