STARCANADA 2019 - Test Leadership
Tuesday, October 22
Critical Thinking for Software Testers
Critical thinking is the kind of thinking that specifically looks for problems and mistakes. Regular people don't do a lot of it. However, if you want to be a great tester, you need to be a great critical thinker. Critically-thinking testers save projects from dangerous assumptions and ultimately from disasters. The good news is that critical thinking is not just innate intelligence or a talent—it's a learnable and improvable skill you can master. Michael Bolton shares the specific techniques and heuristics of critical thinking and presents realistic testing puzzles that help you practice...
Success with Test Automation Projects: A People-driven Approach
NewAs we face increased demands for speed, change and technical excellence—the pressure, and the need for automating aspects of testing increases. But, successful test automation is not just about selecting and implementing tools and a technical infrastructure. People ensure the success or failure of the automation project; they must drive the project. Join Isabel Evans as she shows you how to make your test automation projects people-driven, by focusing on two vital but often neglected elements of any automation project: attitudes towards automation and experiences of automation. What...
Automation Framework Essentials
NewAutomation is critical in today’s software delivery lifecycle, and yet many organizations struggle to keep their automation running. How can we mitigate difficulties and get consistent automation runs and results we can trust? The secret is implementing a solid automation framework, but that isn’t as easy as it seems. Chris Loder has built several automation frameworks over his career and has learned what works—and, more importantly, what doesn’t. This tutorial will cover what an automation framework is, the benefits of having one, and the keys to a successful framework, including...
Quality and Testing Measures and Metrics
To be most effective, leaders—including development and testing managers, ScrumMasters, product owners, and IT managers—need metrics to help direct their efforts and make informed recommendations about the software’s release readiness and associated risks. Because one important evaluation activity is to “measure” the quality of the software, the progress and results of both development and testing must be measured. Collecting, analyzing, and using metrics are complicated because developers and testers often are concerned that the metrics will be used against them. Join Mike Sowers as he...
Testing Transformation: The Art and Science for Success
Technologies, testing processes, and the role of the tester have evolved significantly in the past few years with the advent of agile, DevOps, and other new technologies. It is critical that we testing professionals evaluate ourselves and continue to add tangible value to our organizations. In your work, are you focused on the trivial or on real game changers? Jennifer Bonine describes critical elements that help you artfully blend people, process, and technology to create a synergistic relationship that adds value. Jennifer shares ideas on mastering politics, maneuvering core vs. context...
Differentiated Management: Building Stronger Teams
NewHiring and team-building are two significant issues faced by every quality manager or director. However, what happens once you have hired your team? How do you keep valued members on board and help struggling members to become better, all while continuing to manage your organization and meet deliverables? During this highly interactive workshop, you will learn how to differentiate content, process, and products by learning more about employee readiness, interest, and lived experiences. You will participate in a role-playing game and will work as a team to practice each of these skills. The...
Wednesday, October 23
A Framework for the Whole Team to Own Quality
Enterprise software teams often keep testers in silos, only to be frustrated when testing is slow. A frequent answer is to make the whole team responsible for quality. But how does that work? How can testers engage key stakeholders in testing throughout the software development cycle? How can test managers build teams where everyone participates in a way that plays to individual strengths while simultaneously increasing collaboration? In this practical and inspiring talk, Jess Ingrassellino will share how she developed collaborative test charters when she started working as the first...
Continuous Delivery Requires Radical Changes for Testers
What do testing and quality look like in a continuous delivery world? Who does what and how? Is there still a need for testers, or do developers do all the testing? Is it really possible to achieve quality when you deploy to production many times each day? What should testers do when there is no time for a “testing phase”? These are some of the questions people in the testing community ask as the software development industry moves toward this new paradigm of design and delivery. Continuous delivery is a radical change in the way we build and deliver software, so it requires a radical...
Taming Your Dragon: From No QA to Fully Integrated QA
Many companies struggle with their QA processes and think of them as bottlenecks to their releases. Join Priyanka on her journey of transforming QA and improving its reputation and reliability. Transforming QA has required Priyanka to take deep dives into some of the technical challenges organizations face when a company tries to integrate an automation-focused QA team. She talks about 3 stages of QA adoption: Strategies on smart learnings from failure, pre-planning for success, and key action points for successful implementations (POC, tools, team structure). Priyanka also reviews how she...
Enabling Enterprise Quality
Too often quality is identified as solely owned by the quality assurance team. By taking a broader approach to roles, tools, and ideology, you can restructure your vision of how to provide rapid, frequent releases that empower all delivery team members. From advancing the QA role to developing in-house frameworks to facilitate developer testing, you can make significant strides to become a leader in software development. Learn how Mike Cullen's team built and deployed an automated test framework that allows developers to write supplementary UI tests that reside within their code base...
Ask Me Anything!
Have you ever wondered how a conference program is put together? Did you always want to know what happens behind the scenes at a conference? Maybe you have an automation question for the self-proclaimed lazy Automator, Chris Loder? Perhaps you wanted to ask Melissa Benua about continuous testing, containers, or imposter syndrome? It may be that you are interested in asking Dawn Jardine about her career path, what she thinks about One-On-One meetings, or how you too can be a speaker? Or conceivably your very curious mind wants to know "so why did Alison Wade start Women Who Test?" During...
Thursday, October 24
3 Steps to QA Success from a VP of Quality Assurance
Are you a leader with a quality problem? Every organization struggles with quality at some point in their product lifecycle. Knowing what to measure and how to build a culture of quality with specific and actionable methods is key. Join Karen Holliday as she goes through the three steps you can take to ensure success. She'll begin by guiding you through an analysis of the issues, including product, customer, and organizational factors. Next you'll learn the five key quality differentiators to implement within your development process. Finally, focus on how to create your own customer...
Reality Driven Testing in Agile Projects
Many agile teams rework previously deployed stories, even after plenty of in-sprint testing. Well groomed, refined, stories framed with typical, alternate and error scenarios, gracefully described in well formed gherkin, continue to encounter all sorts of bugs. Software engineering consultant, Rob Sabourin, often sees rework in over 20% of deployed stories. In this presentation Rob shows how agile teams can drive rework down dramatically, often achieving near Zero rework after a story is DONE. Rob teaches teams to identify and implement relevant testing activities above and beyond those...
Providing Value as a Leader: More Than Just Being the Boss
Being a test manager is more than just being the boss. Sure, there is direction to set, issues to address, hiring, performance reviews, and status updates. But does that mean there’s no real work for a manager to do? Managers want to empower their team members to make good decisions and execute well, but how do you provide value when specific testing tasks are done by others? How does a manager go beyond being the boss to actually helping their staff do amazing work? Join Jeff Abshoff as he shares his experience working with new and seasoned testers. Hear some of the struggles he has faced...
Conscious Curiosity: The Key To Innovation
Curiosity is the spark that drives ideas. It fuels imagination, creative work and innovation, and it is the driving force behind discoveries of all kinds. Yet we tend to lose our drive to be curious as we grow up. How can we all be more consciously curious? How can you help instill a culture of curiosity at your company or at home? What are the benefits of a curious mind and culture? Jessie will share her innate and learned curiosity, and how it fueled her exploration of the subject. She will walk you through how she has learned to ask more inquisitive questions, looks for new and...
The ROI of One-On-Ones
Having regular one-on-ones is the key to supporting employee performance. As a leader, you know regular conversations are important. When can you find time? How can you make them more productive? What can you do to make them valuable to both you and your team member? What is the benefit to the organization? As a manager of a 50+ testing team, Dawn has successfully rolled out a one-on-one format that produced an increase in team performance across the organization. She will share her experiences and lessons learned from NOT having one-on-ones, and show you how you can use your one-on-ones...
Virtual Insanity: Overcoming the Pains of Managing Remote Test Teams
PreviewGlobally distributed software teams are no longer just a trend—they are industry commonplace. Creating these teams allows companies to lower their costs by tapping into developing markets and to provide support around the clock. While this seems like a great idea at a high level, the complicated nature of managing the test effort for remote teams can be quite daunting. If many test managers barely have enough time to dedicate to their local team, how can they support their remote teams properly? Join Matthew Weinstock as he shares his experience managing global remote test teams....
Automation Face-Off
What do you think about when you hear the words "test automation"? Are you considering developing your own tools to help you probe the product deeply, or will you apply a commercial tool for automated checking? Are “tools” and “automation” the same thing in your world, or do you see them as fundamentally different? Are you excited by new, powerful, enabling technologies, or do you worry that a robot will replace you? And are these our only choices? One thing is for sure: When we apply automation and tools, we may fundamentally change the context and the nature of the work we do. Our...
Friday, October 25
Unlearning: The Challenge of Change
The world we live in requires us to acquire new skills and absorb new knowledge in order to stay afloat. We must learn to SHIFT as things around us are changing. We see this on individual, team and organizational levels. However, we are leaving out one crucial piece of the puzzle: we are forgetting to forget, or rather, UNLEARN. Even though old habits are hard to break, the more we can unlearn the more likely we are to experience a sense of growth. In this interactive talk, Jessie will share learnings and unlearnings from her own career, stories from the companies she has worked with, and...
The Power of Collective Experience
Building Your Personal Brand for Success
Panel–Career Superpowers
Let’s discuss and define the most important career superpowers for women. Hear what industry professionals, leaders, and idea disruptors think the important career superpowers are for women in 2019 and going forward.