The Latest Stories

Hands nurturing a plant The Manager’s Role on a Self-Organizing Agile Team

Scrum and other agile methods focus on team roles and dynamics, and because of the emphasis on self-organizing teams, there’s sometimes a misconception that there’s no need for a manager. In reality, good people management can help an agile team thrive—the manager just has to know how to empower the team.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
Graphic of people miscommunicating Preventing Workplace Miscommunication

When one person says something that the other one misinterprets—a very common type of workplace miscommunication—the conversation often moves on with neither party realizing what happened. Being able to discover a misinterpretation and straighten it out before it escalates into a serious tangle is an important skill.

Naomi Karten's picture
Naomi Karten
Cover of the first 2018 issue of Better Software magazine What's in the Winter 2018 Issue of Better Software Magazine

As Better Software magazine continues to publish articles that propel our industry forward with great tips and techniques, TechWell sees the future focused on continuous processes. Three of this issue's feature articles will help you improve how enterprise software is planned, developed, validated, and released.

Ken Whitaker's picture
Ken Whitaker
Illustration of minimum viable product with cars Interface Grief: Is It Agile, or Just Bad Software Engineering?

There are people who will use "being agile" to justify software engineering practices that could be perceived as lazy or even bad. The specifications are going to change, they say, so it would be a waste to engineer more to begin with than the minimum viable product. What's expediency and what's just poor practice?

Payson Hall's picture
Payson Hall
teamwork Agile and Testing Change Can Come from Leaders at the Bottom, Not the Top

Change doesn’t need to be a decree from the top that forces everything else to follow suit. Change can and should start from the bottom, and that happens after you empower your developers and testers and clearly show why things like agile are critical to overall success.

Josiah Renaudin's picture
Josiah Renaudin
Trees in the forest Let the Outdoors Help You Reduce Work Stress

Studies have found that natural environments can promote positive emotions and heighten physical and mental energy. If you're feeling stressed in the office, try to go outside briefly, take a short walk, commune with the trees if you’re able, and get back to work. You just might feel reinvigorated.

Naomi Karten's picture
Naomi Karten