[Talk] Time Management in Testing

As a tester, you are often faced with tight deadlines, overwhelming workloads, and a constant stream of new tasks. In this talk, we will explore a range of time management lessons specifically tailored for testers. You've heard about clear goals and priorities, yet we'll talk about discovering your goals while already doing something useful. You've heard about staying focused and on track, yet we'll talk about recharging and creativity time. This talk will help you grow effective by limiting work in progress and focusing on serial tasking with learning and contributing.

Small streams create major impacts over time. Steer your impact intentionally.

Transcript

1. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to by Maaret Pyhäjärvi Time Management in Testing
2. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Life expectancy, Finland 2022 82.31 years 988 months
3. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to One persons time wasting habit is another person’s recharging technique. Drain me Recharge me
4. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to M&M Managers and Meetings
5. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to There’s things that it’s time to take care of. And things that time takes care of. – Antti Laine, around year 2001 while being my boss
6. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Tester and Developer Source: Adapted from Bret Pettichord. 2000. Testers and Developers Think Differently Tester Developer Need of Mastery Focus of Modeling Focus of Thinking Tedium and Conflict Get up to speed quickly Generalist Domain knowledge Ignorance is important Thorough understanding Specialist Knowledge of product internals Expertise is important Model user behavior Focus on what can go wrong Focus on severity of problem Model system design Focus on how it can work Focus on interest of problem Practical Empirical: What is observed Sceptics Theoretical How it is designed Believers Tolerate tedium Comfortable with conflict Report problems Automate tedium Avoid conflict Understand problems
7. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to How Long Does It Take to Test X?
8. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Stakeholders happy, even delighted –Quality Information Good Team’s Output –Quality Information Less than Good Team’s Output –Quality Information Results Gap Surprise! Results Gap on a Team that thinks Testers == Testing Pick up the pizza boxes… ”Find (some of) What Others May Have Missed”
9. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to
10. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to
11. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Test Strategy for E-Primer Tests for E-Primer
12. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Creativity requires time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDngw5R32WE&list=FLrTlIKuIS-LmRk-aAbcxTKg
13. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Explore with Intent Mission Charter Other Charters Details INTENT LEARNINGS
14. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Gambit Midgame Endgame Intake Survey Analysis Setup Coverage Closure Introduce Richer Vocabulary
15. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Time-box thinking and stop without being done. Bugs make estimating tricky.
16. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Discovery Delivery Production
17. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to
18. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Limit WIP Serial tasking FTW!
19. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to 25 years in testing …now managing 25
20. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to You do all this stuff… How? What Have You Learned about Time Management?
21. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to You must be the guardian of your own time.
22. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Options Leading to Serendipity Leading to Knowing More Your career is too important to be left at whims of your manager. Your impact is what makes a career.
23. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Availability timeline Results Productive Generative Short term Long term Find and get fixed Executable docs Holding space Leaving co-owned automation behind Leaving better behind Improving *your* skills
24. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to 1 month 2x – 6 months 3x – 8,5 months 4x – 10 months 5x – 1 year Output ROI of spending 1 hour a day learning for a 1% increase 1.01^365 = 37.8
25. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to Impact and Results Zero Bug Policy Reflection Wall Time Forget Plans, Start Planning Continuous is the Magic Share and Ensemble Credit Time Box Thinking Docs as output Rebel Rule to Testing: NEVER be bored. Be Away Regularly No Bug Reports, No Bug Closing
26. @maaretp @maaretp@mas.to 2020 2016 MIATPP Most Influential Agile Testing Professional Person #PayToSpeak #TechVoices #EnsembleTesting #EnsembleProgramming #StrongStylePairing #ExploratoryTesting #TestAutomation #ModernAgile #AwesomeTesters Maaret Pyhäjärvi (from Finland) Email: maaret@iki.fi Twitter: @maaretp Web: maaretp.com Blog: visible-quality.blogspot.fi (please connect with me through Twitter or LinkedIn) 2019 - 2022 https://exploratorytestingacademy.com Ohjelmistotestaus ry https://techvoices.org