Defining The Profession Ruud Teunissen, Polteq IT Services, The Netherlands Th15
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 3
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 4
Ruud TeunissenPolteq IT Services BV – The Netherlands
http://www.polteq.com
Stockholm – December 6th 2007
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 5
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 6
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 7
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 8
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 9
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!
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 10
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!
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 11
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 12
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, …
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 13
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
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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
- … …
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 15
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 16
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 17
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 18
Treat each tester as an individual
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 19
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 20
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0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
X
Y
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Different styles
The
Pragmatist
The
Pioneer
The
Analyst
The
Facilitator
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 23
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 24
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 25
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 26
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 27
Ruud TeunissenPolteq IT Services BV – The Netherlands
http://www.polteq.com
Stockholm – December 6th 2007
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 28
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 29
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”
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 30
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”
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 31
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…
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 32
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 33
But somehow we fail again…
• TMM
• TPI
• ISEB Practitioner
• ……
• CMM(I)
• SPI(DER)
• BootsTrap
• ……
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 34
“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 …
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Testing is just like pole vaulting
everyone can become like Sergei Bubka
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 36
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”
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 37
→
• Management Expectations
• Reality
• “Achievable”
Maturity level
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 38
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.
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 39
Ruud TeunissenPolteq IT Services BV – The Netherlands
http://www.polteq.com
Stockholm – December 6th 2007
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 40
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)
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 41
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 42
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 43
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 44
Ruud TeunissenPolteq IT Services BV – The Netherlands
http://www.polteq.com
Stockholm – December 6th 2007
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 45
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
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 46
Ruud TeunissenPolteq IT Services BV – The Netherlands
Stockholm – December 6th 2007
© 2007 Polteq IT Services B.V. slide nr. 47
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