[PPT] - Hard Lessons About Soft Skills Marlena Compton & Gordon Shippey PowerPoint Presentation

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Hard Lessons About Soft Skills

Marlena Compton & Gordon Shippey

_______________________________________________________________________ Excerpt from PNSQC 2011 PNSQC.ORG Copies may not be made or distributed for commercial use _______________________________________________________________________ Excerpt from PNSQC 2011 PNSQC.ORG Copies may not be made or distributed for commercial use 1

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The Writers

Marlena Compton Tester at Mozilla, formerly Atlassian & Equifax @marlenac marlenacompton.com Gordon Shippey Licensed Counselor Formerly a tech writer at Equifax vastandinfinite.com

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The Abstract

The psyche of a software tester The tester’s paradox Crucial conversations for testers

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What I learned about myself when the walls came down...

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Where did this tester come from ?

Teammates told me it was me vs. them Everything I know about negotiating I learned from my dad, a successful attorney...who will cut you. Popular testing culture insists the tester persona is a force of destruction and the test cycle is judgment day

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Some asshole behaviors...

Threats and intimidation Flame-y emails Public shaming Interruptions Nasty Looks Personal Insults Sarcastic jokes and teasing as an insult delivery system

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Where does this happen?

Stand up meetings Reviewing specifications Software demos Bugs, especially bug comments Email, Irc, twitter

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SLIDE 9

How do you know if you’re a testing asshole?

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Take the A.R.S.E test and replace the plural nouns with “developers”

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Wait...are you saying testers are assholes?

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The Tester’s Paradox

Many testers are solo testers or a small band because money is not allocated for testing Often, testing occurs when a team is late and over budget Testers are supposed to expose problems/ critique an application Easy to feel ostracized and ignored When testers finally get to work, the team’s nerves are frayed and tempers are short Participation on a software team is limited to dispensing negative

information. Easy for critique to be

misconstrued as blame.

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It takes 5 positive interactions to counter

ne bad one.

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SLIDE 14

Testers are set up to fail at communication.

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SLIDE 15

um...so what?

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Developing software happens at a creative edge

If people don’t feel safe talking to each other, problem solving will occur in personal silos More time is spent finger-pointing than problem solving Developers are more likely to hide problems from testers than to be upfront about them. An unsafe work environment can result in heightened anxiety, depression and trouble concentrating

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SLIDE 17

Testers care.

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Let’s acknowledge our challenges and move on

Understand our own stress reactions Control what we can control Set the communication example Work on improving our “crucial conversations”

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SLIDE 19

The conclusion from 25 years of research

The best companies rely on skillful face to face discussion

ver procedures and forms to solve problems

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

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SLIDE 21

What is a crucial conversation?

Any conversation between two or more people where: Stakes are high Emotions are strong Opinions vary

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SLIDE 22

Crucial Conversations in Software

Any discussion involving whether or not a bug is fixed Ship/No Ship Why a bug happened at all Suggesting changes to a feature in development Asking for more time to test Asking if something is ready to test Talking with a developer about seeing the same bug again

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The guts of a crucial conversation

Recognize that the conversation has “turned crucial” Start with heart Look beyond the sucker’s choice Create space from emotions with observations

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Recognizing Crucial Conversations

Remember the three elements: high stakes emotions are strong Opinions vary They don’t always happen when you plan. They don’t always happen face to face

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SLIDE 25

Start with heart

What do I really want for myself? What do I really want for others? What do I want for the relationship?

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When to hold off...

If you feel the need to “win” If you’re out for revenge If you are concerned about remaining safe

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SLIDE 27

Notice Stress Reactions

We have them because we’re human Fight, Flight or Freeze Blood is diverted away from our brains

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Where do you feel your stress reaction?

Is it your: Shoulders? Neck? Chest? Hands? Face?

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3 steps to avoiding the “sucker’s choice”

1. Clarify what I want
2. Clarify what I don’t want
3. Combine the two into an “and” question to present the brain

with a more complex problem

Ex. I really want to find out why this bug isn’t fixed and I

don’t want the developer to think I’m blaming him

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SLIDE 30

Create space from emotions with

bservations

Notice how you are feeling Notice assumptions you are making Find a way to give the other person the benefit of the doubt

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Having a fair argument

Don’t argue until everyone understands what the argument is about Don’t argue while generating ideas or solutions Once the argument is resolved, cease the criticism If the argument gets nasty, take a timeout to turn down the venom After the fight is over, recover & repair

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Recovery & Repair

Take the blame fully Take control over what you can Explain what you’ve learn Communicate what you will do differently in the future. Stick to it.

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SLIDE 33

Questions?

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