people management

Better Software Magazine Articles

Are You Ready?

 A contractor or new employee is about to start work in your department. Have you paved the way for the new arrival to hit the job running? Check out this guide to make sure you've thought of everything.

Michael Bolton's picture Michael Bolton
Process and Personality

People tend to gravitate toward what they feel comfortable with. This is also true when it's time to choose a testing methodology. Is a particular personality more suited to software testing than another? In this issue's "Technically Speaking," Brian Marick explores this possibility.

Brian Marick
Ready, Aim ... Hire

When is a year of experience not a year of experience? When that experience doesn’t match your needs. Assembling the right mix of people for your software team can have a tremendous impact on productivity and quality. Find out how to discern whether a potential candidate will make the grade.

Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman
The Upside of Downsizing

This article gives some pointers on surviving downsizing and will introduce you to the Scrum process. Scrum empowers teams by allowing requirements to be fluid while work is progressing. Learn what steps to follow to simplify and streamline your project by adopting this process.

Mike Cohn's picture Mike Cohn
Are You Listening?

Chances are you won't be able to deliver on everything your customer wants. Asking good questions at the beginning of a project can help you determine where your customer wants to go. Although you may not be able to give them everything they want, if you are able to deliver the top ten things on a list of fifty items you've still delivered value. Keeping the lines of communication open is essential to helping you achieve your project goal.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
The Productivity Factor

How effectively and efficiently your team functions can make the difference between project success and project failure. Once a decision-making process is established, it is up to the project manager to hold the team accountable to the process. Over time, processes can stagnate and lose their relevance. The project manager should continually monitor the process for applicability and make adjustments where necessary. Learn how to leverage your team's performance through process, structure, and team leadership.

Geof Lory's picture Geof Lory
Making Virtual Teams a Reality

What all virtual teams have in common is that they are working on a project, but may not be located in close physical proximity, and they must find ways to communicate, track progress, and manage tasks without being able to physically meet regularly. The prerequisites for success with virtual teams are 1) clear, manageable objectives; 2) management's commitment to necessary resources; and 3) mature management and technical personnel. Learn how to lead a workgroup you cannot see.

Linda McInnis
Eileen and Wayne Strider on Building and Managing Technical Teams

Eileen and Wayne Strider recommend some useful resources for building and managing technical teams. Technical team leaders have two different yet related responsibilities. One responsibility is to build a product such as a system, an application, a network, or a Web site. The second responsibility is to build and maintain their team's ability to work together so they can build a product. Building a product requires the right mix of technical skills and experience. Building a team's ability to work together requires a different skill set. Reading about those skills is valuable, but practice is essential.

Eileen Strider Wayne Strider
Salary Survey 2002: Are You Weathering the Storm?

The results of the third annual STQE magazine/StickyMinds.com salary survey give the temperature of the testing industry. Thanks to our readers' continued participation, we now have three years' worth of data and the ability to start looking for trends.

Anne Meilof
If at First, and Last, You Don't Succeed ...

Sometimes, no matter how talented you are and how hard you work, you will not be able to succeed, at least within the constraints you are handed. If your boss says you have to achieve project goals with the resources you have, what can you do? Esther Derby suggests: 1) Start by assuming that a reasonable approach will get reasonable results; 2) If your boss isn't willing or able to hear what you have to say, decide what you are willing to do; and 3) Consider what you might do differently next time.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby

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