kristian fischer - put test in the driver's seat

Put Test in the Driver’s Seat

Apply a Test Management Dashboard in your Project

Kristian Fischer, PA Consulting Group

Wed. 12th of November 2008 - EuroSTAR

© PA Knowledge Limited 2008.

Put Test in the Driver's Seat - EuroSTAR November 2008

No more Mr. Black Sheep

Test managers are too often the victims rather than the victors. Traditionally they have been considered the black sheep of projects, who:

• Raise problems without providing solutions

• Find issues which cause deadlines to uncontrollably slip to the right and

• Always moan about not having enough time or enough (and clear) requirements

Unless we see a shift in attitude from a reactive recovery to a proactive delivery mentality, test managers will continue to be victims and IT-projects will continue to fail.

So how do we create this test manager transition from self-pitying victims to victors securing project success in the future?



Move away from the line of fire and into the value creating driver’s seat

• Move away from the heat and transform yourself into what is needed at that specific time in the project. Begin at project start-up.

• Be proud of what you are. And make everyone know that. The attitude has to change!

• Apply a test management dashboard. It will create value for the project and make you and the rest of the project proud.

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard



Shift from a reactive recovery to a proactive delivery mentality

Instead of waiting for the development teams to start providing testable code, actively join the project at start-up.

Move from the end of the food chain to the delicious starters.

With the right mindset and setup, this will:

• Support requirements creation

• Secure alignment with business processes and software solution

• Provide early testing benefits

• Provide early warnings of delays

Transform / move

AttitudeApply dashboard

Transform / move




Add value by being part of the project all the time

Support requirements creation

• Test managers will know if the requirements are testable and if not – how to make them testable. Furthermore, they will know the quality of requirements before any code has been developed.

Secure alignment with business processes and software solution

• By being part of the whole project, test managers will have first-hand knowledge on the business processes and requirements and the final solution. Any discrepancy will not go unnoticed.

Provide early testing benefits

• Early testing will provide valuable information on what works and what does not. It also helps find the earliest acceptable system (EAS).

Provide early warnings of delays

• Early testing will find defects early and this may reveal warnings of delays.

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard



Change attitude for the sake of you, test and the projectAttitudeApply

dashboard

Transform / move


Transform / move

To succeed in these tasks, there is a need for a shift in attitude from all project participants – from project owner to project members to test managers.

There are several ways to do this:

• One way to help change the attitude is for the project to acknowledge the work done and value created by test managers and tester

• Another is to engage in more than just the obvious test ‘stuff’ in projects

• Yet another is to create a test management tool.



Provide confidence by applying a test management dashboard

A simple one page test management dashboard with a handful of selected KPIs on the front cover (and data in the underlying sheets) enables us to:

• Provide daily progress and quality information

• Create transparency in the testing field to all stakeholders

• Predict delays and use tactics to avoid their occurrence

• Build trust and help to change the victim-attitude.

This again enables stakeholders to make key decisions, bringing the test team and the test manager to be where they want to be in the future…

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard



Use Excel (or something else) for the test management dashboard

Do we want to create the dashboard in Excel, PPT, Others or all?

And why not just use HP test director?

It is essential that the dashboard is:

• Easy to use and understand

• Easy to update

• Easy to expand or change, i.e. flexible.

If based on Excel, it is furthermore an inexpensive tool to use for many organisations as well as most people know their way around Excel.

But anything goes as long as it meets the objective.

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard



Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

Test Management Dashboard by Excel example (copied into PPT:-)

Project EuroSTAR Week 46

2

1 3

1

0

1

2

3

0 1 2

Hint: In Excel, to copy from an underlying sheet to the dashboard, press Ctrl + C and when pasting, press Shift and Ctrl, go to Edit and choose Paste Picture Link. This way the dashboard is updated automatically whenever the underlying sheets are updated



A ‘by no means exhaustive’ list of elements to consider

• Overall status - a subjective and effective way to show what way the wind blows

• Early Acceptable System (EAS) – shows the main functions, which can form an acceptable solution when tested

• Countdown to important dates – puts emphasis and focus on important dates

• Test execution plan - Number of tests planned, run, passed by week

• Achievements – shows the main achievements

• Concerns – A list of major concerns, project manager or steering group should be aware of

• Risk Matrix – The classic. Rate the risks to find out where to focus.

Early Acceptable System

FA 15

FA 7

FA 6

FA 5

FA 4

FA 3

FA 2

FA 1

FA 8

FA 9

FA 10FA 11

FA 12

FA 13

FA 14

Benefit

Ris

k

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard



Yet another ‘by no means exhaustive’ list of elements to consider

• Test activity plan – a schedule on estimates vs. actual

• Requirements (changes) - Major and minor requirements changes

• Exit Criteria – The criteria to go to the next phase?

• Functional hierarchy – Grouping of logical functional areas

• Status on functional areas – Status on these.

• People – Do we have the people we need to perform the tasks?

• Defect status – Defects found and closed by week/day normalised against level of effort

• Any others?

Test Activity Plan

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Wee

k 40

Wee

k 41

Wee

k 42

Wee

k 43

Wee

k 44

Wee

k 45

Wee

k 46

Wee

k 47

Wee

k 48

Wee

k 49

Wee

k 50

Wee

k 51

# of Activities

Planned Planned (Accumulated) Actual (Accumulated) Actual

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard



I have three sentences for you

• Lead when appropriate and participate at all times.

• Make your voice heard and stand up for your procession. Change the attitude.

• Make your work and value obvious by showing and telling using a Test Management Dashboard.

Transform / move

AttitudeApply

dashboard

kristian fischer - put test in the driver's seat

Software

eurostarput test

project proud

project startup

project participants

project success

project owner

project members

drivers seat eurostar