SPA Conference session: Enhancing Your Professional Tool Kit | |||
| One-line description: | A workshop with the goal of sharing tried and proven "tools" or "best practices" in software development/management | ||
| Session format: | Workshop (150 mins) [read about the different session types] | ||
| Abstract: | In "More Secrets of Consulting" Gerald Weinberg introduces a consultant's tool kit and mentions several tools that help a consultant do his job well. In this workshop we will spend some time analysing the tools in our personal tool kit and then presenting those to the others. We will start out by defining the term "tool" - here we will differentiate between technical tools (i.e. cool tools that make working with the computer simpler), soft skill tools and process tools. After this every participant will be asked to spend some time capturing his "best" tools on a form with questions such as: - Description of tool - Which problem does this tool solve? - Are there any risks involved using this tool? - Are there any limitations to using this tool? In the next step each participant will join up with another participant so they can review each other's "tools" and help formulate them so a third person is able to understand them from just reading the form. After this the tools are presented to the group and captured on a board. In the remaining time we will divide into smaller groups and try to find tools that could help solve concrete problems participants might have. The outcomes will then - again - be presented to the group | ||
| Audience background: | none | ||
| Benefits of participating: | - overview of tools other people use to solve problems in the area of software development/management. - better undestanding of the tools the participant uses | ||
| Materials provided: | none | ||
| Process: | - brainstorming - brainwriting - group work | ||
| Detailed timetable: | 00:00 - 0:20 Warm up, introduction with a few examples of tools Weinberg introduces in his book, defining how the workshop will define the term "tools" 0:20 - 0:35 participants spend time writing down their tools and defining what problem the tool solves. 0:35 - 0:50 participants pair up and review each other's person's tools asking questions such as: Is there any information missing so I could put this tool into practice? Are there any limitations to using this tool? 0:50 - 1:05 Tools are presented to the group 1:05 - 1:20 Brainstorming in the group about problems that people would like tools to be able to solve them. I will be gathering these problems and pinning them up. 1:20 - 1:30 people walk around, adding tools that might help solve these problems on cards and finally grouping around problems they think they could participate in finding tools to help solve. 1:30 - 2:00 The groups around problem cards spend time brainstorming about and noting down tools to solve the problem 2:00 - 2:30 presentation of the results and feedback | ||
| Outputs: | presentation of the tools on the spa wiki page. | ||
| History: | |||
| Presenters | |||
| 1. Marina Haase independent |
2. | 3. | |