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Agile Predictions for 2011[article] What is your Agile weather report for 2011? Some have sunny Agile efforts ahead. Some are looking across the Agile landscape and into the clouds, some are looking to get introduced to agility, and others are considering strategies for Agile deployments. As we gaze in the horizon, what do we think will be hot in the Agile landscape and improve our working lives? What might be some of the latest shifts in the Agile industry in the upcoming year? |
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PRINCE2 and Agility: Gearing for Balance[article] Welcome to the second article in this two part series. Last month we looked at some of the problems that are commonly associated with Agile Methods when they are viewed in the context of process rigor. We saw that a reconciliation between emergent and prescriptive disciplines can be achieved via a model of orthogonal standards and frameworks. We contrasted that model with the more commonly assumed “continuum” hypothesis, which locates predictive and emergent processes at opposite ends of a methodological spectrum. This month we will explore in more detail the remedial, standards-based approach adopted by Codeworks DEV. We’ll show how a specialised, tool-supported, configurable toolset can be used to leverage Agile Methods across multiple PRINCE2 projects at both delivery and programme levels. |
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Agile Manifesto – The Truth Behind Those Principles[article] In this series, I shall be examining the twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto, to tell you why they exist, for they did not appear out of thin air and are therefore in response to some need that we had or have. In the process, I shall also tell you why most of these principles are overly idealistic in their expression and what I think they really ought to say. I am not trying to tell anybody what is right or wrong, this is not a morality debate. I have a great deal of admiration for the ideals that are expressed in the twelve principles (or most of them anyway) it is just that they are misstated and are therefore widely misunderstood. |
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Agile vs. Waterfall: The Blue Ocean Explains Why Agile Wins[article] The Blue Ocean Strategy gives important insights regarding how to create new market space in uncontested markets thereby making the competition irrelevant. This strategy can be adopted to explain the significance of agile methodologies as compared to the Waterfall method of software development. |
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Dealing with Troublesome People[article] Have you ever had to contend with a demanding developer? A testy tester? A cantankerous customer? Why oh why do people act that way? Rather than wondering why they act that way, it can be helpful to consider the circumstances that might account for their behavior. |
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Harvesting Stakeholder Perspectives to Organize Your Backlog[article] When Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener facilitated a game called The Backlog Is in the Eye of the Beholder for the Boston chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis, both the players and the facilitators learned some important lessons in organizing a project requirements backlog. In this article, they describe the game and what it revealed, including the value of truly knowing your stakeholders. |
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FAQ: How can I deal with a compressed test schedule?[magazine] In this installment of FAQ, SQE Trainer Linda Hayes answers one of the questions students ask her most often. |
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Hello, Better Software Magazine Reader![magazine] A letter from the Better Software magazine editor—Editor in chief Heather Shanholtzer has graciously offered me the opportunity to write the editor's note for this issue of Better Software magazine as an opportunity to tell you about a project we've been working on for a while. We at Software Quality Engineering are quite fond of the content, contributors, and community at StickyMinds.com, but we recognize that even the finest houses eventually will need at least a fresh coat of paint. |
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Small Experiments: Use Small Software Development Experiments Avoid Big Software Failures[magazine] In today's software development and test environment, we seem to have little time for either problem identification or solution implementation. What seems to work well instead (and is more fun) is to try small experiments. The idea is not to solve problems, but to try to learn in little steps. |
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Forget What You Think You Know[magazine] The transition to lean-agile can be challenging for traditional project managers because traditional competencies and practices can conflict with the core principles that explain why lean principles work. To help prepare project managers transitioning to lean-agile, this article exposes five counterintuitive practices that challenge standard project management beliefs. |
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Ten Ways to Improve Your Risk-Based Testing[magazine] Whether you are involved in a traditional V-model environment or applying agile development methodologies, setting testing priorities is always an issue. From practical experience in various domains (e.g., embedded, medical, automotive, banking, and logistics), Erik shares ten essential lessons learned regarding risk-based testing. |
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Enterprise Agile and the Business Analyst[magazine] Agile is making its way into the enterprise as a project methodology for industrial-strength projects. Why the popularity? The answer lies in the requirements paradox: “We want requirements to be stable, but requirements are never stable.” Discover some key agile concepts as they affect business analysts. |
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Negotiating Our Relationships[magazine] When joining a project, your position isn't a given; you must negotiate it. Lee identifies five roles that combine to make up team relationships. |
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Book Review: Continuous Delivery[article] If you didn't already know that the key to reliably deploy quality software is to take a cross-functional, full-lifecycle approach, Jez Humble and David Farley's book "Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation" will help you to understand. |
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The Potential Pitfall of Ratings[article] Responses to ratings-based surveys are particularly prone to misinterpretation if the surveys don’t allow space for open-ended comments. These comments offer insight into what respondents are really thinking, which may not be obvious from their ratings. |
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