Workshop: Leading the Next Generation of Software Testing

It has been said “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. The world has experienced many changes over the last few decades, and organizations must respond to this constant change at much greater speed than ever before.

Many companies are eliminating the role of the test manager in agile teams and creating flat organizations which combine the roles of dev and test into a hybrid function. Leadership is title agnostic. You can lead from all levels within the organization.

Regardless of the hierarchy, testing is called on to lead success within the project teams. This requires the ability to educate, inform, and support the project team, the executive team, and the stakeholders.

In agile contexts, the tester much be equipped with the ability to clearly communicate the value of testing and the results of the evaluations conducted for each product delivery. Collaboration with all teams becomes critical.

This presentation will focus on exercises which map to all levels within the testing team. Experienced leaders will be called on to give their experiences and share their approaches to success. New leaders will be called on to share their inputs, suggestions, and experiences as well.

Workshop Takeaways:

• Roleplay project examples – with each team comprised of experienced and new leaders mixed.
• Exercises which focus on how to handle communication gaps with other project members.
• Exercises which share how to report testing progress and success to executives and stakeholders.
• Review of tools which attendees have used to successfully support their projects.
• Define and document approaches that have worked and not worked for attendees.