Better Software Magazine Articles

Software Project Managers: Know Your Business Case

Many professionals in the software industry chose to pursue software to avoid business schools and MBAs. In this article, Payson explains that some of that "Business BS" can be useful both tactically and strategically to software project managers.

Payson Hall's picture Payson Hall
What If Quality Shouldn’t Be Job One?

We live in a consumer-oriented society, where we are taught to expect that everything that we buy or create must be the best. Clearly, quality is considered to be a top-selling feature in many of the products that we buy. But what if it shouldn’t be?

Howard Smallowitz George Stark
The Three Amigos: All for One and One for All

Analysts determine what needs to be created. Programmers create it. Testers find the holes in the work of both. That's one way to do it, but all three can collaborate to do these things better, and more easily, too.

George Dinwiddie's picture George Dinwiddie
10 Thoughts On Technical Debt

Many people realize that the technical debt spiral is a perverse incentive—it ends up rewarding behaviors we don't want and causing long-term pain. In this article, Matt Heusser moves beyond cliché to talk about how tech debt happens and what we can do about it.

Matthew Heusser's picture Matthew Heusser
Ask To See His ...

Most managers would consider management far too complicated to script. But the five key components of management—planning, staffing, organizing, directing, and controlling—are practiced just as often in testing. So, let's see some of those management scripts.

Lee Copeland's picture Lee Copeland
Managing in Fluid Environments

Most management and change management methodologies assume a traditional environment—one in which the time between changes is much greater than the time required to adapt to each change. In fluid environments, the next change event happens before we can finish adapting to the last one, and sometimes even the one before that.

Rick Brenner's picture Rick Brenner
Works as Designed

How many times have you heard the phrase "works as designed" used to describe software that is flawed and in some cases not fit for use? While "works as designed" has become an acceptable response for some, for real professionals, it's not.

Lee Copeland's picture Lee Copeland
Business Analysis Career Paths

Five or ten years ago, the common career advice to business analysts was that to be promoted, you should become a project manager. Today, business analysis professionals have myriad career options.

Laura Brandenburg's picture Laura Brandenburg
Agile Planning and Analysis: Synergizing to Deliver Value

Are your planning and analysis activities synergistic? Is their total effect on your project greater than the sum of the two activities? When done hand in glove you’ll see how planning and analysis can help groom your backlog and enable you to continuously deliver valuable software.

Filling The Blank Page

Having trouble starting projects, understanding scope and business processes, or with estimation? Mark shares some tips and techniques to avoid common business analysis pain points at the early part of a new project assignment.

Mark Jenkins's picture Mark Jenkins

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