Page - 239 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

Next-Generation Software Testers: Broaden or Specialize! 239 apprenticing, observing users/customers actually using the application, visiting online forumsandbecomingpartofcommunities. Note, there seems to be a tendency to prefer technical testers in the Agile community, but as we have learned in this paragraph, there is a strong need and benefit to having testers with domain knowledge and sometimes even a domain background,e.g.endusers thathavebecometesters!Ofcoursetherenever isa right answer in these kind of situations, but it is something that needs to be considered and balanced when assigning testers to a team and defining a required knowledge andskill set for theT-shaped tester. 3.4 Broadening:Soft Skills Any software tester should also possess so-called soft skills (also known as people skills). Soft skills are importantas they are used to approachwork. Testers have an instinct and understanding for where and how software might fail, and how to find defects. A tester also should have the soft skills to influence and communicate in a manner that they becomevital to the project. Testing requiresa toolbox full of soft skills, including communication, time management, analytical skills, eagerness to learnandcritical thinking,butalso relativelystandardpeopleskills suchas reading, reporting and presentation skills. Some of these skills allow a tester to be better in finding defects, but most of them relate to being better at communicating a, most often difficult, message. Having these soft skills is like a prerequisite to having the right attitude for being a T-shaped, open-minded tester within an Agile team, e.g. haveempathytowardsotherdisciplines,knowledgesharingandbeingateamplayer. BeingaT-shaped tester andbeingpartofa teammeans thesoft skills that the tester possessescanalsobeused to supportother teammembersat their tasks. Hereafter,someoftheimportantsoftskillswhichatestershouldpossess inorder toexcel inhisfieldarebrieflydescribed. Communication Sincea testerhas todealwith somanydifferent teammembers, it isvery important to have a proper communication channel with them. Whether it is a defect to report, explanation or clarification on an ambiguous requirement, a tester has to communicate with respective business analysts, developers and sometimes end users. When you have good communication skills, you eliminate ambiguity and misunderstanding while talking to the different team members. Also, most of the issueswhicharisedue toacommunicationgapwouldbeatpar.Forexample,when youfindacrucialdefect, it isvery important toexplain it ina politeway so that the developerdoesn’t feel likeyouareblaminghimfor the rootcause. Time Management Timemanagementis themost importantskill fora tester,eveninAgile the lastdays on an iteration are usually packed with “stressful” last minute testing. When you knowhowtouseyourtimeproperlyandhowtoprioritize tasksaccordingto theend