A test manager’s knowledge

ASTQB knowledge? Don’t treat quality assurance as the final development phase. “Quality assurance is not the last link in the development process. It is one step in the ongoing process of agile software development. Testing takes place in each iteration before the development components are implemented. Accordingly, software testing needs to be integrated as a regular and ongoing element in the everyday development process.” “A good bug report can save time by avoiding miscommunication or the need for additional communication.”

What metrics do you want? The one size fits all approach just doesn’t work for collecting metrics. It depends on so many factors and unless you are using a Test Management Tool of some description you are unlikely to have all the stats you need at hand. As a starting point you need to understand what the key factors are that mean most to you. Do you have a drop dead date for your projects? Do you need your requirements to be exact? Do you need your estimation to be near perfect? Once you work out what is critical to you and your organisation, start collecting the metrics for this. Focus the collected metrics around your key factors and this will help you get what you need without creating a significant overhead in collecting all other metrics.

How would you like to have all the software testing knowledge you need in one comprehensive book? Whether you want to level up in the software test management field, or gain useful knowledge on the sector as a whole, A Test Manager’s Guide is the resource for you. As a young graduate I started looking for potential career opportunities and this eBook has shown me the beauty and complexity of the Test Manager profession from a theoretical standpoint. Read more details at Istqb Book.

Report findings in the context of business value. Focus on the data that is being communicated back to stakeholders, from your findings as part of testing – the data should be in context of ‘how’ the behavior observed is detrimental to the objective of the feature or application being developed. Engage the end user. Probably the most important person in the whole process, yet many times we may be tempted to keep them at arm’s length; you should involve the customer actively. Have them give frequent feedback on the product for future improvement and development; software developers who respond quickly to customer feedback are generally more successful. Always keep learning. [The] IT field changes; way [faster] than some of us would like. If you are not constantly updating your skills, you could get irrelevant, obsolete and outdated. In a world of lay-off paranoia, it is a good idea to rise above it all, gain immunity and feel secure. The best way to do so is to make learning a habit.

Work at home software testing advice for today : With the switch to teleworking we’ve been using Google hangouts with web-cams. We first tried it without webcams but since we’re used to being in the same physical space most days, it has been helpful to see people on the camera. It also forces people to fully engage in the meeting and not be multi-tasking doing other things. So we’d recommend using video and audio if practically possible. The online tools for release and sprint planning we use (SpiraPlan in our case) work just as well in-person as remote, so as long as you’re not relying on physical boards, should be minimal adjustment. If your team is using physical Scrum or Kanban boards, now is a good time to move to an online planning tool. Discover a few extra info at cania-consulting.com.