Joep Schuurkes (Posts about skills)https://smallsheds.garden/categories/skills.atom2023-11-26T10:50:51ZJoep SchuurkesNikolaThree lessons after three months of quality engineeringhttps://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/three-lessons-after-three-months-of-quality-engineering/2022-11-27T16:41:25+01:002022-11-27T16:41:25+01:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>Three months ago I started a new job as a quality engineer, supporting two teams. So far it's been an interesting challenge. The two teams were formed only a few months before I joined, although some team members had been working for the company before that. Each team has their own product manager. We also have an engineering manager, but he joined only two weeks before I did. And then I was added to the mix, with a job description that didn't give a lot more guidance than: support the team in things related to testing and quality.</p>
<p>So my first task in my new job was figuring out what my job was. Or rather, figure out what concrete things I could do that fit that job description. This was not made easier by the fact that we're a fully remote company. Not being in the same space throughout the day does make things harder when you're trying to find your place. Reflecting on the past three months made me realize there are three things that are really important: visibility, connections, and patience.</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/three-lessons-after-three-months-of-quality-engineering/">Read more…</a> (5 min remaining to read)</p></div>Uncovering Agile micro-skills at FroGS confhttps://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/uncovering-agile-micro-skills-at-frogsconf/2022-03-14T16:56:09+01:002022-03-14T16:56:09+01:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>At the second <a href="https://frogsconf.nl/">FroGS conf Open Space</a> on 12 March 2022 I facilitated a session based on my blog post <a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/four-skills-to-embody-the-four-agile-values/"><em>"Four skills to embody the four Agile values"</em></a>. My goal with the session was to uncover more Agile (micro-)skills. In this post I'll share what we did during the session and I'll close off with some thoughts on the biggest challenge of this exercise: too many skills. Before I start however, a big thank you to everyone who participated in the session!</p>
<h2>What we value</h2>
<p>I opened the session with asking people to add stickies to the board of things they valued in Agile software development. When was I preparing the Miro board before the session, I labeled this part of the board "values". Then I remembered I had decided earlier to label it "what we value", so as to avoid the discussion about what values are and aren't. The topic did come up (i.e. the relation between values, ethics and morals), so I was glad I could respond by saying it's a great topic, but not for this session.</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/uncovering-agile-micro-skills-at-frogsconf/">Read more…</a> (4 min remaining to read)</p></div>Four skills to embody the four Agile valueshttps://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/four-skills-to-embody-the-four-agile-values/2022-02-06T17:04:06+01:002022-02-06T17:04:06+01:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>If you're familiar with the <a href="https://agilemanifesto.org/">Agile Manifesto</a>, you're familiar with its four values:</p>
<ul>
<li>Individuals and interactions over processes and tools</li>
<li>Working software over comprehensive documentation</li>
<li>Customer collaboration over contract negotiation</li>
<li>Responding to change over following a plan</li>
</ul>
<p>Recently this made me wonder: how do you apply these values? How do you live them? What skills do you need to embody them? In this post I won't be sharing any definitive or complete answers, but as a starting point I have identified four skills needed to embody the four Agile values.</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/four-skills-to-embody-the-four-agile-values/">Read more…</a> (9 min remaining to read)</p></div>