It's good to talk... to a Test Manager or two

I am generally not an advocate of meetings (business seminars or otherwise), perhaps I've just been to 1 too many early morning test status meetings. So when I was invited to the UK Test Managers Forum it was with some trepidation that I accepted. Of course I have been to other meeting of this type, the BCS SIGIST and Eurostar, I've even presented at them, but I have rarely enjoyed them or felt that I have benefited from them. I think there are 2 reasons why those meetings do not work that well: firstly many of the attendees are just there to network (i.e. get leads), and secondly there are limited opportunities for the participants to make their own points. This can lead to frustrations and even battles of egos where little of real value is discussed and a total lack of collaboration prevails. The 'non-consultants' (i.e. potential sales prospects) form into small protective groups and the consultants and tools vendors jostle each other for the best sound byte and to put over their sales spiel. And did I mention that you pay for the pleasure as well...

Well I'm glad to say that the Test Managers Forum was very different from this. It was hosted by Paul Gerrard of System Evolutif, and sponsored by IS-Integration. Although SE organise the meetings, each event is sponsored by a different testing company. This format helps set the tone of the meeting with a spirit of co-operation. Paul makes it clear that every one has an equal say, there is no selling, (that is no sales pitches) and even though SE hosts the event they are not selling either.

I won't analyse the discussions, Antony Marcano has already done a good job of this, but I would like to point out some of the highlights. The purpose of the forum is to discuss the topics rather than a formal presentation, an informal workshop if you like. Each session starts with a short presentation to get the ball rolling:

The "How do we increase the perceived value of testing at board level" session begun with some sad stories highlighting the lack of empowerment often felt by Test Managers. But this was soon followed by personal experiences on how the board and other management levels had been influenced and what benefit this had been. Some of the solutions reminded me of a related article written by James Bach, it is also rather humorous Explaining testing to them. My favourite gem was the idea of selling the concept of 'No Testing Required' to senior manager, this would certainly get their attention. The theory proposes that very little quality checking (i.e. testing the end product) is necessary if an effective programme of quality assurance is implemented through out the development lifecycle. Of course, we've heard this one before, but it's still a good one.

The 2nd session was based on "Non-Functional Testing" facilitated by Stevan Zivanovic. This focused on issues of performance testing and also covered security testing and the non-functional testing standards of the BCS. This lead to some lively debate and a straw poll on the benefits of early performance testing.

This was an excellent focus group that I would strongly recommend to any one with an active interest in test management, but please leave your sales presentations back at the office.