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Agile Methods for Tackling the Work You Don’t Want to Do We all have work we don't want to do. Some of it is boring or unpleasant, but there's another type: work we don't know if we can finish to our satisfaction. It's hard to tackle a task you're not an expert at. Johanna Rothman offers two classic project management approaches to face the work you're putting off. |
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Creating Effective Processes to Deliver Quality Software Delivering complex systems depends on software processes that guide the work on a daily basis. Much has been written about the evils of verbose waterfall processes, but the truth is that not having enough process also makes it impossible to deliver enterprise software without making many mistakes. |
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The Test Expert’s Role in DevOps If our goal as testers is to build and release code more rapidly, frequently, and reliably, we must also align and integrate our testing practices, testing tools, test cases, test data, and test environments into continuous integration, testing, and deployment. A DevOps culture yields all new opportunities. |
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3 Key Elements of the Open Source Mindset Adopting open source tools isn’t a seamless, pain-free process. The benefits can be invaluable, but it’s important to note that most companies moving from packaged tools into the open source world often go through a technology shock. It takes the right people, processes, and planning to succeed. |
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Pick a Chicken: How to Prioritize and Get More Done A project manager was having trouble with his list of projects, all of which were behind schedule. They were all vitally important, so he was in a state of thrash with too many options to choose from. Luckily, Payson Hall was able to help him—thanks to his childhood experiences chasing chickens on a farm. |
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A Strange Story of Version Control and Software Customization As he was doing an inventory of a company’s commercial software and version control, Payson Hall got an odd response from a vendor: Their software has no versions. Each client has a unique, customized edition of the software. How can the vendor possibly support that many products? How would that work? |
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How and When to Incorporate New Software Tools into Your Team Change isn’t always necessary—or even good, for that matter—but when is it actually the right time to incorporate a new tool, language, or piece of technology that might be taking the market by storm into your business? How do you identify the risks? |
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Who’s Responsible for What? Use a RACI Matrix to Keep It Straight As projects get larger and more complex, roles and responsibilities can become confusing. To clarify, teams can create a RACI matrix: a chart that shows who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for any work product. Each role has a different level of authority, so everyone knows their duty. |
