Westfall Weekly Webinars

So You Want to Measure Stuff presented by Scott Duncan

April 8, 2026, at 12:01 pm Central

This webinar, while certainly discussing some typical metrics, encourages thinking beyond the traditional sense of metrics to consider other ways to “measure” things leading to positive change. As the webinar states, you measure to learn; learn to decide; decide to act; and act to cause some change to occur. The question is then, what change are you looking to make?

78.34% of Metrics Are Made Up presented by Robin Goldsmith

April 15, 2026, at 12:01 pm Central

Hopefully, the percentage of metrics that are made up is far lower, but surely is greater than zero.  Sometimes it can be intentional, whereas other times it can be inadvertent. Regardless, made-up metrics can have consequences, which can be especially hard to detect due to the lack of reliable measures.  This interactive session explores circumstances and impacts where metrics may be made up and suggests better approaches.

• Do only politicians make up metrics?
• Bigger dangers of inadvertently made-up metrics
• Need for and ways to detect and deal with made-up metrics

 6 Steps to Designing a Metric presented by Linda Westfall

April 22, 2026, at 12:01 pm Central

After we have defined what we want to measure and why, we need to design a consistent, clear way to collect and report the measurement. This allows everyone to collect data, turn it into information, and interpret it correctly to make better fact-based decisions. In this webinar, attendees will learn the six steps needed to design reliable and  valid metrics, including:

• Standardizing definitions for the entities and attributes being measured
• Choosing a measurement function
• Establishing a measurement method
• Defining decision criteria
• Designing reporting mechanisms
• Determining additional qualifiers

Team Estimation presented by Al Shalloway

April 29, 2026, at 12:01 pm Central

Learn a better approach to estimation than estimating story size using Planning Poker.

This webinar will discuss why the common method of how and what to estimate is poor advice.

Estimates should be based more on the value increments to be created and use a method that does not fall prey to the “planning fallacy” - a cognitive bias where people underestimate the time, costs, and risks of future actions, despite knowing that similar past projects exceeded similar estimates.

It will introduce Steve Bockman’s Team Estimation with a callout to James Grenning’s Planning Poker Party (no relation to planning poker).  This is a faster, more efficient, and more effective planning method that can be used even in places where Planning Poker is ineffective.

You’ll learn both how to use Team Estimation and be given access to a Lucid Board that enables you to do this remotely. 

How Lean, Evo, Flow, and Theory of Constraints Enables You to Shift Left

Presented by: Al Shalloway 

All of these methods are consistent with Deming. All add something to his work. And all leave a little out.

Together they give you a focus on continuous learning, who to create value for, how to maximize value creation, and how to diagnose and solve your problems. This webinar will introduce the concepts that each of these provide and how they work together. 

Available Free Until: 06/07/2026
_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}

QA vs. QC vs. QM vs. QE

Presented by: Robin Goldsmith

What’s in a name?  Many similar-sounding terms are applied to various aspects of software quality, often inconsistently and incorrectly,  which can impact quality outcomes and effectiveness.  For instance, many who are called “Quality Assurance (QA)” actually do Quality Control (QC), which can mean the organization fails to receive real QA’s benefits.  Similar issues pertain to “Quality Management (QM)” and “Quality Engineering (QE).”  This interactive session explains and differentiates these important terms.
    - How terminology issues impact Quality outcomes and effectiveness
    - Distinguishing QA, QC, QM, and QE
    - Gaining respective benefits of each without undue overhead

Available Free Until: 05/24/26
_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}

Defect Prevention: in Software Systems 

Presented by: Tom Gilb

Quality Assurance is defined as: Any methods that make sure, that we have the set of qualities we require, at the levels we require, and under other conditions (time, place, conditions) we require. Not at all limited to ‘bugs’ absence. Not limited to ‘code’.

Defect Prevention is defined as: avoidance of the occurrence of a defect at all. As opposed to detecting and correcting defects that have occurred.
Defect is defined: any negative deviation from specified requirements, for any type of requirements (function, performance, quality, constraint). Not just ‘function’.

Available Free Until: 05/17/26
_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}

Levels & Types of Requirements

Presented by: Linda Westfall

Most software practitioners just talk about "the requirements" as if they were one big set. However, by recognizing that requirements come in different levels and types, practitioners gain a better understanding of the information they need when defining their software requirements.  

Business-level requirements define the business problems to be solved or the business opportunities to be addressed by the software product.  

Stakeholder-level requirements define the value-added needs of the various stakeholders of the software, including:
    - Functionality - what do the stakeholders need to do (or not do) using the software 
    - Business rules - what does the software need to adhere to
    - Quality attributes - what does the software need to be

There may be multiple ways to meet the stakeholder-level requirements. The product-level requirements define the choices of what the software product will be when built, including:
    - Product functional requirements
    - Product attributes requirements
    - External interface requirement
    - Data & information requirements
    - Design constraints

Available free until 05/10/2026
_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}

Requirements Traps AI Probably Won’t Avoid

Presented by:  Robin Goldsmith

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is only as smart (or dumb) as the humans it learns from.  When defining requirements, unfortunately, humans (and thus AI) fall into common traps, which often masquerade as conventional wisdom.  Over-relying on AI to accurately identify requirements, especially without awareness of potential pitfalls, can create serious problems.  Learn about them in this interactive session so you can avoid them, including:
-  How AI “learns”
-  How conventional wisdom can skew AI’s learning
-  Common requirements that you can’t rely on AI to avoid

Available Free Until: 05/03/2026
_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}

Value Driven Objectives: Creating Clarity On Value In A Way That Rework Is Minimized 

Presented by: Al Shalloway
Value-Driven Objectives is not new in the sense that its components have all been validated for decades. These include: 
- using Tom Gilb’s focus on the values, success criteria, and constraints of critical stakeholders to guide us in what value really is 
- using jobs to be done to provide us a lens on how the stakeholders of a system will use it 
- a focus on objectives so that as we learn more, we create very rework 
- design thinking’s perspective of not looking for solutions to problem as much as discovering what our objectives truly are 
- human-centered design to create products that are intuitive 
- an attention to create in small increments to provide feedback on how well the product is emerging 
 
While this may sound overwhelming at first, the perspectives of these proven methods fit together well. This enables the sum of the parts to not only be greater than the whole, but easier to learn. 

This event presents the perspective shift each of these facets facilitates. This provides immediate insights on what to do.  It’s a shift of focus to 
- stakeholders 
- how they work 
- what value needs to be created 
- the real issues at hand 
- the users instead of the system 
- avoiding rework in complex situations. 

Available Free Until: 04/26/2026
_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}

What Auditors Wish Engineers Knew: A Pragmatic Guide to Demonstrating Secure Software 

Presented by: Kabrina Ashley

Security audits often feel like a mysterious black box to engineering teams—full of checklists, findings, and requests that seem disconnected from day to day development. In this session, a longtime auditor of software products and suppliers pulls back the curtain on how security is evaluated in practice. We’ll explore what evidence auditors look for and the common pitfalls that slow teams down or create unnecessary risk. Engineers will learn how to document and deliver software in ways that stand up to scrutiny, reduce friction during assessments, and ultimately strengthen the security posture of their products. Expect practical examples, real world lessons, and clear guidance you can apply immediately.

Available Free Until: 04/19/2026

_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}

Auditing the Software Development Lifecycle Using AI Tools

Presented by: Monica Chis

Auditing the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) with AI tools involves evaluating how AI is being used across each SDLC phase, ensuring that the use is effective, ethical, compliant, and aligned with best practices.

Attendees will:
- Understand how AI tools change SDLC practices
- Understand audit criteria for responsible AI use in development
- Know how to structure an SDLC audit using AI tools
- Use templates to perform effective AI-SDLC audits

Available Free Until: 04/12/2026
_{After this date JOIN OUR ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to access all past webinars.}