How do we do that ? Barbara on Business Analyst Blog has an answer – “Write Better Requirements“. This post throws up a very fundamental question : “If you don’t have excellent requirements, how do you evaluate the software’s ability to address the business problem?” Poor requirement definition by the stakeholders and poor understanding (and […]
As a manager I am learning some key lessons in managing people. I have learnt that success of a project and hence success of a project manager largely depends on the people management skills. While people management is most important job of a manager, it is also a difficult one. So what have I learnt? […]
Why do software projects fail? – we wonder. Here is what Steve McConnel has to say in his book “Software Project Survival Guide”. An excellent quote – Software projects fail for one of two general reasons: the project team lacks the knowledge to conduct a software project successfully, or the project team lacks the resolve to […]
Earlier in by career, when I handled a lot of processes (based on industry best practices), I thought of best practices as a solution to day to day software issues from poor requirements to testing. I used to “go by books” when it came to implementing these best practices. Gradually, as I advanced in my area […]
One of my favorite stickyminds columnists Esther Derby writes about approaching a conflict in style. Some very useful insights here. Over at Clarrus Compedium we have good posts on “Comfortable Communication” in “People tips” section. Worth having a look. Esther Derby, on her weblog, writes about conducting better retrospectives in her post titled “Instead of […]
There is always an internal conflict between what our gut feeling tell us and what our reasoning reveals. Normally, people choose to follow their reasoning, because its logical and probably supported by others around. I called up one of my team members and informed him that in he could have added a few more details […]
The work of a software tester on software projects is much like diagnosis doctors do. There is no scope for ambiguity when a doctor diagnoses. Before a doctor reveals his diagnosis, a lot of symptom analysis and mind work goes into it. A doctor has to be very precise in reporting the problems as he diagnoses. […]
There has been an ongoing debate around on whether a software project manager should be technical. I have worked with project managers who are technical (a part of them is still a developer) and project managers who are non-technical (people who know how to get things done, and not exactly how to do it). However, […]
I am revisiting the topic of project communication again. Earlier, I wrote a post on “Quality of Project Communication” where I also summarized the aspects of effective communication. In software projects, teams spend over 50% of time in communication – communication on project start up, scope, requirements, design, development standards, issues, clarifications, reviews and so on. […]