Agile-Mercurial

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF HANDLING RAPID AND UNPREDICTABLE CHANGE

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The Ugly Truth of Project Management

In our developed society, we can classify all projects into one of the following groups: 1st – Necessary, but nobody wants it 2nd – Everybody wants it, but it’s not necessary 3rd &#8211…

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How to Teach Others Small Simple Tasks

We have all been there, either on the receiving end or the giving end. You may be in a zoom meeting watching a coworker’s screen and see them perform a task, or struggle to perform a task, th…

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6 “Facts” About Agile That May Not Be True

Every profession has their myths and things that are accepted as true, and the Agile and project management world is pervasive with all sorts of them. Here we will look at a few things in Agile tha…

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How Star Trek TNG Ruins Employee Morale: Why You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Enterprise

Projects… The final frontier… These are the Ramblings of the Project Managers. Our continuing mission: To cobble together strange new solutions… To seek out new ideas; new resourc…

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Introducing Author Collaboration

There has been a great change at Agile-Mercurial! We are change makers, right? We aim to escalate to higher levels, and to do so it almost always requires a change in some way. Today that change is…

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CSM Certification Online (Temporarily)

If you are interested in getting your Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) or Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) designation, now may be the time to do it. Temporarily, due to concerns related to COVID-19, the Scrum Alliance and certified training providers are allowing these classes to be taken online.

If you are like me and you live in a more remote area, you don’t have any interest in shelling out…

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There is no 'Agile Methodology' or 'Agile Framework'

There is no ‘Agile Methodology’ or ‘Agile Framework’

Agile is not a methodology or framework. Agile is more of a general description of how things are done, but one that is often overused and misapplied. Agile does not have to be iterative and incremental – although strict Agile Manifesto interpretations do insist on it being for software, no one listens to that anymore.

Agile practices can be found being used in all sorts of industries and…

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Alderfer's ERG Theory of Motivation

Alderfer’s ERG Theory of Motivation

Alderfer’s ERG Motivational Theory

(E) Existence Needs: The basic needs to meet the minimum level of existence

(R) Relatedness Needs: Social and family needs, the need to feel loved and belong somewhere

(G) Growth Needs: The need to produce something useful; to be creative or engage in meaningful tasks

The ERG Theory of Motivation was developed by Clayton Alderfer in 1969. It was developed as an…

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What are SMART Goals?

What are SMART Goals?

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

• Specific • Measurable • Achievable • Relevant • Time-Based/Timely

Specific:Goals need to be specific. A general idea of what you hope to achieve may not work well for you unless you have a plan for finding the details. If you what you want is so large that you don’t know all of the details, break the goal up into easier to achieve chunks; make it into several goals. Then lay…

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How to Find Remote and Work From Home Jobs

How to Find Remote and Work From Home Jobs

I am a remote worker and I often get asked how I became a remote worker. When they ask, I assume they mean, “how do I find remote jobs?” Well, I am going to tell you how right here. First I will start with ways I have actually found jobs, then I will move onto ways I have heard of others finding jobs.

If you are just beginning a remote job search, you have to be patient. It can take months to…

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The Robotic Workforce

Are robots going to take your job?

Maybe, maybe not.

There are estimates out that state 375 million people worldwide will need to transition to new jobs through the use of all types of what is collectively called automation (although that isn’t accurate when you consider AI in the mix) (Mckinsey Global Institute, 2017). That may be true, but it isn’t the full story behind the physical robots…

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Top 10 Paying Technology Jobs Over 100K

Top 10 Paying Technology Jobs Over 100K

Every year since 2009 the technology job search site Dice has conducted surveys of employees that work in the technology space. These surveys provide insight into salaries, in-demand skills, and trends impacting the realm of technology. You can download the 2019 report here.

47% of tech professionals said they’d change employers to seek better working conditions (non-compensation aspects like…

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Tutorial: Create An Online Résumé for Using a Custom Website Domain

Tutorial: Create An Online Résumé for Using a Custom Website Domain

*FOR THE NON-TECHNICAL:

A few things first. This is easy, you can do it. I just want to define some terms for you.

Domain: Is basically the name of the website. In your email, the domain name is everything that comes after the “@” symbol. 

URL: Universal Resource Locator. Everything you type in to get to the actual domain or the specific pages within the domain. 

google.com would be a domain. htt…

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Why Should We Hire You? That question seems a bit too much like “Tell Us Something that Makes You Unique.” Your qualifications are on your résumé (I assume), but instead of asking clarification questions about your stated experience they seem to try and get some deep or profound answer out of you with an unoriginal question that doesn’t really lend itself well to the deep and profound category.…

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3 Low-Cost Ways To Gain Additional Education and Training Online

3 Low-Cost Ways To Gain Additional Education and Training Online

We all need to take charge of our education and careers, and one of the cheapest and easiest ways to do this is by utilizing online education options. Online options can provide a way to advance or maintain existing skills or gain new skills in a much more convenient way. For many people, like myself, we live in areas that may not provide a lot of in-person educational options. Online then…

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Kanban Certifications

Kanban is an operational methodology that tries to streamline business processes and reduce waste. As the use of Kanban increases, being educated in Kanban becomes more valuable and more critical to organizations. Successful adoption of Kanban practices relies on knowledgeable employees supporting its implementation. You can learn more about Kanban here: What is Kanban?.

There are two relatively…

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The Problem With Extremely Confident People

The Problem With Extremely Confident People

I believe an expert is a person who has been wrong so many times that it permanently limits how confident they will ever get in their abilities. The master of a craft is more accepting of the fact that they could learn something new to further their knowledge. They don’t just say it, they feel it. The expert begins to recognize their limitations and they become more open to the fact that they may…

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