Managing the Test People

8/14/2019 Managing the Test People

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Copyright Judy McKay; Contact judyamckay@earthlink.net

Managing the Test

PeopleJudy Mc Kay

March 31 – April 2, 2009

Six Steps

toCreating

Perfect

Finding Perfec t Beast Parts

Your suc c ess or fa ilure is determinedby your ab ility to sta ff

A p rob lem employee takes 30% of yourtime

Only your peop le c an ma ke you

successfulYou a re no longer an ind ividua l c ontributor The ma jority of your job is now c oerc ing others

Your performanc e is determined by theireffectiveness

Remember what va lue you now b ring to theorganization.

• Job Descriptions

• Resumes

• Interviews

Building Your Perfect Beast

Step 1:

Findingthe Parts

Writing a Good Job Desc ription

Keep it b rief and high level

Don’ t want to exc lude goodc andida tes who might not exac tlyfit your desc rip tion

Be spec ific where your requirementsa re set

If you need someone with QTPexperienc e and Silk experienc e won’ tdo – spec ify it

Writing a Good Job Desc ription

A good job desc rip tion shouldcontain

Industry ac c ep ted job title

Short job desc rip tion – one p aragraph

Tec hnic a l requirementsEduc a tion requirements

Tec hnic a l +sGenera l skill desc rip tion

Reviewing the Resume

Love those c over letters

A c over letter c an tell you a lot

Did the app lic ant researc hthe job and the c ompany?

Ca n the app lic ant write

a c oherentsentence/paragraph/letter?

Does the app lic ant proofrea d?

Reviewing the Resume

Read bac k to frontGives you a c hronolog ic a l ac c ount of

the app lic ant’ s business lifeGives you a framework for la ter job

experience

Gives you the educa tion informationLets you see how the app lic ant’ s c a reer

has evolved

Plan your interview questions now

Effec tive Interviewing

What qua lities a re you seeking?

Attitude

ConfidenceOrganization

MaturityEmpathy

Sense of Humor

Effec tive InterviewingAttitude

Will this person be effec tive in yourorganization?

Are they high energy, lowmaintenance?

Will they fit in?

Will they take the job seriously?

Sample interview questionWhat d id you like/ d islike about your

p revious job / manager?

Effec tive InterviewingConfidence

Will this person c ome ac ross asc ompetent and knowledgeab le?

Will they know when to stand up fortheir work?

Will you be ab le to send them intomeetings to represent yourdepartment?

Effec tive InterviewingConfidence

Sample interview questions

Exp la in your norma l interac tions withformer developers/ managers.

Give me a n examp le o f a p rob lem you

have p resented to your manager?How do you handle a develop er who

isn’ t listening to you?

Effec tive InterviewingOrganization

Does this person ha ve theorganiza tiona l skills required by the

job?Does this person have a method

they use to keep trac k of multip letasks?

Can this person be interrup ted froma task and return to it la ter withminima l downtime?

Effec tive InterviewingOrganization

Sample interview questions/ da ta

How do you remember the steps youtook to find a bug?

What methods do you use to keeptrac k ofmeetings/ appointments/ interrup tions?

Effec tive InterviewingMaturity

Will you be c omfortab le with thisperson representing you and your

department?

Does this person ha ve the

leadership potentia l the positionrequires?

Will this person be ab le to dea l withinterpersona l issues in a p rofessiona lmanner?

Effec tive InterviewingMaturity

What was the most d iffic ult worksitua tion you’ve encountered and howd id you hand le it?

Have you ever had someone sc ream a tyou in a business situa tion? How d id youhand le it?

Effec tive InterviewingEmpathy

Will this person be ab le to p resent a

bug to a developer without causingoffense?

Will this person be ab le to see bothsides of an a rgument?

Effec tive InterviewingEmpathy

How do you present a bug to adeveloper? Do you change yourmethods if there is a tight d ead line?

If you d isagree with your manager,what do you do?

Effec tive InterviewingSense of Humor

Can this person use appropria tehumor to deflec t a hostile

developer?

Can this person see the humor in a

situation?

Can this person make it through the

tough dead lines while keep ing apositive a ttitude?

Effec tive InterviewingSense of Humor

Sample interview questionWhat’ s the funniest thing tha t ever

happened to you a t work?

• Constructing

Your Team

Building Your Perfect Beast

Step 2:

Assembling the

Filling the Gaps

You may not have a ll the sta ff youneed to build your team

Fit the peop le you have into youridea l model, then figure out what’ smissing

Remember, a team is not a c ollec tionof c upc akes!

Skill isola tion is dangerous

Fill the gaps while merg ing the skill sets

Filling the Gaps

Remember, you don’ t need 10peop le with perfec t skills – you need a

team of 10 peop le who, by workingtogether, c an deliver the perfec tskill mix

No Cupcakes!

Team Charac teristic sThe c omposition of a team is a lways

dynamic

Overlapp ing skills a re required but you mayhave to tradeoff the sec urity of overlap fora b roader skill range

Look a t how stab le your team will be

How long c an you expec t to keep them togetheron one p rojec t?

How quic kly can they c ross tra in eac h other?

What a re your leadership requirements?

How Many People Do You Need?

Evaluate a number of fac torsHow effec tive is p rojec t ma nagement?

Will there be a long-term rela tionshipbetween the developers and your sta ff?

Is p roportion a lloc a tion the way to go?

Is outsourc e testing a c onsidera tion?Will there be signific ant QA involvement in

sa les/ support situa tions?

Is part of the team offshore? Is iteffec tively managed ?

Organization SizeProportion Allocation

Why do p roportion a lloc a tion?

Usua lly the easiest to p resent a nd defend

to managementGenera lly industry ac c epted

But be c a reful!Be sure development managers agree

with your numbers (if they have c lout)

Find out if your boss a lready ha s apreferred p roportion (like 1:20…ahhh!)

Organization SizeQA: Developers

Fac tors in determining the c orrec tproportion

Number of p la tformsMultip le p la tforms may c ause much more QA

effort than development effort

In some c ases, depending on how manyp la tforms a re being supported , may need moreQA than developers

Organization SizeQA:Developers

Loc a liza tion is a b ig c onsidera tion

Consider externa l developmentgroups who may be c ontributing tothe p rojec t

Remember any integra tion work with3rd party p roduc ts

Is there another test team you willinterfac e with?

Organization SizeQA:Developers

Early involvement requires ea rlyavailability

Design reviewsCode reviews

Unit test verific a tion Integra tion testing

Test d a ta p repara tion

Organization SizeOutsource/ Offshore Testing

Will outsourc e/ offshore testing be used?Need to c a refully determine what you want

to outsourc e based on skills/ equipment/ timeOutsourc e/ offshore sup ervision requires

interna l time

Ma nage outsourc e testing like a p rojec t teamProjec t meetings need to be c onduc ted reg ula rly

Projec t p rogression needs to be trac ked c a refully

Downtime for the outsourc e team may c ost youmoney

If offshore team is long term, you need to

absorb them into the one team

• Communication

• At the root…• Synergy and Pride

Keeping Your Beast Effective

Step 3:

Keeping thebeast happy

Effec tive Communic ation

Who will a ttend team meetings andprojec t meetings? Is it a lways you?

When the sc hedule c hanges, howmuch do you tell?

Do your sc hedules c hange da ily?Does the p riority shift a ffec t a nyone

directly?

Effec tive Communic ation

How will your team c ommunic a teexternally?

How much of this c orrespondence do youwant to see?

How much of this c orrespondence do youneed to see?

How will you c ommunic a te with your

team without being a meetingmonster?

The Root of the Effec tive Team

Peop le know what they are doing

Peop le enjoy what they are doing

Peop le want to d o what they a reassigned to do

There is no interna l strife

Synergy and Pride

No one loves QA…QA is often c onsidered a nec essary evil

QA is ra rely comp limented on a job welldone (but frequently ma ligned for a jobtha t couldn’ t have been done)

An interna l reward system is c ritic a llyimportant

Always work to c rea te p ride within the

Different skill sets within the department

need to be rec ognized andrespected

Synergy and Pride

QA: A nec essary evil?

Your job is to empha size the ‘ nec essary’

and remove the ‘ evil’Effec tive use of risk ana lysis and portraya l

of QA as risk management helps

management understand how nec essaryyou a re

Dispel the ‘ evil’ by being part of the teamtha t p roduc es the solution

S d P id

Synergy and Pride

Hey QA! Nic e job !Don’ t hold your b rea th!

You need to make the c ase for what a

nic e job you d id do by using good testdoc umentation and test p lanning

Sometimes you a re in the role ofdefend ing aga inst unrea listic expec ta tions- but it’ s your job to set those expec ta tions

in the first p lac eUse ob jec tive metric s suc h a s Defec t

Detec tion Perc enta ge (DDP) or Cost of

Qua lity (CoQ)

Synergy and PrideJob Satisfac tion

Constantly remind your peop le:

They don’ t have to agree with the

dec ision to ship , just p rovide the ac c ura teinformation

They don’ t ha ve to get the bugs fixed , just

identify and c lassify them c orrec tly

They don’ t need to make a personal

c rusade for the qua lity of the software, justp rovide a c c ura te, timely and ob jec tiveinformation

Synergy and PrideBalance

Projec ts have to be kep t ba lanced

Fun projec ts should be interming led with

ma intenanc e workEveryone has the ir own definition of a ‘ fun’

project

Understand what projec ts peop le want

Alloc a te p rojec ts by p referenc es, within a b ilities

Everyone spends a lot of time a t work – let themenjoy it

Synergy and PrideBalance

Peop le who like what they do:

Do the work better

Are willing to work ha rder a t itAre willing to learn what’ s needed on their

own time

Will make the ir own rewards

Synergy and Pride

Deflec ting Critic ism

QA rec eives a lot o f c ritic ism

Partly bec ause QA genera tes a lot of c ritic ism Frustra tion c an run very high w ith developers

Tight sc hedules make everyone tense

Bad bugs found la te c ause sc hedule p ressure for a ll

Educ a tion is the answer to d issuade unduec ritic ism

Synergy and Pride

Make some friends

The developers c an b e your strongest

a llies or your strong est enemiesYou need them on your side

Find out what you c an do for them and do it

They will be a llies onc e they see a persona l ga in

Win over the development managers, youneed them

• How to be an

EffectiveManager

Leading the Perfect Beast

Step 4:

Leadingeffectively

Eff ti L d hi

Effective LeadershipLooking Outward

You are a window into your department

Need to have c onsistent

policies/proceduresNeed to b e c lea r about what you rep resent

Need to be c lea r about wha t you expec tfrom other departments

Esta b lish rela tionships and get agreement onproc esses tha t will be used

Determine key p layers in other departments andesta b lish sing le-point-of-c onta c t in yourdepartment

Eff ti L d hi

Effective LeadershipSetting Interna l Expec tations

Exp la in your expec ta tions

Take the time to estab lish a c omfort level

Give sc hed ules for p lanned c hangesExp la in reasons for c ha nges to esta b lished

procedures

Ask for inputListen to the input you rec eive

You might lea rn something !

Status Reports

Weekly sta tus reports c an be goodFour ma in items should be inc luded

What d id you do?

What a re you working on now?What a re you p lanning to do next week?

Any prob lems/ issues?

Stay with a simp le format a nd keepreports short

Always read every word of every sta tusreport

Answer p romptly any questions

• Effective

RewardSystems

Feeding the Perfect Beast

Step 5:

Reward fairly andpromptly

Rewards – Equity

QA c ompensa tion must be equiva lentto development

Merit and bonus pools must be the sameSa lary basis must be the same

Position titles c an be d ifferent

Same position a nd same responsib ility ineither department should get same

compensation

Rewards – EquityFodder for the equity ba ttleTra ining/ experienc e/ educ a tion is the

same as developers

QA has unique and d iffic ult-to-rep lac e skillsets and knowledge

The c ompany has an interna l tra ininginvestment in your peop le

It is d iffic ult to find and reta in good ,

qualified peop leGather da ta from other suc c essful

companies

Rewards – “ Enough”

Anyone c an get a higher paying jobanytime

Have to ba lance job sa tisfac tion withmoneta ry rewards

Adeq uate c ompensa tion must beperceived

Job sa tisfac tion must be there most o f the

Eac h ind ividua l must d etermine their own

Rewards – Night on the Town

Small awards ($150-300) tha t c ompensa te theemp loyee and a da te Good paybac k for long hours on a short p rojec t

Good way to rec og nize that the p erson a t homesuffered too

Consider if pub lic rec ognition is good

Determine who elec ts a person

Dec ide if you need to set a frequenc y limit

Bonus Systems (Yikes!)

Projec t bonuses and QA

Bonuses based on end da tes c an put QA

in a bad positionGoa l is to build qua lity in from the

beg inning to make the whole team meet

the goa lConsider making part of the bonus

payab le based on the p roduc t’ s succ ess(# bugs in b eta , DDP)

Bonus SystemsGood bonus c riteria

Projec t ‘ CoolSW’ mustc omp lete beta by

3/ 23/ 09 with a DDP of97%

Team members must

fac ilita te the entireteam in meeting itsgoals

Bad bonus c riteriaProjec t ‘ CoolSW’ must

ship by 4/ 1/ 09

Every team membermust work a t least 60hours a week

Growing Your Staff

Step 6:

Provide longterm growth

• What do they

want to be?

Growing Your Staff

Crea te lea rning opportunities

Always p lan tra ining time into p rojec t

schedulesNeed to show inc reasing skill leve ls

Be sure peop le understand that you ca re about

their c a reers Even if they leave you eventua lly…

Tra ining is an investment, not a n expense

Loyalty grows bec ause you have invested in the irfuture

You get to use the know led ge they ga in

Growing – OJT

OJT is still the most c ommon tra iningmethod , so rec ognize and fac ilita te it

Give peop le time to work with newtechnologies

Give them ac c ess to mentors

Early p rojec t involvement helps

It’ s easiest to lea rn while others a re lea rning too

Automation - the g rea tQA growth pa th

Automation is the tec hnic a lpa th for the tec hnic a llyinclined

It is now a rec ognized spec ia ltyAllows app lic a tion of design and

programming skills within the QAenvironment

Crea tes an opportunity to lea rn and

app ly the la test p rogramming c oncep tsand skills

Growing – Automation

Summary

Making Work Rewarding

As a manager, this is your p rimary job !Everyone wants to look forward to c oming

to work in the morning (exc ep t for peop lewith night jobs…)

Peop le spend a minimum of 10 hours

eac h workday involved in work ac tivitiesWork time is a signific ant pa rt o f a person’ s life

That time must be meaningful to them

The c ritic a l c omponents of jobsatisfaction

Moneta ry rewards must be a dequate Intellec tua l stimula tion must be suffic ient

A good working environment must exist

The va lue assigned to eac hc omponent va ries with eac h personover time

Eac h emp loyee’s job sa tisfac tion isc ritic a l to your suc c ess

You will only be as suc c essful as yourpeop le c an ma ke you

Your suc c ess is determined by how well

your group func tions toward thec ompany’s goa ls

Finding and Retaining the Best

Interview c a refullySta rt w ith the very best peop le

You have to c a re about your emp loyees

(they can tell, you know)

Be c onsistentDefine their environment a nd their

interac tion with you

Be honest

Make them fee l sec ure in dea ling withyou; build trust

Know what you’ re d oing tec hnic a llyEarn the ir respec t

Correc t your mistakesCounsel when you can, fire when you

have to

Don’ t forget things

Items b rought to you a re important tosomeone

Be yourself It’ s the one thing you c an do c onsistently

and honestly

Thank you!

More Information?

See my books:Managing the Software Test People , by

Judy Mc KayThe Software Test Engineer’s Handbook , by

Graham Ba th and Judy Mc Kay

Both ava ilab le on Amazon, pub lished byRoc ky Nook Pub lishing

Email: judyamckay@earthlink.net

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