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The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Embark with me on my journey through the colorful situations & challenges and the (gray) ambiguity of management in the software industry.
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The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Everyone Wants To Test
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
7
Comments
You are new to testing. You are sitting in front of your computer staring at the software you need to test. What do you do? Let's look at testing from a very basic level and maybe this will help you make progress. If you don't "get it" at this level,...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Up, Up, and Away!
Posted
10 months ago
by
anita george
7
Comments
Picture this visual. You are standing in a field on a foggy day and a rope is dropped in front of you from the sky. You can't see where it is coming from but you hear someone ask you if you want to experience the unknown, be challenged more than ever...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
No Surprises!
Posted
over 2 years ago
by
anita george
6
Comments
This is what I aim for in my teams - no surprises. That means my team members do their best to not surprise me and I also aim to not surprise them. Surprises are great when it comes to birthdays at home with family and friends. But in corporate life,...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Me, My Car, and a Thump
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
5
Comments
I have a neat story to tell about something that happened last week and how you can apply problem-solving skills to almost anything in life. Actually this example will show what happens when you don't apply these skills properly. Those who know...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Speak up to succeed
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
5
Comments
Speaking up in meetings seems like such an easy and somewhat insignificant task. But in fact, many people do not say a word while in meetings and never think about the ramifications of this. No matter what profession you are in within the software industry...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
QA or Test - does the name really matter?
Posted
over 2 years ago
by
anita george
5
Comments
I've been the manager for many different teams. Some call themselves Test and some call themselves QA. Personally, I've found it easier to just use those terms interchangeably. But for many, there are two very distinct schools of thought about what a...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
97%
Posted
over 1 year ago
by
anita george
4
Comments
Anyone who knows me knows that metrics are very important to me. I mostly focus on QA metrics, but I like seeing metrics for most of the things we do to ship products. For QA metrics, some of the most important ones are around # of test cases, % automated...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Tribal Knowledge and Engineering Don't Mix
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
4
Comments
In many engineering teams, having tribal knowledge is normal and accepted. This is when information about a product, process, or technology owned by the team is described verbally from person to person, release after release, without writing it down....
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Sometimes Things Just Aren't Fair
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
4
Comments
Recently, I met with one of the people that I mentor. She was concerned because she found people across the company with more senior titles, jobs, and more responsibility than her, but they didn't have more experience or better skills. Somehow, they were...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
What would you do?
Posted
over 2 years ago
by
anita george
4
Comments
Here's an interesting question I ask people just to see how many different and creative answers I get (especially in interviews). Let's say you are on a project with a fixed budget and a fixed due date. Assuming a waterfall software development methodology...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
The perpetual state of being understaffed - does it really exist?
Posted
over 4 years ago
by
anita george
3
Comments
The last few months have been a staffing challenge for me and my team. I lost a quarter of my team in a 3 month time period due to reorgs….and I couldn't replace any of them. Due to the economic climate, things are tight and that includes headcount. Then...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
The Tactics of Making a Strategy
Posted
over 2 years ago
by
anita george
3
Comments
As a team leader or manager, people will look to you to describe the direction the team is heading in the future - the strategy. Here is a surprising definition from www.dictionary.com that makes me wonder how similar managing a group of engineers is...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Training Your Manager
Posted
over 1 year ago
by
anita george
3
Comments
We recently did a realignment on my team due to a change of priority of projects. This was a good experience as we moved projects between QA leads so that our workload was more evenly balanced. And then we moved people around from projects that were getting...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
If You Want It, Then You Aren't Ready For It
Posted
over 1 year ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
Are you just dying to get promoted? How about seeing your individual engineering role turn into a lead role? Many people focus on that next step in their career, and with good reason. We all look for ways to grow and challenge ourselves. But many times...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Good News!
Posted
4 months ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
Today I was recognized on another website that focuses specifically on Engineering Management. I'm happy to be listed as one of the top 25 Engineering Management blogs of 2012. Check it out here: www.engineering-management.net/top-engineering-management...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Advice From Your 95 year old Self
Posted
2 months ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
There you are sitting on your death bed. Yep, you had a good life. And although many people have come to visit you and feel sad for you, you aren't sad. You are content. You did absolutely everything you wanted to do and had a ton of happiness along the...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Cooking with Windows
Posted
over 4 years ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
Since Windows7 released today, I think it is a good time to reflect back on my experience in the Windows Client team and working on the different versions of Windows. Vista and Windows7 were done much differently. When Vista shipped and we were making...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Successful growth of a tester
Posted
over 4 years ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
Many engineers, especially testers, ask me how they can grow their careers and how I know when they should be promoted. I've learned over the years that there are really three key focus areas that show that an engineer is growing. These are in addition...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Evaluating Your Employees
Posted
over 4 years ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
As I mentioned in a previous entry, it's review time at Microsoft. I already gave my guidelines on how employees should write their comments. Now it's time for my guidelines on how managers should write their evaluations of their employees. Many guidelines...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Recruiting - it's not just an open job position, it's an adventure!
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
As a manager, hiring good people is a necessary skill to build a highly-functional team and continue to be seen as a credible manager. Recruiting can be difficult depending on the time of year or the position you are trying to fill. As the hiring manager...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Do you need a career mentor?
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
I was recently asked a question from an engineer on whether she should find a mentor. It seems like many people have mentors so how does one determine if they need one or not? Or does everyone need one and by not having one, are you missing out on something...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
What keeps you awake at night?
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
2
Comments
Did you know that this is the most depressing time of the year? It's been proven with equations (for all you mathematicians out there). Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date) I can feel it at work. Everyone is halfway between stressed...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
15 Years Ago Today
Posted
over 4 years ago
by
anita george
1
Comments
15 years ago today was my first day at Microsoft. In the last 15 years, a lot has changed. Here is the way things were 15 years ago: There was no IE. There was no Outlook. There was no concept of mobile or digital media. There was no Office, just...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Put on Your Game Face
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
1
Comments
Do you have a game face and do you use it? Do you know what a game face is and how you can apply it to work? The dictionary definition is "the neutral or intense facial expression of a determined and serious sports player". Picture a losing basketball...
The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
The Tale of Two Teams
Posted
over 3 years ago
by
anita george
1
Comments
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a land far, far away, there were two teams, umm, I mean villages. They were run by one manager, I mean one powerful king. He didn't have many rules for his villagers, just one, "do whatever it takes to ship". For...
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