Have you ever had to cope with a demanding developer? A touchy tester? A quarrelsome QA person? A cantankerous customer? Why oh why do people act that way? This column describes the route one IT group took to reverse a customer's bad attitude and make her a valuable ally.

Distributed testing is often used to leverage outsourced or offshore test and development labs. Managing distributed projects does not automatically begin when the contract is signed, or during the kick-off meeting. It begins when you develop an effective framework for executing a distributed project. Jacob Hsu identifies the tools you need to successfully manage distributed teams, including defining methodologies, creating an enabling infrastructure, and improving corporate culture. Learn concrete ways to overcome the people issues surrounding outsourcing, including leadership, trust, and negative competitiveness.

Customers don't always know what they want. That's a given. But even if they do know, they may not always be able to communicate it clearly. That's also a given. Given these givens, you have a much better chance of comprehending your customers' needs and concerns if you're a skilled information-gathering skeptic.

Dorothy Graham says test managers should learn to speak in terms that a project manager can relate to.