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Pollyanna posted:No but seriously, I would really like some advice on getting middle management at a dinosaur of a company on board with agile. The team isn't much of a problem - it's only two or three of us - but I can't help but worry that our product owner/manager dude is totally ignoring the concept of "working with the customer", and a lot of assumptions are being made. We've already got wireframes, which is fine, but those need to be translated into a prototype or we won't be able to tell if we're going in the right direction or not. The non-joke answer is to gain enough experience to know how to manage upwards, build consensus among key team members, then just start doing poo poo the way it should be done and use your built-up social and technical capital to make the team follow. Then act like it's always been done this way and why are you rocking the boat now coworker peon Bob and/or manager PHB Stacy? The sheep will follow. You can build a poo poo-ton of capital by looking for highly desired features that haven't been delivered yet then doing them on your own without telling anyone (thus no opportunities to gently caress it up or say no). It requires doing a poo poo-ton of homework, being able to put on your designer and product hats, and making absolutely sure you are delivering something of high value to the business. You also need to reveal it in the appropriate context (eg where the sales team or CEO sees it before middle management can claim credit for it or squash it). Watch for people who want to hitch themselves to your success-wagon and use them to legitimize the process (eg the PM who feels frustrated and knows you can get things done; your next cowboy feature then becomes an official feature "requested by product"). This is expert-level managing upwards and I don't recommend it until you have a lot of experience. If done right you can essentially rebuild the entire team and its culture over time, without ever holding official power. You can use that to transition into management if you like. This works equally well at a 100k+ employee software company and a small startup. If you make something great, all sins are quickly forgiven.* * If you make garbage the blowback will be epic.
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Jan 24, 2016 10:36
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Destroyenator posted:This may work for some people in some places but as a junior level new hire this won't be possible for you. Your best hope is that someone more senior (either technical or management) feels the same way and you can be a positive vote for them. If someone asks you what you think then "you've read about some ideas for process but haven't worked with then yourself, but you would love to hear what they think about this article/link/whatever". This is all down to your lack of professional experience, when you've got three or four years and a few projects under your belt you'll be able to make more impact. Everything in its measure; you can't be cowboy all the time. That's why I said it's an expert level technique. I never said they'd make you the new management after a reveal. You have to build credibility which takes a long time. You may also be working for morons in which case you just survive it, possibly for the experience, then move on. And I definitely don't want to be known as a developer who just follows simple instructions. I want to be known as a 10X developer who is passionate about what I work on and makes the product and the team better.
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Jan 25, 2016 18:49
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