Testing Peers

Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers podcast - and sorry this one is a little late.

This week, join Simon, Russell, David and Chris as we discuss the topic of test cases.

Before we dive in, David asks us to fill our suitcases (see what he did there?) and we see another cheeky mention of the PeersCon idea that we've been playing around with.

After the banter, we introduce the topic and ask are test cases valuable, are they still important?

We talk through our experiences, touch on different contexts, audiences, requirements and more.

The key points drawn out are around value, cost, tooling and most importantly the why.

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

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We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

Saffron QA is a provider of recruitment and consultancy services, exclusively for the software testing industry.

You can find out more at https://saffronqa.co.uk/  or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffron-qa/

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Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers Podcast.

Join Shey, David, Russell and Chris as we discuss hybrid working.

We begin with Russell asking the Peers about favourite festivals and live music we've experienced.

Then we dive straight into the topic.

What does hybrid working even mean?

How the pandemic has swung the pendulum from office-first focus to home-first focus toward hybrid working for many of us.

The Peers then talk about the value of time spent together in person and how we can plan our time accordingly.

We discuss some of the challenges, from mental health to communication, trust to burnout.

What about back-to-back meetings and Zoom fatigue? We talk through it all.

As we look to the next generation coming up in the industry, we talk about what a hybrid working model might look like for them, what will be missed from our introduction - we discuss opportunities to create environments that are valuable and where we can create paths to absorb information in this new way of working.

Virtual coffees, buddys, hands-on team work (such as pairing) and more.

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

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Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TestingPeers)

We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

Saffron QA is a provider of recruitment and consultancy services, exclusively for the software testing industry.

You can find out more at https://saffronqa.co.uk/  or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffron-qa/

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Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers Podcast.

In this episode we're joined by two special guests, Shey Crompton and Steven Warburton in lieu of Simon and Russell. 

We discuss the best and worst ways we find to communicate in this modern era of remote/distant working. 

Naturally the Testing Peers are drawn to discuss context but this time from the view of meeting invites - do you tell people what your meetings are about? 

Do you use a meeting when a message is good enough or message when a meeting makes sense, or perhaps just a call rather than a meeting or message? It's sometimes hard to work out what makes sense and this week we discuss communicating better to the right audience. We don't just talk about meetings but also, messaging tools, presentations and listening skills.

We mention a useful book.

'Don't make me think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability' by Steve Krug

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

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Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/testingpeers/)

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TestingPeers)

We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

Saffron QA is a provider of recruitment and consultancy services, exclusively for the software testing industry.

You can find out more at https://saffronqa.co.uk/  or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffron-qa/

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Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers Podcast.

Before diving into the topic of complacency, the newly crowned 'Mr. Bantz' asks the Peers to dive into their memory vaults to reveal which computer games consumed their adolescent years.

Chris introduces the definition of complacency that will be used for this episode:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/complacency

Seeing as it's the Testing Peers, we talk about context from the off, including levels of confidence and experience and how it influences what complacency may even look like.

The Peers look at if complacency, by this definition, is a bad thing. If it is something that could damage your career.

It's not like words such as comfort, impact, content or enough are negative!

We discuss the pendulum effect between complacency and imposter syndrome.

On an important note, we remember to recognise that there is more to life than our work and talk about what is healthy. Let's face it, a calm and content place in an unstable world isn't a bad thing. 

We look at our own personal experiences of complacency and discuss hypothetical scenarios, including what to do when we find ourselves in a state of complacency, and how sometimes it creeps up on us.

A couple of interesting talks are mentioned in our discussions:

Leigh Rathbone's TestBash Dublin 2018 talk - Take The Blue Pill Or The Red Pill, You Decide If You Want To Change

Sanne Visser's talk - Good Enough Testing: Finding the Goldilocks Zone - Slides here

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

Twitter (https://twitter.com/testingpeers)

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/testing-peers)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/testingpeers/)

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TestingPeers)

We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

Saffron QA is a provider of recruitment and consultancy services, exclusively for the software testing industry.

You can find out more at https://saffronqa.co.uk/  or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffron-qa/

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Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers. Chris, Simon, David and Shey are here to discuss another great topic. This time it is one that was suggested by a friend and podcast listener, Mr Stuart Crocker (@StooCrock)

Shey starts off the session with the banter around which fantasy world would we like to visit. Lots of great answers, most in places where we may be in some form of potential danger

On the main topic, we discuss the benefits of aligning testing to business goals and how it can add real value to a business direction when it is aligned. We discuss how there is always a level of Testing being a safety net, to enable the business to do more risky things.

We share stories where Testing needs to be that critical friend for the business and also work on changing the perception of the value delivered by testing. Moving it away from a cost and more to an enabler for business value.

The comparison is made to parenting and how we show the value of the good work we have done with our children. It’s similar in that there may be no tangible output for the work done and it sometimes comes down to the gut feel of whether you feel you are doing a good job and how this fits with the business values.

This is a topic it is clear the peers are very passionate about and one which we are hopeful we can help others in changing the perception of testing in their companies.

Let us know your thoughts on this topic and share ways you have aligned testing to the business value

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

Twitter (https://twitter.com/testingpeers)

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/testing-peers)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/testingpeers/)

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TestingPeers)

We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

Saffron QA is a provider of recruitment and consultancy services, exclusively for the software testing industry.

You can find out more at https://saffronqa.co.uk/  or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffron-qa/

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Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers.

Chris and Russell have returned from their EuroSTAR adventures, to join the other regulars to talk toxicity in testing.

Before diving in, Simon leads the banter around what three apps would you keep on your phone, if you were allowed only three.

Thankfully, no toxicity there!

Onto the main discussion, the Peers discuss everything from behaviours, misunderstanding, misappropriation, unrealistic expectations to politics and more!

On the note of knowledge gatekeeping:

We move on to talking about the issues of explaining what we do in testing, the biases there are in and around the craft, and the toils in educating.

What about feedback, optics, how are we all communicating with each other? Plus our responsibilities as leaders, working in this space, who the audience and what the benefit is.

We do touch on social media and indeed some of that is what inspired this thread by Chris.

https://twitter.com/christovskia/status/1542498791928090626?s=20&t=rpVrgUYyti74x0nFrH9GDg

Closing out the conversation, we talking about what we can do, being respectful, considering context are important and with whom can we talk about these things?
How can we challenge things or call out toxic behaviours?

Thank you for listening. We appreciate all your feedback.

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

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We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

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Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers. With Chris and Russell galavanting off at EuroStar 2022 in Copenhagen, Simon and David drafted in some equally awesome replacements in Shey and Beth from the Testing Peers bench and with that, two who have been involved in our #MakeATester endeavours. So we thought it made sense to provide an update on what we have been up to.

We started with "Banter with Beth" and she asked us all about how we make Testing fun. A lot of the collaborative activities we have discussed on previous episodes were mentioned such as internal COPs, collaboration and engagement and getting to try new things.

If you're unfamiliar with the #MakeATester concept, go back to Podcast Episode 18 – #MakeATester and listen to that first.

Simon then talked through the progress we have made so far with contacting universities. Around 60% (68 out of 112) of the UK universities have now been contacted, but out of that, only 12 have any kind of dedicated module.

We then talk about the session we have recently run at the University of Plymouth and the positive outcomes with that. And also touch on our upcoming session at Aston University too.

We know we have more to do, but we are making progress and it's great that with the wider Testing Peers group, we have people who are passionate about making a difference.

We'd love to progress this further, so if anyone wishes to support/sponsor the MakeATester efforts, then please get in touch.

Thank you for listening. We appreciate all your feedback.

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

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We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

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Welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers. On this episode, we talk about our experience with models for testing. This takes us down the journey of identifying the models we have found most useful during our testing careers.

Before diving into the main topic, David asks us what our first model of car we owned was, which was a fun trip down memory lane, particularly for our resident petrol head (Russell!). Chris certainly wins the award for the biggest death trap out of the 4 of us.

Chris introduces the main discussion, and mentions how models sometimes come across as a way to sell a solution which may not fit in everyone’s context. The original Spotify Model gets a mention for scenarios where others have tried to prove it works in their context.

Simon gives the obligatory mention to his “Culture of Quality” model and David talks about the key to using models is to use the best bits and evolve it into your own solution.

We do discuss some of the models in the testing world from the Automation Pyramid to the catalogue of models created by Dan Ashby. Dan has created models which we have all used and have made our testing better! Thanks Dan!

We discuss our experience with creating models and how they work better when created to solve a problem, and evolve it as its being used.

What models have been helpful for you? How do you go about creating models for your own use?

Thank you for listening. We appreciate all your feedback.

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

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We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Testing Peers. On this episode, we will discuss our experiences around Public Speaking. This covers everything from our own talks to any tips and suggestions we have to help people get into performing public speaking.

Chris starts us off with asking us about our experiences during our youth with public performances and any horror stories. We had everything from drill commands in the Air Cadets, school performances and Christmas shows.

We dived into why we felt we wanted to partake in public speaking which had a variety of reasons, from giving back to the community, sharing our stories and also possibly being able to talk about a topic better than one we'd already heard on the topic.

We offer advice on preparation/practice and show that we all have different ways to be ready for our talks and finally, we go into offering tips for anyone wanting to start their public speaking journey.

What are your experiences with Public Speaking? How did you get started? What is your motivation now?

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

Twitter (https://twitter.com/testingpeers)

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/testing-peers)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/testingpeers/)

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TestingPeers)

We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

Saffron QA is a provider of recruitment and consultancy services, exclusively for the software testing industry.

You can find out more at https://saffronqa.co.uk/  or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffron-qa/

Support the show

Welcome to episode 55 of the Testing Peers podcast.

This episode falls on the same date as the start of Mental Health Awareness Week 2022, and this year's theme is Loneliness and our mental health. We greatly value all the discourse around mental health and see great value in continuing the conversation and so we have dedicated this episode to the topic of loneliness from our experiences and perspectives in our testing lives.

Russell kicks us off with a conversation about renovation and DIY stresses, before we dive into the main topic.

Chris opens up with the formation of the Testing Peers group and how it was born out of a sense of loneliness, isolation and lack of accountability in his context.

The Peers then talk about the impact of the pandemic. How many interactions became stripped of humanity and were only status update related. We talk about starting new roles remotely and the struggles we have found with that.

Some other challenges we touch on are guilt, self-care, routine, dependencies, collaboration and communication.

The conversation does move on to the importance of talking about things, finding people you can trust and share with, asking for help and offering help.

Ultimately, agreeing that is really is ok to not be ok.

We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.

[email protected]

Twitter (https://twitter.com/testingpeers)

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/testing-peers)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/testingpeers/)

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TestingPeers)

We’re also now on GoodPods, check it out via the mobile app stores

If you like what we do and are able to, please visit our Patreon to explore how you could support us going forwards: https://www.patreon.com/testingpeers

Saffron QA is a provider of recruitment and consultancy services, exclusively for the software testing industry.

You can find out more at https://saffronqa.co.uk/  or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/saffron-qa/

Support the show