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Not a Fan of Small Talk? Practice Makes Perfect Most people who dislike small talk say it's because it's a waste of time. But sometimes it's necessary—provided you don't want to appear standoffish. One key to making small talk, therefore, is to find ways to turn the trivial banter into something more substantial. Use these suggestions in your next chat. |
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Choosing the Right Agile Testing Tool for Your QA Team To be truly effective, QA teams have to choose the right agile testing tools for their needs and ensure that it has the required features to ensure quality and bolster testing efforts. Sanjay Zalavadia outlines a few things to consider as you search for the best solution for your QA team. |
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Collaborative, High-Functioning Teams Start with Agile Managers We often assume that management is pure overhead and adds little value. But management is necessary for teams to be successful. Teams sometimes need help creating environments where it’s easier to make the right decisions in a timely manner. A culture of delegation and trust starts with a good manager. |
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What Helps or Hinders Achieving Your Goals? It takes a lot more than the proper frame of mind to reach a goal, but you’re far less likely to reach a goal if you have the wrong frame of mind. So make a plan, establish a deadline, and think about any potential perils and pitfalls that could derail reaching your goal. |
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The Sign of a True Professional: Asking for Help When It’s Needed People worry that asking for assistance will somehow undermine their standing in the eyes of peers or employers. But most successful people are quick to acknowledge what they don’t know and to ask for assistance. Honestly admitting to limitations in your knowledge is the sign of a true professional. |
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The Myths behind Brainstorming, Open Office Plans, and Collaboration More companies are moving to some version of open offices or pod configurations in hopes of inspiring collaboration and improving productivity. But does it work? If you consult efficiency studies, the answer tends to be no. In fact, increasing proximity is shown to decrease productivity and creativity. |
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Maintaining Our Objective Voice in Testing As we embrace an agile culture, we adopt the core value of whole team accountability. But while collaboration is important, testers must continue to ask challenging questions, think deeply about the “what-ifs,” consider and advocate for alternative views, challenge assumptions, and look for ambiguities. |
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Stop These Major Time-Wasting Activities at Work Most time wasters at work fall into one of three categories: personal, organizational, and technological. There may not be much you can do about some typical time-wasting activities—like certain meetings—but there are some you can control, which means you can dump them to be more productive. |