I was planning today to write today about the positive press Monterey County received upon launching their restaurant inspection web site. This is an important milestone for any health department as it increases customer service and promotes transparency. Congratulations Monterey County Health Department!

In the same breath, the City of San Francisco announced DataSF.org Beta, a portal for a range of data (including meta-data).

From the press release:

The new web site will provide a clearinghouse of structured, raw and machine-readable government data to the public in an easily downloadable format. For example, there will be updated crime incident data from the police department and restaurant inspection data from the Department of Public Health. The initial phase of the web site includes more than 100 datasets, from a range of city departments, including Police, Public Works, and the Municipal Transportation.

We imagine creative developers taking apartment listings and city crime data and mashing it up to help renters find their next home or an iPhone application that shows restaurant ratings based on health code violations.

It’s a little rough around the edges now, but the concept is a cool one… don’t you think?

As you may know, your Client Services Team has been working for many months to switch data management systems.

CustomerFirst, our legacy system, didn’t integrate neatly with the company’s defect tracking system. Also, it was showing its age.

This month, all customer Incidents (current and historical) are in OnTime (by Axosoft). This little gem offers great flexibility and the company is really very dynamic.

A few benefits you can expect right away:

• A consolidated/searchable online portal for Product Backlog Items, Defects, and Incidents
• Improved e-mail handling
• Link between Incidents, defects, and Product Backlog Items

The updated software allows us to retire the following web resources:

• Incident History Search Tool (replaced by the OnTime Portal)
• Decade’s “Knowledgebase” search (replaced by the OnTime Portal)
• WebFirst (replaced by the OnTime Portal)

Keep an eye open for more new and exciting changes that give YOU to the tools to do your job.

I just received notice that Decade Software Company Client, Columbus Public Health, is the 2009 winner of the Samuel J. Crumbine Consumer Protection Award!

You might notice that this is the second in a series of posts on this subject since Sacramento County EMD won in 2008 and was profiled in the NEHA Journal of Environmental Health.

According to the notice I received, the jury was particularly impressed with Columbus Public Health’s:

• Prioritization of education evidence by multilingual education and outreach to the community, an internship program, and support for continuing education for staff;
• Emphasis on evaluation and assessment evidence by participation in the Food & Drug Administration’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards, ongoing inspection and systems analysis and consumer satisfaction surveys;
• Partnership with community and industry, as well as outreach  at the international and state level; and
• Use of their color-coded placard program, SIGNS, to improve understanding of food safety and compliance with critical food safety concerns.

Columbus Public Health will receive the official plaque at the Annual Educational Conference of the National Environmental Health Association next month.

Congratulations to Keith Krinn and team!

As I read the NEHA Journal of Environmental Health this month, I was very pleased so see that Sacramento County EMD is featured on page 9.

The article reviews the department’s 2008 Crumbine Application.

The Samual J. Crumbine Consumer Protection Award for Excellence in Food Protection recognizes the agency’s excellence.

Congratulations to Alicia Enriquez, Zarha C. Ruiz, Jannine Talusik, and the whole team!

Do the right thing is one of the life lessons that I easily attribute to my parents and it has several components… Honesty is chief among them.

About a week ago I was engaged in one of those typical strategic meetings in which we discussed our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (a SWOT analysis).

It’s a cathartic exercise that I enjoy. In the same way that holidays and special events can be an opportunity to renew your appreciation for your family, reviewing and reinforcing core values can invigorate.

During this meeting we discussed the common practice of directing and (in some ways) controlling the ways in which a company should communicate with its customers and prospects. Some organizations, for example, maintain a binder of “talking points” that define the overarching message that the company wants to get across.

As I considered this idea I marveled at how difficult it must be to get the whole organization to speak with that single voice. We are individuals, after all, with different ideas and notions and styles.

Here’s the thing, though… you don’t have to write down in a policy manual those things that are simple and true.

Among our strengths (by my assessment) I’m proud to include “honest in our business dealings,” “a commitment to quality,” “constantly improving processes,” and “an engaged and extremely knowledgeable user community.” These things are simple and true.

You might not know it to look at me today, but I used to have an incredible head of hair. What happened? Age, kids, and Prioritizing the Product Backlog!

The Product Backlog is the place where all pending work waits to be picked up… it’s kind of like an orphanage or a taxi queue, except it’s for product features, iterations, bells, whistles, and the like.

Part of my role in the organization is to prioritize that list in a manner consistent with the goals of the user community, new customers, and the company. In Scrum terminology, this is known as the “Single Wringable Neck” (follow the link, it’s kind of funny).

Here’s how I do it today:

• As new Product Backlog Items (PBIs) are added to the list by any stakeholder, I automatically receive an e-mail notification.
• I read the new PBI and get more information if necessary. Then, based on a pretty quick decision, I assign a numeric priority that puts it in one of several broad categories. I make no effort to keep the list sequential (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.). I just work on setting big groups of priorities to be smoothed out later. Generally, the categories are as follows:
• Priority 0 – Recurring item. It probably needs to be done every sprint anyway.
• Priority 1-20 – Almost certain that this item belongs at the top of the list. It may not stay #1 or #2, but when I look at the list later, I can’t miss it.
• Priority 21-200 – These must be monitored and may gain or lose priority according to the needs cited above.
• Priority 201-999 – These represent a kind of no-man’s land where the PBIs are easily accessible (by search) but not necessarily managed individually.
• Priority 1000-2000 – This range is reserved for yet-to-be-completed workflows. This list was prioritized by the management team many months ago and floats in this range until the items before it are addressed or until there’s a specific need for one of these workflows.
• Priority 2000-4000 – I’m not worrying about these just now. They can’t be lost… but I can’t make a case for dealing with them now.
• Priority 9999 – Generally this means that the item has not been prioritized at all.
• Within about a week of Sprint Planning, I start getting serious about grooming the list.
• I cross-check the PBIs against open technical support incidents to see if there’s a feature that, if implemented, could close a number of open incidents for existing customers.
• I review new EnvisionConnect customer projects and any corresponding contractual obligations.
• I review upgrading EnvisionConnect customers’ projects and needs.
• I try to outline some high-level strategies and vet those with the management team.
• Within a couple days of Sprint Planning, I set about the mechanics of updating the list:
• I launch MS Access and attach to the database where the list is maintained.
• I invoke a database view that filters and sorts the list by Priority Number.
• I start moving down the list setting actual Priority Numbers (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.). I try to leave gaps to make it easier to insert late additions without re-ordering the whole list.
• I consult with the Development Manager on a Sprint Goal.

These efforts culminate in a Sprint Planning Meeting where the team commits to the Sprint Goal plus a good number of items from the prioritized Product Backlog. This prioritization process keeps me up at night and, I believe, results in impacted follicle fortitude (IFF).

There’s some good news however. Thankfully I don’t have to worry about promoting defect work. That’s an automatic.

I get good support from the management team. They don’t wring my neck too vigorously.

What got me thinking about this is an article HL just sent over. Check out “Prioritizing (the Backlog) For Profit” by Derek Longmuir and let me know what you think. Is there hope for me or should I buy more baseball caps?