Welcome to My Blog
My thoughts on Lean, Agile, psychology, creating businesses excellence & making people happy.Back to the essence (of PRINCE2 and Agile/Scrum)
I sometimes notice that people get confused implementing PRINCE2 and/or Scrum. Especially PRINCE2 is notorious for the amount of processes and artifacts. Scrum is much more free format, but also with Scrum people seem to lose track over what's really important. So...
Lean PRINCE2 presentation @BPUGNL 2014 (Dutch)
Below you'll find my presentation on Lean applied to project management which I gave last June at the Dutch BPUGNL seminar. have fun! Lean PRINCE2, projectmanagement is waste (maar noodzakelijk) from Martin van Borselaer
New cool video on leadership: Greatness
Today I found a new cool video on the leadership subject. Inno-Versity created an Inno-Mation based on the book by former US submarine captain David Marquet in which he explains how he turned his submarine from the worst to the best performing vessel in the US Navy....
New Whitebook published (Dutch): ‘Goed agile is snel (maar ook moeilijk)’
My latest Whitebook (Dutch), 'Goed agile is snel (maar ook moeilijk)', is published here. Have fun!
Calculating planning uncertainty for agile projects (Excel 2010 template included)
I'm a great believer in visual management. I love brown papers with sticky notes and lots of charts. That's also why I love spreadsheets. Not because I think you can manage projects by crunching data, but spreadsheets give me the opportunity to visualize the project's...
New Whitebook (Dutch): Agile releaseplanning met PRINCE2 toleranties en Scrum Business Value
Last Friday my latest Whitebook was published, called 'Agile release planning with PRINCE2 tolerances and Scrum Business Value'. It's in Dutch. For my international readers I'll try to post an English translation soon.
Excel template for agile projectplanning with Scrum
Due to great demand I'd like to share my Excel template for agile project planning with you. Though each project has it's own needs, I'll usually take the following into account when planning agile projects: Velocity Past team performance, expressed in number of Story...
New cool video: The Marshmallow Challenge
Recently I found another cool video. Again on TED. This video is about an exercise called "The Marshmallow Challenge". In eighteen minutes, teams of four must build the tallest freestanding structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape,...
How to create a Gantt Chart in Excel 2007, 2010 or 2016
Previously I posted an Excel Gantt Chart template for Excel 2007 (or 2010). The template works great as is, but it's hard to reproduce on your own. Here's the step by step instruction: Create the chart data For this example I use the following data: Task Startdate...
Better IT results with Lean Six Sigma DMAIC, a data migration example
In science results are obtained by a combination of theorizing and experimentation. A theory is tested through the collection and interpretation of facts. This is usually an iterative process because the experiment generates new facts that lead to changes in the...
Tips for lowering the agile adoption threshold
Yesterday I participated in a Dutch Agile Government Open Space meeting. The theme of this session was 'Agile & ICT Policy'. One of the speakers was Brigitte van den Burg. She is one of our Lower House representatives and within her party responsible for the Dutch...
Slides seminar “Lean & Agile IT” published (Dutch)
Yesterday we had our seminar Lean & Agile IT. At this seminar we explained that Lean principles and Agile practices are complementary and can lead to better results. We not only applied these principles and practices to product development (like Scrum), but also...
Organizing seminar “Lean & Agile IT: beter resultaat, betrokkenheid en IT volwassenheid” (Dutch)
I'm organizing a new seminar about creating a more effective IT organisation by using Lean & Agile principles. I'm very much looking forward to share our ideas and experiences. We'll be hosting this seminar on Thursday September the 15th at our Whitehorses head...
Whitebook ‘Better IT results with Lean Six Sigma DMAIC’ (Dutch)
My latest whitebook is published today. It's a Dutch paper (original title: 'Meten is weten: betere IT resultaten met Lean Six Sigma DMAIC'). As usual I'll post an English translation soon. I'm trying to point out that sometimes it's better to stop theorizing and...
Managing the control/progress balance
One of the more difficult aspects of managing projects is to find the right balance between spending time on accountability, reporting and control or spending time on getting things done (progress). Spending time on planning and reporting activities means that you and...
Gantt Chart template for Excel 2007 or 2010
It has been a while since my last post. I've been very busy managing a demanding project. The good news is that I finally managed to create a decent Gantt Chart in Excel 2007. With that I do mean a Chart object in Excel, not just some manual tinkering with Excel...
What’s the connection between the Montessori Method, The Toyota Way and Agile IT?
The first answer to this question is.... 'quality build in'. The Toyota philosophy knows the concept of Poka-yoke, 'mistake proofing a device by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur'. Poka-yoke is a means of building quality into...
New cool videos on Leadership and Practical Wisdom
I've added two new 'cool videos' to the sidebar. How great leaders inspire action (presentation by Simon Sinek, TEDxPuget Sound, Sep 2009) A great and inspiring presentation about leadership. If you think this presentation is only about marketing and selling stuff,...