We’ve all heard test management myths such as: “Utilize everyone, all the time”, “Don’t let people come to you without solutions to problems,” “Training time is useless,” and my all-time favorite “Work smarter.” Are you supposed to believe them? Much of what you may have heard about management is myth—based not on evidence, but on something from the Industrial Revolution, or something that someone else read in a book that does not fit your context. And it may be wrong—dead wrong. As with many myths, they do contain a tiny nugget of truth. If you would like to learn what to do instead, to avoid the gridlock of 100 percent utilization, to help people develop solutions when they are stuck, to effectively utilize training and which kinds, to work more effectively—the kinds of management that works for knowledge workers—join Johanna in exposing test management myths.

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Test Management
5/7/2014 11:30:00 AM
Exposing Test Management
Myths
Presented by:
Johanna Rothman
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.
Brought to you by:
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2. Johanna Rothman
Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.
Known as the “Pragmatic Manager,”Johanna Rothman helps organizational leaders identify
problems and risks in their product development and recognize potential “gotchas,” seize
opportunities, and remove impediments. Johanna is the technical editor for agileconnection.com
and is author of Manage Your Job Search, Hiring Geeks That Fit, Manage Your Project
Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects, the 2008 Jolt Productivity award-
winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management, and Behind Closed
Doors: Secrets of Great Management. She is currently writing a book about agile program
management. In addition, Johanna writes columns for Stickyminds.com and
projectmanagment.com, and blogs on jrothman.com, and createadaptablelife.com.

3. ExposingTest Management Myths
Johanna Rothman
New: ManageYour Job Search!
www.jrothman.com
@johannarothman
jr@jrothman.com
781-641-4046
© 2014 Johanna Rothman
“Utilize Everyone All theTime”
A mind is a terrible thing to
waste!
Context switching wastes
people, prevents innovation,
and makes everything take
longer
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4. © 2014 Johanna Rothman
“I Can Move People Like Chess
Pieces”
Test managers never have
enough people!
But testers need domain
expertise to be effective!
Managers need to manage
the project portfolio:
optimize at the top-most
level, not at the person-level
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© 2014 Johanna Rothman
“I Need an Expert forThis...”
Project dependencies
create bottlenecks!
Never let experts work
alone
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5. © 2014 Johanna Rothman
“We Have NOTime ForTraining”
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We are too busy running
like hamsters, making do!
“If you train people, they
will leave”!
If you don’t train them, they
might stay
© 2014 Johanna Rothman
“Promote the BestTechnical Person
Into Management”
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Management work is
different from technical
work!
Managers work outside the
team!
Managers need
interpersonal skills
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6. © 2014 Johanna Rothman
“Work Smarter”
Who wants to work
dumber?!
Exhortations don’t work!
Management has to create
the environment in which
teams can “work smarter”
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© 2014 Johanna Rothman
“I KnowWhat Everyone is Doing”
One-on-ones are for more
than just status reports!
Build trust and a working
relationship
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7. © 2014 Johanna Rothman
“Time Spent atWork is a Useful
Measure of Work”
Who here has had good
days and bad days at work?!
The only measure is
features complete
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© 2014 Johanna Rothman
“I Know How Long theWork Should
Take...”
Conceptually easy to
understand is not the same as
easy to complete!
Related to Dunning-Kruger
effect: People think they are
more competent than they are!
Wanting to have the work take
less time does not make it so
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8. © 2013 Johanna Rothman11
What’s your favorite management
myth?
© 2014 Johanna Rothman
You Can Help Me
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Would you like a book
about these myths?!
What would a great title
be?
Exposing Test Management Myths
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9. © 2014 Johanna Rothman
Let’s Stay InTouch...
I’ve been writing the myths, one a month on Stickyminds,
and then posting afterwards on my site,
www.jrothman.com!
Pragmatic Manager: www.jrothman.com/
pragmaticmanager!
Please link with me on LinkedIn
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