Dan joins Vasco to talk about how we can communicate data when working with stakeholders and the team. He’s joined the podcast previously to talk about #NoEstimates with Vasco and Marcus Hammarberg. You can listen to that episode here.
We start the conversation by discussing some of the most common anti-patterns we fall into when communicating data to stakeholders and the team. The first anti-pattern Dan mentions is “assuming that people understand the data you present to them”.
We discuss why that is often a problem, and the role of rationality when discussing and deciding on what interventions are warranted based on the data that is presented.
In this segment, we also discuss that the role of data, and presenting data, is to assess what actions might be necessary to correct something, or improve the process we work with.
The emotions behind our reactions to the data being presented
When we communicate data, we can’t ignore that there will be a reaction. The emotions behind those reactions can be varied: shame, fear, anger, anxiety, optimism. It’s important that we prepare for those, and help the stakeholders take a step back and recognize the emotions rather than act on the emotions without realizing what is going on.
This is especially important because data is often used to inform a risk management strategy we need to have in place for our projects.
Diving into the use of data in our projects
In this episode we refer to different books and sources for approaches, and methods to collect and use data
- Walter Shewart, one of the originators of Statistical Process Control
- W. Edwards Deming, the person who popularized and applied widely the idea of Statistical Process control
- Donald Wheeler and his books on using and understanding data
- Don Reinertsen, the co-author of Developing Products in Half the Time, a classic in understanding processes and related data
About Dan Vacanti
Daniel Vacanti is a 20+ year software industry veteran who has spent most of the last years focusing on Lean and Agile practices. In 2007, he helped to develop the Kanban Method for knowledge work. He also co-founded ActionableAgile which provides industry leading predictive analytics tools and services to any Lean-Agile process. Dan co-founded ProKanban.org a community focused initiative to help people learn about Kanban.
You can link with Dan Vacanti on LinkedIn and connect with Dan Vacanti on Twitter.
Dan also hosts his own podcast, DrunkAgile. Check out Dan Vacanti’s books on Amazon.
