Communicating vs. Discussing – Lesson Learned

I was visiting a customer last week and had an “ah-ha” moment thanks to a comment by someone there.
We were talking about communication and the need for regular communication with the entire division regarding the work they are doing towards an agile transformation.  Linda then said the following (or something close to it..), “communication and [...]

DON’T RUN! (tips for communicating I learned from my nephew)

I just finished teaching an Agile Testing Class to an awesome testing team in Dallas.  We spent a good amount of time discussing how to communicate effectively with other team members. Specifically, we were talking about how to approach a developer when you need them to implement a solution in a different way that lends [...]

Notes from a Recovering Crackberry Addict

I was out to lunch the other day with some friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.  I was really looking forward to catching up and seeing them.  However, by the time the check came, I was half irritated with them both and ready to leave.  Why?  Because the entire lunch was spent with [...]

Who gets to decide when to ship software?

I recently got in a lengthy debate with some folks over this very topic.  As I quickly found out, most folks have a very strong opinion on this.  And here I thought I was the only oneJ.  It seems as though most folks fall into 3 different camps: 
Camp #1 – The Testers decide 
This “camp” was [...]

Should we be called QA Analysts?

I have been thinking a lot about titles lately and just how much I detest them :)  I do love the fact that my current title (QA Architect) is something most people have never heard of so it prompts them to ask me what I really do.  It gives me a chance to explain to folks [...]

TISQA 2007 Conference Review

I spent the day yesterday at the TISQA conference in Chapel Hill, NC.  It is a one day local conference that the TISQA group puts on every year. 
The opening key note was from Jon Bach.  As usual, it was a great talk.  I love listening to him talk about exploratory testing.  I always learn something new.  [...]

Taking Ownership of Quality with Outsourcing

I have recently had the opportunity to speak to some QA folks at different companies.  During our conversations, the topic of quality and QA practices came up with regards to outsourcing.  I have never personally worked on a project that involved development from outsourced companies so I have never had to deal with this first hand.  [...]