This week's podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I finished the index and am about to get the various print layouts ready. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 29, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some […] The post 2025.31 Impostor Syndrome Can Create Your Fear appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
This is Johanna Rothman's August 2025 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Amy, a project manager, said, “With all the changes going on, no one is quite sure of their next steps. The portfolio team is stuck because they can't predict for a year anymore. The product leader […] The post Three Secrets to Add More Value and Be More Effective for Any Team appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
Today's podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I am deep into the indexing. Yes, this is part of the finishing that makes me somewhat nutso. That's okay. I have promised myself a delightful beverage tonight, as long as I finish it today. (To be honest, I will have a delightful beverage whenever I […] The post 2025.30 Experience Reports Use Nested Stories appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
I have options for all kinds of work I want to do today: The creative work, which includes a wide variety of writing (articles, blog posts, and yes, more books) and more workshops Paperwork. Yes, I have accounting and all kinds of spreadsheet reconciliation. Client preparation work for when they return from their summer vacations. […] The post A Management Minute: Choose the One Most Important Option and Finish That appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
This week's podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. A funny thing happened on the way to the podcast. I've been heads-down, proofing and finishing the book. I plan to start the index today. That's all finishing the book. I hate this part, but if I don't do it, I can't publish the book. […]| Johanna Rothman
Is your team ever surprised by how long things take? Do you hear things such as: Team members say, “I've been waiting for code review for more than 2 days.” (See Measure Cycle Time, Not Velocity to see the various durations for solo, cooperative, and collaborative work. Cycle time is a team-based measure of feedback […] The post A Project Minute: Shorten All Feedback Loops to Prove and Disprove Which Features Matter appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
This week's podcast is from Effective Public Speaking. I need to finish proofing the book before I add the index. That will tell me how large the cover dimensions need to be, and I can continue. These are all the little details I just can't stand, but I need to do them. Enjoy! The Podcast: […] The post 2025.28 Offer Value to the Audience appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
In a recent conversation, an unemployed agile coach asked, “What's the point of a project manager, anyway?” Here's what effective project managers do: They create the environment for the team to succeed. Here's how effective project managers start: If the team does not yet have a project charter with the product goal, they facilitate or […] The post A Project Minute: Effective Project Managers Create the Environment for Team Success appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
A colleague recently asked me how a team can deliver something useful in the next four to five weeks. “That's all? Just four to five weeks?” I asked. Yes, that was all the time they had remaining. They'd worked on this product for a while, but that was the time they had left. This problem […] The post Five Practical Tips for Any Team to Reduce Risks, Increase Agility, and Deliver Value appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
This week, my podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. My copyeditor is zooming through the chapters. I hope I can finish the manuscript next week to get ready for print, etc. The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for August 1, 2025, where I read […] The post 2025.27 Speaking Clarifies the Value and Quality of Your Ideas appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
I've heard that the AA/PMI wants to create a manifesto for enterprise agility. I'm not sure we need a manifesto, but that's fine. Here are the necessary conditions for enterprise agility: A culture of flow efficiency thinking. That means everyone collaborates across the organization to optimize up for one overarching goal. Limited planning horizons, with […]| Johanna Rothman
Several of my fellow writers are busy writing their nonfiction books. Since I've published a number of books, they've asked me to take a look at their book covers. Too often, the cover does not do the book or the author justice. The title is too small, the author's name is way too small, and […]| Johanna Rothman
This is Johanna Rothman's June 2025 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. All my clients are dabbling with AI. They're using it to think about more, such as generating more features in a backlog so each person can do more. Or more code with vibe coding. Or even […]| Johanna Rothman
This is Johanna Rothman's May 2025 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Have you noticed that some teams seem to be more effective than others? Most of the time, they manage their WIP (Work in Progress). They learn together. Often, they collaborate across the organization. But the big […]| Johanna Rothman
This is the August 2024 Pragmatic Manager Newsletter, from Johanna Rothman. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Problems. They're always there, just waiting to pop up and say, “Surprise! Gotcha!” I don't mind new problems, but the sneaky problems, the ones that reappear after I thought I fixed them? I really […]| Johanna Rothman
I offer these kinds of workshops: Public cohorts where I do not customize the content. If you want to bring these workshops inside your organization and customize them, we can chat. Private cohort, customizable workshops for inside an organization. Self-study workshops. Pre-recorded, no interaction. If you want coaching after these workshops, let’s chat. Public Cohort […]| Johanna Rothman
Assessments, Workshops and Training, Coaching, Speaking, Facilitation, Project Jump Start, Books and More| Johanna Rothman
MPD, podcast2025.31 Impostor Syndrome Can Create Your Fear| Johanna Rothman
Do you have more projects than time? Have you seen these problems in your organization: You or your staff are having trouble with multitasking You have many emergency projects It's difficult for people to agree on goals or priorities or make strategic decisions You'd like to make decisions, but somehow, as a group, you don't […]| Johanna Rothman
Does your agile project feel like a death march, with immovable deadlines, long backlogs, and no time to do the work right? If so, you're not alone. Fake agility has your project by the throat and won't let go. You don't have to work like this. Instead, you can design your approach to manage the […]| Johanna Rothman
Several of my clients want to plan the product roadmap and then “work to the plan.” They think the roadmap is the long-term goal. But roadmaps aren't goals. Instead, they are tactics for achieving a long-term goal. That means we need long-term goals based on both the corporate strategy and each product's strategy. Those are two […]| Johanna Rothman
Many of my consulting and job-searching colleagues feel stuck in finding clients or jobs. Social media used to work, but it doesn't anymore. But people actually have more options for discoverability (aka marketing) than ever before. That's writing, speaking, and connecting people who might not know about each other. The more we write, speak, and […]| Johanna Rothman
I continue to work with people who have trouble with their agile approach. They tell me their relative estimation isn't working for them. They continue to roll over items, from sprint to sprint. They've rolled over some items for six months or longer. The people feel demoralized. And the Scrum Masters or agile project managers […]| Johanna Rothman
You’ve tried to use an off-the-shelf approach to agile techniques, and it’s not working. Instead of a standard method or framework, work from agile and lean principles to design your own agile approach in a way that works for you. Build collaborative, cross-functional teams. See how small batch sizes and frequent delivery create an environment […]| Johanna Rothman
I write nonfiction about all aspects of managing product development. I've recently branched out into fiction. Since I like to read most of the genres, I write across genres. Nonfiction Books I write about management, product development, and personal development. Click on the link next to each cover to see the details for that book. Management […]| Johanna Rothman
When Mark, my husband, and I moved into this house a decade ago, we faced the problem many other people face: what to keep and what to toss (or recycle, etc.). Mark had a particularly difficult time with the kitchen drawer that held all the old baby dishes and utensils. I wanted to toss everything […]| Johanna Rothman
Are you trying to use story points for estimation? If so, you might have encountered these problems: Story points reflect the ideal thinking of the team, not the actual experience of the team. Your managers don't want story points—they want durations and dates. In the absence of sufficient information, everyone makes up fiction (human stories) […]| Johanna Rothman
