Product Managers need to be technically competent, have great soft skills and be business-savvy. But what does that really mean? In this post, I list some of the key characteristics present in all business-savvy Product Managers. Do you have them all? [Read more…]
How to build a UX and development team that really delivers (Part 2/2)
In Part 1 of this series, I talked about the people-related challenges of integrating UX into an Agile team. Once you create a cohesive team, it’s now time to polish the process. Are you ready? [Read more…]
How to build a UX and development team that really delivers (Part 1/2)
Many companies are hiring in-house UX teams to assist in the development process. That’s great news for your users, but it could be a challenge for you. As a Product Manager, how do you leverage this new skill set and how do you integrate it into your finely-tuned Agile development machine? This post series will give you a game plan to overcome this common challenge. Part 1 focuses on the people-oriented challenges, while Part 2 focuses on the process-oriented challenges.
How to Hire Great Software Project Managers Part 2/2: Recruiting Process
In Part 1, I shared my criteria for selecting a great Project Manager. Once you have the criteria, how do you identify all those traits during the interview process? Below is an approach I’ve used successfully for many years.
How to Hire Great Software Project Managers - Part 1/2: Criteria
Hiring a great Project Manager is critical, especially when this new team member will lead many of your software initiatives. They help prioritize tasks, interface with stakeholders and overall, drive a project to completion. But how do you find a great one?
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How to Negotiate Retainer & Staffing Contracts
So far in this Vendor Contract series, we talked about T&M (Part 2) and Fixed Price (Part 3) SOWs. In this last post, I describe two final contract types that you can’t afford to miss: Retainer and Staffing SOWs.
How to Negotiate Fixed Price Contracts
Now that you are familiar with T&M SOWs, let’s look at Fixed Price SOWs. This is probably the most common type of contract for bigger software engagements. Whether you are the Client or Vendor, you don’t want to miss the key watchouts in this post.
