Latest Posts - Page 85 of 192

June 24, 2020June 18, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

The Upside of Messaging Tools

Our modern communication within a group is dominated by tools like MS Teams and Slack. These messaging tools are the outcome of several years of working on the problem of quick and thorough communication. We have looked at how e-mail is intended for lengthy or cumbersome conversations. Now we look at tools that are designed for a quick response and often a short one. These provide for much more transactional communication (Q&A) rather than full dialogues. While the tools can be a nuisance and disrupt our day, there are positives in using them. A Paper Trail We have looked at the problem of forgetting details in a complicated conversation. This issue is still a common one faced in simple conversations... Read more

June 22, 2020June 17, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

Email As a Positive – Looking on the Bright Side

We all use email daily. Even though we have seen several new ways to communicate in recent years, it is still a staple of our lives. That is why spam is so common. It is a way to reach almost everyone. Of course, it also means we have more messages we delete than we read. Nevertheless, we can look at email as a positive. It provides us a needed option for communication online. Use Email As It Is Intended The headaches from email come as much from the misuse of it (or more so) as proper usage. The first point to remember is that this is a tool for conversations. It is not intended to do instant response communication. These... Read more

June 19, 2020June 12, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

A Positive Look At Scope Creep

When you look at statistics on software development, the success rate is disappointing. Many factors contribute to this negative trend. However, scope creep is a stealthy form of derailing even the best-planned projects. Nevertheless, there is a bright side to this common obstacle. We can find a silver lining for even this black storm cloud. Filling a Release Scope creep can be managed in a way that makes it desirable. There are opportunities during most projects to slip in a little work here or a tweak there. These small changes can be accomplished without impacting deadlines and the big picture goals of a project. When you have these items, they are the best use of scope creep. You might even... Read more

June 17, 2020June 11, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

Positive Customer Experience – Finding a Win

Our paychecks primarily come from customers, directly or indirectly. That may point to there being no negatives in dealing with them. Nevertheless, supporting users can be a struggle. Developers and engineers do not typically enjoy support and interaction with them. That does not keep us from finding a positive customer experience in the work we are asked to do. Setting The Stage I have often pointed out that those “pesky customers” slow down our development progress. It is not uncommon to be in a situation where the new features or improved performance we are chasing would be available sooner if we could “pause” our customers for a while. Even maintenance windows would be more convenient if our customers did not... Read more

June 15, 2020June 11, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

The Upside of Challenging Problems

We all face obstacles and challenges in our daily work. However, the IT world is full of extra challenging problems. These are the tasks that we struggle against for days or weeks instead of minutes or hours. We can see a project go off the rails due to one of these obstacles, and they can challenge our sanity. They are never fun to experience. Nevertheless, some positives come from these “dark days.” What Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger The most significant positive to come from these challenging problems is the thrill of success. When we get past these types of issues, it shows us we can what we thought was impossible. Our career does not end with that... Read more

June 12, 2020June 9, 2020 A Positive Point-Of-View

The Upside of Recruiters

Timing is everything. There are moments where it is easy to list the upside of recruiters. On the other hand, there are times when we have less nice things to say. For example, that call that interrupts our “coding groove” can make any call unpleasant. It is only made worse when we find the person on the other end has a random job to tell us about. A View Into The World I have come across developers that see no positives in working with headhunters. However, a significant upside of recruiters is that they do the work we prefer to avoid. They fill a role like tax accountants. There are just some areas we prefer not to think about, even... Read more