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Mastering Test Design V 3.2 © SQE 2001-

2006 1

Speak Like a Test Manager

Software Quality Engineering340 Corporate Way, Suite 300

Orange Park, Florida 32073

904.278.0707

SQE ©2015

Michael D. [email protected]

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� Confront the challenging questions about the value of QA/Test

� Provide approaches for more effectively communicating the value of testing

Speak Like a Test Manager V 1.3 © SQE 2015

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2006 2

� The Challenging Questions

� Our Accountabilities

� Our Job Description (the spoken/unspoken)

� Common Mistakes

� Effective Communications (the obvious and not so obvious)

� Examples


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� Who◦ is accountable for the post release defects?◦ is preventing us from shipping?

� What ◦ does the testing group do?◦ value does the QA/Test group add?

� Where ◦ does testing fit within our lifecycle?◦ is the testing team when I need them?

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2006 3

� When ◦ will testing be done?

◦ will we be able to reduce our testing investment?

� Why ◦ do we need testing anyway?

◦ why does testing take so long?

◦ can’t everything just be automated?

◦ why does the testing team need more (time, resources, tools, money….)

� How◦ did that defect escape into the field?

◦ is the testing group contributing to our business?

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� Champion our Team’s value to the project/business

� Have succinct answers to the hard questions� Educate, mentor, coach� Engage key stakeholders� Remove Roadblocks� Reward & Recognize

All of the above require the ability to communicate effectivelycommunicate effectivelycommunicate effectivelycommunicate effectively

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2006 4

� Undervalued� Misunderstood� Disrespected� Isolated� Reactive� Frustrated� Labeled� Dismissed

QA/Test is irrelevantQA/Test is irrelevantQA/Test is irrelevantQA/Test is irrelevant

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The SpokenThe SpokenThe SpokenThe Spoken The UnThe UnThe UnThe Un----SpokenSpokenSpokenSpoken

Leadership Skills Be an Agent of Change

Management Skills Improve Processes

Commit schedule/resources Build Relationships

Competence in Software Engineering

Stand in front of the train(when needed)

Competence in Testing Advocate for Quality & Team

Project Management Skills Teach, Mentor, Coach

Deliver on-time, within budget Answer to multiple bosses

Assess Risks and Mitigate Manage Expectations

Review/Report Learn, Learn, Learn

..…And so forth …… And others

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2006 5

In our perceptions:In our perceptions:In our perceptions:In our perceptions:

� Assuming everyone understands QA/Test

� Accepting the sole responsibility for release approval

� Believing that it’s someone else’s fault

� Using process as an excuse

� Having unrealistic quality expectations

� Working in isolation

� Believing we must be “knighted” with authority

� Not viewing ourselves as a leader

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Contribute to the way that we communicate:Contribute to the way that we communicate:Contribute to the way that we communicate:Contribute to the way that we communicate:

� Using “Test” speak & talking about the “need” for testing

� Failing to engage others in the critical conversations

� Not framing your message from the receivers point of view

� Believing we can just "wing our communications"

� Whining/Bashing

� Speaking with emotion rather than facts

� Not speaking with confidence and a commanding presence

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2006 6

� To inform

� To present a big idea

� To drive action (i.e. decisions and results)

� To shape expectations, change opinion or perspective

� To motivate & inspire

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� A (quality) Measurement Activity that:◦ Identifies important defects◦ Demonstrates that the (functional and non-

functional) requirements are met◦ Provides objective data on release readiness

� Resulting in:◦ Decreased Risk(s)◦ Failure cost avoidance (rework)◦ Increased customer confidence

Insurance against business loss

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2006 7

� Two parts to effective communication:◦ Content

◦ Style

� Know your audience

� Plan and practice your communication

� Be Objective, Open, Flexible, Sensitive, Self Aware, Knowledgeable, Patient

� Practice Good Listening Skills/Seek First to Understand

� Remember that only 1/3rd of our communication is verbal

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� Learn what’s important to each of your key stakeholders

� Link your QA/Test Results to business goals Speak in terms of contributions to the business◦ Costs, Cycle Time, Customer Satisfaction

◦ Increased Revenue, Brand Reputation

◦ Efficiency, Effectiveness

� When stating problems, offer solution alternatives

� Practice the 3-R's: Relationship, Responsiveness, Results

� Be alert to verbal/non-verbal responses

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2006 8

� Answer the WIIFM question

� Support your communication with facts/not emotion◦ Both internal information

◦ And external benchmarks, whitepapers, testimonials

� Answer the “why” (impact) question when presenting facts

� Avoid techno talk (“high priority bugs,” “GUI issues, “authentication problems”, “sloppy code”, “number of test pass/fail, designed, run, automated”)

� Dress for success IS important

� Understand and adapt to stakeholders communication and decision making styles

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� Honesty and Integrity

� Vision

� Listening

� Giving Feedback

� Emotional Intelligence

� Clarity

� Knowledge of your field - technical credibility

� Follow Through

� Humility

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2006 9

� Communication To:

� Desired Outcome(s):

� Audience Perspective(s):

� Opening:

� Key Points to Communicate:

� Likely Objections & Response:

� Supporting Facts:

� Close (confirmation, action/next step):

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� Communication To: Communication To: Communication To: Communication To: Neal (Peer Dev Mgr)

� Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s): Agreement on Unit Test Project

� Audience Perspective(s): Audience Perspective(s): Audience Perspective(s): Audience Perspective(s): No time for dev test

� Opening:Opening:Opening:Opening: Neal, I was talking with members of my team and they are concerned about the stress that your developers are under.

� Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: I looked at my teams forecasted project hours over the next few weeks and see that I have two resources that are only planning 30 project hours per week for the next three weeks. I also noticed that you have one, non-critical path developer, that is also forecasting 30 project hours per week. Would it be helpful if we allocated my two team members and your one developer to get a unit test framework in place for us on the FinZar Project in the next 15 days?

� Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Unit Testing won’t help. Review defect data and root cause analysis of a couple of recent defects, state a few key points from the “Benefits of Unit Testing” white paper.

� Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Time Sheet Graph/Benefits of Unit Testing White Paper

� Close:Close:Close:Close: (confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step): If Neal agrees, set up a date for me, Neal to meet with our team members. If he wants time to think about it, set time to have lunch within the next week.

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2006 10

� Communication To: Communication To: Communication To: Communication To: Ellen (Business President)

� Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s): Answer her question “Why so many production defects?”

� Audience Perspective(s): “Audience Perspective(s): “Audience Perspective(s): “Audience Perspective(s): “Technology takes to long, cost too much, and seldom works when deployed”

� Opening:Opening:Opening:Opening: Ellen, I know product defects impact revenue. I did some home work on your question, talked with a few of your business SVP’s and visited two business centers to observe the challenges our business associates are experiencing. Here are my findings.

� Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: In the last 6 months over 6 technology releases, production defects have been on a downward trend. Production defects have increased by 20% this month driven by a change in the SEC requirements that was not clear. We have implemented corrective actions to mitigate this going forward (be prepared to tell her more detail if ask).

� Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: What if the trend continues upward? Clearly set expectations; it’s about balancing risks vs. time to market. Remind her that her business team is part of the release decision and that her product owners determine what goes into each release.

� Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Product Defect Graph. One page picture on process mitigation

� Close:Close:Close:Close: (confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step): Offer to come to speak to her entire staff to answer any additional questions they may have.

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� Communication To: Communication To: Communication To: Communication To: Jeff (CIO and my Manager)

� Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s):Desired Outcome(s): Agreement to reallocate 100K of technology budget to use for the implementation of a requirements traceability methodology and tool.

� Audience Perspective(s): Audience Perspective(s): Audience Perspective(s): Audience Perspective(s): Budget is tight, lots of projects competing for more $$’s

� Opening:Opening:Opening:Opening: Jeff, I briefed Ellen on our plan to limit post production issues. She is satisfied with our current direction but emphasized that the critical technology disruptions must be eliminated so that her team can focus on client service.

� Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: Key Points to Communicate: I’ve been doing some root cause analysis on our post release defects. The top three causes are translation errors from one development document to another, changing external requirements, and insufficient testing in areas where things have changed because key stakeholders were not aware of the changes. I recommend we implement requirements traceability as a means of addressing these causes.

� Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Likely Objections & Response: Supportive but don’t know where the $$’s will come from. Suggest we propose it to Jeff’s staff and see if each Technology SVP is willing to give up a few dollars for the cause. Suggest that my team will own the project implementation and work within our current budget allocation to get it done. Remind Jeff of the cost savings (post release defect reduction) i.e. less rework by dev and test and improved satisfaction of our business partners.

� Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Supporting Facts: Root Cause results, budget for traceability project.

� Close:Close:Close:Close: (confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step):(confirmation, action/next step): If agreed, set date to present at Jeff’s staff

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2006 11

2008 2009 2010ExpansionExpansionExpansionExpansion� Applications covered by QA&T Team 90 160 230� Number of Applications Automated 22 46 78EffectivenessEffectivenessEffectivenessEffectiveness� Pre-Release defects 162 200 274� Post-Release defects 28 22 18� Requirements coverage (%) 53 71 87EfficiencyEfficiencyEfficiencyEfficiency� QA & Test staff to developer ratio 1/5 1/5.5 1/6.5� Time for regression test runs (days) 8 5 4Business ResultsBusiness ResultsBusiness ResultsBusiness Results� QA & Test Total Cycle Time (days) 40 36 31� Cost per Total Test Cycle (K dollars) 320 288 248� Post release defect containment (%) 85.3 90.1 94


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2006 12

� The Challenging Questions

� Our Accountabilities

� Our Job Description (the spoken/unspoken)

� Common Mistakes

� Effective Communications (the obvious and not so obvious)

� Examples

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� Give the template a try or make your own.

� Practice

� Get some training

� Identify a couple of people that are good communicators and observe them

� Recruit a coach/mentor

� Solicit honest feedback

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2006 13

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How did we do?

* Great * Wonderful

* Fantastic * Terrific

* Superior * Excellent

Session Evaluation


� On behalf of Software Quality Engineering, thank you for attending this session.

� If you have further needs for training or consulting, please think first of SQE.

� If I can be of further assistance, please let me know. My email is [email protected]

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2006 14

� Bates, Suzzane (2005). Speak Like a CEO. McGraw-Hill.

� Software Quality Engineering. Stickyminds.com

� Covey, Stephen R. (2004)The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. FranklinCovey.

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