Home - TulsaTechFest 2008

Executable Requirements with Fitnesse

Speaker(s): Ryan Hoegg, Kenyatta Clark

This session is about shortening the cycle time for software requirements by defining acceptance criteria for your requirements up front. We then show how to use Fitnesse to make these acceptance criteria run against your software system. We explain why Inception -> Elaboration -> Construction -> Testing is inefficient, and how to replace it with Analysis/Test Definition -> Design/Construction.

Oct 9th

Agile Project Management

Speaker(s): Tina Mangham

Presentation on how agile practices such as backlogs, iteration planning, etc. aids in Project Management.

Oct 9th

Development Planning and Managing Mobile Solution Projects

Speaker(s): Mark Jones

There are many obstacles to overcome when planning for the development of mobile solutions. Learn best practices of mobile solution development planning, how to avoid potential pitfalls, and receive introductions into current and future mobile development platforms.

Oct 9th

Oct 10th - Track 04 - Project Management

What's Your Charter?

Speaker(s): Chuck Tryon

One of the first acts of any project should be to create a Project Charter. Webster describes a charter as "a declaration or document setting forth the aims and principles of a group united in an undertaking." We define a Project Charter as...

…a formal agreement between the creators and consumers of project deliverables that establishes the purpose, boundaries, directions, limitations and participants of a project.

The goal of a Project Charter is to achieve consensus between all the key players … at the start of the project when there is the greatest opportunity for agreement. Creating a well-defined Project Charter is simply good business. It is a highly professional act that pays dividends throughout the life of the effort.

If you can't get your customers, owners and team members aligned on the project at the very beginning, what are the chances of it happening later? Simply stated, no charter … no project.

This presentation explains the nine core Charter components proven by scores of organizations over the past twenty years of use.

Oct 10th

Retaining Organizational Knowledge - Projects Meet Knowledge Management

Speaker(s): Chuck Tryon

Organizations of all types and sizes are struggling to address the widening gap between what they must know to thrive and an unprecedented loss of organizational knowledge. New market opportunities and improved technologies create a growing demand for new knowledge. At the same time, seasoned workers are retiring at rates never seen in modern business and finding adequate replacements is becoming more difficult.

A new management discipline, Knowledge Management, has recently emerged with the goal to help organizations recognize, retain and share organizational knowledge. Knowledg Management is dominating discussions in executive suites around the world. Yet for many, this topic remains conceptual and intangible.

In this fresh and innovative presentation, noted speaker, author and seminar leader, Chuck Tryon of Tryon and Associates, examines two key elements missing from most organizations’approach to Knowledge Management. One critical component is a formal Knowledge Retention Policy that serves as an inventory of intellectual assets considered valuable to an organization. The other is to utilize naturally occurring projects as key source to harvest refined organizational knowledge, feeding both project and product repositories.

These concepts are the result of over twenty-five years of research by Mr. Tryon into implications of the Knowledge Age and a more recent collaboration with Dr. Suliman Hawamdeh, the program director of the Masters of Science in Knowledge Management program at the University of Oklahoma.

This presentation will clearly identify the challenges brought on by the current knowledge drain and how Knowledge Management addresses the problem. Mr. Tryon then provides very practical advice on how a Knowledge Retention Policy will help identify areas of organizational risk as well as establish a foundation for knowledge retention. Lastly, Mr. Tryon will offer a number of very tangible steps to consider when implementing a Knowledge Management strategy.

Additional information on Mr. Tryon and this approach to Knowledge Management may be found on the home page of www.TryonAssoc.com. For additional reading, download “Bridging the Knowledge Gap Parts One and Two” and “Project-Based Knowledge Management” from the Tryon and Associates website

Oct 10th

7 Habits of Highly Effective Project Managers

Speaker(s): Larry Winters

Millions of people are familiar with Stephen Covey’s popular 7 Habits series for personal development, management, and effectiveness. This unique program borrows Covey’s 7 Habits concept to present the seven characteristics of effective project managers. Accessible, penetrating and practical, this program is sure to leave participants with a number of epiphanies as well as a new-found focus in how they can more effectively and efficiently lead projects.

Oct 10th