The document discusses the changing role of test management over time from the past to the present and future. It notes that as agile methods have increased, the traditional test manager role has changed, with test managers now taking on more of a coaching and enabling role within agile teams rather than external management and oversight. A survey found that 90% of test managers have experienced changes in responsibilities with increases in coaching, mentoring, and stakeholder management and decreases in tasks like planning, reporting, and documentation. The document hypothesizes that as agile adoption grows further, the test manager role may cease to exist, being replaced by testers with broader skills who are more accountable as full team members.

1. TheChangingfaceoftest
management
Test management, past, present and future
Ben Williams & Tom Roden
#AgileTD – March 2015

2. TheDeathsTArrelease
https://vimeo.com/122768892

3. AboutUs
Ben Williams – @13enWilliams
Tom Roden – @TommRoden

4. Testmanager
isnotthesameas
Testmanagement

5. Testmanagement of
thepast

6. Exploratory testing =Smoke testing =
Stress testing = Penetration testing =
Wesay… Theyhear…

7. Step 1. Remove brain
Step 2. Login to Quality Centre
Step 3. Follow 67 more steps without looking at how the
application is behaving
Step 4. Test fails for reason unrelated to test step
Step 5. Step 4 does not compute, enter tight loop until
sickness or darkness descends
If the test didn’t find the defect, does
the defect really exist?
StayOnTarget

8. TestManagement OF
thePresent

9. Agileisstillontheincrease
Computer
Weekly
Jobs,
8th
November
2012

10. ThereisnoprescribedTestManagerrolein
Agilemethods

11. Whatdoesthismean?

12. Wedidasurvey

13. Hastherolechanged?
• 90% have experienced a change in responsibilities
How
many
have
experienced
a
change?
lots
of
people
almost
no-­‐one

14. Peoplereportedanincreasein…
–Coaching practices & techniques
–Mentoring
–Stakeholder Management
–Cross team knowledge

15. Peoplereportedadecreasein…
–Planning
–Reporting
–Test Strategies
–Project admin
–Project and Programme Management
–Reviewing Documentation

16. Peoplereportednochangein…
–Budgeting & Staffing
–Training
–Governance & project assurance
–Reviewing tests
–Unblocking
–Metrics & instrumentation

17. TheFutureofTest
Management

18. “As agile methods continue to replace traditional,
the role of test manager will cease to exist.
Test managers will cover a different role, with a
broader scope, utilising a different skillset.
Teams will need to assume more accountability for
test activities than they have done in the past”
OurHypothesis

19. Insidetheteam
or
Outsidetheteam

20. Defectmanagement?
Insidetheteam
Outsidetheteam

21. TestAutomation?
Insidetheteam
Outsidetheteam

23. TestToolSelection?
Insidetheteam
Outsidetheteam

24. Principles&Strategy?
Insidetheteam
Outsidetheteam

25. PrinciplesofTesting
Source – Tom Roden & Paul Wilford
2013, SQS

26. Inorderthatyouensurequality
Asateammember
Iwantyoutoberesponsiblefora
lotmore

27. Thisisn’t
Management

28. Test“Managers”,thepointis…
StopManaging
Startenabling!!!

29. Tom Roden – @tommroden
Ben Williams – @13enWilliams
WhatDoYouDo?

30. http://bit.ly/agiletestingdaysnl