people management

Articles

When Reviewers Can't Meet

When your team members are separated by space or time, don’t abandon peer reviews. They can still be powerful contributors to product quality and team productivity. In this adaptation from his forthcoming book, Karl Wiegers spells out how to engage the team in distributed review meetings or asynchronous reviews. Although they aren’t the same as sitting down face-to-face, these techniques provide a valuable alternative mechanism for getting a little help from your friends.

Karl E. Wiegers
7 Keys to Building Great Work Teams

Successful projects depend on how well the team works together. Elements that lead to success include commitment, contribution, good communication, and cooperation. Cooperation itself includes factors such as follow-through, timeliness, and others. Conflict management and change management are also important. This article analyzes and explains all of these elements that constitute a productive and successful team.

Suzanne Willis Zoglio
Across the Great Divide

Many bemoan the strained relationship between testers and developers. But while we can't force testers and developers to see eye to eye on everything, we can reduce some of the tension by making simple changes in the way we communicate. Learn some great tips and tricks in this article.

Susan Joslyn
Conducting a Temperature Reading

Negative mindsets and instances are so easy to fall into, and it can be difficult to see the positive in things. By using the "temperature reading" technique, a completely attitude and outlook turnaround time can be achieved in very little time. Learn this easy method for improving your mindset.

Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

A software project is a complex thing. It involves many players, many tasks, and lots of things that could go wrong (and often do). If not for dogged optimism, some projects might not be tackled at all. But optimism doesn't mean turning a blind eye to potential pitfalls. In this column, Esther Derby applies a lesson about asking, "What if..."

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
Getting to the Bottom of Project Troubles

It's amazing how many projects, already in a hole, keep sinking deeper. When team members and staff don't have the insight or objectivity to turn things around, an independent consultant can help—or not. In this column, a leading industry consultant gives you "the straight dope" on what to watch out for.

Eileen Strider
Where's Charlie?!

Are you inadvertently setting up a one-dimensional team? Managers regularly make statements to recruiters like, "I need another test engineer just like Charlie." Sometimes hiring people with very similar qualifications makes sense, but sometimes breaking the mold makes a better team.

Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman
A Tester’s Tips for Dealing with Developers

Is the tester doing a good job or a bad job when she proves that the program is full of bugs? It’s a bad job from some developers’ points of view. Ridiculous as it seems, there are project managers blaming testers for the late shipment of a product and developers complaining (often jokingly) that “the testers are too tough on the program.” Obviously, there is more to successful testing than bug counts. Here are some tips about how testers can build successful relationships with developers.

Yogita Sahoo's picture Yogita Sahoo
A Problematic Truth

"No Fred, we're not considering you for that promotion. You're too valuable where you are." How many of us have heard those words, or said them at least once to our staff? Sometimes, we use the "too valuable" phrase to avoid discussing problems with a staff member, problems you can bring out in the open and manage.

Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get...Gentle?

Software projects are filled with productivity needs and deadline pressures. As a project manager, you may feel responsible for project deliverables yet highly dependent on others to complete their work. It's common to push, prod, and heavy-handedly coerce your team to go faster. Sometimes this has the desired effect. And even if it doesn't, you can at least claim you pushed as hard as you could. But is that really all that can be done? Eileen Strider suggests another tool at your disposal.

Eileen Strider

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