Tester Mindset in Agile Scrum Model
— November 25, 2016As a tester in Agile Scrum model, one needs to show off as an active member of the Scrum team. A good tester wears the hats of many roles: end user, technical architect, product owner, etc. when doing product verification. And remember that tester is responsible for delivering what business needs that is to thoroughly verify the product before it is delivered to end users.
The following are some key points for tester to follow:
- Collaborate well with Development, Product Management teams to understand the scope of testing. Tester should get involved early when a development project starts. Tester needs to join the Sprint planning meeting to understand the initial requirements. Try to ask questions to get general concept of testing, know the key features and limits of the product.
- Actively study the project backlog to see if the product being designed can deliver what is expected. There are cases when development team finds it hard to respond to all the requirements and suggest taking some features out due to issues related to technical, design, risk, etc. Understanding the product’s requirement properly would help tester identify what features the product must possess in order to give the development team recommendations about the product’s content
- Attend Daily Scrum Meeting, ask many questions or clarifications to get things clear, contribute ideas to help build a testable product
- Improve focus by properly structuring the test document (testplan/testcases) to put effort on where needed. This would help organize tests better, emphasize more on key features or the most vulnerable areas
- Pursue proactive and continuous improvement. Tester should proactively look back and evaluate his/her deliverables. This would result in helpful lessons for what is working, what is not, and what needs to improve
- Learn new skills. Gaining new skills is always helpful for one’s job. It does not only help tester work more efficiently, but also allows tester to significantly adapt to changes/challenges
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