Today we released our one-year anniversary episode of Improving Podcasts. It’s a huge milestone for us, 27 episodes released every other Tuesday with no missed weeks. It hasn’t always been easy to come up with content, but Mike and I have held each other accountable (Mike’s the one with the real discipline) and we’ve lived up to the challenge we set for ourselves. It’s been a lot of fun and some content has been outstanding (if I do say so myself) while some really hasn’t, but I think it was …

If you’re in Dallas, Houston, Austin, or Bryan/College Station (or within an hour or so), take advantage of Improving’s lunch and learns. We’ll come out and present to your team on a topic of your choice, free of charge. Our topics cover the latest in .NET development, Java, Object Oriented fundamentals, and, of course, lots of perspectives on Agile Software Development. If you need an easy way to expose your team to the latest in Agile development from the comfort of your own office, here’s your chance. Here’s a list …

There are a myriad of methods IT managers use to try and increase their team’s productivity, some are good and some are terrible. One of the best ways to increase productivity is to maximize the team’s sense of personal ownership of its goals.
1) Have the team make its own estimates all the time, and be very careful not to pressure them into modifying those estimates. If you’re curious about the reasoning, ask for elaboration, but never indicate you disagree. If you’re in a position of authority they …

I got my new business cards today.  Our business cards at Improving are unique, they are customized for each person including pretty much whatever text each employee wants.  My cards include a quote from Warren Buffett: “Price is what you pay, Value is what you get.”

I heard this quote a couple years ago and it has really stuck with me.  I know what it means to me, but I decided to google it today, just to see what others had to say about it.  I found a 2003 post from …