We often find teams that don’t have enough knowledge of the basics. They regularly lack support from management, and also don’t have access to the right tools. Despite all the obstacles, the testers are expected to carry the burden of driving exceptional quality and customer satisfaction for the company.
Most testers and test engineers have a great amount of ambition and motivation to be the best at their craft. They find great bugs and strive to be a team player within their projects. However, many people that enter the testing industry come from different backgrounds with limited information and little to no formal test training. They work with the knowledge they’ve learned through experience instead. This has led them to do things according to what’s familiar to them, rather than act on best practices or methods.
All kinds of issues arise, such as development “handoffs.” It’s common to find self-proclaimed Scrum teams, who have never been trained in Scrum, using ScrumBut practices. If you believe that then you are one of the ScrumButs, check out this article from the Scrum Alliance.
Nowadays, it’s normal to say that test teams need help with the basics. Efficient, effective teams still need the support to take themselves to the next level. It’s important to learn as much as possible and make incremental changes. Changing one thing at a time will help you zero in on what works and share it with your teammates.
With those ideas in mind, LogiGear can provide you with quick access to training techniques. We have written extensively about topics like strategic risk management and requirements analysis.
LogiGear Magazine is a one-stop shop for developing software testing skills. In particular, our segment, “Leader’s Pulse,” will help you navigate through team and training troubles. We hope that our educational content will have a positive effect on your daily work, team, product, stakeholders, customer satisfaction, and overall job satisfaction. As always, we’re open to comments, suggestions, and contributions to improve your experience and resources.
Michael is a Certified Scrum Master and has co-authored two books on software testing. Testing Applications on the Web: Test Planning for Mobile and Internet-Based Systems (Wiley, 2nd ed. 2003), available in English, Chinese and Japanese, and Global Software Test Automation (HappyAbout Publishing, 2006). He is a founding member of the Board of Advisors at the University of California Berkeley Extension and has taught for the Certificate in Software Quality Engineering and Management at the University of California Santa Cruz Extension. As a member of IEEE, his training courses have brought Silicon Valley testing expertise to over 16 countries."