In the zone

It has been almost 2 months since I started at Blocket. Two really interesting months. As always when starting a new job it takes a while to understand how things works. One of my tasks as Test Manager was to get some sort of test process in order. As I support five teams it was challenging to get a clear picture of the bottlenecks, how much testing effort was needed and the work flow. The first weeks I went to every team asking them if they had anything for me to test. Some times they did, some times they didn't. I was always sitting with the feeling that there might be something to do, but it is very hard to keep track of 5 team boards at once.

So I did what I love most, I did my own whiteboard. It is called The test zone. Whenever the developers has something they want to have tested they bring their note and add it to the board. If the note fulfills the entry criteria that are listed of course. Then it's really easy for me to see how much that needs testing for the day and when the board is empty I can focus on for example broadening my domain knowledge.

Beside from being very visually clear how much there is to test, the board also keeps me from acting as a mum or a police to the developers. I function as a service provider, if they don't want the service and my help to test something, that's fine. Then that's their choice. This means I'm not positioning myself as in charge of Quality. Which is a big relief on many levels. At my previous job I would get really nervous and try to keep track on everything that should be tested. Now I let the teams be responsible for that decision. AND, if this "fails", and a lot of bugs are being released etc, it is up to the development process to change how they want to work so it includes more testing.

I also added a timeline to the board so that the teams can mark when they are planing to release. That way we migrate the risk of two teams wanting to release at the same time..

I must also add that this is a great place to work. When I started the fist day I went and said hi to all the teams. Every team said things like "Finally, more testers!" and "Can you start now? We really need you". It not often the whole development department are so unanimous in wanting more testers.. It was a really cool experience :)

Acting on your feelings

Hellooo everybody!

So my last contribution was about taking the big leap of changing jobs. And is was a big leap. But then I figured out that even though there are plenty of perks to being a consultant, it's not my piece of cake. I realised that I love being at the same place for a long time and being able to suggest and implement change. And not just being a resource. Soooo I switched jobs. No fault of Know It, it's still a great company with really fun, skilled people! But for me, my new job is perfect. Starting in October I am the Test Manager of blocket.se. At the moment I manage one person, beside myself. And it's not so much me managing him, as him teaching me..

I think this is a nice challenge, they "do" XP, something I haven't come across before, and I'm intrigued to see how testing from my point of view will merge with that.

So, as I get in to it I'll hopefully have some insight in how to fit XP with QA-testing. From where I'm standing right now they contradict a lot. But as James Whittaker said at Star West a month ago, we tester will be obsolete. I don't fully agree, but being at a place that actually practice the one methodology that I think "should" be able to do with out dedicated testers is exciting! I'll keep you posted...


That's all for now, happy testing

New challanges

And I'm back.. But in a new setting. At the moment I am sitting at my new office at Know IT where I started yesterday. It's true, after 3,5 years I have left bwin. I never thought I would be able to do that! I have had such a great time at bwin it felt so distanced changing job. But I felt that it was time to move on and try something else and I choose Know IT which is a consultant company within IT. The plan is to try as many different areas as possible and broaden myself. It will be very interesting seeing how test is viewed upon depending on company and business.

But it was a hard decision to leave bwin. I have grown up there; my testing family who has taught me so much is there. I have developed as a tester, scrum master, colleague and person at bwin. It has been the best school one could imagine. But sooner or later one has to graduate and go out to the world and stand on your own two legs, and that is what I am doing. It is scary, but exciting.

So hopefully I will have a lot of news from different workplaces that I can reflect upon. So hang in there, it is my intention that I will be writing a lot more from now on!

xo
Ann