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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.

The Tactics of Making a Strategy

As a team leader or manager, people will look to you to describe the direction the team is heading...

Author: anita george Date: 06/10/2011

Are you up for the challenge?

If you read my blog, learn something new from it, or think in the same way as I do, why not see how...

Author: anita george Date: 04/28/2011

Build It and They Will Come!...Really?

The concept of "build it and they will come" may be a good approach for pyramids and baseball...

Author: anita george Date: 04/19/2011

QA or Test - does the name really matter?

I've been the manager for many different teams. Some call themselves Test and some call themselves...

Author: anita george Date: 04/05/2011

What would you do?

Here's an interesting question I ask people just to see how many different and creative answers I...

Author: anita george Date: 02/09/2011

No Surprises!

This is what I aim for in my teams - no surprises. That means my team members do their best to not...

Author: anita george Date: 01/19/2011

Play Some Interference

Managers need to play interference in order for their engineers to stay focused and show results....

Author: anita george Date: 12/27/2010

There's No Room For Watermelons

I have noticed a problem lately that needs some focus.  I heard a statement that sums it up nicely....

Author: anita george Date: 12/06/2010

Everyone Wants To Test

You are new to testing. You are sitting in front of your computer staring at the software code you...

Author: anita george Date: 11/10/2010

Crawl, Walk, Run

Babies figure out how to do it right – how to make progress and get to an end result. I think...

Author: anita george Date: 10/30/2010

Me, My Car, and a Thump

I have a neat story to tell about something that happened last week and how you can apply...

Author: anita george Date: 09/23/2010

The Tale of Two Teams

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a land far, far away, there were two teams, umm, I mean...

Author: anita george Date: 09/04/2010

Do you need a career mentor?

I was recently asked a question from an engineer on whether she should find a mentor. It seems like...

Author: anita george Date: 08/14/2010

Recruiting - it's not just an open job position, it's an adventure!

As a manager, hiring good people is a necessary skill to build a highly-functional team and continue...

Author: anita george Date: 07/26/2010

Tribal Knowledge and Engineering Don't Mix

In many engineering teams, having tribal knowledge is normal and accepted. This is when information...

Author: anita george Date: 07/03/2010

Speak up to succeed

Speaking up in meetings seems like such an easy and somewhat insignificant task. But in fact, many...

Author: anita george Date: 05/28/2010

Don't Be Seduced by the Dark Side

I was watching a TV show recently (no, it wasn't Star Wars) where a lead character on the show had a...

Author: anita george Date: 05/13/2010

No Crystal Ball Required

One of the most challenge skills to master is long-term planning. This skill is needed for many...

Author: anita george Date: 04/20/2010

Sometimes Things Just Aren't Fair

Recently, I met with one of the people that I mentor. She was concerned because she found people...

Author: anita george Date: 03/25/2010

Mistake or Trend?

Sometimes there are almost too many things going on at work to keep it all straight. Is it fair to...

Author: anita george Date: 03/12/2010

Obsolete Yourself!

The best managers are ones who work to obsolete their roles. Is this bad advice for managers...

Author: anita george Date: 02/11/2010

Put on Your Game Face

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...

Author: anita george Date: 01/14/2010

More on Playing With Fire

As a continuation from my last blog entry, here are some more thoughts I have about code coverage...

Author: anita george Date: 12/11/2009

Going Dark

Since the nights are getting longer and it's Halloween, let's talk about going dark.  This isn't...

Author: anita george Date: 10/31/2009

Cooking with Windows

Since Windows7 released today, I think it is a good time to reflect back on my experience in the...

Author: anita george Date: 10/22/2009

15 Years Ago Today

15 years ago today was my first day at Microsoft. In the last 15 years, a lot has changed. Here is...

Author: anita george Date: 10/17/2009

Do Whatever It Takes!

I had a test lead years ago that did a great job at setting expectations for his people. But for...

Author: anita george Date: 10/10/2009

Commitment Calibration

At Microsoft, we set commitments regularly for all employees. These are basically goals and focus...

Author: anita george Date: 09/28/2009

Action-oriented vs. Results-driven

In many project teams, I see people mistaking actions for results. One of the best inputs a manager...

Author: anita george Date: 09/13/2009

Test is not a landfill

I heard the statement "Test is not a landfill!" today from one of my leads and thought it was a...

Author: anita george Date: 08/28/2009

Should BVTs pass 100%?

This is the gray part of testing. Should the goal be that BVTs pass 100%? On every build, all the...

Author: anita george Date: 08/20/2009

Evaluating Your Employees

As I mentioned in a previous entry, it's review time at Microsoft. I already gave my guidelines on...

Author: anita george Date: 08/01/2009

Successful growth of a tester

Many engineers, especially testers, ask me how they can grow their careers and how I know when they...

Author: anita george Date: 06/27/2009

Guidelines for writing good individual review comments

It's that time of year again at Microsoft where we get to write our reviews. I find it helpful as a...

Author: anita george Date: 06/10/2009

The perpetual state of being understaffed - does it really exist?

The last few months have been a staffing challenge for me and my team. I lost a quarter of my team...

Author: anita george Date: 05/28/2009

Downward, upward, and sideways

As a manager in an organization, there are different directions to apply focus and communications -...

Author: anita george Date: 05/03/2009

Clones don't make good testers

A few weeks ago, I attended a presentation about diversity and it was enlightening. I personally...

Author: anita george Date: 04/10/2009

Automation maturity - what should a Test Manager focus on?

Automation is frequently a passionate debate, usually around how much and whether it is effective....

Author: anita george Date: 03/29/2009

Business-focused vs. People-focused managers

No matter whether your focus is Test or Dev or some other discipline, most managers will approach...

Author: anita george Date: 03/22/2009

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