Management


This is the part of my resume that needs the most clarification. Most people look at my experience and think that I must really like doing management tasks. It's not true.

What is true is that I happen to be a good organizer, and if I see critical organizational tasks that aren't being done, I will first try to get a manager to do it, but often end up just doing them. A typical example is not tracking schedule progress or not doing bug triage. If they're not being done, it will affect product quality. I was actually surprised when I went through the ASQ certification process that they also feel that management skills are required for a well-rounded QE. As a quality engineer, it is my job to make sure that a minimal set of processes are followed. Sometimes that means doing it myself.

Yes, I said the evil word -- process. Everybody has processes whether they admit it or not. But it's important to have processes that work, not processes that get in your way. The processes that I think are important are

I recently read Ed Yourdon's latest book, Death March, and was pleased to see that he came up with about the same list. I had thought that he was part of the Heavy Process Police, guess not. If you haven't read Death March, do so, immediately. Much like my other favorite, Peopleware by DeMarco and Lister, I think this is a must read for just about everybody in the technology industry.


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Anne Powell 2/14/98