defining the profession - europe's largest software ... · • develop a test strategy •...

Defining The Profession

Ruud Teunissen,

Polteq IT Services,

The NetherlandsTh15

© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 2

Ruud TeunissenPolteq IT Services BV – The Netherlands

Stockholm – December 6th 2007


Objectives for this workshop

• Discuss the testing profession

• Key points

- Trust people, not numbers, processes, books or tools

- Play to their strengths, don't ask for the impossible

- Stand by your tester and be rewarded with the "speed

of trust"

• Exchange experiences



[email protected]

http://www.polteq.com



Profession

• A profession is an occupation, vocation or career where

specialised knowledge of a subject, field, or science is

applied. It is usually applied to occupations that involve

prolonged academic training and a formal qualification. It

is axiomatic that "professional activity involves systematic

knowledge and proficiency.“

• Professions are usually regulated by professional bodies

that may set examinations of competence, act as an

licencing authority for practitioners, and enforce

adherence to an ethical code of practice.

Source: Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_body

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examination

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licensure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_code


Formation of a profession

• A profession arises when any trade or occupation transforms itself through "the development of formal qualifications based upon education and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights."

• The process by which a profession arises from a trade or occupation is often termed professionalization and has been described as one, "starting with the establishment of the activity as a full-time occupation, progressing through the establishment of training schools and university links, the formation of a professional organization, and the struggle to gain legal support for exclusion, and culminating with the formation of a formal code of ethics."

Source: Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professionalization


Characteristics of a profession (not extensive)

Source: Wikipedia

Skill based on theoretical knowledge

Control of remuneration and advertising

Professional association High status and rewards

Extensive period of education Individual clients

Institutional training Middle-class occupations

Licensed practitioners Male-dominated

Work autonomy Offer reassurance

Code of professional conduct or ethics

Legitimacy

Self-regulation of the profession. Inaccessible body of knowledge

Public service and altruism Indeterminacy of knowledge

Exclusion, monopoly and legal recognition

Mobility


Questionnaire

Question y/n Question y/n

Skill based on theoretical knowledge

Control of remuneration and advertising

Professional association High status and rewards

Extensive period of education Individual clients

Institutional training Middle-class occupations

Licensed practitioners Male-dominated

Work autonomy Offer reassurance

Code of professional conduct or ethics

Legitimacy

Self-regulation of the profession. Inaccessible body of knowledge

Public service and altruism Indeterminacy of knowledge

Exclusion, monopoly and legal recognition

Mobility


Testing a profession?

• It is an occupation and careerfinally, we’re getting there…

• It is a “vocation”definitely!

• Most testers have an academic educationnot available in testing yet!

• There are worldwide recognised examinations

- ISTQB Foundation

- ISEB Practitioner

- TMap Foundation / Advanced

- …

not obligatory yet!


Testing a profession?

• Professional association

- SIGIST, TestNet, SAST, …

• Self regulation

- more or less :

if you’re not good at it, you won’t like it, so…

• High status and rewards

mmm…

• Male dominated

in some countries it isn’t!


Treat your testers as professionals by offering…

• Growth

- responsibility, independence, …

• Differentiation

- tasks, roles, …

… and playing to their strengths…

• Knowledge & skills

- test techniques, social skills, …

• Experience


Differentiation

• Start at the basis:

test preparation & test execution

• Next steps:

individual preferences and skills

- test co-ordination, test project leader, …

- test methods, test techniques, coaching, …

- test infrastructure, test automation, …


Growth and differentiation

Test design & execution

Team lead Test expert Tool expert

Test coordination Test specialist Tool specialist

Test management Test consultant Tool consultant

Test guru


Knowledge and skills

• Training

- test methods and

techniques

- test tools

- project leading

- advice

- infrastructure

- … …

• Experience

- in time…

• Social skills

- finding errors

- enable others to add

quality

- (self) critical

- … …

• Coaching and support

- training on the job

- seniors vs juniors

- … …


Coaching and support

• HRM

- Personal coaching

- Career planning & -coaching (inclusive education)

- Periodic evaluation and feedback

- Promotion, raises, ...

• Test Support

- Coaching, training on the job, ...

- Follow-up


Test Professional

• Knowledge of amongst others:

- IT in general

- Test approach & techniques

- Test infrastructure & tools

- Metrics & reporting

- Application development

- Working in a project

- System management

• But also:

- Test attitude

- Social skills


Testers: a strange phenomenon

• Being criticized by everyone

• They make more errors then

they find!

• Every execution of a test is

on the critical path !

• Tests are prepared but not

completed

• Advice is ignored

• Enable others to add quality,

instead of rejecting their

work

• Always report in a positive

way:

- yes, if ......

- defects instead of errors

- recommendations

- advice


Treat each tester as an individual


Questionnaire

• No right or wrong answer

• Don’t think – you’re first response is the one you want

• Be honest – not the “wanted” answer

Thank you Lloyd!

Lloyd Roden - Grove Consultants


0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

X

Y


Different styles

The

Pragmatist

The

Pioneer

The

Analyst

The

Facilitator


Pragmatist

Likes Dislikes

• strategic / goalspositiveresults / briefpracticalefficiencytasks

• indecisionvaguenesstime-wastingunproductive

The „Pragmatic’ style tester will…a. be good for setting and monitoring short/long term goals for the teamb. be good at documenting factual „test reports‟c. remain positive through pressured. be keen to adopt „Most Important Tests‟ first principlee. be a strong driving force - ensure a task is donef. want to implement efficiency into the teamg. be self-motivated and task orientedh. will make quick decisionsi. enjoy challenging testing tasks


Pioneer

Likes Dislikes

• new / ideaschangeopennessresults/efficiencyinvolving othersrisks

• standardsdetail‘norm’paper-work

The „Pioneer’ style tester will…a. be good at „ad-hoc‟ testing / bug hunting / error-guessing/ exploratory

testingb. be good at challenging and improving things to make more efficient and

effectivec. enjoy “GUI” type testing/lateral testerd. have good idease. be good at brainstorming Test Conditionsf. share ideas about different ways to approach testingg. identify and take necessary risks when requiredh. have creative test ideas - how to find more faults


Analyst

Likes Dislikes

• accuracyattention to detailproofstandardsreliableall alternatives

• new / changeuntested / risksbrief / speedletting go

The „Analysing’ style tester will…a. be good at defining and documenting test casesb. be good at producing test standards and proceduresc. analyse problems and finding root caused. produce work which is accurate and completee. enjoy logical tests scenariosf. provide proof when faults are foundg. document thorough test reports h. complete work regardless of what it takesi. challenge requirements


Facilitator

Likes Dislikes

• networkingpositiveteam orientedconsensus / sharingbuilding bridgesstatus quo

• pressure / deadlinesconfrontationisolation dictated

The „Facilitating’ style tester will…a. be good in a RAD environment or a „buddy‟ test teamb. often ask opinion before raising issuesc. be good at documentation d. co-operate well with other departmentse. often see the „other side‟f. be good at defusing „us‟ v „them‟ syndromeg. be popularh. make things happen - eventually!i. will provide support in testing to other team members



[email protected]




We’re all familiar with these “Testing Principles”:

• Exhaustive testing is testing everything!

• Testing everything is impractical!

• Detect the most important defects as soon as possible (at

the lowest cost)

• Prioritize testing so that whenever you stop testing you

have done the best testing in the time available


So we stop testing if and when…

… the required level of confidence has been achieved

… the residual risks are acceptable

… reaching the test completion criteria (exit/success

criteria) in terms of costs, time, coverage, ……

… the costs of finding the next defect exceed the costs the

defect will cause “life”


But somehow we fail…

• TMap

Test Strategy (Master) Test Plan TDT

• RRBT

Test Strategy Clustering Priorities TD

• Prince 2, Cobit, …

“Testing should be performed and managed”

• FDA, …

“Testing must be performed and managed”


The “reasons” are known and plentiful

• Not enough time

• Not enough budget

• Involved too late

• Specifications unclear and ambiguous

• Bad software quality

- Have they even performed a unit test?

• Inappropriate test environment

• ……

• The testers don’t apply the required techniques…

…because they are not able to…


So we start to improve!!!

• Optimize the quality, costs and lead time of the total software development process

- SPI, CMM(I), Spider, Bootstrap, RUP, ……

• (Continuously) optimizing the quality, costs and lead time of the test process, in relation to the total information services

- Quality:

• Timeliness, Coverage, Insight, Control

- Costs and lead time:

• Risk-based, Early detection, Reuse, Collaboration, Automation


But somehow we fail again…

• TMM

• TPI

• ISEB Practitioner

• ……

• CMM(I)

• SPI(DER)

• BootsTrap

• ……


“Failures” and “successes”

• Did you or didn’t you involve the people who do the “real

thing” in the test (improvement) process?

• And how did you involve them …


Testing is just like pole vaulting

everyone can become like Sergei Bubka


Your testers are your success factor…

• They are the most important part of your test process

• They have to learn to apply the new methods, tools and

templates

They need to change the most!

• So create a training program aimed at

- young, “eager”, ambitious, highly educated people

• But also include a coaching program for

- the senior business testers, “heroes” and “fire fighters”


→

• Management Expectations

• Reality

• “Achievable”

Maturity level


First steps : testmanagement…

• Make the test organisation more professional

• Develop a test strategy

• Follow a lifecycle: plan, prepare, specify and execute

• Select the right tools

• Select adequate test design techniques …

• According to the book!

Take into account the capabilities and potential of your test team.

Listen to what they have to say.



[email protected]




The speed of trust

• The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that

Changes Everything (Hardcover)

by Stephen M.R. Covey (Author), Rebecca

R. Merrill (Author), Stephen R. Covey

(Foreword)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/105-6332944-9714030?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Stephen%20M.R.%20Covey

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/105-6332944-9714030?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Rebecca%20R.%20Merrill

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/105-6332944-9714030?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Rebecca%20R.%20Merrill

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/105-6332944-9714030?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Stephen%20R.%20Covey


MYTH REALITY

Trust is soft. Trust is hard, real, and quantifiable. It measurably affects both speed and cost.

Trust is slow. Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust.

Trust is built solely on integrity. Trust is a function of both character (which includes integrity) and competence.

You either have trust or you don‟t. Trust can be both created and destroyed.

Once lost, trust cannot be restored. Though difficult, in most cases lost trust can be restored

You can‟t teach trust. Trust can be effectively taught and learned, and it can become a leverageable, strategic advantage.

Trusting people is too risky. Not trusting people is a greater risk.

You establish trust one person at a time.

Establishing trust with the one establishes trust with the many


13 behaviors of high trust leaders

Character behavior

Talk straight

Demonstrate respect

Create transparency

Right wrongs

Show Loyalty

Competence behavior

Deliver results

Get better

Confront reality

Clarify expectations

Practice accountability

Character & Competence behavior

Listen first

Keep commitments

Extend trust


Trust Account Diagnostic – Developer vs tester

Trust Breaker Withdrawal Behavior Deposit Trust Maker

Talk straight

Demonstrate respect

Create transparency

Right wrongs

Show loyalty

Deliver results

Get better

Confront reality

Clarify expectations

Practice accountability

Listen first

Keep commitments

Extend trust



[email protected]




Become test leader

Don’t stay behind as test manager

The manager administers, the leader innovates

The manager maintains, the leader develops

The manager relies on systems and tools, the leader on people

The manager counts on control, the leader counts on trust

The manager does things right, the leader does the right thing


About the speaker

Ruud Teunissen

Polteq IT Services, The Netherlands

In the testing world since 1989, Ruud Teunissen has held

numerous test functions in different organizations and

projects: tester, test specialist, test consultant, test

manager, etcetera. Ruud is co-author of Software Testing

- A Guide to the TMap® Approach and is a frequent

speaker at (inter)national conferences and workshops. He

was a member of the program committee for Quality

Week Europe and EuroSTAR. Ruud is currently

International Test Consultant at Polteq IT Services BV.

TMap® is a registered trademarks of Sogeti Nederland BV

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