Recently, I gave a talk about useful practices–things to consider adopting/adapting in your organization. (I don’t believe in best practices, the idea that something could be best in all situations is just not credible. See UsefulPractices for more discussion. One of the techniques I discussed was creating smoke tests for the build. We started […]
I taught a bunch of classes this week at the Software Development conference. At one interviewing class, a participant wanted to know, “How do I hear the other half of the conversation?” I asked for clarification, and he said, “Sometimes I feel as if the candidate has only said part of the answer, and if
I met someone at the Software Development conference this week who told me he had too many people to meet with them all–even on a biweekly basis. I asked him how many people he managed. “30.” That’s not a typo; that’s the number between 29 and 31. I asked why he had so many
I met a manager recently who relayed his technique for making sure his testers stayed focused on their jobs. “Our defect-tracking system logs people off after 30 minutes of idle time. If they’re logged off, I know they’re not working.” This was a new one for me. I’ve heard of counting lines of code.
I had a discussion with a hiring manager at the Better Software conference this week. He claimed he could tell what candidates were thinking from their facial expressions.I asked him what I was thinking. He said, “You look pleasant, smiling, as if you’re agreeing with me.” I laughed out loud and said, “Nothing could be
I taught a management tutorial at the Better Software conference this week. One of the points I discussed (and asked participants to discuss) was delegation. The managers in my tutorial said they ran into these problems when trying to delegate: Being too concerned with how the delegatee did the work, not the results. Wanting people
I received my copies of Behind Closed Doors, and here at the Better Software conference, the bookstore has books. I’m still very excited.
I gave a talk entitled “Predicting Project Completion” at the Central Mass chapter of the PMI last night. I had some suggestions about techniques to generate and discuss schedule estimates. Then, to practice a little, I asked the audience to become participants and practice a simulation. The simulation is to first estimate how long
Via Mischievous Ramblings I discovered Microsoft tries to recruit me. Here’s the message I’m seeing loud and clear: It’s worth a few minutes to perform a little research on the name of the person you’ve just discovered via the web. If you’re a hiring manager and you’re hiring a contract recruiter, interview the recruiter. Ask
I received an outraged phone call this morning. Some woman was calling on behalf of a candidate who had sent me a resume. Let me explain, in case it’s not clear. I am not a recruiter. I have no open positions. I do not supply resume review services. I am trying to make a difference