Westfall Weekly Webinars

Principles of DevOps presented by Tom Henricksen

Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at 12:01 pm Central

DevOps brings development and operations together for faster releases. In this presentation, we cover the basics and principles of DevOps.

From there we review key aspects such as DataOps, DevSecOps, Flow Engineering, and more.

During this webinar you will learn to:

• Identify the basic principles
• Understand the DevOps framework
• Find additional practices to bring to your team

This is essential for developers and operations professionals in all stages of DevOps adoption.

The Role of Software Quality Testing/Assurance in CI/CD presented by Charles Carson

Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at 12:01 pm Central

In this webinar on CI/CD and Software Quality Assurance, we'll discuss how Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment automate code integration, testing, and deployment, and highlight the crucial role of Software QA in ensuring high-quality, reliable software releases.

Is Quality Management More than a Quality Management System (QMS)? presented by Robin Goldsmith

Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at 12:01 pm Central

There are a number of commercial “Quality Management Systems.” Many people may equate quality management (QM) to using such a system.

Frankly, before such systems became prevalent, “quality management” didn’t seem to be a big topic; although some international standards referred to, and a few organizations may have had, a quality management function/group separate from its “quality assurance” (QA) function/group. Join this interactive session to address:

• Are QM and QA really different? Do we need both?
• Is QM really a thing or just using a QMS?
• Can we gain QM benefits without investing in a commercial QMS?

The Seven Steps of Building Knowledge presented by Grace Duffy

Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 12:01 pm Central

Effective Quality Management requires an in-depth knowledge of the organization. One approach to a deeper understanding of excellence is to use an iterative discovery process. Explore a data analyst’s path to building knowledge in seven dimensions. Travel this path from local action to increasingly strategic and theoretical perspectives of current and innovative opportunities for improvement.

Consider the adage “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Take home a diagram of the seven iterative subprocesses for studying the multiple layers of quality management.

Is DevOps Really Different? If So From What?

Presented by: Robin Goldsmith

Are you struck, and possibly annoyed, by all the “___Ops” buzzwords being thrown around as if they’re making meaningful distinctions?  

“DevOps” of course is the grandfather of them all and presumably conveys something different from plain "Agile." “DevSecOps” has gained perhaps more traction than its various cousins.  Do we really need both terms, not to mention all the related variants? What has the proliferation achieved, and at what costs?  Join this interactive session to address:

•    What is, and is not, DevOps.
•    Whether its variant terms actually convey meaningful distinctions.
•    Why buzzword proliferation persists and what to do about it.

Available Free Until: 08/21/2024
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DevOps

Presented by: Scott Duncan

Scott Duncan has prepared an overview of DevOps concepts, culture, history, and key practices. DevOps grew out of several Agile related and connected activities, discussions, and conference sessions starting around 2007. This webinar will show the connection between Agile's culture and practices with those in DevOps. A key message is how DevOps focuses on connecting the product cycle from development to testing to operational deployment through rapid delivery practices and an "everything as code" approach.

Available Free Until: 08/28/2024

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How to Calm the Chaos in Your Work Life

Presented by: Diana Alt

Ever get to the end of a week where you worked a zillion hours only to realize 1) you can't remember what the heck you did and 2) your projects all feel stuck? Exhausting, isn't it?

In this session, Diana Alt, No BS Career and Executive Coach, will break down how she went from feeling overwhelmed and at the end of her rope to being back in control of her business using simple principles you can implement immediately.

Diana will share her story and teach us ways to leverage personal boundaries and some simple principles borrowed from Lean and Agile to fight overwhelm so you can be calmer and more effective at work - and home.

Available Free Until: 08/14/2023
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Project Management 101 - Work Breakdown Structures

Presented by:  Linda Westfall

One of the fundamental tools of Project Management is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). A WBS is a hierarchical decomposition of the project into subprojects, and subtasks, down to individual activities. The goal is to break the project work down into manageable elements called activities that can be easily estimated, budgeted, scheduled, tracked, and controlled.

In this webinar, you will learn about:
  - The different types of work breakdown structures
  - Why it is important to include all the work in your WBS
  - How far to break them down
  - How to use them to estimate your projects
  - How to use them to track your projects

Available Free Until: 08/07/2024
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How Project Management Can Quickly Enable Substantial Innovation

Presented by: Tom Henricksen

Is it possible to unleash innovation with project management? You can allow your team to experiment by creating constraints for them to work within, allowing them to test ideas and leverage small steps toward transformation. This session will cover three steps for leveraging your team's knowledge.  Once your team has these dialed in, it is time to practice, practice, practice. This can help foster the “Creative Mindset”. Join us to see how you can lead your team to innovation.

Available Free Until: 7/31/2024
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When You Have To Gain Approval For Your Project

Presented by: Robin Goldsmith

There’s a big difference between project managers (PMs) who are involved gaining approval for a project and those who are just assigned to an already-approved project.  Which do you think provides the greater value?  Which is more rewarding?  Which is riskier?  Which are you?  Which would you prefer to be?
•    Why “selling” is a vital but often overlooked advanced PM skill.
•    How effective business cases earn reliable project approval decisions.
•    Establishing credibility is a key PM critical success factor.

Available Free Until: 7/25/2024
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Data Integrity: Why, When, and How

Presented by: Nancy Pasquan

Data integrity is one of those things that we all think we understand.  But then we get push-back and long discussions during assessments on definitions such as “What is raw data?”, “That’s just for electronic data, right?”, and “What does data integrity governance look like?” Data integrity applies to all industries, data sources, and stores - laboratory, shop floor, automation, document control, and everywhere else.  There is an increased focus on data integrity across all industries and knowing how to determine where you stand can help you prevent issues such as regulatory findings, lost customer trust, inaccurate test results, decisions made on bad data, and much more.  Several guidance documents can help, but taking a hard look, as in a semi-formal assessment, will reveal much.  This presentation will provide suggested approaches to assessing, improving, and monitoring data integrity, whether in medical devices, pharmaceutical manufacturing, clinical trials, government, aerospace, automotive, IT, or services.

Available free until 07/18/2024
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Find the Right, Reliable Data for Persuasive Business Cases

Presented by: Robin Goldsmith

Money!  Money!  Money!  That’s a lot more interesting than data, isn’t it?

The fact is, though, that finding and presenting the right data the right way is key to getting the money to support your projects and ideas.  You probably know from past disappointments how hard it can be.

Join this interactive webinar to learn:

•    How to identify the data you need to convincingly convey your message.
•    Ways to collect data that is valid, reliable, and believable.
•    Responsibly and persuasively presenting your data.

Available Free Until: 07/11/24
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