So Many Tests, So Little Time In this corner—A harried project manager whose testing time has just been cut in half. And in this corner—A time-honored management tool to scale back project scope and make testing tasks do-able. Johanna Rothman shows us the ropes of timeboxing and explains why time constraints don't have to be a TKO. |
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Was It Something I Said? Sometimes it seems like talking to a customer is about as effective as chatting with a brick wall. Have you ever considered that the problem may not be your customer but your communication skills? Naomi Karten explains why HOW you say something can be just as important as the WAY you say it. |
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Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress Think working on five projects at once will make great results appear like magic? Don't be so sure. The price your team pays by switching from one project to another could make your productivity disappear. Johanna Rothman reveals the smoke and mirrors behind the illusion of multiprojecting. |
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Bread Crumbs A cautious project manager knows that all projects are at risk of failure. This week, Peter Clark explains how taking the time to leave a formal trail of communication between you and your customers can lead to a fairy-tale ending. |
Peter Clark
March 4, 2004 |
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Dodging the Ditches "We want the software to be faster, better, cheaper!" the marketing guy declares. We want to deliver, but if we aren't positive what those adjectives mean, we will fail. Read on to learn how a road trip prompted industry veteran Esther Derby to revisit how to avoid the expectations gap. |
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Through the Eyes of a Troubled Customer Have you ever had to cope with a demanding developer? A touchy tester? A quarrelsome QA person? A cantankerous customer? Why oh why do people act that way? This column describes the route one IT group took to reverse a customer's bad attitude and make her a valuable ally. |
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When Enough is Not Enough Have you ever found yourself stuck in a situation where, no matter what you do, you can't seem to please your senior manager? Your manager wants you to decrease test time, but at what price? You go back and forth, but no matter how much you compress the schedule, it's never enough. Johanna Rothman explains how to avoid the bring-me-a-rock trap, when enough is not enough, and keep your team from being sucked into unreasonable time constraints. |
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One Bad Apple Never underestimate the divisive power one person can have on an entire team. One team member with a bad attitude can affect overall productivity, communication, and job satisfaction. This week, Lori Howard offers some direct, decisive solutions for handling these "de-jellers" before they ruin your otherwise cohesive team. |
Lori Howard
December 31, 2003 |
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Trading Gold for Days Spending additional money on resources to ease the strain of a tight schedule seems like a good idea. What project manager wouldn't want more help with a project? This week, Peter Clark explains the pluses and the pitfalls of trading gold for days. |
Peter Clark
December 22, 2003 |
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Influence Process Change by Making Friends with Management It is key to remember that change will always be required. An effective test organization must always be prepared to handle change. As a reminder, here is list of key elements to keep in focus for implementing a proactive and effective change strategy. |
Don Oxley
December 12, 2003 |
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