Concurrent Sessions for WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 10:15 AM    Go to 11:30 AM    Go to 2:00 PM

W1   Getting Started Deadlines, Defects, and Risk: Managing the Three-Headed Dragon Michael Mah, QSM Associates The commercial pressures of the economy and the need for speed often impose unwieldy deadlines for software projects. Yet the nature of software projects demands that teams deal with constant change and scope growth within these fixed deadlines. By understanding software project dynamics, managers empower themselves to make better decisions about promised functionality, thereby controlling the very factors that degrade software quality and reliability. This presentation addresses why software development, an example of “knowledge work,” is different from other types of work, and how knowing its behavioral laws can help managers avert disaster. • Discover common mistakes in metrics, estimation, and project negotiation • Address critical flaws in traditional planning processes • How to use productivity baselines for “reverse estimation”

W2   Improving Avoiding Project Failure Payson Hall, Catalysis Group, Inc. Let’s face facts: Software projects fail more often than they succeed — and nothing a project manager does will ever completely eliminate the possibility of failure. But there are steps an organization and you as a project manager can take to detect problems early and avoid classic mistakes. This presentation is designed for project managers and sponsors who want to reduce their risk of project failure and improve their ability to successfully deliver. • Detect warning signs of troubled projects • Break down the barriers to failure avoidance • Construct mitigation strategies for common problems

W3   Advanced Topics Requirements Workshops: What, Why, and How Ellen Gottesdiener, EBG Consulting, Inc. Are you wasting time and resources on unproductive requirements or design meetings that leave everyone confused? There is a better way. Requirements workshops, such as Joint Application Design, aren't traditional meetings. They're focused, highly productive events attended by carefully selected stakeholders and led by a neutral facilitator. Requirements workshops are used to scope, discover, define, and reach closure on business and user requirements. They promote trust, mutual understanding, and strong communications among project stakeholders, and produce deliverables that structure and guide development. In addition to enhancing teamwork on your project, requirements workshops can also be fun and motivating. • Find out how workshops differ from meetings • How to weave needed roles, skills, and quality assurance into the requirements process • Set up an effective workshop using workshop best practices

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 11:30 AM    Go to 10:15 AM    Go to 2:00 PM

W7   Getting Started Project Management Lessons from the Frontlines Andy Kaufman, Institute for Leadership Excellence and Development In the natural world, systems tend to go from order to disorder. The same often happens with projects, teams, and organizations. Fortunately, there are things we can do as project leaders to improve our ability to thrive within chaotic project environments. In this session, you’ll join fellow project leaders and managers in a frank discussion about practical lessons learned through real-world experience • Learn to do more than just live with chaos • Come to grips with uncertainty, complexity, and change • Get practical tips, tools, and ideas you can apply to your projects right away

W8   Improving Iterative Software Development —From Theory to Practice Amir Tomer, RAFAEL Ltd. Iterative or incremental software development appears to be a promising software process approach, and it looks great in theory. However, it’s anything but simple when it comes time to apply it to real projects. Iterative development is even more difficult to implement when your staff is familiar — and comfortable — with the waterfall method. Amir Tomer illustrates how a leading company in Israel created a software development plan template and adapted it to the iterative process. • Identify the core differences between iterative and waterfall software development • Address the possible difficulties in applying the iterative process • How to shift your staff towards iterative development

W9   Advanced Topics Team-Based Development: Truth from the Trenches Bobbi Antonucci, Blackboard, Inc. As software professionals, the products we deliver are the totality of the services, documentation, software, and hardware required to produce a solution for customers. But how often do we find ourselves ready to deliver a software product, yet we still don’t have the services to support it? And how often does a product reach the testing phase even though it’s lacking some critical requirements? Team-based management is a solution to these common — but major — problems. Bobbi Antonucci describes the machinations of team-based software development and the issues it resolves. • Discover methods for deploying team-based software development • How to train team-based participants for success • Tactics to improve productivity and decrease errors

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 2:00 PM    Go to 10:15 AM    Go to 11:30 AM

W13   Getting Started Project Management in the e-World Bonnie Vaughan, Lexis Nexis Successful project management in today’s e-world depends on more than just solid project planning and tracking skills. A thorough understanding of the unique issues and opportunities faced by e-projects, as well as an in-depth knowledge of the scope and integration needs of these complex projects, is essential. This presentation steers participants through the maze of issues that confronts any e-world project, including its business application, infrastructure, portal, customer experience, content management, and communication requirements. • Learn e-world project management process tailoring • Discover e-world project scope and integration considerations • Highlight typical e-world development issues — and proven responses

W14   Improving Get Real! Creating Realistic, Actionable Project Schedules Rex Black, Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc. The preparation of a realistic, practical project schedule is an essential management function for obtaining stakeholder commitment, setting expectations, and communicating within the team and organization what is achievable. Doing this preparation well is another challenge — one that must be conquered. Rex Black helps participants see the bigger project scheduling picture by focusing on issues such as constituent tasks, the underlying dependencies between them, and the risks attached to the completion of those tasks • Penetrate scheduling complexities and create clear, readable project plans • Learn why “stretch goals” don’t work for project scheduling • How to build trust and team commitment through realistic scheduling

W15   Advanced Topics Requirements Are Requirements Are Requirements — Not! Robin Goldsmith, GoPro Management, Inc. “This isn’t what I need,” states Customer Bob. “But it’s what you said you wanted,” replies Engineer Joe. “It’s not right. I need something else.” We’ve all encountered this classic users-don’t-know- what-they-want scenario. The fact that software professionals continue to have this same experience over and over again suggests that we’re overlooking the real reasons for the user/engineer disconnect. This presentation contrasts the different uses of the term “requirements” as it explores the possible solutions to improving understanding between business people and technical people. • Discover the real reasons we have difficulty defining requirements • Learn key techniques for defining business requirements • Uncover the true nature of business/user requirements

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