1.5 Essential Skills and Good Practices

Question 1

What are some generic skills that are relevant for testers?

Answer 1

• testing knowledge (including test techniques)
• thoroughness, curiosity, attention to detail
• communication, active listening, teamwork
• analytical thinking, critical thinking, creativity
• technical knowledge (tools, code, infrastructure)
• domain knowledge (business area)

Question 2

Why are communication skills especially important?

Answer 2

Testers are often the bearers of bad news, and “don’t shoot the messenger” is a saying for a reason. Test results can be perceived as criticism, and confirmation bias can make it difficult to accept negative results.

For these reasons, constructive feedback and communication is vital.

Question 3

What is the Whole Team approach?

Answer 3

Any team member with the needed knowledge and skills can perform any task, and everyone is responsible for quality.

Team members share the same workspace to facilitate communication.

Question 4

What is a tester’s role in the Whole Team approach?

Answer 4

Testers work closely with all other team members to achieve desired quality levels.
- collab with business reps to create acceptance tests
- collab with devs to agree on test strategy and decide on automation approaches
- transfer testing knowledge through the team

Question 5

When is the Whole Team approach not appropriate?

Answer 5

For large and complex or safety-critical projects, it is best to have multiple levels of testing including some higher levels of test independence.

Development staff may participate in testing, especially at the lower levels, but their lack of objectivity often limits their effectiveness. The independent testers may have the authority to require and define test processes and rules, but testers should take on such process-related roles only in the presence of a clear management mandate to do so.

Question 6

What are the four levels of independence in testing?

Answer 6

1. Author/Developer: No independence
2. Author/Developer Peers: Some independence
3. Testers from separate team within organization: High independence
4. External testers: Very high independence

Question 7

What is the main benefit of independent testing?

Answer 7

Independent testers are likely to recognize different kinds of failures and defects than developers because of their different backgrounds, perspectives, and biases. They can also verify, challenge, or disprove assumptions made by stakeholders during specification and implementation.

Question 8

What are the drawbacks of independent testing?

Answer 8

Isolation from the development team may lead to a lack of collaboration, communication problems, or an adversarial relationship.

Developers may lose their sense of responsibility for quality. Independent testers may be seen as a bottleneck or be blamed for delays.