communication

Articles

Agile team member having a virtual meeting from home Agile Value Delivery: A Critical Component of Virtual Meetings

The recent surge in virtual meetings necessitates an entirely new set of desirable behaviors. But how do you keep participants engaged and material useful and on topic remotely, when it's hard enough to do that with everyone in the same room? The key is keeping value delivery front and center. Here are some tips and best practices for virtual meetings that will help you continue to deliver value.

Joe Schofield's picture Joe Schofield
String lights shining on a story book Business Storytelling in an Agile Context

Storytelling in business is about sharing the context—explaining different aspects of the same information through different perspectives, such as the customer’s wishes or various internal department needs. The more each person shares their point of view, the more the knowledge deepens, which provides a solid story in a business context. Here's how storytelling can help your agile team.

Karen N. Johnson's picture Karen N. Johnson
Person solving a Rubik's cube Eliminate Fake Certainty and Solve the Real Problem

Too often, customers have a “fake certainty” about the problems they want to solve. They might not have defined the real problem, but they have frequently defined the solution anyway. The risk is that we might build the wrong thing. When the product owner works with the customers to define the problem, then works with the team to define the solution, everyone can win.

Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman John Le Drew
Testing team standing around a computer and smiling 3 Methods for Better Communication and More Effective Testing

Successful delivery of software requires the entire team, so it’s imperative that everyone choose their words carefully so they convey what they really mean, are sensitive to others’ feelings, and consider all aspects of a problem. Here are three questions to remember when communicating about your software testing projects to ensure you’re considering the power of words.

Ajay Balamurugadas's picture Ajay Balamurugadas

Interviews

Jaimee Newberry The Power of Communication: A Conversation with Jaimee Newberry
Video

Jaimee Newberry, co-founder and CEO at Picture This Clothing, chats with TechWell community manager Owen Gotimer about the power of communication, the HIPPO in the room, and how to create psychological safety in brainstorming sessions.

Owen Gotimer's picture Owen Gotimer
Marcia Buzzella Improving Communication and Social Skills: An Interview with Marcia Buzzella
Video

Marcia Buzzella, an independent leadership consultant and strengths coach, discusses the importance of communication and social skills in a business atmosphere. She offers advice on tools to recognize your weaknesses in those areas and how to work toward improving your effectiveness.

Jennifer Bonine's picture Jennifer Bonine
Jess Agile Improv Agile, Improv, and Learning How to Fail: An Interview with Jessie Shternshus
Podcast

In this interview, Jessie Shternshus, the owner and founder of The Improv Effect, explains the similarities between agile development and improvisation. She details how, in both cases, team members need to learn how to support each other, build on work, and be comfortable with failure.

Josiah Renaudin's picture Josiah Renaudin
Selena Delesie Leadership Lessons to Bolster Your Software Team: An Interview with Selena Delesie
Video

In this interview, visionary speaker Selena Delesie explains how successful teams embrace specific principles, including listening deeply, believing people truly matter, having an addiction to learning, serving others, flowing through change, moving through fear, and following joy.

Jennifer Bonine's picture Jennifer Bonine

Conference Presentations

Capturing Testing with 3 Magic Words
Slideshow

Testers tend to be innately curious creatures. Being curious and evaluating risks—that is what the testing job is about. Often it is the statement “I don’t know” that drives our curiosity in testing. Find out not only how to push past the fear of not knowing but how to embrace your curiosity.

Janna Loeffler
Getting Your Message Across: Communication Skills for Testers
Slideshow

Communication is at the heart of our profession. No matter how advanced our testing capabilities are, if we can’t convey our concerns in ways that connect with key members of the project team, our contribution is likely to be ignored. Because we act solely in an advisory capacity, rather...

Thomas McCoy, Australian Department of Social Services

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