A test manager’s book

Test plan guide? The list features tips and insights from experts on many of the less black-and-white aspects of testing. Such as considerations for choosing the right tests, creating a testing culture that sets the stage for successful testing among teams, prepping for tests, testing with greater efficiency, and other important insights to streamline your testing process and get better results in less time and, often, at a more affordable cost.

There is nothing worse than a report that has too many words and not enough pictures! Make your reports clear, concise and as up-to-date as they can be. By providing clear and up-to-date information your own team, as well as your management team, will be much more aware of the status of your testing and any issues you face. Any key issues can then be tackled as and when they occur, or red flags be raised earlier rather than weeks down the track.

Taking you deep into this ever changing industry is software test management consultancy Cania Consulting, comprised of industry leaders who specialize in software testing audit, strategy, and management. They use the techniques and insights provided in this book on a daily basis with their clients and are sharing their insider tips as a key resource for readers in the test management industry. As a young graduate I started looking for potential career opportunities and this eBook has shown me the beauty and complexity of the Test Manager profession from a theoretical standpoint. Read more info at Test Design.

Bug summaries must be thorough. Most customers including your managers, developers, and peers will read the summary first when they review a bug. This is especially true when they have more bugs to review. The simple reason is that they don’t have enough time to go into details of every bug, so having a short and concise summary will surely help to grab an idea of what the problem is about and how important it is. You can have a short and concise summary by telling exactly what problem you found and in what condition. Use Test Maturity Model integration. The software industry does not operate in a zero-defect environment, and, arguably, it never will. In the face of this truism, numerous techniques to reduce the number and severity of defects in software have been developed, with the ultimate, albeit unobtainable, goal of defect elimination. Such optimistic thinking has led to significant improvements in software quality over the past decade, notwithstanding increased software complexity and customer demands.

Work at home software testing tip of the day : With the switch to teleworking we’ve been using Google hangouts with web-cams. We first tried it without webcams but since we’re used to being in the same physical space most days, it has been helpful to see people on the camera. It also forces people to fully engage in the meeting and not be multi-tasking doing other things. So we’d recommend using video and audio if practically possible. The online tools for release and sprint planning we use (SpiraPlan in our case) work just as well in-person as remote, so as long as you’re not relying on physical boards, should be minimal adjustment. If your team is using physical Scrum or Kanban boards, now is a good time to move to an online planning tool. See extra info at cania-consulting.com.