Why Milestone-Based Payments Are Never a Good Idea for Custom Software

During two separate meetings with potential new accounts this week, milestone-based payments (sometimes also called fixed-bid payments) came up in conversation. One potential customer was interested in working this way; the other one had just been burned by it. These conversations reminded me of the reasons milestone-based payments are a bad idea when you’re building […]

How I’m Getting a Business Education Without Going to B-School

For several years now, I have wanted to further my professional development in business administration and management. I researched MBA programs and other related certificate programs, but the timing never felt right for me in terms of the time and financial commitments that business school would require, and the other life goals and activities I […]

How to Avoid Stakeholder Gridlock on Your Software Project

Have you ever been to a meeting that involved a dozen or more people, that constantly went too far into the weeds, that couldn’t come to a consensus, and that left you feeling like nothing was accomplished? It was horrible, right? You probably never want to have that experience again.

2 Design Techniques that Can Make You a Better Influencer

In the decade I spent as a designer, the most important skills I learned weren’t about user interfaces or color theory. They were about working with people—juggling different ideas, priorities, and personalities. Finding a way forward that everyone can agree on. Here are two people-wrangling techniques I still use nearly every day, in my career […]

Seven Quick Strategies for Effective Scrum Stand-Up Meetings

The daily stand-up meeting is an important component of the SCRUM process. It helps the whole team stay in-sync and up-to-date on what’s happening with the project, and it alerts everyone to blockers as soon as they become an issue. However, if you do a stand-up meeting wrong, it can become a real drag—and a […]

Unpacking the Confidence Code, Part 4 – Instilling Confidence in Others

One of the key messages in Katty Kay and Claire Shipman’s book The Confidence Code is that, while each of us may begin with higher or lower levels of confidence due to gender, genetics, and nurture, the concept of neuroplasticity means that anyone’s confidence levels can increase.

Unpacking The Confidence Code, Part 2 – Exploring the Confidence Gap

Katty Kay & Claire Shipman, authors of The Confidence Code, were inspired to tackle the topic of women and confidence because women everywhere seem to have less confidence than men.

Unpacking the Confidence Code, Part 1 – Developing Confidence Together

Earlier this year, ten of the women in our Grand Rapids office came together to read and discuss The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self Assurance—What Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman.

Addressing 13 Types of Custom Software Risk

Creating custom software can be extremely complex—juggling evolving technologies, competing stakeholders, many types of users, etc. And that makes it risky, both for the company who funds the project and for the consultant who stakes their reputation on it. You can’t eliminate this risk, but Atomic works hard to mitigate it before a project even […]

How Taking “Half-Steps” Can Further Your Career (& How Your Company Can Help)

Earlier this fall, I participated on a panel of women in STEM for the Grand Rapids Girls Robotics Competition. My fellow panelists and I had the pleasure of a very engaged audience of young women in high school, and we explored a wide range of topics relevant to women in STEM fields. One topic that […]

Atomic Spin

Atomic Object’s blog on everything we find fascinating.

By: Brittany Hunter

Author: Brittany Hunter