Anna J McDougall

👉We have been chatting to a couple of new clients in Germany this week, about using freelance Developers/Engineers outside of Germany (Nearshore), the same questions pop up; ✔How do we know if they are good or not? ✔How much can we save? ✔How quickly can they start? 👀Like anything, there is pros and cons to everywhere, but we have built a network of Freelance Nearshore Engineers who have been rigorously vetted with technical expertise guaranteed, that could save you a 50% reduction on your current freelance rates. If you are interested to understand more about this option and how this could help your business. 🚨Feel free to book a call in my Calendly and let’s see if we can help - https://lnkd.in/eygXyhaz

8

3 Comments

My slides from yesterday's presentation at DevOpsCon Berlin are now available: Gamify it until you make it Improving Agile Development and Operations with Gamification https://buff.ly/4b2UQuE So many challenges, so little time. While we’re busy developing software and keeping it operational, we also need to sharpen the saw, but how? Gamification can be a way to look at how you’re doing and find out where to improve. It’s a great way to have everyone involved and get the best out of people. In this presentation, Ben Linders will show how playing games with the DevOps coaching cards can help to explore your current development and deployment (DevOps) practices and decide as a team what to improve or experiment with. The games that we play are based on an engagement model. Instead of imposing change, the games enable people to pull in ideas for change and apply those in a way that best suits their collective needs. By playing games, you can learn from each other. Teams can use games, exercises, and coaching cards to discuss values, principles, and practices, and share their experiences and learnings. Different game formats can be used to share experiences on DevOps principles and practices and explore how they can be applied effectively. This presentation provides an overview of playing formats and will inspire you to come up with your own formats.

5

Playwright is without a doubt one of the most popular testing libraries out there at the moment. But what makes it so popular? How does it work? What can Playwright (not) do for you? What makes it different from other tools out there? To address all these questions, I’ve created my one-day Playwright workshop, where you’ll learn everything you need to know to get started using Playwright for your test automation efforts through a range of hands on exercises. The best way to learn is by doing, after all! Need some help transferring what you’ve learned to your own context? I’m happy to offer you a package deal where after the workshop, we’ll work together on building the first Playwright tests in your context, for your applications, bring them under version control and make them part of your CI pipeline. In other words, we’ll go through the challenge of transferring what you learned in the workshop to your specific context together. This will significantly boost the ROI of the workshop. More information? Link to the workshop description in the first comment. I’m looking forward to working with you.

128

9 Comments

Systems > SMART goals - especially in software development In April, I participated in the Berlin company run for the second time. So I was interested to see how I did compared to last year. I don't use Strava or heart rate monitors much, so I didn't know what to expect. Still, I was pretty sure I could beat last year's performance. That's because I've been doing a variety of workouts 5 times a week for the past few months. 📌 Set up a good system and the score takes care of itself The same goes for software development. If you want to increase your test coverage, start pair or ensemble programming on tests. If you want to get better at public speaking, find ways to practice in meetups and team all-hands. If you want to make progress on your project, start with a workshop and have regular discussions on Slack and in meetings. SMART goals makes sense when you have predictable processes. I don't find that useful in software development or in my personal life. And not motivating either.

50

6 Comments

RSVP - May 10: https://lnkd.in/eUhuQQAM Not So Extreme Programming, with Amitai Schleier Summary: Where " #agile " sounds pleasant and inclusive, " #extremeprogramming "... doesn't. But it's a differentiator: teams practicing #xp are seen to move with uncommon agility. The name has other problems, too. For one, XP is about much more than programming. For another, when compared with other ways software still gets developed, XP is much *less* extreme. This talk -- for anyone involved with Agile in any role, at any scale -- will take you through where Extreme Programming came from, where it's going, what it requires, why it remains as relevant as ever, and how to take advantage. NB: For additional agile engineering references, please visit this page: https://lnkd.in/eSN4gaEK RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eUhuQQAM #morewithless Bastiaan van Hamersveld Frans Meuwissen

22

Who has not played the Ball Point game yet? Despite its omnipresence and its simplicity, I love how much learning this game packs into a short amount of time! Getting teams started on fundamental Scrum and general agile concepts is fun and easy that way. Within a few minutes they not only learn, but really grasp important Scrum and agile concepts: 🎾 Scrum sprints with plannings and retrospectives 🎾 Estimating 🎾 Continuous improvement 🎾 Time-boxing 🎾 Sustainable pace Let alone enjoying team work, failure culture and fun! When have you last played the Ball Point Game with a team? #scrum #agile #games

4

4 Comments

Highly active LinkedIn commentator Michael Lloyd recently wrote a critique of those who try to apply the "manifesto for agile software development" to non-software development situations.* A quite ridiculous number of intelligent people assumed he was saying that people outside software cannot be agile, and went on to tell him how wrong he was, with examples, long explanations, diagrams and even a rewritten "manifesto for agile software development" with the words "software development" removed. As I support Michael's stance on this I joined the party, backing up his statement and attempting to explain that no, he wasn't saying managers, accountants and janitors couldn't be agile, he was only saying they didn't need the "manifesto for agile software development" in order to be so, and forcing a software development shoe onto every available foot was both absurd unnecessary. But there were too many such comments and I grew bored, so I decided to post here instead. People can work in agile ways—almost all people in almost all jobs. None of them need a manifesto in order to do so. We need only hands, hearts and minds (and much of the time just the latter two). In 2001 software developers /needed/ a manifesto to make a strong stand about what they would and would not do. It was written. It exists. It is BY, FOR and ABOUT software development. Now leave it alone. Let it continue to inspire and give a baseline for software development, but please stop trying to apply it everywhere else. Instead, actually use your own voice to say, do and even write words that are in context for the change/s you'd like to support. And stop "doing agile" or "using agile". Please stop that.

93

25 Comments

👀 I've noticed that many companies have adopted a variety of hybrid working models, but we can still pay attention to the importance of remote facilitation skills. Even though remote work was a hot topic for the last few years we still often see: 🫣 A room of people sharing a laptop while 1 or 2 participants are remote 🫣 Back-to-back meetings with no clear agenda or sticking to timeboxes 🫣 Lack of engagement where only 1 or 2 people speak while the rest remain silent 🫣The facilitator is remote while everyone else is in a room together 🫣 Lack of engagement where you aren’t sure if people even care 🫣 Sharing screen over collaborative participationpation During this course, you will: ✅ Learn good practices for engaging remote and hybrid participants ✅ Discover methods and techniques for virtual facilitation ✅ Strengthen your ability to create productive and interactive remote sessions 👩‍💻 Join myself and Joanne Perold from Faethm/ Better Change for our first course of 2024:   📅 Date: 24th, 26th June & 28th June 2024 (3 x half days) 🌐 Location: Online (Remote) 📋 For more details and to register, visit: Better Change Consulting ZA, links in the comments We are also running a 3️⃣ for 2️⃣ special #RemoteFacilitation #VirtualTraining #ProfessionalDevelopment #BetterChangeConsulting #RemoteWork #HybridWork #FacilitationSkills

23

6 Comments

RECORDING: Not So Extreme Programming, with Amitai Schleier https://lnkd.in/eQ627KPk Where "#agile" sounds pleasant and inclusive, "#extremeprogramming"... doesn't. But it's a differentiator: teams practicing #xp are seen to move with uncommon agility. The name has other problems, too. For one, XP is about much more than programming. For another, when compared with other ways software still gets developed, XP is much *less* extreme. This talk -- for anyone involved with Agile in any role, at any scale -- will take you through where Extreme Programming came from, where it's going, what it requires, why it remains as relevant as ever, and how to take advantage. RECORDING: Not So Extreme Programming, with Amitai Schleier https://lnkd.in/eQ627KPk #morewithless #agileengineering #organizationaldesign Frans Meuwissen Bastiaan van Hamersveld

11

1 Comment

"Where do you find the time for that?" That's the main reaction I get when people hear that I work at DataGuard , for VOGELWILD Coaching & Retreats, give voluntary trainings for URBNTIGER, and now also started Agile Punk.   The answer: you can't find time; you can only invest the time you have.   As Oliver Burkeman writes in the title of his book, each of us has on average "4000 Weeks". That ridiculus small amount of time is already hard to acknolwedge. But the real problem comes from the combination of the limited time and our unlimited imagination. We think we can achieve everything we can dream of. But we can't. There will always be one more task, one more project, one more place to travel to, one more promotion, etc. Instead of acknowledging, that we need to say no to alot of things we can think of, we ignore reality and behave as if we have a limitless supply of time. We think we can always "find" more.   How I try to counter this impulse is by following the two principles outlined below. Disclaimer: By no means do I manage to live up to those principles all the time. On the contrary, most of the time I fail. But it's getting a bit better with every time I manage to follow them.   🔶 1. Principle: Consciously prioritize. If you don't, your surrounding and your unconscious habits will do the prioritization for you. You will end up investing your time in a lot of things that you wouldn't have chosen yourself. The hardest thing about this is that it is not enough to deprioritize things you do not like to do. That's not getting you anywhere. You need to consciously say no to the things you really want to do. Write down the top 10 things you would like to do or achieve. Then consciously decide to only invest time in the top 3 and very clearly say no to the 7 other things you also would love to do. That's prioritization. And it hurts like hell.   🔶 2. Principle: Pay yourself first. Simply put, if you take the evenings for your personal goals, you will often lack the energy to work on them. So rather start with your personal goals before you do anything else. That does not mean you need to join the 5 am club. For me, 6:15 am is the ideal time (but often enough it is 7 am 😅).   ⁉️ So, how do I "find" the time? I try to invest time into my own goals in the morning before I go to work. I deprioritized things that are important to me: I would love to write a novel. But I stopped writing fiction completely. I love giving the Urbntiger training. I reduced it to twice a month. I reduced my time at DataGuard (working and earning 40% less), sacrificing my investment strategy for now.   A big shoutout to Nina C. Grandin, who not only made it possible for me to work part-time, but also encouraged me to take the step. That's what I love about DataGuard ! Growth is part of the DNA. Be it in your role at DataGuard or outside, you will always find support for your growth. #agilepunk

25

Positive feedback is awesome... and not that easy. I have made a video about the Liberating Structure in Development called "Positive Gossip". It is a bit of a mix between Impromptu Networking, TRIZ, and W^3. It is a great exercise to practice giving positive feedback. If you like my videos, please consider subscribing and sharing! That is highly appreciated :). If you have comments, questions, ideas or feedback please leave a comment or send me a message. The video can be found here: https://lnkd.in/dT-zWvD6. #liberatingstructures #positive #gossip

10

Inclusion in software development does NOT take longer. ⌛ What takes longer is having to retroactively fix all the things. You (should) already have points in your development process like UX/UI testing where you bring in feedback. Why not make sure the feedback is from people who accurately reflect your (potential) client base and save your team some time?

3

"What will someone get out of reading the commit message?" Nice read on Writing commit messages by Simon Tatham 👀 👉 https://lnkd.in/ekq3Y5EB In February we had the honor of welcoming the Github Co-Founder and CEO of GitButler Scott Chacon bringing exclusive insights on Git Tips, Tricks and Insights. #commit #git #devworld #github

2

1 Comment

I am currently working with two departments on the same topic: Can we measure team performance and figure out if a team is not effective? The answer is yes (with some caveats), but the problem I face is that conversations become increasingly complicated and lost in details. Each person has their own opinion of what it means to be a highly effective team. I will be talking about all the tactics that worked well in my substack, but right now I wanted to give you some advice: Start simple. We have already tried three models to initiate the conversation on what metrics are relevant: 1. Looking at an external article that someone liked, where they defined three pillars: systems, people, and business. 2. Having managers first define what they consider a highly performing team. This resulted in four core elements, each with four or five topics. 3. Starting by first defining the operational principles of the department and from there extracting the definition of a highly effective team. This also resulted in five dimensions with multiple topics each. When I look at these different approaches, I realize everyone is trying to reinvent and rephrase a much simpler concept:

12

"It all depends" "Leave it up to the team" "Choose the right tool for the job" I'm sick to the back teeth of hearing these arguments wheeled out against practices which we *know* are effective. Examples? Trunk based development. Continuous integration. Deployment pipelines. Why am I certain we know these are predictors of success? The Accelerate book and research. See Jez's video here summarising the findings: https://lnkd.in/ehnjnzJv This is the largest piece of proper research that's been done into team productivity. If you think TBD is only effective "depending on your context" then come up with better data. Not thoughts, opinions. Data. The funny thing? The arguments above *are* totally valid for many other choices - technology, ticket tracking, team processes... lots more. But not for a certain set of practices which, according to the research, makes for more effective teams. Please don't wheel out weak sauce arguments that you've heard other "thought leaders" parrot.

31

14 Comments

Don't Just Code, Design for All! Unleashing the Power of Inclusive Software Ever been frustrated by software that feels like it wasn't built with you in mind? This week on Envisiontech, we're diving deep into user-centered design & exploring how to create software that's truly great for EVERYONE! Join me as I discuss: • The importance of understanding your users' needs • Crafting intuitive interfaces that are easy to navigate • Accessibility best practices that ensure everyone can use your software Whether you're a developer, designer, or simply interested in creating a more inclusive world, this episode is for YOU! What are your biggest challenges when it comes to designing for all users? Share your thoughts in the comments below! YouTube: https://lnkd.in/g_5FUX5p Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gmMri2nG Audible: https://lnkd.in/gtct75K6 Amazon: https://lnkd.in/g9iPrKfZ Apple: https://lnkd.in/gvX6fk_d #softwaredevelopment #userexperience #accessibility #inclusion #a11y

2

Most of us know that blindly following dogma while writing your tests isn’t often a good idea. ‘Best practices’ don’t exist, at best there’s ‘good practice considering the context’. On the other hand, you can also be too pragmatic. Like with many things in life, the key is in finding a balance that works for you, instead of blindly following advice that might have worked in a different context. https://lnkd.in/e6e_qRUb

11

"Our documentation is great!" said no one ever. It is always interesting to talk to folks about this problem. It'ss a problem that can be hard to grasp, measure, and even harder to solve. That is; unless you think about it in a different way. A little bit of simplification, structure, and even some AI might do the trick. I also found a new AI tool, Unblocked, while at LambdaConf this week. I am excited to start experimenting with Unblocked and think it could be a game changer when it comes to managing documents across an organization. Check out my latest article where I talk about #knowledgemanagment. Dennis Pilarinos Daniel Horton

28

1 Comment