HELP ME, I GOT A TEAM OF JUNIOR TESTERS!

Luís AmaralNovember 24, 2016

Software Testing Industry• We live in a world of multiple opportunities and limited resources

• Testing is becoming an essential step in the live cycle of any product or application launch; companies cannot afford a bad quality product in such a competitive environment.

• In accordance to Tehnavio report CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is growing 10% per year in 2014 and 2015 and the trend is to accelerate in 2016-2018

Value of Software Testing in 3 years:60+ BUSD (Technavio)

80+ BUSD (IDC)

Top 10 most in-demand jobs in 20161. Truck drivers2. Registered nurses3. Customer service representatives4. Sales representatives5. Sales managers6. Software quality assurance engineers and

testers7. First-line supervisors or managers of retail sales workers8. General and operations managers9. Child care workers10. Managers (all other)

Source: Indeed

Some more numbers: Internet of Things

What is a TeamA group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, job, or project.

Team members (1) operate with a high degree of interdependence, (2) share authority and responsibility for self-management, (3) are accountable for the collective performance, and (4) work toward a common goal and shared rewards(s).

A team becomes more than just a collection of people when a strong sense of mutual commitment creates synergy, thus generating performance greater than the sum of the performance of its individual members.

Teams Today• Teams are more and more volatile as the market

grows

• The world is faster as well

• People and teams will change faster

• New skills will be needed, at a faster pace

What is a Junior• The “Traditional Junior Employee”:

• Young person• Full of energy• Straight from School/University

• The “New Junior Employee”:• Lack of technical skills• Lack of industry skills• Inability to solve problems

Communication

CommunicationI am always very surprised with the gap between what I

meant and what was understood

• Ask people to repeat in their own words what they understood

• Juniors cannot refer to past experiences making more difficult to understand

Motivation• Make everyone the “CEO” of something

• Automation• Incident management• Progress control• …

• Reward success• Short term• Long term

• Don’t craft false reasons to praise; Be fair

Set clear expectations“You can’t expect everyone to have the same

dedication as you”

• Deadlines always look unclear even if you write them and repeat them regularly

• Clear and detailed task list• When possible• Ideally with detailed work instructions

Write the most important and critical needs

Knowledge is a long wayYou need to be able to perform tasks at a certain level

of quality and speed

• Usually you need to be at certain level of knowledge regarding:• Business and organization knowledge• Testing knowledge• Technical skills• Tools use and management

Patience, we are all learningDon’t be afraid to ask!

(the only idiot questions are the ones you don’t ask)

• Recent studies show that frequent tests can boost learning

• Create a learning atmosphere where knowledge is shared between the team easily and fast

As a manager you’re learning about your team, your team is learning about themselves and they are

learning about you!

Follow-up/Control• Very regular follow-up

• One on one• Team• Progress

Ask the right questions in your follow-ups!

• Very regular adjust track

Monitor the results• Reporting and progress might not be accurate

• Example where progress was great but there were no test case results

• Peer checks• Increase confidence in the results• Reduces the probability of fraud

• Do “public” test sessions• Ideally with the business to increase the confidence on the

delivery

Be always available• Time is critical in any part of the software development

lifecycle but after testing there is not a lot more to squeeze in

• All management books tell you should be available for your team, but if the team members don’t know what to do very well, this is even more important

• Your availability makes your team members feeling important and needed

• Your team is your most important asset

Connect people – Trust People• If you don’t know your topic very well you usually don’t

like to talk about it

• Some teams a testing team usually needs to connect to:• Development• Business• Infrastructure• Management• …

You can’t do it all alone

Structure, Focus and Perseverance• Structure is important to ensure that we’re doing the right

thing• Structure does not mean a lot of paperwork or rules

• Have your goal in mind – Ensure your team is aware of this goal• Deadlines• Progress• Quality

Never give up

Repeat, repeat, repeatSame bug 17 times or more!

• There are things you cannot control

• Preparation to be a tester involves understanding that you might have to repeat the same job many times

• Good communication with development (and all other) teams helps to reduce these recurring issues

• You have to act many times as a mediator between teams

Protect your teamThere is no I in the team

• Don’t take all the (good) credit

• Don’t forward the blame

• Spoil you team (in a good way)• Extra training• International (business) travel• Praise for results

Road to success

People

Motivation Focus Knowledge

Thank You!

luis.amaral@acm.org