Testers are the Connectors of Agile Teams

Communication happens constantly on our teams and testers are at the heart of that communication. We talk about requirements, discuss bugs, present new features, and give the user's perspective. With all this comes a huge responsibility: the way we communicate informs our team culture and connects parts of the team together.

This makes testers the connectors of our teams. By communicating thoughtfully, we can change the entire morale of our team--and, as morale has been shown to be one of the best metrics for high performing teams, we can improve the overall quality of our products.

Come experience Jenny Bramble sing the praises of testers and give some tips on communication (language for talking about defects, how to interject in discussions, and more). You'll walk away from this keynote excited about your place in your team and how you can help take your communication to the next level.

Takeaways:
Test engineers are the connection of a team--pulling together all the other disciplines
Communication styles inform team culture, and TEs do a lot of communication on teams
Good team culture creates a thriving environment for quality
Three different styles of communication (fact based, summary based, and story based) as well as methods for improving your communication with each style

Transcript

1. TESTERS ARE THE CONNECTORS OF YOUR TEAMS @JENNYDOESTHINGS
2. HI, I’M JENNY! BEFORE WE GET TO THE KEYNOTE… @JENNYDOESTHINGS
3. STARTING AT RED HAT MY CAREER HAS BEEN BUILT ON COMMUNICATION @JENNYDOESTHINGS
4. HERE’S THE BIGGEST THING THAT I’VE LEARNED… @JENNYDOESTHINGS
5. CONNECTORS OF CROSS- FUNCTIONAL TEAMS TESTERS ARE @JENNYDOESTHINGS
6. TOUCH ALL PHASES OF A PROJECT @JENNYDOESTHINGS TESTERS…
7. TALK TO ALL PARTS OF A PROJECT TEAM @JENNYDOESTHINGS TESTERS…
8. HAVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT @JENNYDOESTHINGS TESTERS…
9. TESTERS HOLD THE MENTAL MODEL OF THE SYSTEM IN THEIR MINDS. Jasmin Smith Tester, speaker, good human @JENNYDOESTHINGS
10. TESTERS DON’T “JUST TEST” @JENNYDOESTHINGS IN SHORT,
11. @JENNYDOESTHINGS TESTERS … ▸ Document features and flows. ▸ Do risk analysis. ▸ Find defects. ▸ Examine and set expectations. ▸ Learn. ▸ Teach/educate. ▸ Ask questions. ▸ Determine requirements. ▸Test.
12. WE COMMUNICATE @JENNYDOESTHINGS BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING
13. AGILE TEAMS ARE BUILT ON COMMUNICATION @JENNYDOESTHINGS HERE’S THE THING
14. A LOT OF THAT COMMUNICATION @JENNYDOESTHINGS AND TESTERS DO
15. MUCH OF WHAT WE COMMUNICATE IS ‘BAD NEWS’ HERE’S THE OTHER THING: @JENNYDOESTHINGS
16. WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO INFLUENCE IT MEANS @JENNYDOESTHINGS
17. A RESPONSIBILITY TO SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION IT MEANS @JENNYDOESTHINGS
18. IT MEANS @JENNYDOESTHINGS WE CAN CONNECT OUR TEAMS
19. SO LET’S TALK ABOUT COMMUNICATION @JENNYDOESTHINGS
20. COMMUNICATION IS THE CORNERSTONE @JENNYDOESTHINGS WITH AGILE TEAMS
21. GIVING & RECEIVING @JENNYDOESTHINGS COMMUNICATION STYLES
22. PROSE, STORIES, EMOTION, DRAMA @JENNYDOESTHINGS MY NATURAL STYLE
23. THIS DOESN’T WORK GREAT FOR EVERYONE @JENNYDOESTHINGS AS YOU CAN IMAGINE
24. WHEN TALKING TO DEVELOPERS @JENNYDOESTHINGS ESPECIALLY
25. I’M GOING TO TEACH YOU HOW I TALK THREE DIFFERENT STYLES @JENNYDOESTHINGS SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM THERE?
26. FACT BASED COMMUNICATION @JENNYDOESTHINGS JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM
27. ASK TO BE TAUGHT @JENNYDOESTHINGS IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION
28. SUMMARY BASED COMMUNICATION @JENNYDOESTHINGS JUST THE CHARTS, MA’AM
29. ASK FOR HELP WITH EMAILS @JENNYDOESTHINGS IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION
30. STORY BASED COMMUNICATION @JENNYDOESTHINGS JUST THE FEELINGS, MA’AM
31. TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CAT @JENNYDOESTHINGS IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION
32. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT GOES WRONG? @JENNYDOESTHINGS AND YET…
33. CONTINUE TO CONNECT @JENNYDOESTHINGS RE-EVALUATE
34. HERE’S THE BIGGEST THING THAT I’VE LEARNED… @JENNYDOESTHINGS
35. CONNECTORS OF CROSS- FUNCTIONAL TEAMS TESTERS ARE @JENNYDOESTHINGS