Running useful agile retrospectives on a routine basis is a lot like executing pool table trick-shots on the deck of a cruise ship in a tsunami—even with all the right preparation, things can go overboard quick! This is especially true for distributed teams. But if process improvement stagnates because you’re struggling to collaborate, how can you…
10 Captivating Retrospective Ideas to Liven Up Your Meetings
Agile retrospectives may have been born into the world of software development, but these short, deliberately reflective meetings can be put to productive use in any team setting. A pitfall of having these sessions regularly, though, is that they can become a bit stale. People become desensitized to the routine, and may start to check out…
Google Keep vs. Evernote: Who’s the Note-Taking Champion?
Unless you carry a notebook around in your pocket, the chances are pretty good that you’re using your mobile device to keep track of your digital life. If you’re looking for tools to help you keep your life organized, chances are pretty good that you’ve used or at least heard of Evernote. Released in 2004,…
7 Steps on How to Fire Someone Without Getting Sued
By far, firing is the worst part of being a manager. After years of managing teams and having to fire folks many times, I still get a pit in my stomach just thinking about it. In my experience, that feeling of dread never goes away even after having a bunch of experience with this. It…
The 3 Evernote Alternatives You Should Switch to Right Now
When note-taking app Evernote launched back in 2004, it was a bold, innovative software product that promised to help us remember… well, everything. In 2004, Evernote was in the enviable position of being first-to-market. Evernote was among the very first software products to offer native apps for Windows, OS X, Android, and iOS. It was…
12 Tricks for Running a Retrospective Meeting that People Actually Enjoy
Agile retrospective meetings can be a double edged sword. When routine, they’re invaluable tools for improving our work and celebrating the team’s achievements—that is, until they become stagnant over time. Your retrospectives should leave your team on common ground and feeling optimistic about the next phase in your agile journey. If you feel like they’ve…
From Engineers to Everybody: How Atlassian’s Confluence Conquered the Enterprise
Developing not one but two software products simultaneously just two years after establishing your company would probably sound like madness to most founders. That’s exactly what the Atlassian team did when they launched their wiki tool called Confluence back in 2004. Confluence not only beat virtually every other wiki tool to market but also adopted…
The Easiest Way to Set Up G Suite Sync With Outlook (GSSMO)
Google and Microsoft are the two biggest players in productivity. While Microsoft’s share of the market dwarfs Google’s, in some industries Google is ubiquitous. And in both cases they offer a complete ecosystem. Gmail integrates with Calendar, Docs, Hangouts; Outlook integrates with Word, Skype, and comes with a built-in calendar application. Once you’re inside, you’ve…
Evernote Review: Has the King of Note-Taking Apps Been Replaced?
Even if you’ve never used it, you’ve probably heard of Evernote. It’s a note-taking app that can help you organize your digital life, and it’s been around since 2004. You can use Evernote to take notes, organize your files, and take clippings and snippets from virtually anywhere on the web. But is Evernote any good?…
How to Write the Perfect Postmortem Report
So you were just assigned the task of writing a postmortem report. Or maybe you need a quick template that you can assign someone on your team. Either way, what does a great postmortem report look like? I’ve got you covered. Across several companies, my teams have produced hundreds of postmortem reports over the years.…