Forem: katglin

Software Developer’s Efficiency: How to Evaluate and Improve?

katglin — Sun, 19 May 2019 14:17:36 +0000

I know I’m preaching to the choir now, but a good programmer is distinguished from a bad one by efficiency. And the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the word “efficiency” is the time spent on implementing a particular feature. For example, when one developer does something in three days, and another one — in six days, then a small amount of arithmetic calculations reveals that the first developer is twice as effective as the second one, isn’t he?

No! This criterion will be correct only in the short run and totally wrong during long-term development.

The right way to test a developer’s performance is to see how he handles several typical (repetitive) tasks. Each next task of the same type must take less and less time. You can try to derive a certain formula of reducing the execution time of a next task and use it to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of developers in your team. The so-called developer’s efficiency ratio. Well, for example, each next task of the same type should take two times less time than the previous one. Until a certain point, of course.

Becoming more efficient

We could talk a lot about how to achieve efficiency gains and speed up the development process. This time we will offer you a couple of analogies for reflection.

Do you remember the idiom about the sharpening of the ax and deforestation? The one where an abstract developer has no time to sharpen an ax, because he’s too busy chopping wood.

The problem is obvious, but the solution is not always so straightforward. There is a flipside here — premature ax sharpening. The ax needs to be sharpened when it is clear that the costs of sharpening the ax will pay off by the speed of deforestation.

And to check it out, you need to:

Find out the speed of deforestation with a blunt ax. To this end, you need to do the task at least once before any optimizations. No need to implement a separate library and introduce extra abstractions till then.
Understand the characteristics of the ax, know what will happen after sharpening. The initially written inline solution, built within the current architecture, will fully make it clear what and where you can later replace and refactor.
Know the next time you need to sharpen an ax. It’s impossible to make all the code completely polished at once, but it is never necessary. It is much better to take care only of a specific task each time when refactoring. Your goal is to shorten the development time of this particular task the next time, say, twice.

There is another similar popular idiom. It says something like: “It’s better to spend the whole day building an airplane to fly to your destination in five minutes, than to spend the whole day trying to run there.” But the “ax” and the “plane” idioms describe different cases. The “ax idiom” tells about different tasks of the same type, while the “airplane idiom” — about routine processes within the same task.

Originally published at Riter Agile Blog.

Diving into programming: where not to begin?

katglin — Mon, 13 May 2019 08:56:45 +0000

I have already raised the issue in one of my previous posts, however, daily practice shows that the problem is still relevant. This time, I’ll also talk about paid programming courses which are so popular today. Lots of courses like “Learn PHP/Java/C++/... in a month/2 weeks/...” and high demand for them don’t allow me to just keep silent. Moreover, an enormous number of their advertising, exceeding reasonable limits, also do not allow to ignore this topic. So I will try to save a couple hundred dollars for those who want to dive into programming through courses.

For starters, here are some statements to think about.

The overwhelming majority of programmers’ daily tasks consist of finding and assessing the necessary information and building new mental abstractions. So it is just impossible to learn everything you need for work in advance. First of all, it is better to study the mechanism for obtaining new knowledge. It is about “learning to learn”.
The most topical technology turns into an ancient enterprise in six months or a year. The process of learning technologies should be continuous and never stop. The material which is taught to you on courses right now was prepared a couple of months ago and mastered by the teacher themself six months ago or earlier. The relevance of such knowledge is extremely small.
The learning process is always based on drawing analogies with already known things. And for each person, the process of making such analogies is strongly individual. All that a teacher is able to do is to impose their own analogies.
A certain basic set of knowledge can still be obtained during courses, but it is so fundamental that you can easily learn it independently. Git, the basics of Unix, algorithms and data structures, a bit of math. In addition, some basis for a specific profession. For example, in web programming you need to understand HTML, CSS, HTTP and stuff.

Of course, in practice, it can be difficult to master both the fundamentals and a certain programming language on your own, especially without any technical background, since you don’t have an overall picture. In this case, it is still important to distinguish good courses from bad ones.

Good courses give you new challenges, tasks which you learn to solve. Sometimes these are typical tasks and often typical approaches. Good courses do not impose approaches, but explain which ones are better and why. And the tool for solving the problem — say, ruby or python — you can choose depending on the situation. Bad courses teach you a language. Good courses teach you to meet the challenges and solve tasks.

And finally, even if you succeed to choose the best and the most rigorous courses, it’ll still be very hard to stand out from the increasing number of other similar students, not to say about thousands of computer science graduates.

And what is your take on this issue? Have you had your own experience with such courses or their graduates? How successful was it?

Originally published at Riter Agile Blog.

Sharing and Concealing Startup Ideas

katglin — Wed, 08 May 2019 07:54:51 +0000

— What are you working on now?
— I’m doing a project.
— What kind? Tell me, I’m curious.
— I can’t tell you anything now, you will see it later.

Probably every programmer has an idée fixe which will one day allow them to take over the world together with nearby planets. It is different for everybody, with varying degrees of ambitions, forethought, and planning. Gamers want to write a game. Home life optimizers want to create culinary apps, home bookkeeping tools, and smart home software. Holiday fans want social networks for drunks and mobile apps for camping and picnics organizing.

Some are lucky to find like-minded people to work together on the “wunderwaffe” which will save millions of lives, revive the Ussuri tigers, and make them billions of dollars. Only a few begin to implement at least something and only a handful of them are able to bring the idea to at least some workable stage of a product. This is all well-known, logical, and this is the way it should be.

But what is really incomprehensible and illogical is the desire to hide what you are working on now. Well, or, at least, what you are planning to work on.

On the one hand, it is clear that you don’t want to be unfounded and talk about an idea that you haven’t even begun to do in a too pretentious way. On the other hand, any idea that you share with people is strongly criticized. And this criticism is worth listening to. Correctly posed questions and answers to them help to develop in the right direction. The same “rubber duck” method applies here, but only at the stage of system requirements analysis and software design. First, you train to answer awkward questions and hone that very “elevator pitch”. Secondly, you begin to see the obvious weaknesses of the project still at the idea stage. This is not touching the fact that like-minded people can be found only if you talk about your project.

Of course, this does not mean that you need to talk about your projects on every corner. We are talking only about the places where it is relevant, such as thematic conferences and meetings, and when someone is really interested in what you are working on.

In some cases, developers refer to a risk that a good idea can be stolen. However, in the modern world it is rather pointless to be afraid of this. More likely you need to be afraid that someone else will come up with the same idea and its implementation will turn out to be a million times cooler than you could imagine on your own. Or that this idea is already being developed by someone else, or even has already been implemented. The chances that you will miss this will be much lower if you do not keep the idea secret, but discuss it with friends and colleagues.

Sometimes, on the contrary, such a reluctance to tell about the project is connected with the author’s uncertainty that it is worth the discussion. High competition, slow development of the project in comparison with similar apps, thoughts like “well, if it starts to go well, then I’ll tell them” often prevent startups from turning into something more than a hobby or even force an author to drop out of it over time. However, as mentioned earlier, the presence of competition does not mean that the idea is not destined to grow into something significant.

“If you are afraid to create or always compare your content with others’, fearing to produce something ‘worse than others’, think about the theory of two cakes” (@Charodei_Ent)

Sometimes you can hear a more reasoned opinion as an alternative to ours “tell everyone about your idea.” For example, one of our subscribers shared the following statement: “When a developer tells someone about his plans, it may be a feeling that he has already achieved something. As a result, false satisfaction appears and motivation gets low.”

And what is your opinion in this regard? At what stage do you begin to discuss and share your project ideas and success?

Originally published at Riter.co.

Project Management Digest, March 2019

katglin — Sun, 31 Mar 2019 14:38:34 +0000

Originally published on Riter.co.

This is the third release of our monthly digest of the most discussed, popular, and entertainment articles focused primarily on product owners and project manager. However, everybody working in the IT field can find something useful here.

Most popular articles

Startups, product management, and related fields

How AI Will Change The Future Of Project Management — the topic of AI is becoming more popular each year and many experts have their own opinion on its implementation in project management. The author tells about task prioritization, project re-planning, better and efficient analysis, insights and prediction, and much more. Some assumptions are already being implemented in practice by existing project management software, but some are quite new and deserve attention.
The Future of Project Management – Post Brexit, Apprenticeships and AI — one more view on the future of project management and the most possible changes.
Applying Project Management Skills to Guide Production of an Off-Road Triathlon Film. Project management skills are applicable in many industries. The author tells about changing his roles from an IT professional to a principal in a video-content firm. Can you share your own life situations where your project management experience and skills came in handy?
Why Agile and How to be Good at It As UX Designer. Having worked on various agile projects for clients in different industries, the author is sharing what he learned from these agile projects as a UX designer.
How my side project became my full-time Startup. Learn how to turn your side project into a promising startup, how to develop, scale, and promote it properly.

Career and leadership

How To Navigate Turmoil Without Sinking The Boat. Unresolved turmoil weakens your team, leads to frustration, helplessness, and regret. Find out what can cause turmoil and how to manage it.
Cultural Fit versus Cultural Fit — a little about hiring developers, organizational culture, team management, good and bad approaches to recruitment.
10 Ways To Help Reluctant People Make Commitments. Leaders spend much time trying to get performance from people who aren’t committed. Spend more time helping people commit and less time pressuring people to conform. As a team leader, how do you help people make commitments?
3 Ways to Perfect Your Strategic Skills. What creates long-term success in a project management career? In the author’s opinion, developing strategic skills is the best path to that destination. And the article explains how you can improve them.

Agile and Scrum

Free Your Team With Liberating Structures. The author tells about “liberating structures” and different ways to use them to organize your work. If you are a fan of liberating structures, feel free to share which ones you used, in what context, and how was the result.
About that Scrum Master/Agile Project manager role.... The article is going to explain why you can’t be a Scrum Master & Project Manager at the same time.
All for One Backlog, One Backlog for All. It’s well-known that Scrum supposes the only backlog used by the team. However, in practice, some organizations try to split the backlog between “product” and “tech” and give each their own product owner. The author tells about problems which can cause such a behavior, why this is a wrong approach, and how teams could avoid it.
A Daily Scrum in the Cave. The author uses Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to talk about Scrum and tremendous opportunities outside “the cave”.

Productivity and teamwork

Are you being (responsibly) transparent? — the author describes the need for team members to act with responsible transparency.
How hidden are your hurdles? How does your team cope with team’s blockers and how bold they are? In the post, the author tells about possible ways to deal with such blockers — issues preventing developers from completing their work items — without the need for broader communication or escalation.
How to Disagree with Your Boss. Your boss isn’t always right, and sometimes you need to show them the error of their ways, however difficult that may be.
How To Overcome The Frustrations Of Collaboration. The truth is, the fastest way to get simple work done is clear direction and obedient compliance. But you’re on your own when people feel excluded and disrespected.
How to Build a Successful Team — “every leader should take the ‘12 minutes’ out of their day to read and internalize this”.

Most discussed articles

3 Ways To Set Yourself Apart. Not all project managers are created equal. How do you differentiate yourself as a project manager? The post suggests a few ideas.
How To Boost Your Productivity & Get Sh*t Done. Productivity is a skill that can be learned. The post includes some of the tips & tricks which the author uses to prioritize her commitments and tasks.
8 Common Project Manager Mistakes — some common weaknesses of many project managers and suggestions how we could deal with them. Familiarizing yourself with common mistakes can help you prevent a project disaster.
Reducing Waste in Project Management. When a company grows, the complexity of project management methodologies used also grows. As a result, project managers suddenly find themselves inundated with a wealth of templates, processes and tools, but project success rate only falls. The author tells about scaling your project management processes and some common mistakes.
What’s your type? Join the discussion of Scott Hanselmans interview with Camille Fournier on Hanselminutes — this is an episode relating to management and what behaviors managers should and shouldn’t exhibit to motivate engineering teams.

Entertainment content

The best Agile jokes from reddit community. Read and don’t forget to share your own examples.
A manager, a mechanical engineer, and software analyst are driving a car...
Estimates
Geplanus: The PM — a collection of funny comics on project management and Agile.

Resources for project managers

General resources and blogs

Project Management Huts — a collection of articles oriented on project managers with varying levels of skill and experience. Also, several new articles appear almost every day at their website. In addition, you can find book and software reviews, knowledge base, and other related materials covering specific subjects for project managers there.
Girl’s Guide to PM — a blog for project, program and portfolio managers and project delivery professionals. It includes templates, mentoring programs, training tutorials and guides, blog posts and some paid content.
Tyner Blain Blog — the author shares lessons he’s learned from his own project management experiences as well as from what he’s observed as a consultant for companies both large and small.
Agile blog, the original source of this monthly digest. In addition to the posts on general project management topics (time management, risks, AI in project management, productivity, collaboration, etc.), you will find there many non-standard views and thoughts on the best coding practices, team working, managing startups, and a few articles on technologies and achievements in software development based on our own experience.
Bob Sutton’s Blog — not a new or active blog indeed, however, its content still remains actual and can be useful for project managers regardless of their experience.
ProofHub Blog — a space of posts on common issues and tasks in project management.

Books and educational resources

“Against the Gods, The remarkable story of Risk” by Peter L. Bernstein — perhaps the best general history of risk — and presentation of the major concepts of risk — that is understandable by all practitioners at any level.
10 books about project management worth reading — if you are looking for a way to improve your project management skills, this is a rather fair March collection of books worth reading.
Knowledge Train — free resources for project management grouped by categories and types. Their materials are mainly categorized as Careers, Practice, Qualifications, Training and Exams, News. The content appears in different formats like videos with transcriptions, PDF downloads, infographics, etc.
Free Project Status Report Template — a free PDF report template along with a recent post which explains what a report template is and how you can use it for your needs.

Podcasts

LEAP! with Tina Seelig — a podcast series hosted by Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford’s Department of Management Science and Engineering. Each episode takes about 20 minutes. 4 new episodes were released in March. You can find more articles and podcasts on the website and on the Medium blog.
The Burn Up — a new podcast that may be of interest to project managers and product owners. Authors share their combined 40 years of experience in software design and delivery. The podcast was released in January 2019 and has 10 episodes for now. They tell about team management, user stories, business analyst, and product management and take about 20 minutes.

Slack communities

Serious Scrum

Thank you for reading. We would be glad to know which topics and resources are the most interesting for you. Also, feel free to share your favorite articles and other materials for the next digests. We always take into account all suggestions. Follow us on social media or subscribe to our blog not miss them.

The previous releases:
Project Management Digest, February 2019
Project Management Digest, January 2019

Serverless Approach to Integrate Gitlab Webhooks with GraphQL API

katglin — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 08:12:48 +0000

Originally published at Riter.co.

In this post, we describe how to integrate Gitlab webhooks with Riter API and deploy the service on the Google Cloud Platform using Cloud Functions — a serverless compute solution for creating event-driven applications. Cloud Functions let you reduce the infrastructure costs and provide a relatively convenient way to build and deploy services. The whole code is available on Github along with unit and performance tests.

Service purpose

As you may know, Riter is a project management tool used (and developed) by our team. Each pull request created in Gitlab is always associated with a certain task (a story, as we call it) in Riter. So, up until now, we had to insert a link to the task in the pull request description, and after that — add a corresponding link to pull request inside the task comments. As a result, it was easy to see which particular code changes a specific task includes, and which task a certain pull request relates to. On the other hand, such an approach resulted in some “double work” which we’d like to avoid.

To this end, we’ve written a simple service that uses Gitlab webhooks to track and process merge request events and Riter API — to report these events in appropriate tasks. In our case, we suggest that each Gitlab repository corresponds to a particular Riter project. We also suggest that either a pull request description or a source branch name contain a story slug. If so, then each time when somebody performs a merge command, the service figures out a task to which it belongs and adds a link to this pull request (with its id, title, and action performed) in the task annotations. As a result, we’ve got an automatically generated history of changes in our project management tool.

Requirements to the initial data

Generate Riter access token

All Riter users have full access to its GraphQL API which covers all existing functionality. Go to “My Profile” settings and open “Access tokens” tab. Here you can generate a personal access token to all your projects at once. However, in our example, we generate several separate access tokens for different projects and save them in appropriate environment variables (see below).

Also, we could create a separate user identity (a bot) to generate annotations on its behalf. However, for ease, let’s suppose that we use just a regular Riter user account to report all events.

Set up Gitlab webhooks

In Gitlab, go to the project “Settings -> Integration” page to add a webhook. We chose “Merge request events” trigger to process only events when a merge request is created, updated, and merged. In the same way, we could process any other events in the repository.

Here you also need to specify the URL which is unique for each function and appears in the console after deploy. It can be found in the Google Cloud Admin panel as well.

In our case, we call the same function for several Gitlab repositories. However, it would be better to deploy separate instances with different environment variables for each repository.

Environment variables

We use several environment variables. We’re going to track events only from specific users, so USERS include a space-separated list of Gitlab user nicknames.

USERS: nickname1 nickname2

Also, we create environment variables (“ProjectName_GraphQL_API_URL”) for different project access tokens along with the full API endpoint. For example, for the Demo company, the “The night’s watch” project, the env.yml file could include the variable:

THE_NIGHTS_WATCH_GRAPHQL_API_URL: https://demo.riter.co/the-night_s-watch/graphql?api_token=18dc7...

In our example, we use similar variables defined as TRACKER_GRAPHQL_API_URL, CLIENT_GRAPHQL_API_URL, and WEBHOOK_TEST_GRAPHQL_API_URL.

Source code

The entire code takes 84 lines and is written in pure JavaScript. An example of the same code written in Go is also available.

We get all users (whose pull requests we’d like to track) separated with a space:

const users = process.env.USERS.split(' ');

In GraphQL, we use mutations to perform POST requests. So, we describe a mutation to create a new annotation (input) to a particular story (specified by slug) in Riter:

const query = `
  mutation($input: AnnotationTypeCreateInput!) {
    createAnnotation(input: $input) {
      resource {
        slug
      }
    }
  }
`;

Then we list endpoints for different project names:

const projects = {
  'tracker': {
    endpoint: process.env.TRACKER_GRAPHQL_API_URL
  },
  'client': {
    endpoint: process.env.CLIENT_GRAPHQL_API_URL
  },
  'webhook-test': {
    endpoint: process.env.WEBHOOK_TEST_GRAPHQL_API_URL
  }
};

Finally, compose and send a request. We respond immediately to the webhook to speed up request processing:

  response.status(200).send();

Get the endpoint specified for a current project:

  if(req.body.project) {
    project = projects[req.body.project.name];
  }

Only calls from specific users and for certain projects are allowed:

  if(!project || !req.body.user || req.body.user && !users.includes(req.body.user.username)) {
    return 1;
  }

Then we validate the presence of content: URL to the pull request, pull request id, title, and action (for example, “open” or “update”):

  const attributes = req.body.object_attributes;

And try to define story slug from the pull request description or the related source branch:

  let storySlug;

  if(attributes.description) {
    [, storySlug] = attributes.description.match(/stories\/([\w-]+)/) || [];
  }

  if(!storySlug && attributes.source_branch) {
    [storySlug] = attributes.source_branch.match(/^[\w-]+/) || [];
  }

  if(!storySlug) {
    return 3;
  }

Finally, if all the data is correct, we perform the API call:

  const { url, iid, title, action } = attributes;
  const { endpoint } = project;

  const variables = {
    input: {
      body: `[Merge request !${iid} - "${title}" (${action})](${url})`,
      storySlug: storySlug
    }
  };

  request(endpoint, query, variables).catch(() => {});
  return 0;

Deploy and run

All commands required to deploy the service on Google Cloud Platform are provided in the README file. For example, here’s how we can deploy the service:

gcloud functions deploy http --env-vars-file .env.yml --trigger-http --runtime nodejs8

We’ve used Cloud Functions Node.js Emulator to deploy, run, and debug the app on the local machine before deploying them to the production. We’ve used the following tutorial to set up Local Functions Emulator.

Performance

Event processing speed appeared to be quite high. Memory usage, on the contrary, was rather low, as we had expected. That’s well since you are charged based on resources consumption (and on the number of requests to your function). While deploying Cloud Functions, you only have to specify the amount of memory your function needs and CPU resource is allocated proportionally. Here’re some screenshots from Google Cloud statistics:

Usage of memory

Request processing speed

In such a simple way, Riter can be quickly integrated with any third-party service, and its functionality can be extended as far as you need to meet all the specific requirements of your team and workflow.

Project Management Digest, January 2019

katglin — Sun, 03 Feb 2019 09:31:44 +0000

Originally published on Riter.co.

Having a hard time managing teams, projects, or the whole company lately? You’re not alone. This is a pilot release of our monthly project management digest designed to spread experience of many teams and companies among project/product managers. However, we also believe that it will be useful for everybody working in the IT field.

Topical articles in accordance with your goals

Most popular content

Look thought the most popular articles on project management just to keep up with the latest news in your field of activity.

In the post Epics are dead. Here’s what we should do instead (6 min read) the author makes us think again about epics and describes how he is destroying epics in his Agile practice.
Find out 15 things you should know about product managers (12 min read) to be sure you are ready to interact with them properly.
In the post Data science project flow for startups (20 min read) the author presents and structures the flow of data science projects (mostly for small teams/startups), describes scope & KPIs validation process, shares his experience in running, leading or managing data science projects.
Some tips on managing millennials on project team are provided in the post Millennials: your best resources for project management in the world of NGOs (3 min read).

Most discussed articles

Looking for communication with colleagues instead of dry facts? Join the most intense discussions on topics of interest to you.

3 levels of project quality (Infographic) — the infographic, inspired by a book on project management called “Project-Driven Creation” by Jo Bos, Ernst Harting, and Marlet Hesslelink, sets out the three levels of project quality that you can reach for your deliverables.
In the post Good project managers wear many hats the author describes several roles of project managers. Can you add any?
Monty Hall for projects: to switch or not to switch?. And how would you deal with the Monty Hall Problem in the project management environment? Join the discussion to share your ideas.
Read about project budgeting and contracts in the post Project budgeting: an anti-pattern. An author, a scrum master and agile coach, describes anti-patterns which he meets in many companies over and over again.

Most controversial content

The following group of articles seems to be the most controversial topics on project management and related issues for now. Share your experience and thoughts on them.

The post It’s time for a long, hard look at processes describes the evolution of process as a concept and raises a question: “What should the next edition of the PMBOK Guide look like?”
Read about 9 rules of effective development team meetings and suggest your own opinion and convictions.
Some thoughts on Stand-Up meetings and how we could change them: Time to change how we do Stand-Ups.

Entertainment materials

Feeling tired after a long day of work? Leave the news and controversial articles for tomorrow. Just view the following entertainment materials for fun and relaxation.

Friday humor, no so funny when it really happens: Friday
The post “Your app will be finished on Tuesday.” — which Tuesday?!(7 min read) describes 10 reasons why software development projects fail in a humorous manner and with fun life examples.
A short comix about well-known situation: As soon as possible (ASAP) and some more similar stories.

Choose the most interesting articles by topics

Agile, Scrum, and the best PM practices

The post Design thinking, lean startup and Agile: what is the difference?(3 min read) explains what the terms “Design Thinking”, “Lean Startup” and “Agile” relate to, and how they can be integrated with each other.
Read about Agile development training tips to follow in 2019 to improve your business processes, management, and teamwork.
Find out how to hire right people for your Scrum team in the post 4 things to check out before hiring for your Scrum team. What kind of person do you want?

Time management, KPIs, and productivity

Know whether you’re using story points properly with the post Debunking 4 misconceptions about story points.
Several tips and links to tell you How to double your team’s productivity from Adrian Shepherd, the creator of “The One-Bite Time Management System” (TMS).
There are challenges most companies come across while implementing project management KPIs. In the post 5 challenges in implementing project management KPIs the author explains what these challenges are and how to overcome them.
Do you know the 3 drivers of project Success? Read the post for details or join the discussion to add something.

Teamwork and collaboration

A short article about Training for flexibility and teamwork written by Helen Green, a collaborator, a deadline demon and a diplomat.
“Can’t we just...?” — about teamwork, collaboration, and using the terminology by your teammates.

Managing teams and companies

Still working at office? Make sure you understand all the reasons and advantages of remote work (and know how to manage remote teams) described in the post Top 5 benefits of remote working.
For company owners and team leads, it will be useful to know What the next 20 years will mean for jobs — and how to prepare — make sure you’re looking for the right future workforce.
In the post 6 tips for cutting IT costs the author provides some ways to reduce IT costs for business. “Every business is now a digital business. This doesn’t mean that IT costs must keep rising, however”, he says.

The best resources for project managers

A huge number of novice project managers often ask about good resources and appropriate communities for obtaining experience and sharing knowledge with colleagues. We have compiled such a selection that will be equally interesting to both professionals and novice specialists, and whoever just interested in this area.

General resources

Projectmanagement.com — maybe one of the most large-scale resources with discussions, blogs, huge knowledge base, events, templates, webinars, tools, and all the rest for project managers.
Manager Tools — this website offers free weekly podcasts, contains a forum, and some informational content (events, tools, reviews, links) for project managers.
Agile Alliance — a nonprofit community focused on exploring and applying Agile values, principles, and practices of software development. The website contains a great number of resources (reports, articles, educational materials), upcoming events, news, and a list of community groups around the world.

Currently active PM podcasts

PM Podcast — hosted by Cornelius Fichtner, the podcast already includes 427 (mostly free) episodes for project managers, both beginners and experts. Episodes are usually released weekly (sometimes even more often) and last up to 30 minutes.
5 Minutes Project Management Podcast — 455 episodes (organized into 15 playlists by topics) published by Ricardo Vargas and focused on project, portfolio, and risk management (each 5 to 10 minutes long). Episodes are released at intervals of 1 to 4 weeks.
PM for the Masses Podcast — hosted by Cesar Abeid, the podcast already includes about 118 episodes about general project management concepts, based mostly on interviews with project management and productivity gurus, personal stories of success or failures, and own author’s tips and experience. Episodes last 20-60 minute and are released about once a week.

Author blogs

Joel on Software — the blog includes about 1114 articles about software development, management, and business written by Joel Spolsky, CEO and co-founder of Stack Overflow.
Mountain Goat Software — a lot of posts since 2005 about estimating, main Agile and Scrum concepts, planning, leadership, etc., prepared for product owners, managers, and scrum masters. In addition to blog posts, the website includes presentations, videos, and much more.
The Accidental Product Manager hosted by Dr. Jim Anderson, the blog tells how to develop, launch, and manage products. The author analyzes and interprets examples of project management success and failures from companies around the world, shares own 25+ years experience and practices of applying project management skills to products at different stages of development.

Telegram groups/channels

PrMaB — the channel publishes a great number of actual project management materials (books, articles, reports, events, etc.), mostly in PDF format, as a rule, several posts daily.

Reddit communities

Projectmanagement — the biggest Reddit community dedicated to project management with a focus on the software development area with 17,000+ subscribers and no commercial promotion allowed. The community includes all about PM: discussion, success and failures stories, educational materials, news, etc.
Productivity — a more general community, however, with a lot of useful content for managers: planning and time tracking, communication, co-working, team building, meetings, deadlines, and so on. Open to sharing your views and experience.
Agile — one more community for project managers, scrum masters, and most software development teams in general following Agile principles. A great number of subscribers makes it a good place to ask questions and share your experience in Agile, Scrum, Extreme Programming, Lean, Kanban, etc.

Dev.to communities

At Dev.to posts are written by many different authors around the world that makes them quite diverse and frequent.

For example, the Productivity content includes posts about holding effective meetings, ways of improving team productivity, open source time tracking software, and much more things not only for project managers, but also for the whole software development team.
Posts about Agile, Startups, Leadership, and Management will be interesting for project and product managers, team leads, product owners, and entrepreneurs.
The Softskills, Teamwork and Team topics will be useful for a wider audience, including articles about time estimation, communication with the team, managers and customers, problems with deadlines, etc.

Medium publications

Take a look at the Startup publication designed for product owners, managers, team leads, and all other software development enthusiasts. A wide range of topics includes collaboration, time management, communication with customers, software development, and much more.
ProductCoalition — the world’s largest free product management community with 2,000+ articles, 300+ writers, and 2,700+ members in their Slack community.
Entrepreneurs Handbook — another popular Medium publication about startups, entrepreneurship processes, tech innovations, and management with frequent updates and many authors.

Have something to share?

Are there any particular challenges you’ve faced on your own? Or opinions you’d like to address to the community? Feel free to share your own blog posts with us and we’ll add the most valuable articles in the next digest. Or you can do it directly in the comments.

Let’s make this digest better

What other content and resources you’d like to see here? Please share your favorite communities and thoughts in the comments or write to us directly. We’d like to make this digest better with your help. Do not be limited to typical project management topics and feel free to suggest any new ones.

Who we are and why we’re writing here

We’re a software development team with own, mostly successful, experience in project and remote team management. However, this is only a drop in the ocean compared with the experience of thousands of teams and companies around the world. Therefore, we prefer to collect and summarize existing examples and mistakes instead of imposing our own views on you. We definitely won’t tell you about our projects, and much less promote something here. However, you can share your own projects with us and own readers as examples of your success stories, instructive or fun experiences, and innovative ideas.

We hope you’ve found something interesting here. If so, we will appreciate if you subscribe and share the post with your colleagues. Wait for more resources and articles in the next digest in a month.