AgileScotland September session: Programmers may be from Mars, Customers may be from Venus, but why does everyone think that Project Managers are from

Programmers may be from Mars, Customers may be from Venus ... but why does everyone think that Project Managers are from Uranus ?

An agile workshop facilitated by Clarke Ching, September 24th, 2007.

What? I spent a good part of my career thinking that Project Managers are either well meaning idiots or bad intentioned manipulators. All that went away, of course, when I started managing projects and I discovered that most Project Managers are - just like developers - good people trying to do a hard job.

This session will explore the causes of common conflicts between the "workers" and the "managers" on software projects. We will discover that most of the conflicts are caused by "the system" rather than the "people". We will discover ways around these conflicts … and make our jobs easier and more fun.

This is a great opportunity to discover what motivates and concerns "them". You'll also learn how to use a powerful tool for uncovering and then resolving conflicts in a win-win manner. You'll also help me write my book.

[This session will also be run later this year at AgileYorkshire and (hopefully) XPDay2007.]

Who? Clarke Ching is a New Zealander who now lives in Scotland. He is a passionate advocate of agile software development and is chairman of the AgileScotland special interest group, which meets monthly in Edinburgh. Clarke has an MBA specializing in technology management and currently is writing a book ( www.rollingrocksdownhill.com), which explains why working on and managing software projects often feels like pushing rocks uphill and shows how to use lean, quality, and agile techniques to make them easier, more productive, and predictable.

When are Where? We'll be meeting at the SKM offices in the 160 Dundee Street building, Edinburgh, EH11 1DQ at 19:30 on Monday September 24th. The offices are between Fountainbridge Leisure complex and the Victor Paris Bathroom Shop.