QW2001 Workshop W4 Ms. Johanna Rothman & Ms. Elizabeth Hendrickson (The Rothman Consulting Group ) Grace Under Pressure: Handling Sticky Situations in Testing

Key Points

• How to make sure they heard what you said and not what they wanted you to say.
• How to handle difficult situations and obstinate people.
• What to do when you don't feel like anyone is listening.
• How to say "no" and make it stick.

Presentation Abstract

In this workshop Elisabeth Hendrickson and Johanna Rothman examine a series of difficult interactions between testers, test leads, developers, and managers, demonstrating proven techniques for presenting bad news, saying "no," and influencing others' behavior when you have no authority over them.

About the Author

Johanna Rothman observes and consults on managing high technology product development. She works with her clients to find the leverage points that will increase their effectiveness as organizations and as managers, helping them ship the right product at the right time, and recruit and retain the best people.

Johanna publishes "Reflections", an acclaimed quarterly newsletter about managing product development. Johanna's handbook, "Hiring Technical People: A Guide to Hiring the Right People for the Job," has proved a boon to perplexed managers, as have her articles in Software Development, Cutter IT, IEEE Computer, Software Testing and Quality Engineering, and IEEE Software.

Johanna is the founder and principal of Rothman Consulting Group, Inc., and is a member of the clinical faculty of The Gordon Institute at Tufts University, a practical management degree program for engineers.

Elisabeth Hendrickson is the Director of Quality Engineering at Aveo Inc., an Application Service Provider. Aveo Inc. offers Attune, a pre-emptive technical support service whose mission is to help companies communicate the right information to the right customer at the right time. Prior to joining Aveo, Elisabeth was the founder of Quality Tree Consulting, a software quality assurance consulting firm. As a consultant, Elisabeth provided services to Application Service Providers as well as more traditional independent software vendors.