Talk: Testing - Let’s see it as a communication performance
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Speaker:
Lucian Adrian
Talk description
Title:
Testing - Let’s see it as a communication performance
Short synopsis:
It's vital for successfully delivering software projects understanding that business stakeholders have sometime a different perception of the realities around the project. Understanding the differences between tech and business sides of the project can help testers achieve successful delivery of the information they have to share.
Max size: 500 chars
Long synopsis (optional):
It's vital for successfully delivering software projects understanding that business stakeholders have sometime a different perception of the realities around the project. Understanding the differences between tech and business sides of the project can help testers achieve successful delivery of the information they have to share. Software testing is knowledge work, and the most important elements we operate every day is information. This element of daily work can take many shapes, including both evident format, such as specifications, implementation details, test details, test results, as well as tacit information and knowledge that is in abundance in today’s cross functional software development teams. At the same time, the most influential person I know of in the software testing industry, Jerry Weinberg, said in one of his books that testers have a primary mission of delivering information to those who are to make decisions about the tested piece of work. Many times, the decision-making persons are not mentally close to neither how software is developed not how it is tested. These stakeholders can exercise power and influence in the organization, and usually have a more business-oriented mindset. These are the kind of persons testers need to provide information to, as Jerry said. The difference between testers and business stakeholders in terms of mindset, culture and other aspects of how software is approached potentially create a communication gap between these two sides who should work together. On the other side, Linda Rising once said that in order to influence one, communication is best to use the language of the one needing influencing.Operating with information, mastering testing sometimes equals mastering communication, besides the excelling in the testing craft. At times, testers even if good communicators, need to co-exist in organizational environments that have the communication channels & mechanisms shaped by others, such as project managers or other business related roles, and testers need to be able to navigate and thrive in such communication landscapes. The session will show how having a communication model can serve both building the message appropriate for business and PM to understand, as well as for explaining better the role and function of the testing activity in the context of the project. Key Takeaways: increased awareness of the communication gap and differences in expectations and languages between business and software testing a mapping scheme matching various project lifecycle phases with types of information testing people are expected to provide a guide for testers to spot sensitive for business people points, that testers can target when building their bug advocacy message
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