Category Archives: Team Building

Topics around encouraging, empowering, organizing both test and project teams

“Project: Risky Decision” – a Card Game

I designed this teaching game in 2014 as a different sort of hands-on activity to supplement my Software Testing & Risk Management training sessions and presentations, specifically to highlight certain concepts around risk mitigation strategies. This version of “Project: Risky … Continue reading

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Testing as a Service? Testing is a Service

We, as testers, do not “build in quality” and can not guarantee all the defects will be found.  We can not, should not, define “what is quality?”  And, we should not be making the choice to release or not. Not … Continue reading

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Distributed Teams – An Interview with Janet Gregory

I recently interviewed Janet Gregory on the topic of distributed teams. Janet is the founder of DragonFire Inc., an agile quality process consultancy and training firm. Janet co-wrote the original book on agile testing “Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for … Continue reading

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Is Functional Assurance the new Quality Assurance?

I have noticed a shift in how companies are attempting to ensure quality and this is what has led me to write this post. Companies desperately want to achieve quality by simply creating automated tests. Why do they want this? … Continue reading

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Improving Software Quality with Development Tours

Releasing software in the past was a QA’s dream, plenty of time to check every last corner of the product before eventually releasing to production.  With the move to Agile and the speed at which we need to deliver software, … Continue reading

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Performance and Culture – Contrived vs. Legitimate Quality

I read with interest and appreciation the comments on the View from the Q blog about what not to do with respect to Performance Management. I have encountered reporting situations and the ultimate result is that more energy and effort is spent … Continue reading

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Quality Power

This post is in response to the timely and provocative question from the ASQ CEO, Bill Troy.  In his View From The Q post, the challenge is made to members of the Quality community to expand their capabilities to include leadership. The … Continue reading

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Can Playing Games Improve Tester Skills? Exploring the Science Behind Games

Are gamers predisposed to careers in software testing? The prevalent perception seems to be that testers enjoy playing games more than the general population, and that playing games makes us better testers by honing cognitive skills, which especially important in … Continue reading

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Own Your Approach – Drive Process Improvement

You and your team have to live with the impact of poor internal quality every day, on every project.  But fixing these issues or improving the situation is not often a top priority. “No one keeps track of the costs … Continue reading

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Tending to Your Tester Garden: Growing a Great Test Team

Creating a great test team is a lot like gardening, you need to find the right seeds and make sure to plant them in an environment where they will germinate, grow and thrive. But what seeds do you look for, … Continue reading

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