e-Talk Radio: Lister, Tim, 10 October 2000 Why do some teams "catch fire" and excel, while others never seem to gel? Ms. Dekkers and Mr. Lister talk about this, as well as other topics from Mr. Lister's book, PeopleWare. |
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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
April 10, 2001 |
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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. |
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The Wonderful World of Software Former STQE magazine Technical Editor Brian Lawrence shares a tale about why a commitment to quality and paying close attention to detail are critical elements in building better software. It's all about careful planning and anticipating customer behavior. Go with Brian on a stroll through one of the oldest, best-known amusement parks to find out more. |
Brian Lawrence
March 19, 2001 |
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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. |
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e-Talk Radio: Pettichord, Bret, 8 February 2001 Ms. Dekkers and Mr. Pettichord talk about why testers and developers think differently, and why they should think differently. |
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Making Sure You Buy the Right Packaged-Software Solution The slick brochure promises every feature you can imagine, and the sales rep assures you that his package will do just what your users want. But that's what the other vendor's sales rep said, too. Sound familiar? Karl Wiegers recommends several requirements development practices that can help you select the right commercial package solution. Key practices include identifying user classes, defining their use cases, creating test cases from the high-priority use cases, documenting pertinent business rules, and exploring the users' performance goals and other quality attributes. |
Karl E. Wiegers
March 6, 2001 |
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e-Talk Radio: Derby, Esther, 4 January 2001 Ms. Dekkers and Ms. Derby talk about various management issues (e.g., promotions based on technical skills instead of people management skills, and the importance of interpersonal skills training for managers) and modeling organizational change. |
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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. |
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What Is Exploratory Testing? Exploratory software testing is a powerful and fun approach to testing. In some situations, it can be orders of magnitude more productive than scripted testing. I haven't found a tester yet who didn't, at least unconsciously, perform exploratory testing at one time or another. Yet few of us study this approach, and it doesn't get much respect in our field. It's high time we stop the denial, and publicly recognize the exploratory approach for what it is: scientific thinking in real time. Friends, that's a good thing. |
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