Why Do We Continue to Fail at Requirements Management?Joe Townsend examines why software professionals continue to fail at requirements management (RM). Some of the ways to address RM issues include using the right RM tools, proper requirements prioritization, and requirements churn.
What to Do When Your Project SlipsIf your project has ever slipped, you are most certainly not alone. Naomi Karten lists the reasons that lead to a broken project or one that has fallen behind, and describes what you can do to avoid catastrophe.
Measuring Development Time: Not the Best Way to Spend Your TimeManagers and project managers are often obsessed with measuring the time it takes to do a task. Time is useful to consider, but measuring time doesn’t always give us the information we really want or need. It's true that work takes time, but it's more valuable to measure results and value delivered.
Tips for Becoming an Influential and Efficient TesterFew people have a more diverse QA background than Jane Fraser. Currently the test director for Anki, Jane has managed test teams for Electronic Arts, Vodafone, and others. In this interview, we ask her about becoming an influential tester, which essential skills testers must acquire, and much more.
What Is a True Agile Coach?Obtaining a Scrum or agile certification typically does not require that a person learn the fundamental differences between coaching, facilitation, and mentoring. This lack of understanding is reducing the quality of coaching to our customers.
Don't Let "Good" Ideas Go Bad!Organizations need new and innovative ideas to solve complex problems. However, sometimes "good" ideas can be the very reason behind problems. Systems thinking and following the Golden Circle can help.
Why Do IT Professionals Succumb to Project Overload?Joe Townsend explores why IT professionals continue to succumb to project overload. The problem is not that we take on too much; the problem lies in the fact that we don’t manage our projects very well, and these repeated failures lead to overload as we can’t deliver what we promise.
When Smart People Do Dumb ThingsSmart people obviously do a lot of smart things or they wouldn’t be considered smart people. But smart people sometimes do dumb things too. Naomi Karten gives us the rundown on what causes otherwise intelligent people to behave in foolish ways.
