Owen Gotimer

Member for

7 years 7 months

Sports junkie (Go Cuse!). Baseball coach. Doughnut connoisseur. Country music aficionado. I write things. Bringing people together since 1993.

Company

TechWell

Job Function

Community Management

Job Title

Community Manager

Country

United States

Owen Gotimer

Sports junkie (Go Cuse!). Baseball coach. Doughnut connoisseur. Country music aficionado. I write things. Bringing people together since 1993.

All Articles by Owen Gotimer

All Stories by Owen Gotimer

	3 Ways Leaders Can Change a Blame CultureIf your organization has a blame culture, team members get discouraged and mistrust leaders. It focuses on pointing fingers, not coming up with solutions to move forward. To increase trust, inspire creativity, and nurture a generative culture with your team, here are three things leaders can do instead of placing blame.
	The Evolution of Modern Testing: A Slack Takeover with Adam SandmanThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub to answer questions and engage in conversations. Adam Sandman, director of technology at Inflectra, hosted this Slack takeover and discussed the main challenges testers face today, what modern users expect, and how to approach test automation.
	7 Tips to Make Working from Home Work for YouAt first glance, working from home might sound ideal, and it can be. But even with all the benefits, there are also numerous challenges. Deciding where, how, and when to work can take some adjustment. As more people are asked to or choose to work from home, these seven tips can help make the most out of remote work.
	3 Common Scrum Anti-Patterns and How to Fix ThemFor a Scrum team to operate successfully, the entire team must honor the Scrum values of commitment, courage, focus, openness, and respect. But it's easy to fall into practices that can erode trust and collaboration. Here are three common anti-patterns that emerge in Scrum, as well as the solutions to overcome them.
	Collaborating with a Highly Distributed TeamBeing distributed can cause challenges for team collaboration, such as insufficient communication and a lack of visibility. However, advancements in tools, technology, and best practices have helped to lessen some of those challenges. Here are four ways to make collaborating with distributed teams more seamless.
	Coaching Senior Management to Be AgileEmbracing an agile mindset isn’t always easy, and it can be especially difficult for senior managers who spent most of their careers working in more traditional development methodologies. By trying to speak the same language and demonstrating successful self-organization, teams can help senior management become agile.
	3 Ways to Have Fun at Work and Improve ProductivityEnjoying your job isn’t just a nice perk. Happiness enhances motivation, leads to higher job satisfaction, and increases productivity. Companies can provide opportunities for employees to engage in meaningful ways, but it’s up to the people to create and innovate. Here are three ways to inject fun into your workday.
	5 Actions to Create a Work Culture Safe for InnovationPeople tend to thrive in environments where they feel safe. Company leaders have the opportunity to help engineer a generative culture, where team members feel secure, supported, and trusted to think creatively and innovate. Here are five actions leaders can take to create and nurture healthy working environments.
	Narrow versus Strong AI: The Future of Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligence is one of the fastest growing fields in technology, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding what truly qualifies as AI, the different types of AI, and how quickly AI is advancing. How do we differentiate AI that updates us on today’s weather from AI that can think and act on its own?
	Why We Need to Stop Calling Them Soft SkillsPeople often focus on hard skills for career development, but soft skills are just as important—if not more. Soft skills require practice and they are crucial for professional success, so we should stop referring to interpersonal skills as soft. They’re hard, human skills, and they can set you apart in your job.
	To Be a Good Leader, Become a Better ServantWanting to serve others—not wanting them to serve you—is one of the best signs of an effective leader. Being a leader is also not about doing more of the work or being the most technical person on your team. Rather, it's actually about giving up some of your work to help others grow. Here's what else good leaders do.
	When Transitioning to Agile, Let Value Be Your GuideWhen making a transition to agile, it’s important to get a common understanding of what you’re trying to do, of how things are currently done, and of the definition of done. In a value stream analysis, you can identify where major chunks of time are being spent (and why), and then start prioritizing based on value.
	Maintaining Technical Excellence: A Slack Takeover with Jeff PayneThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub for a day to answer questions and engage in conversations. Jeff Payne, the CEO and founder of Coveros, hosted this Slack takeover, discussing agile transformation, automating documentation, and how leaders can maintain technical excellence.
	DevOps Red Flags: A Slack Takeover with Melissa BenuaThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub for a day to answer questions and engage in conversations. Melissa Benua, who's worked in dev, test, DevOps, and program management, hosted this Slack takeover and discussed DevOps adoption, red flags, and continuous delivery and deployment.
	Is All Testing Exploratory? A Slack Takeover with Michael BoltonThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub for a day to answer questions and engage in conversations. Michael Bolton, a speaker and thought leader in the testing industry, hosted this Slack takeover, which led to discussions about test exploration, tools, and testers as gatekeepers.
	Is Testing Just Looking for Bugs? A Slack Takeover with Janna LoefflerThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub for a day to answer questions and engage in conversations. Janna Loeffler, a software engineer with a variety of quality and testing roles, hosted this Slack takeover, which led to discussions about tools, automation, and what testing is.
	Challenges Facing the Agile Industry: A Slack Takeover with Johanna RothmanThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub for a day to answer questions and engage in conversations. Agile manager and consultant Johanna Rothman hosted this Slack takeover, which led to some insightful discussions. Here are some of the top questions and takeaways from the Hub.
	Why Should We Be Agile? A Slack Takeover with Griffin JonesThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub for a day to answer questions and engage in conversations. Agile coach and consultant Griffin Jones presided over the first Slack takeover, which led to some insightful discussions. Here are some of the questions and takeaways from the Hub.
	5 Engaging Slack Communities for Software ProfessionalsPeople all over the world can connect, ask questions, and share knowledge in real time in specialized Slack communities, including in niche channels for specific topics. Of course, there are a wealth of technology- and software-related Slack workspaces out there. Here are five communities that stand out.
	Up Your Security: Turn On Two-Factor AuthenticationYou may think that if you always take care not to share personal information online and regularly update security settings, turning on two-factor authentication is an unnecessary step. But the truth is there is always a risk. Let's look into how two-factor authentication keeps your personal information more secure.
	5 Books to Spark Fresh Ideas in SoftwareA significant part of remaining relevant in the software industry is keeping up with development and testing trends. But organizations don’t always have a big training budget, so sometimes it falls to us to manage our own continuing education. Luckily, that can be as easy as discovering fresh ideas in a new book.
	4 Takeaways from Agile + DevOps East 2018With a week full of sessions, tutorials, training classes, and events, the Agile + DevOps East software conference had plenty of takeaways. Here are four highlights, including discussions about agile estimation, finding your ideal job, some challenges to advancing test automation, and leading self-organizing teams.
	Lessons Learned (and Unlearned) at STARCANADA 2018With a week full of sessions, tutorials, training classes, and events, the STARCANADA software testing conference had plenty of takeaways. Some highlights: what jobs will look like in the future with AI, why testers should lead efforts to make quality everyone's responsibility, and the importance of unlearning.
	4 Lessons from the STARWEST 2018 Keynote PresentationsWith a week full of sessions, tutorials, training classes, and events, the STARWEST software testing conference had plenty of takeaways useful for your professional and personal life. Here are four lessons distilled from the conference’s keynote presentations on testing, communication, and directing your career.