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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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May the Forest Be with You: A New GEDI Laser Is Coming There’s a new laser device coming to the galaxy this fall that will be good for the forests here on Earth. NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lidar (GEDI) will be the first space-borne laser designed to map the world's forests in 3-D to help us study and understand forest changes. |
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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 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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How to Slim Down Your Bloated Email Inbox If you're spending too much time checking and answering your email—and frankly, who doesn't feel that way—you may just need to revamp your email routine. Here are some techniques for getting a handle on your messages, including better prioritization and categorization. You may even get to the coveted inbox zero. |
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Refining Your Scrum Planning Meetings Scrum events are meant to be productive opportunities for collaboration that replace more tedious, wasteful meetings. If you find your planning meetings becoming passive events where no one is asking questions or actively seeking to understand the backlog, the problem might be in the execution or the preparation. |
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A Checklist for Managing Go-Live Decisions and Risks If you have to replace a complex existing data system in production, decisions about when and whether to go live should be treated with gravity and care. One process that can help keep you honest is developing checklists that describe very clearly what is expected to be accomplished and verified at each milestone. |
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Send the Right Message: Monitor Your Choice of Voice When we communicate with our coworkers, what’s important in getting our point across is not just what we say, but how we say it. Most of the time, we intuitively moderate our tone to convey friendliness, seriousness, or disappointment, but that can change when we're stressed. Be sure you're sending the right message. |