As a professional test manager or test engineer, you must keep up with the latest test techniques, management practices, and systems technologies. But that is not enough. You also must interact with-and more importantly learn to influence-executive managers and other non-technical project stakeholders. Even today in many companies, testing and test management are not well understood and are under-appreciated by non-technical people. Now is the time for you to take action and do more than simply "get along" in your organization. Join Robert Sabourin for a lively session on developing your interpersonal skills, including the skills of communication, persuasion, problem solving, and teamwork. Discover new ways to work harmoniously with non-technical people while efficiently and effectively getting your important testing job done.

Whether you are building a brand new product or evolving an existing system, understanding the business needs of your customers is the foundation of a marketable product or valuable internal application. Few of us are experts in interviewing techniques, and few customers talk about their tasks, needs, and context in neat, concise statements about requirements. Hone your elicitation skills and learn what it takes to get beneath the surface and understand your customers: their world, how they work, and what really bothers them. With effective interviewing techniques and skills, you will get inside their heads and better understand their needs within their context.

When time is of the essence and stress is high, it's easy to find your team drowning under the weight of impossible deadlines and spiraling requirements. Unfortunately, more projects go under due to poor management than for any other reason-and common responses to problems often make the situation worse, rather than better. The original sin of the software industry is the “tight, but doable” project schedule, caused by everything from market pressures to management perversity. Peter Clark shares the practical strategies he has used to return sanity to projects that seem hopelessly behind schedule and out of control. Learn to deal with and avoid mandatory overtime, task thrashing, distractions, scope creep, and more. By focusing on what is possible, you can re-energize the team and do the best job you can with the resources you have.

A high performance, self-governing team is a prerequisite for delivering better software products more quickly. Unfortunately, developing such a team is neither simple nor linear. It requires exceptional leadership to build and maintain a team on which everyone is focused on accomplishing a common goal. While high-performing teams may appear "headless," managing a collected group of experts requires a role typically more associated with a relationship manager than a project manager. Based on her consulting experiences and on Dr. David Kolb's five-phase leadership model, Bobbi Underbakke discusses the skills and techniques software managers and project leaders must have to maximize their team's capabilities and speed. Learn innovative ways to guide, motivate, and inspire your team rather than trying to monitor and control them.