was right to be concerned about the risk of not verifying fixes when the developers needed the information. If you use release criteria, and openly discuss which areas of the product are critical for product success, you can manage that risk.
A three-tiered ranking for problem reports isn't going to solve the promotion-demotion problem of which problem is assigned to which level, especially at the end of a release. But it will make the number and risk of your problems clearer to everyone concerned. Then maybe you can fix more defects before the product is obsolete.
Reference
Arguing Apples and Oranges , By Elisabeth Hendrickson
Pages
About the author
Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” helps organizational leaders see problems and risks in their product development. She helps them recognize potential “gotchas,” seize opportunities, and remove impediments. Johanna was the Agile 2009 conference chair. She is the technical editor for Agile Connection and the author of these books:
- Manage Your Job Search
- Hiring Geeks That Fit
- Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects
- The 2008 Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management
- Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management
- Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People
Johanna is working on a book about agile program management. She writes columns for Stickyminds.com and projectmanagementcom and blogs on her website, jrothman.com, as well on createadaptablelife.com.
