So I recently had a discussion at work to define how my role works and the responsibilities and what it entails. I thought it would be good to open that up to the wider audience here, as I often hear that there is no need for a Test Manager/Test Lead in an Agile environment.
Whilst there is no need for what we would see as an old school test manager, being one that manages test resources and allocates testers to projects, there is still a need for a test manager/test lead, and I'll explain my thinking here.
In the past my role has been around fighting fires and helping teams out when testing resource is needed, which don't get me wrong I have enjoyed as it's meant getting my hands dirty and improving things from the ground level.
However, I wanted my role to be clearly defined as we have gone through structural changes since it was last defined, and some of the responsibilities aren't necessarily valid still.
The first thing that I wanted to work on was working closely with the teams that I look after, work with the testers within the team so I can help see what the weaknesses/strengths are and help them develop accordingly. It is also important to define how seniors and mid level engineers worked within teams to ensure that testers across teams were working at comparable levels. I also want to be able to mentor people and help testers grow and be there in case they need help/advice in any testing conundrums that they may come across.
Next I'm really eager to get a sense of community going, I've had few meetings with people who are also interested to define what we see a community as, what they want from a community, so it looks like things are going to start picking up hopefully on that front. I read an interesting blog here that defines what a community is and how it should work and I agree wholeheartedly with that approach. The next step is obviously implementing it... More updates will obviously occur on this front.
Another important factor of my role and in all honesty is probably one of the most challenging and time consuming aspects is recruiting good testers for the teams, but it's something that I want to look after and help achieve as this will ultimately make my job easier and help me achieve another goal in improving the perception of testing in the company.
I want to also work with the testers that we have and provide classes and help people put on classes to improve their skill-set to help them become better testers, as it's all very well recruiting good testers, but it's important to ensure that current testers who we have aren't left behind. This is something that unfortunately I've not had time to do yet, but it is something that I plan on doing going forward.
Also, whilst I don't manage resources I do have a say on estimating what resources will be needed for up coming projects, which I enjoy looking at and learning about new technologies etc.
Finally, I think it's important to have a view of multiple projects that are going on to see any cross cutting concerns and ensure that testing covers all aspects of any integration that may occur.
This is a high level overview of what I think a test lead/manager role should be in an agile organisation, sure it will vary from place to place, but
Whilst there is no need for what we would see as an old school test manager, being one that manages test resources and allocates testers to projects, there is still a need for a test manager/test lead, and I'll explain my thinking here.
In the past my role has been around fighting fires and helping teams out when testing resource is needed, which don't get me wrong I have enjoyed as it's meant getting my hands dirty and improving things from the ground level.
However, I wanted my role to be clearly defined as we have gone through structural changes since it was last defined, and some of the responsibilities aren't necessarily valid still.
- Drive testing within teams
Directly or by working closely with Testers in the team
Define how Seniors and Mid Level Engineers work together in a team - Create a Testing Community
Help develop and mentor testers - Recruit good testers
- Put on classes/programs for people to learn and develop
- Forecast Test Resources
- Oversee any cross cutting concerns of projects across the organisation
- Improve the perception of testing
The first thing that I wanted to work on was working closely with the teams that I look after, work with the testers within the team so I can help see what the weaknesses/strengths are and help them develop accordingly. It is also important to define how seniors and mid level engineers worked within teams to ensure that testers across teams were working at comparable levels. I also want to be able to mentor people and help testers grow and be there in case they need help/advice in any testing conundrums that they may come across.
Next I'm really eager to get a sense of community going, I've had few meetings with people who are also interested to define what we see a community as, what they want from a community, so it looks like things are going to start picking up hopefully on that front. I read an interesting blog here that defines what a community is and how it should work and I agree wholeheartedly with that approach. The next step is obviously implementing it... More updates will obviously occur on this front.
Another important factor of my role and in all honesty is probably one of the most challenging and time consuming aspects is recruiting good testers for the teams, but it's something that I want to look after and help achieve as this will ultimately make my job easier and help me achieve another goal in improving the perception of testing in the company.
I want to also work with the testers that we have and provide classes and help people put on classes to improve their skill-set to help them become better testers, as it's all very well recruiting good testers, but it's important to ensure that current testers who we have aren't left behind. This is something that unfortunately I've not had time to do yet, but it is something that I plan on doing going forward.
Also, whilst I don't manage resources I do have a say on estimating what resources will be needed for up coming projects, which I enjoy looking at and learning about new technologies etc.
Finally, I think it's important to have a view of multiple projects that are going on to see any cross cutting concerns and ensure that testing covers all aspects of any integration that may occur.
This is a high level overview of what I think a test lead/manager role should be in an agile organisation, sure it will vary from place to place, but
Two things jump out at me. The first is, at least in my head, a lead is someone in charge of the 'technical' aspects of a project while a manager is someone who is more involved in the 'people' aspects. Obviously these two categories intermix, so another way of looking at it is to say a lead is the person dealing with how the work is organized and completed in a testing team and a manager is concerned with a larger picture. The lead would be an expert in the system(s) under test and would have a solid idea of the testing workflow. The lead might know a great deal about the automation and/or documentation being developed and likely wrote a large portion of it. The manager would be more concerned with the bigger picture. They might be talking with the CTO about QA needs, about how the ratio of Dev-to-Ops or QA-to-Dev is wrong in their context. This gets me to the second thing that jumped out at me.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the improvement of the process outside of testing? Assisting the developers in improving their code and teaching them to do basic 'bench' testing. Helping design who does what types of testing (unit testing, integration testing, functional testing, etc.). I recall James Whittaker wrote something to the effect of how he judged a QA engineer by how well the development team did and/or improved. While this might fall under your cross-cutting concerns, I didn't get that out of your writing.
I could go on, but there is some food for thought.
- JCD
I think #2, #4, and #7 address some of the most important problems with the broader testing "community" today. Everywhere you look in software development today, there are coding "celebrities". Household names, rock stars, evangelists (Matsumoto & DHH, for example, are two among dozens of others), who have gathered large development communities full of really passionate young programmers by the thousands.
ReplyDeleteQuite frankly, I think the testing craft is desperately starving for this kind of passion, and leadership. I scan blogs, twitter accounts, and videos constantly, and as far as I can see, there are really only two people who are even marginally successful at inspiring the same kind of self-identification with testing, and the same sense of community, as the celebrity coders: James Bach, and Markus Gärtner.
The blog you linked to is essentially restating a presentation by James Bach (as pictured). We need a lot more James Bachs, and a lot more passionate young testers following people like James Bach (and others), if testing, as a craft, as a discipline, and as a role within organizations that rely upon software development, is going to survive into the future.
Many people are terrified of the notion of "celebrity testers" (see Karen Johnson's chat at CAST 2014, here for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUijs3KifxU). But the point Karen is missing, is that "celebrity testers" *are leaders*, and leaders inspire, and inspired people form communities, and communities will rally around leaders when the need is there.
What you are doing at your organization by promoting community, active learning, and open communication, is precisely that. And as such, you are providing value to much more than just your organization. You are adding real bricks-and-mortar to the larger testing community, and in doing so, helping to make sure that the craft not only survives, but *thrives* in the coming decades.
Nice Posting...great explanation .
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