Ard Kramer

Alten

If I wake you up in the middle of the night, are you able to tell me, as a good tester, what risks are still applicable in your system under test? And what impact these risks can have when this software goes to production? Although I never had to wake my testers up, in many cases they couldn’t answer the question! In my opinion; covering risks is underestimated because we don’t like the subject: it is too abstract, sometimes too philosophical or negative. While on the other hand if we have to deal with problems in production because we underestimated risks, fingers are pointed at those who were able to cover the risks (such as testers). Dealing with risks determines the success of a product and therefore the success of an organisation. I will look how organisations should be organised to get the maximum commitment of their employees and if this is the case: motivated testers who feel free to communicate about risks.

The organisation I was working made the transition to an agile/scrum approach and my role changed from test manager to test facilitator. This doesn’t mean that the focus on risks disappeared. On the contrary: I see a lot of risks at the integration level of systems that are not recognised and not covered because no scrum team feels responsible. Therefor I like to discuss the following question: “how to communicate with the focus on risks”? This should be a focus point in the communication between testers, developers, analysts and stakeholders. I will look at 2 kind of risks I see: product risks but also process risks. After this elaboration I like to discuss how to communicate effectively as testers in scrum teams and as a test facilitator on risks without being seen as the boy who is constantly looking at the dark sight. So how can we improve communication within and among scrum teams and with the test manager responsible for release with risks as an important subject?

3 key takeaways

• Do you know the meaning of your organisation, system, product?
• Can you deliver the important risks right away?
• How can you communicate about the (process and product) risks your dealing with?