Better Software Magazine Articles

It's in the Bag

Kristi Wheeler wanted to create a forum in which all of the testers in her company could come together to talk about their skills, learn more about testing, and bring individual experiences into a group setting. Here, she describes how she started up brown bag groups for testers and developers in her organization–and how you can start them in your own company.

Kristi Wheeler
Eileen and Wayne Strider on Building and Managing Technical Teams

Eileen and Wayne Strider recommend some useful resources for building and managing technical teams. Technical team leaders have two different yet related responsibilities. One responsibility is to build a product such as a system, an application, a network, or a Web site. The second responsibility is to build and maintain their team's ability to work together so they can build a product. Building a product requires the right mix of technical skills and experience. Building a team's ability to work together requires a different skill set. Reading about those skills is valuable, but practice is essential.

Eileen Strider Wayne Strider
Wall-to-Wall Tools

Got blank walls? Instead of hiring a decorator, perhaps you should enlist the help of a facilitator. This article examines how three experts use the wall in very different ways to make retrospectives, design, and collaboration better and easier.

Amanda Sulock
Computer Bribery

"There's a little something in it for you if the product is ready for testing next week." To make a date, have you ever resorted to offering or accepting such a payout? You don't often encounter the technique in management books, but we all know that people can be motivated by money. In this week's column, Sheryl Smith imagines a scenario where the equipment is "bribed" to speed delivery. Read on for the point of view from inside the computer.

Sheryl Smith
"Excel-erating" Test Status Reporting

As a tester, you're often asked how far along your testing effort is, and when it will actually be done. This is one of the most difficult-and nerve-wracking-questions to answer, especially when a project has just begun or is nearing completion. While a tool is what's needed to help gather information and effectively answer this inquiry, many companies cannot afford to purchase or implement a complex, commercial tool. But there is a solution available in commercial spreadsheet products, particularly Microsoft's Excel. Earl Burba shows you how to use the logic and formula functions of Excel along with a combination of linked worksheets to develop an easy-to-use test status report tool.

Earl Burba and Jim Hazen, SysTest Labs
Conversations I Never Expected to Have as a Test Manager

There are times in a test manager's career when the work situation becomes surreal. If you've been in situations where you think you must be dreaming, sometimes it helps to look at things from the other person's perspective. As we mature in our jobs, we can examine these situations and see how to better answer the questions we have about unexpected communications. In this session we'll look at some typical conversations and discuss alternative ways to help everyone find the true reality, then better deal with the situation. From her years of experience as a consultant and her personal encounters, Johanna Rothman shares her insights and gets you involved in discovering what's really being said in these strange conversations.

Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group
How to Successfully Communicate the State of Testing in Your Organization

Many QA, process improvement, and test engineering personnel feel their company's management doesn't sufficiently understand, support, or value their contributions. You know what? They're right! What's the root cause of this lack? Robert Galen believes it's our inability to effectively communicate-to promote our teams and our abilities. We expect that either our work should speak for itself, or our value proposition accompanied by the metrics and data will make our case for us. As a discipline, we need to improve our salesmanship when it comes to our contribution. This session imparts public relations (PR) skills you need to employ so that your key stakeholders will better understand your role and its importance.

Robert L Galen, EMC Corporation
Smarter Testing with the 80:20 Rule

It may not be a silver bullet, but knowledge of the 80:20 rule, and the special variation that applies to software testing, can help you dramatically improve your testing-and your entire software development lifecycle. This session explains what the rule is using real-life examples, then shows you how to use it within your test team. Erik Petersen then investigates the different ways the rule is being used by leading testers and developers today. This talk has motivated some Australian testers to change the way they test. Will this approach from Down Under turn your testing ideas upside down?

Erik Petersen, Specialist
A Missing Link: Project Management in the Testing Organization

The emerging discipline of project management within the information technology arena can be a major move toward your testing organization accomplishing its stated goals. That's because effective project management leverages the best practices of quality control and quality assurance, with the basic principles of a sound project strategy. This means working toward goals in an organized way, and using a road map that integrates test project management into the organization. Karol Vastrick shares the road map to help you manage this change, especially if you're in an environment where chaos often rules.

Karol Vastrick, Federal Express
Keeping Your Outsourced Testing Under Control

As companies focus on their core business, the option to outsource software testing becomes more and more attractive. And there are plenty of organizations out there that specialize in the practice. But implementing outsourcing can feel like an uncertain proposition. In this session, Martin Pol explains how you can effectively select, implement, and audit outsourced testing activities. He shows you step by step what needs to be done to make outsourcing work for you and your company.

Martin Pol, POLTEQ IT Services BV

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