People Skills

People skills for software developers / software engineers and, in fact, technical workers in all industries

People Over Process: the Importance of Social Capital

By John Rusk on January 2, 2009

I recently enjoyed reading In Good Company. The book is addressed to a general business audience, but I found it very relevant to agile software development (particularly agile’s emphasis on people and their interactions). I recommend it to anyone interested in that side of agile.

From the back … Read more

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Great Video From James Bach

By John Rusk on December 29, 2008

I’ve just watched this on YouTube.

For those who don’t know, James Bach specializes in testing, but most of what he says is applicable to agile in general. He covers the “people over tools” point very well. As I’ve written before, the importance of people over tools is incredibly … Read more

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Individuals and Interactions

By John Rusk on October 3, 2008

Something’s bugging me.  I think we’ve lost sight of our priorities in the agile software movement.  We are spending too much time talking about processes and tools, and too little time talking about people and their interactions.

Think back to the Agile Manifesto.  At the moment, we seem to … Read more

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The Power of Negotiation

By John Rusk on January 16, 2006

Negotiation, meaning “discussion intended to produce agreement”, is fundamental to every software project.  (And other projects too – my examples just happen to come from the software industry.)  Developers and customers must reach agreement on what the system is supposed to do.   A wise agreement will define achievable goals and … Read more

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