I received an intriguing email this week asking this question: ” [..]if we were to put a quantitative value against each best practice, summed them up, and compared the total against a possible maximum could we have a predictor of project success?” No is the short answer. Here’s why: People need to first select which […]
In the last few weeks, I’ve received several questions about how to assess the productivity and effectiveness of testers. I’m concerned about this, because a tester’s effectiveness doesn’t just depend on the quality of the tester’s work, it depends on the quality of the work product the tester tests (as well as the schedule
I’m at the 13ICSQ conference this week. One person (at least) was confused about agile processes: Conference attendee: “Agile processes are a license to hack!!!!!!!” JR: “No. Every agile team I’ve seen is highly disciplined. No hacking there. I’m sure there are people who say they’re performing agile development, and they’re just hacking, but truly
I met a test manager recently who was excited about starting a new position as a QA manager: “I really want to make a difference in the company, so I’m going to be the quality manager and set up all the processes for everyone to follow.” Uh oh. I asked if they were planning
Hal asks a fascinating question in Variation is an Enemy Enabler of Project Success: How can we take advantage of serendipity rather than forcing an outcome in our projects? (paraphrased) One technique is to observe and listen to the project. When PMs observe their projects, they look at and listen to: How people work together.
I’ve been musing over types of people on projects lately. This morning, my husband and I exhibited two common types: the serially, walk-through-the-whole-thing-systematically type (hubby), and the big picture, can’t-wait-to-see-it-put-together type (me). See Do Your Interview Questions Discriminate For or Against Your Needs? for more information. Mark’s a Guardian (SJ in MBTI terms), I’m a Rational (NT
Last night at dinner, a friend said, “They love us. We’re only 4.8 FTEs, and (the rest of the organization) thinks we do the work of 6 people.” Guess what? There are 6 people. Not all of them work full time, which is why there are only 4.8 FTE (full time equivalents) for the
Steve Smith commented on yesterday’s post, “I think managers have a tough job, especially middle managers. I think that middle managers who are respectful to their employees but choose to execute to abide with their management team’s decision are acting in a dignified manner.” Steve is right, and it’s not always easy to balance
I think of development and test as partners. The developers create product and defects. The testers detect product and defects. They both need to understand what the product is supposed to be and how it’s supposed to work (the requirements). The more the developers explain the architecture and design, the better the testers can
In a recent blog post and comment, Hal Macomber said, “Listening is one of the foundational skills of project managers. Without a high level of competence at listenting projects are doomed to drift. Given the general characterization by wives that husbands don’t listen, anytime we have project managers who are men we have a potential