I have been doing some research on agile software development methodologies, specifically Scrum, and found the following videos.

• Pretty straight-forward concepts: Scrum Basics
• Another quick overview of Scrum: SCRUM in Under 10 Minutes
• Google Tech Talk with Jeff Sutherland: Scrum Tuning: Lessons learned from Scrum implementation… (This runs about an hour.)
• Goofy: Agile Development with Scrum: What they don’t tell you.
• Kinda long: Agile vs. Waterfall: A Tale of Two Teams

I read an interesting post by Scott Berkun.  It is titled Are you a leader or a tracker?.  In it, Scott lists a group of questions to ask a project manager in order to understand what that person really does.  I summarize the questions into a couple key ideas.

• “Professionalizing” project managers has left many of them without relevant, hands-on roles.  I am finding that information technology executives (CIO, CTO) are wanting more hands-on project managers.  In other words, PMs who have a deeper understanding of the projects they are tasked with completing.
• Leading the team to the goal is more important than pushing them from behind.  If the focus is on tracking, what leadership value are you bringing?  It is easier to track.  (Hindsight is 20/20.)  Most teams need a leader who can put the next steps and the ultimate goal into better focus.

At the very least, if you are in a project management role, do a self-assessment using Scott’s questions.  Your answers may point you in a better direction that will increase your effectiveness and value.

Today, I noticed a garbage can blocking a fire exit in the building where I work.  How it got there, I do not know.  I do know where the garbage can belongs.  It took me all of two seconds to move it.  That is leadership. Do what needs to be done, even in the small things.  Don’t put it off or wait for someone else to take care of it.

I know someone who used to be a cashier for Kmart. They had a metric for average scan time.  Her time was the best in the store; because she figured out how to make her numbers look good.  She would arrange all the customer’s items with the bar codes ready.  Then, she would quickly scan each item and hit the subtotal button.  At first, the other cashiers were angry with her, saying that she made them look bad.  However, management caught on to what she was doing to get great numbers.  Guess what?  They trained all the other cashiers to do the same thing and the store’s numbers became the best in the district!

Yesterday, I was at Sears buying a dehumidifier. After making my purchase, I went to merchandise pickup.  I scanned my receipt and my name was added to the queue.  I looked at the screen and to my delight; the average wait time was 2.20 minutes.  Great!  I will be out of here in no time!  WRONG. I watched the worker and saw quickly that he was “Gaming the System.”  Once orders were added to the queue, he would take his hand-held device and mark all the orders complete.  Then, everyone would wait.  The metric looked great, but didn’t reflect reality.

Sears probably spent some serious money to develop this system, including lovely computerized voice prompts.  They probably use this average service time metric to determine staffing levels.  I can tell from personal experience that this store is probably under-staffed.  I didn’t have my watch on, so I don’t have the exact time of my wait, but it was much longer than the 1.40 minutes that was recorded. (I would guess that I waited 20 to 25 minutes.)

Sears could have the customer indicate that they received their item as the event that clocks the actual service time.  (Perhaps by scanning their receipt again.)  That would eliminate the “game.”  In this scenario, the customer starts and stops the clock.  (Also, the worker didn’t check my receipt. They probably have a shrink problem too.)

“Gaming the system” is easy to avoid.  You just have to observe the system in action and make adjustments.  Don’t set your metrics program to reward speed, unless you have an independent way to ensure accuracy.  Set it up to reward accuracy.  I can tell you one thing.  The workers at this particular Sears Merchandise Pickup area were not motivated to hustle.

Here are some questions that Norman asks:
7. Questions:

7.a The answer to 7a is a personal one. Either you will participate or you will not. Obviously, a culture that encourages participation will help with this.
7b. Many meetings can be low value. It is very important that the meeting organizer sets up and runs the meeting to gain maximum value for the participants.
7c. If 7b is handled well, people will look forward to meetings. If there are too many meetings, it won’t matter how good a particular meeting is run. People will get burnt out on meetings and probably just want some time to themselves to “get things done.”

I propose a hybrid of the stand-up meeting and the traditional meeting. This helps when teams are not co-located.

1. Have a standing meeting time and place, but don’t be afraid to call a meeting when it is needed.
2. Build your meeting plan (agenda) on stated problems.
3. Work each problem, one at a time.
4. Make sure that everyone can briefly say what they want to say.
5. Gain agreement on a course of action.
6. Get a reliable promise to carry out that course of action.
7. Iterate, until all the problems are discussed.
8. Thank everyone and close the meeting.
9. Document the meeting.

This isn’t exactly a lean approach, but I believe it does help improve the traditional meeting. One thing that I try to do is keep status reporting to a minimum. Status reporting is hard to avoid completely, but I do feel that people find more value, from a meeting, where problems are solved.

I may be backwards, but I regularly check the print classifieds for items I am looking for and for bargains. Sometimes, I will pick up the local paper just for the classified ads!

I also see huge value for online classifieds. I’m a regular buyer and seller on eBay. I also have had great success using online classifieds at work.

I think there is room for paid classified advertisements in the both the print and online markets.