Agile testing is one of the popular methods in software testing today. Testers may encounter many different challenges in the Agile development process. Below are some experiences that help testers operate efficiently in a team.
1. Be trained in Agile
A tester who lacks Agile training can still be a part of the team, but it will be difficult to access the working method and cooperate in the environment. Therefore, it is highly recommended for a tester undergo Agile training in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the process and effectively collaborate within the team.
Acquiring Agile knowledge and skills is not only for the individual tester but also for fostering teamwork. When all team members possess a shared knowledge base about Agile, the overall team performance is greatly enhanced, resulting in smoother operations.
2. Fully participate in meetings
In each sprint, meetings such as Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective all play an important role in updating progress, making decisions, and solving project issues. Testers need to participate fully in each meeting to understand the work situation, advantages/disadvantages that the team is having, and give their comments. This helps increase the ability to understand customer requirements, support the teammates in completing features, and reduce the number of bugs.
3. Actively in the sharing of information
In an agile team, testers usually have more information about the business or requirements through direct communication with customers and verification of all features. Therefore, testers need to constantly share information with teammates to ensure that the entire team is working with complete and accurate information.
In addition to participating in meetings, sharing information is an opportunity for testers to contribute their voices to help build/improve the team culture, and more importantly, help solve the issues the team is facing.
4. Work in Agile style
You may ask, what is Agile style? I can answer briefly that the Agile style is always proactive and ready for updates or changes in requirements from customers.
The essence of a sprint is small periods of time in the process of completing a large product. So, the occurrence of these two factors in any User Story or requirement from the customer is sure to happen. A tester’s job is always to prepare for that.
5. Proficiently using support tools
Any company or project has a toolset to support the team in managing requirements, especially supporting testers in managing test cases and bugs. They can be Jira, Trello, Azure DevOps, AzureTest Plan, Jira, TestLink, and Bugzilla,… They are all important tools that help testers work efficiently in an agile team.
However, to use these tools effectively, testers need to understand their functions. To do this, you need to update your knowledge regularly, explore new features of the tools, and practice using them in your daily work. In addition, we also need to ensure that the information recorded and managed by these tools is accurate and complete, to avoid errors and losses for the project.
6. Good cooperation with other members in the team
Not only in agile projects/teams, frequent collaboration and communication between team members is very important. In order to achieve this effectively, a tester needs to have the ability to collaborate and work closely with other members of the team. Regular collaboration and communication also help minimize conflicts between team members and build a positive and efficient working environment.
Another important factor to enhance collaboration and communication between team members is to regularly conduct meetings and communicate. This is an opportunity for team members to update their work progress, resolve issues, and propose improvements.
In addition, a tester needs to participate in other team activities, such as workshops, celebrations, team-building events, social activities with the team,.. etc. Participating in these activities also helps the tester feel friendly with the team and contributes to the project’s success.
7. Always update and develop your skills
We are in an era of constant change, and testers need to constantly update and develop their skills, from testing skills to communication and collaboration skills within the team. Learning from experts in the testing field as well as online resources will help you become a more effective tester in an agile team.
Above are some experiences to help testers work effectively in an agile team. If you are a new tester in an agile environment, don’t worry too much because this is a process of continuous learning and improvement. Use the experiences and advice from other members in the team to develop yourself and contribute more effectively to the project.
