Staying Fresh with Agile Jargon

There are so many things that I could choose that made the most difference in the quality of my testing, so to pinpoint one thing is actually pretty hard.

After one week in the TTC Auckland head office and getting my laptop ready for business, I was really ready to take to the front line. Not knowing quite what to expect, I read everything I was given (twice), but there is nothing quite like learning on the job. A blistering two weeks flew by and I became part of the client’s asset management team. Here I was able to build up a strong foundation and learn what contributes to the basic principles I now apply every day.

With a computer science degree in my back pocket, I found slightly more comfort in the technical side of TTC’s Selenium-based open source platform. Although, the skills that I have developed the most and which have drawn the most successes from would have to be “people” skills. Being able to pick people's brains, ask for help, raise defects and give constructive feedback are huge parts of not only testing but simple everyday working. While I like to think of myself as somewhat of a social butterfly, it was certainly daunting talking to Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), Developers, Business Analysts (BAs) etc about almost anything. So being confident was key, which is a bit of a catch twenty-two as it tends to come with experience.

Then moving onto the pressures of GO-LIVE. The looming date and whispers made for an interesting interpretation of agile ways of working. Best thing about an agile work environment is you can twist a normal routine/process, squint a little and boom – “agile!”. It was through this time of crunch that I truly learnt the importance of strong work relationships, communication and presence. Having strong working relationships and good communication allowed faster, more streamline access to good information. On things that sometimes get missed in big group meetings, in turn empowering us as testers to provide more accurate, efficient testing, faster.

Lastly, creating a strong presence. This covers everything from, dress, punctuality, effort, intensity and respect. It is incredibly hard to do a good job for someone who doesn’t trust your skill or processes, and this can often be the case in with testing. So making sure you do these things can swiftly build trust and confidence the team has, again empowering you to do the best you can.