The Pros & Cons of Different Software Team Sizes

Switching teams is a constant expectation at Atomic. My previous project was a standard Atomic team: three full-time developers plus a part-time delivery lead. This eventually turned into me being solo on the project while I was wrapping it up. From there, I transitioned onto a much larger team, along the lines of twenty or […]

4 Product Management Concepts to Use on Your Next Software Product

There are many different philosophies and management styles when it comes to developing a new product. Knowing and incorporating different concepts will help you continue to grow as a technical product owner and will increase your ability to successfully build, deploy, and manage software. In this post, I’ll introduce four concepts that I’ve used in […]

Improving All-Remote Team Decision Making with “Request For Comments”

Our team’s process for discussing and making significant technical decisions was broken. As the tech lead, I wasn’t getting the feedback I wanted. Some team members were concerned about being excluded from the work, and the thought of running lengthy video meetings to discuss the pending decisions wasn’t something anyone relished. We needed a change. […]

A Guide to Getting What You Need from Very Busy People

As a software developer, you will almost certainly have more available time than the key decision makers on your project. Before you find yourself totally blocked, it’s important to make good use of the time you do get with them. Here are five ways to make the most of that time. 1. Ask in Writing […]

Just Phoning it In? 4 Ways to Keep Daily Remote Standup Calls Valuable

Many teams have recently faced the challenge of transitioning to remote work. Our existing Scrum ceremonies have helped make this shift easier for my project teams. Starting the day with an intentional check-in is already a habit, thanks to our daily standups. But it’s far from “business as usual.” As Zoom fatigue mounts and the […]

How to Use Relative Sizing and Burn-Up Charts to Scope a Project

At the beginning of a project, there can be a lot of uncertainty about upcoming work. We recently had success doing an exercise called relative sizing and modeling our results with a burn-up chart. It helped the team understand the scope of work and uncover questions and risks earlier. It also gave the stakeholders a nice […]

Never Average Story Points!

When you’re playing Planning Poker with a small software team, it’s pretty easy to reach a consensus. Everyone can be heard, and the team can agree on an acceptable point value for each story. But the larger the team, the harder it is to get everyone on the same page. People stay silent with questions […]

Staying Socially Connected in a Socially-Distanced Office

As I write today, we’re in our fifteenth week of all-remote work at Atomic Object, and we don’t expect to return to our physical space any time soon. This is tough for us. While some companies are embracing remote work and using the pandemic as an opportunity to downsize their physical footprint, in-person collaboration is […]

Long-Term Agile Planning Is Possible!

On an agile software project, we readjust plans daily. We pivot to respond to change, discovery, and feedback. Product owners and stakeholders, on the other hand, focus on longer-term planning — defining product roadmaps, release dates, and milestones. As a Delivery Lead, I have the challenge of balancing planning needs for the entire team. Fortunately, […]

How to Facilitate a Knowledge Transfer Remotely

At the end of a recent project, I was scheduled to visit our clients for a week to hold a knowledge transfer for their development team. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we were forced to change plans, and we opted to run the knowledge transfer remotely. I’d spent the previous weeks creating and refining an […]

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Project & Team Management