Project Management

Better Software Magazine Articles

At Your Service

A light and effective process with a service-oriented philosophy is key to meeting your organization's needs. Here are eight simple steps for creating a software engineering team that will turn customers into fans.

Robert Sabourin's picture Robert Sabourin
Distributed Teams

The world may be getting smaller, but managing far-flung workgroups can still be a big challenge. Here are some common barriers to coordinating distributed teams, and some guidelines for making the most out of limited face time.

John Suzuki
The Human Side of Process Improvement

Interpersonal relationships can make the difference between effective and ineffective technical initiatives. Here are ways to address this frequently neglected aspect of organizational change.

Judah Mogilensky
Meaningful Metrics

Your numbers are solid and your graphs are works of art. Now boost your metrics' value through the roof with some simple annotations that will put all that data in context.

Anna S. W. Allison
How Good Is This Software?—A Model to Measure Subjective Data

How do you really know how good your software is? Many traditional measures only look at the quantitative aspects of quality. Here's a model to measure and analyze subjective—or qualitative—data about software quality.

Andy Roth
Customer Satisfaction: What to Ask, How to Ask, and Who to Ask

Improving customer satisfaction should be a primary goal of process improvement programs. So how satisfied are our customers? One of the best ways to find out is to ask them. Here are techniques for creating a useful survey and interpreting the results.

Linda Westfall
Escaping the Clutches of Zombie Projects

Timely and accurate information is often your only silver bullet against interminable and doomed projects. Learn how to deliver bad news in such a way that Senior Management hears it and acts promptly.

Payson Hall's picture Payson Hall
Organize Your Problem Tracking System

Do you have a bug database or defect tracking system? Whether you call them PRs, CRs, SPRs, or some other acronym, logging your software problems into a database rates as one of the simplest yet most effective things you can do to improve product quality. Sometimes these databases turn into the electronic equivalent of a “roach motel” trap--the bugs go in but they don’t come out!

Barry Mirrer
Getting the Most from Outsourcing

Outsourcing can be a great way to augment your software efforts. Here are guidelines to help you choose the right provider and ensure that you get what you paid for.

Eric Patel
Matching ISO 9000 Registration to Your Organization

The chances of getting use from your ISO 9000 certification are greatly enhanced by a registration effort that reflects the real goals and operating principles of your organization. Here are some lessons on how to tailor your effort.

Mark Johnson

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