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Planning Techniques for Estimating Projects Agile teams often use estimation to plan projects. There are many different methods, and which you choose should depend on the type of work, what kind of deadline there is, and your team. Matt Heusser explains some estimating techniques that can expand your options when planning a work effort. |
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The Importance of Asking Good Questions Kids ask questions nonstop. When they become adults, they ask fewer questions, and sometimes none at all. Yet questions are the best way to gain insight, develop understanding, and solve problems. If you feel reluctant to ask questions in the workplace, overcome that fear and start asking away. |
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Are You Focusing on the Right Thing in Your Sprint Reviews? The role of demonstration in a sprint review often takes on more importance than it should, even to the extent that some teams refer to the review as a demo. By focusing on the demo you risk having the team do all the talking, rather than a two-way conversation between the team and the stakeholders. |
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What Drives Testers to Find Bugs Finding defects is part of a tester’s responsibility, what is it about defects that gets a tester excited? A tester is in general a curious person—he often loves solving puzzles. He is curious to see how things work, whether they would break, how they would break and under what circumstances, etc. |
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Your Inner Critic: Friend or Foe? Your inner critic is the little (and sometimes big) voice in your head that says things like, "That was a dumb thing to say" or "You'll never get that project done on time." The key is not to suppress this pesky critic, but rather to learn to work with it. Turn that voice from a foe into a friend. |
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The Art of Precise Communication Regardless of how effective we are in our deliverables, much of our success is often attributed to communication. We communicate with various stakeholders about our projects, and while several attributes contribute to effective communication, being precise is one of the most important. |
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Who Is Responsible for Happiness? No one can take full responsibility for another person's happiness. However, a manager can create an environment in which a team can thrive, and that leads to happy environments. Being a servant leader means you don’t micromanage; you manage for outcomes. Is team happiness part of your culture? |
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“Post-Heroic” Leaders and Agile Teams Self-organizing agile teams still need management, but they need a different kind of management from the autocratic style many teams in nonagile organizations have. A "post-heroic" leader is able to shift from an authoritative manner to a collaborative one as needed to optimize team performance. |