Westfall Weekly Webinars

Writing Testable Requirements presented by Linda Westfall

Wednesday, April 30, at 12:01 pm Central

This webinar will discuss "how to" tips for writing testable requirements, including:

• Using short, direct, complete sentences
• Making requirements internally and externally consistent
• Removing ambiguity
• Making requirements measurable
• Making requirements finite
• Including testers in the requirements peer reviews
• Defining a testing strategy for each requirement as soon as it is specified
• Tracing requirements to test cases

Understanding the Organization and Its Context presented by Linda Westfall

Thursday, May 8, at 12:01 pm Central

*** Note Special Day of the Week ***

ISO 9001:2015 Clause 4.1 states that "The organization shall determine external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose and its strategic direction and that affect its ability to achieve the intended result(s) of its quality management system."

This webinar will discuss what that means, and what the organization should include as part of its Quality Management System to address this clause.

How Strategic Is Your QMS Strategy?  presented by Robin Goldsmith

Wednesday, May 14, at 12:01 pm Central

It may not have been intentional, or even recognized, but your Quality Management System (QMS) represents a strategy.  Too often, it’s mainly a non-strategy, passively accepting and merely documenting whatever quality events come your way—probably problems!  Smart organizations, and smart folks working in them, use their QMS to gain competitive advantage.  They deliver better products and services they can be proud of.  This interactive session shows you how to do it too.

• What strategy really is and how it probably differs from yours.
• What your QMS says about your organization’s strategy.
• How to make your QMS a strategic advantage.

QMS Audits presented by Nancy Pasquan

Thursday, May 22, at 12:01 pm Central

*** Note Special Day of the Week ****

This webinar will discuss Quality Management System (QMS) Audits.

The Quality Manager as Change Manager: Effectively Leading Change Across Organizations presented by Zac Jarrard

Wednesday, May 28, at 12:01 pm Central

Quality managers are often change managers. The implementation of a project, new software, or improving a process creates a change that affects people, process, and technology. This can be difficult and take time to get an organization from where they are today to where they want to be after the project is complete. Change management is a key part of successful project delivery and post-deployment. This presentation will provide an overview of change management, discuss the key elements of managing change, and share lessons learned from my experience.

Tips to Elicit Requirements that Don't Change (So Much)

Presented by: Robin Goldsmith

“It’s what you said you wanted.”  “But it’s not what we need.”  Welcome to the real world of creep.  It gets repeated practically every project because we mistakenly characterize it as “the requirements changed.”  In fact, while some may change, most creep is actually changing awareness of requirements that could and should have been known all along. During this webinar, you will learn:
    - Why the disconnects occur that cause requirements to “change.”
    - Red flags that indicate trouble ahead.
    - Keys to getting on the right path with stakeholders from the start.

Available Free Until: 05/15/2025
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How to Use Event/Response Tables to Identify Requirements

Presented by: Linda Westfall

Event/response tables are a powerful tool for defining how a software product should react to various external events based on its current state. These events may be triggered by users (actors), hardware devices (such as sensors and buttons), or time-based conditions (e.g., the end of the day or a specified time interval).

During requirements elicitation and analysis, event/response tables are invaluable for uncovering scenarios where external events occur unexpectedly. By identifying missing exception-handling requirements, they help ensure a more complete and robust set of requirements. These tables are especially effective when collaborating with stakeholders or when used in facilitated requirements workshops, making them an essential technique for developing high-quality software systems.

Join us to explore how event/response tables can enhance your approach to software requirements and improve system reliability!

Available Free Until: 05/08/2025
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What Is Part of Our Project? Tools for Requirements Gathering and Management

Presented by: Zac Jarrard

Requirements are an essential part of project delivery. Poor requirements gathering and management could result in bad implementation, frustration, and project failure. There are several tools project managers can use to successfully gather and monitor requirements throughout a project lifecycle. In this webinar, you will learn to:
1) examine the purpose of requirements
2) share tools for gathering and managing requirements
3) share lessons learned from experience

Available Free Until: 05/01/2025
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Stop Blending In: Communicating Your Personal Brand with LinkedIn

Presented by: Diana Alt

If your LinkedIn profile still has the gray banner of neglect or your headline is just your job title, we’ve got a problem. In today’s job market, it’s not enough to have a LinkedIn presence—you need a killer LinkedIn presence. One that makes people want to connect with you, remember you, and—if you’re lucky—hire you.
But it’s not just about setting up a decent profile and calling it a day. Being active on LinkedIn is the real game-changer. Commenting, posting, and engaging with your network can take you from invisible to credible—without spending hours glued to your screen.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:
•    Build a LinkedIn profile that makes people actually want to connect with you.
•    Create a killer “bumper sticker” for your profile that grabs attention fast.
•    Engage strategically on LinkedIn to grow your visibility and influence.
•    Avoid common mistakes that scream, “I haven’t touched my profile since 2010.”
If you’re ready to ditch the gray banner of neglect and start showing up like the pro you are, this session is for you.

Available Free Until: 04/25/2025
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Getting on the Same Page with Management

Presented by: Robin Goldsmith

Engineering types historically have been viewed as “techies” out of sync with the business powers that be.  That dramatically impacts one’s effectiveness, limiting one’s career and also benefits to the organization.  The typical solution tried is to “learn to speak the language” of the business, but such simplistic efforts seldom succeed and easily can backfire.

•    Why business/management has trouble with engineering types.
•    Traps of relying on speaking in business terms and jargon.
•    Keys to gaining needed credibility.

Available Free Until: 04/18/25
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Value Stream Mapping

Presented by: Linda Westfall

Value Stream Mapping (VSM), a lean management technique that provides a visual representation of an organization's processes, enabling businesses to understand their operations in greater depth so they ca  analyze and improve the flow of their processes. By providing a visual representation of the entire production or service process, VSM helps organizations identify waste, bottlenecks, and areas of improvement. Attendees of this webinar will learn:
•    What Value Stream Mapping is
•    Why Value Stream Mapping is beneficial
•    When Value Stream Mapping is used
•    Who uses Value Stream Mapping
•    How to implement Value Stream Mapping

Available Free Until: 4/11/2025
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Of Course I Deliver Value, Don't I?

Presented by: Robin Goldsmith

We all assume we deliver value, but some folks may not see it that way.  

There really are two issues:  delivering value and communicating it.  It can be frustrating and confusing when bosses don’t understand what we do or why it is valuable.  Communicating may need to include conveying both what we’ve delivered and why it’s valuable.

•    Why our opinion of our value may not match managers’ views.
•    Ways to assess objective measurable value of what we do.
•    Overcoming impediments to communicating our value.

Available free until 04/04/2025
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Delivering Value ... Delighting the Customer

Presented by: Scott Duncan

This webinar will address ideas for delivering value to customers and, ultimately, working to delight them. Topics covered will be:
     - Essential Understanding of Value
     - The Need for Effective Feedback
     - Pursuit of Collaboration and Possible Challenges
     - Achieving Value Sooner
     - Delivering a “Working” Results
     - Classic Juran - Fit for Use
     - The Impact of Contracts on Collaboration
     - Kano’s View of Delighting the Customer
     - Summary of Ideas

Available Free Until: 3/28/2025

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