Tag Archives: process improvement

Own Your Approach – Drive Process Improvement

You and your team have to live with the impact of poor internal quality every day, on every project.  But fixing these issues or improving the situation is not often a top priority. “No one keeps track of the costs … Continue reading

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Risk Clustering – Project-Killing Risks of Doom

Our home shines dimly with reflected sunlight, a pale blue dot in the expansiveness of space.  Around us, dark shapes move through the skies, in near countless number.  Some few trend in our direction.  Not seeking, but tending inevitably toward … Continue reading

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Avoiding Common Test Automation Pitfalls

In an age where many organizations are under pressure to accelerate their software delivery to customers, test automation is becoming a necessity.  There are many reasons why it’s advantageous to implement a test automation solution as part of your testing … Continue reading

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Critical to Value: Strategic Metrics for Quality Management

The content in this post is based on the exceptional book from ASQ Press, Design for Six Sigma as Strategic Experimentation by H.E. Cook.  (ISBN 0-87389-645-9) pub. 2005. While it is insightful for our profession to engage and embrace globalization, … Continue reading

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UAT as a Gateway to Enterprise Agile

Let’s admit it. Projects that deliver enterprise solutions have barriers to being agile, especially those that are based on purchased packages (commercial off-the-shelf packages, or COTS). In my experience I’ve wrestled with at least two of those – the technical … Continue reading

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The Science of Testing

The best way to approach a problem is typically to look at it from different angles, to turn it over and to discuss it until a solution can be found.  Similarly, it is important to try to bring different perspectives … Continue reading

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Meaning of Quality: Different Things to Different People

In my first job following university, I sold financial products on commission.  In this role, I had to memorize a script which I can still remember more than 20 years later. “Financial planning means different things to different people.  To … Continue reading

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Quality for Rapid Delivery

In the interests of the September theme, I will keep this short.  In his blog, Paul B posed the following challenge: “a conversation about how the practice of quality could evolve to support the needs of a rapidly changing world. … Continue reading

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A Remote Tester’s Perspective – The Challenges and Solutions

On October 27, 2011, Keith McIntosh presented “A Remote Tester’s Perspective: The Challenges and Solutions” at the Software Test Professionals Conference in Dallas, Texas. Much has been written on the many challenges associated with remote testing locations whether they are onshore, nearshore or offshore.  The … Continue reading

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Working with Business Testers

From Nancy Kelln’s presentation at STPCon, “Leading Business Testers”, business testers: are not testers do not want to be testers require guidance and support require their expectations to be managed may be working part-time on the project and all of … Continue reading

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