Articles

Test-Driven Design for the Project Manager

Many developers and testers are familiar with test-driven design (TDD), but how can managers use it to drive project implementation? In this article, John Goodpasture offers a guide to TDD design from the project manager’s perspective.

John C. Goodpasture's picture John C. Goodpasture
Building a Competitive Software Capability: Creative Destruction

In this excerpt from Leadership, Teamwork, and Trust: Building a Competitive Software Capability, Watts Humphrey and James Over explain why these changes must be a high priority for software companies and other organizations for whom knowledge is a valuable asset.

Watts S. Humphrey James W. Over
Effective Leadership Communication

In most workplaces, there’s an institutional hierarchy that may influence how we react in situations that require us to step up. Navigating effective communication means knowing when we should listen quietly to leaders and when we should challenge or question.

Payson Hall's picture Payson Hall
Four Frequent Feedback-Gathering Flaws

Giving your customers the opportunity to provide feedback is great, but only if you don't fall into one of the four traps that Naomi Karten describes in this article. Let your customers know that not only do you want their feedback, but that you'll actually use the important info they give you.

Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
My Manager Thinks I'm Holding Her Hostage

You don't need to look any further than to your coworkers to see how many different personalities and work styles are in effect. Despite the differences, certain predictable behaviors occur between staff and management when personalities clash. Jonathan Kohl defines a few managerial behavioral anti-patterns that could undermine your project. He also sets the ground work for ways to improve the relationship between staff and management.

Jonathan Kohl's picture Jonathan Kohl
Repaying the Happiness Debt—with Interest

The pace of production depends on the capability of those at work. When an increase in profit is desired, production is sped up. Yet those forced to work faster aren't necessarily more productive. Unhappily experienced at being forced to work harder and faster resulting in less productivity, Clarke Ching found a way to slow down expectations and increase productivity.

Clarke Ching's picture Clarke Ching
When Conflict Is Baked In: Bridging Structural Conflict

No two people or groups are the same, but their differences don't have to force them apart. In this column, Esther Derby uses the example of feuding operations and development groups to explain how focusing on the source of structural conflict can help build a bridge across the disagreements.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
The Agile Tipping Point

Nirav P Assar uses Malcom Gladwell's best selling book , The Tipping Point to discuss what's necessary to fully, and successfully implement agile, in order to take advantage of all that it can bring to a software development team.

Nirav Assar's picture Nirav Assar
9 Questions You Must Ask When Selecting the Right Tool and Vendor

The key to selecting the best vendor and tool is asking the right questions. The answers to these nine essential questions can mean the difference between satisfaction with your purchase and a giant waste of time and money.

Joe Townsend's picture Joe Townsend
Is Your Agile Audit and Compliance Process Really Agile?

In a previous column, George Schlitz proposed that process improvements, such as agile, require organizations to change process rules. Now George continues his review of agile in regards to compliance and auditing practices. What he's found is that changes to compliance and auditing rules may appear compatible, but the implementation process usually remains unchanged and conflicts with agile practices.

George Schlitz's picture George Schlitz

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