People & Teams

Articles

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Sometimes it takes a child's perspective to remind us of the things that have become "invisible" to us. We make choices that become part of the daily flow and are forgotten until something happens that reopens our eyes. This week, Esther Derby explains how a four-year-old reminded her of an important lesson about decisions and routines.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
Becoming an Information-Gathering Skeptic

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.

Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
The Secret Ingredients of High Morale

Jessica and Sean have just attended the company spirit meeting, and they're feeling a little dispirited. What does it really take to build morale? The answer is both simple and difficult. Learn the ingredients of morale as identified by a group of experts—a project team that may be a lot like yours.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
Human Communication on Projects

Tackling communication issues at the start can set a project up for success. Staying alert to communication issues during a project means keeping the lines open, clear, accurate, and helpful. Then when the deadline approaches, the schedule slips, or serious problems start cropping up, issues can be confronted much more smoothly and efficiently. In this column, Eileen discusses how human communication affects projects from start to finish.

Eileen Strider
Helpful Hints for Interviewing Experienced QA/Testing Candidates

This article introduces suggested questions that can be presented to a candidate interviewing for a QA/Testing position. The suggested questions would help a test manager assess a candidate's knowledge of QA concepts and technical skills. The test manager can create a sample set of questions from this article and that will help them form a framework for efficiently interviewing future candidates.

Jose Fajardo
Soft Skills that Make a Tester

If statistics are to be believed, software technology changes everyday for the better. There is always a quest to learn new technologies, languages, and methodologies among testers. In such a dynamic environment, often the importance of soft skills is overlooked. This article explores the impact and importance of soft skills in software testing.

Anuj Magazine's picture Anuj Magazine
Creating Team Norms

In their eagerness to embark on a new project, project teams sometimes overlook an essential aspect of their effort—building a relationship among team members, which will foster not just a successful project outcome, but also a satisfying work experience. Investing in relationship building is invariably less costly and time-consuming than recovering from the divisiveness and conflict that may result from its absence. And that's where team norms come in.

Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
A Detailed Look at the Idiosyncrasies of Test Tool Training

In this article the author delineates some of the training issues confronting organizations that purchase automated test tools. The article delves into the copious decisions that a test manager has to make in order to get their testers properly trained on the use of the purchased automated test tools. Numerous insights are provided to help companies cope with the complexities associated with training testing resources.

Jose Fajardo
The Tyranny of the "To Do" List

We create lists to help us prioritize tasks and stay on schedule. Sometimes those lists help us accomplish those tasks faster. Sometimes those lists simply chain us to an archaic way of doing things. Having a "To Do" list is a good thing if you don't let it prevent you from thinking outside the box. In this column, Elisabeth explains why the agenda items that don't make the list can often be some of the most important.

Elisabeth Hendrickson's picture Elisabeth Hendrickson
Stop the Bad MBOs

Some managers use "management by objectives" effectively; however, too often they are used destructively and undermine the team. In this article Rex gives the clarion call to stop the bad MBOs and gives three case studies of what not to do.

Rex Black's picture Rex Black

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