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What's in the Summer 2018 Issue of Better Software Magazine For twenty years now, Better Software magazine has published articles offering helpful tips and techniques for those in the software industry. The new issue celebrates those two decades of knowledge-sharing—and, of course, gives you more ideas. Articles this issue focus on leadership and software quality. |
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3 Mistakes Teams Make When Choosing a ScrumMaster One cause of agile project failure is choosing the wrong person as your ScrumMaster. While a bad ScrumMaster is a problem for any team, it is particularly bad for teams new to agile, as the team won’t know they are being led down the wrong path. Here are three mistakes organizations make when choosing a ScrumMaster. |
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Be Careful What You Ask For: Contract Considerations for New Projects In a new project, there are always going to be challenges and delays, and when the end date is looming, you may be tempted to rush through the contracting and procurement process. But that can have dire consequences down the line if roles, responsibilities, and expectations aren't clear. Take the time to communicate. |
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The Normalization of Deviance Could Be Hurting Your Team Normalization of deviance refers to becoming blasé about counterproductive behavior or activities. The concept applies to processes that become ingrained in a team even though they contribute to negative outcomes, such as slipping deadlines. Employees become so accustomed to the deviance that, to them, it seems normal. |
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Lessons Learned at the Agile Dev, Better Software & DevOps West Conference The Agile Dev, Better Software & DevOps West conference was held in Las Vegas in early June. Coveros technical manager Gene Gotimer was a speaker at the event, but he also attended as a delegate, getting to experience the keynotes, sessions, Expo, and other parts of the software conference. Here are his takeaways. |
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The Risk of Overemphasizing Risks We are trained to identify and evaluate risks. This prevents teams from making decisions that are unlikely to work, saving time and money and helping the team move forward. However, a risk-avoidance mindset can also stop progress. Successful agile teams see risks as ways of starting a conversation, not stopping it. |
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The Power of a Single Question in Understanding Customer Needs People tend to see their circumstances as more unusual, difficult, or troublesome than anyone else’s. As a result, by asking about their problem, priorities, or responsibilities, you can gain important information about their situation and how they perceive it. Here's one question to learn a lot about your customers. |
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Mob Programming: Working Well Together Mob programming is a whole-team approach to creating software where everyone works together on the same thing at the same computer. It's not a bunch of people watching one person write code, but rather everyone thinking, discussing, designing, and collaborating. Sound crazy? Here's how it improves the quality of code. |
