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Du i g e e ises; e e e that ou’ e sig ed a No -Disclosure Agreement with

you company so do ’t sha e se et stuff

To add some e t a p ote tio please do ’t sha e a thi g said the othe participants during exercises!

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Who are you?

Where do you work?

What’s your experience of coaching?

Why are you at this conference?

Why do you attend this workshop?

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Pe so A: Talk a out a u e t p o le / halle ge ou’ e e ou te ed elated to testing

Person B: May only ask questions to clarify or move the conversation forward

Person A, be mindful of not turning this into a monologue!

Tips for subjects:

• Certain projects

• Cooperation between testers

• Planning and preparations for testing

• Support from/communication with developers/product owners/other

testers/others

• Automation

• Progressing as a tester/training/career

• Expectations/role/responsibility

• Reports and measurment

• Prioritization

• Testability

• Figuring out what to test

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• Testlead

• Explaining test

Example:

A: So e e tl I as asked to ite this epo t a out ho e a e to test o i g fo a d.

B: Ho did it go? (<- moving the conversation forward)

A: Well, si e I k o othi g a out i ose i es a d o ti uous deli e ot u h got do e.

B: What is a i ose i e? (<- clarification)

A: It’s asi all a o ept he e eate a s all p odu ts, alled i ose i es, athe tha o e ig o e a d ea h i ose i e does o l o e thi g

B: Okay, so hat did ou do the ?

A: Well I told a age ut she said I as p o a l the ost ualified a d guess as as good as a ’s

B: A d hat did ou espo d?

A I said ’Oka ’ a d sta ted googli g to at least fi d so ethi g to put i the epo t

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How did it feel?

Scary, easy, relaxed ...?

Was this coaching

Not a very helpful questions, e’ll talk a out as this alua le f o o o ?

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The overall structure of this workshop

Notice the focus ill e o e e ises. This ea s the e’s a lot of additio al i fo atio i the otes that I’ll e e i g up du i g the o kshop. M recommendation is to read this e.g. on your way home.

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Many definitions

One I think describes coaching the way I teach in this workshop is:

Help someone find their solution to their problem

But the definition is quite meaningless, the important question is:

Is this valuable / how is this valuable

The purpose of coaching is to be valuable by acting as a guide. The goal is to guide

the other person towards one or more ways to cope with, solve, improve or learn

f o a situatio the ’ e e pe ie ed; good o ad does ’t atte . So e fundamental reasons why this is a valuable approach, from my point of view, are:

• The other person knows the context best and thus should be best equipped to

come up with the most valuable suggestions

• By guiding rather than spoon feeding you train the other person in solving their

own problems making them more self-sufficient/less dependent on you in the

future

• People a e ge e all o e illi g to o it to/a t o ideas the ’ e o e up ith themselves so helping them find their own ideas helps building commitment

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This requires you to give the other person time to figure out their own suggestions,

be patient!

I po ta t! I ill ofte efe to oa hi g sessio , oa hi g , oa h o pe so ei g oa hed i the otes. Noti e though that hat I ea is:

Session/Coaching session = A conversation where coaching techniques are applied

to some degree

Coaching = Coaching techniques being applied

Coach = The person primarily applying coaching techniques to the conversation

Pe so ei g oa hed = Just a pe so ho asks fo help, ot e essa oa hi g ; e.g. Could ou help e? , Ca e ha e a hat? , What do ou thi k I should do?

Coa hi g te h i ues ight also e a it ague ut this asi all efe s to a action you take with the purpose of coaching the other person so e.g. When you

liste fo assu ptio s to e a le to uestio the , he ou use sta da d oa hi g uestio s , he ou eph ase hat the othe pe so sa s, usi g e tai

fo ats that helps fa ilitate oa hi g et .

Fi all : Most e a ples a e ased a ou d egati e thi gs p o le s ut the coaching techniques can be used when trying to understand why a project worked

u h ette tha o al, he t i g to i p o e so ethi g that’s al ead g eat o to help a pe so u de sta d hat she does g eat... But it’s ofte easie to egi ith halle ges as it’s o e lea hat to fo us o / sol e

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High pressure:

It’s ot oa hi g if ou’ e ot o sta tl i ’full oa hi g ode’/e e thi g a e o side ed oa hi g

Coach and/or person being coached feel a high level of pressure to perform.

Formal

Bi a app oa h eithe it’s oa hi g o it’s ot

Not worse but harder to get into when new

Low pressure:

It’s a o e satio he e e a add o e o e oa hi g ele e ts as e see fit to enhance the conversation

Informal

Friendly

Can take a step back if pressure builds up

Lo p essu e a still ea halle gi g ut oth pa ties ust feel fi e ith that. For instance: When Helena and I coach each other we can put tremendous pressure

o ea h othe uestio i g the othe pe so ’s easo s fo e tai de isio s o defending people we know cause the other person a headache... but this is because

we trust the other person to at the end of the day have our back, that no matter

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what we say the other person will still respect us and if we make mistakes we trust

the other person to forgive us... This however takes time and when you start you

p o a l ha e to e a it o e a eful/put less p essu e o the pe so ou’ e coaching (not too little however as that can make the conversation bland, slow or in

a othe a , i effi ie t, it’s a ala e ou’ll ha e to p a ti e to lea .

Important! The est oa hes I’ e et a defi itel go i to this full oa hi g ode when required but they also have an amazing feeling for when to back off and just

let the othe pe so eathe . Ma of the est oa hi g sessio s I’ e had; oth as a oa h a d he ei g oa hed; ha e ha dl felt like fo al oa hi g sessio s the e e o e like supe -valuable conversations where the coach more seems like

so e u ious udd ho just ge ui el a es .

Finally: Less formal makes the other part relax which in my experience helps:

• Less defensive / More open (forgets to defend)

• Less hasty to find a solution

• Less hierarchical which lowers pressure in both directions:

Coa h feels less espo si le to sol e a d d i e

The person being coached feels less vulnerable / examined

... But it also ups the risk of not getting anywhere or wasting more time before

ealizi g ou a e ’t getti g a he e.

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Whe I’ i oa hi g ode I fo us o t o thi gs: Questio s o e o that o the next two slides) and rephrasing.

To enable myself to ask valuable questions I need to listen more than I speak. Listen

i this ase does ’t just efe to ei g uiet ; it ea s I ha e to fo us o a d p o ess hat the othe pe so sa s. So I a ’t e fo usi g o hat I a t to sa next.

use a pe a d pape to sol e this if it’s a p o le fo ou

Rephrasing is used to help myself get confirmation that I understand while also

helping the other person both by showing that you care and by summarizing things

the ’ e said.

Example:

A: I as asked... I did ’t k o ... So the PO ould ’t help e... the a age referred

to... and the othe teste s did ’t help e u h eithe si e the did ’t k o ...

B: So ou’ e sa i g o e of ou k e a d still ou e e supposeds to a s e this?

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Consider this to be 6 different lenses that you apply to what the other person says to

help you identify things worth asking questions about. They do overlap quite a bit so

ou a ’t sa this uestio elo gs to this le s i stead it’s usi g this le s I figu ed out this uestio .

Be mindful about the flow of the conversation. If you constantly interrupt with new

uestio s the othe pe so ill feel i te ogated a d/o lose t a k so it’s a deli ate balance when and when not to ask questions. This takes practice to master!

Listen for the following:

Assumptions

It’s i possi le to get this do e as lo g as X is the a age

What akes X stop this i itiati e?

-or-

If I epo t all the ugs i the p oje t o e of the ill get sol ed

Ha e this happe ed efo e o ho do ou k o the o ’t sol e a of the ?

Unexplored areas

Areas the person being coached, for whatever reason, chose not to talk about. Might

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e a pa ti ula pe so ’s ole/i pa t that’s ot e tio ed, a pa ti ula pe iod of ti e left out or other aspects that, to you as coach, seem like they should potentially

matter.

What a out the p odu t o e , hat’s he ole i all this?

-or-

What happe ed efo e this ause it sou ds like this sudde eed fo t a ea ilit ust ha e sp u g out of so ethi g?

Uncertainty

Wo ds ou do ’t e og ize, u li g, i ohe e t la guage, looo g o ologues where you simply lose focus or anything said that you simply think is unclear

Value statements

X is ad, Y is good

Oka , hat akes X ad? , hat akes Y good? , hat’s the diffe e e et ee X a d Y?

Unasked questions

Questio s that ou ould ask if ou e e i the othe pe so ’s situatio

Si e the e’s o i fo atio a out the p oje t...

Ha e ou asked fo i fo atio ?

-or-

The epo t is a o sta t ele e t of st ess si e it takes so u h effo t to o plete

Ha e ou asked the a age if she eeds that epo t?

Examples

Asking for an example is a great way to break down buzzwords, deal with too much

focus on interpretations (rather than observations) or just add clarity to what the

other person is talking about.

The p oje t eaks do like o e e e eek

Could ou gi e e a e a ple of su h a eakdo ?

Do take notes when you have spotted e.g. a value statement so you can focus on

listening, not on remembering the question.

Fi all , o e uestio that’s useful i e a diffe e t s e a ios is a d hat else? . The idea is to ask the pe so to asi all p o ide a se o d a s e a d this is often interesting as the first answer is typically much easier to provide and might not

hold as u h alua le i fo atio si e it has o e likel al ead ee dealt ith . So hat do ou thi k ould help ou i p o e as a teste

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Well, I ould atte d that o fe e e i Talli e e ea

G eat, a thi g else ou a thi k of?

...

What else a e epeated o e a d o e ut at so e poi t it e o es sill usually.

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Finally, there are a bunch of general questions/requests which are useful basically

everywhere:

Is there a ythi g you ould ha e liked to do differe t?

-or-

A y thoughts o ho you ould ha e sol ed this i a differe t ay?

-as in-

Is the e a thi g i this p oje t ou ould ha e liked to do diffe e t?

Yeah, defi itel the hole a epta e test setup hi h e ded up as a ess

So hat happe ed?

A y suggestio s

-as in-

So ight o e’ e asi all t i g to fi d a ette a to deal ith all these test e i o e ts

A suggestio s o ho ou ould do it ette ?

What else?

-or-

Who else?

-as in-

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So hat do ou thi k ould help ou i p o e as a teste

Well, I ould atte d that o fe e e i Talli e e ea

G eat, a thi g else ou a thi k of?

---

What else a e epeated o e a d o e ut at so e poi t it e o es sill usually.

Ho ould you like it to e?

-as in-

The p oje t setup is asi all a ess

So ho ould ou like it to e?

Tell e ore

-or-

Tell e ore a out...

This is useful he ou feel like ou do ’t ha e e ough i fo atio to ea t ut the othe pe so see s to ait fo ou to do so ethi g. It’s espe iall useful he ou feel like the other person is on her way to say something very important but just

has ’t gotte the e et o he o , so athe tha ou iski g to ha ge di e tio asking a question you just want the other person to continue. Example:

... So e’ e t i g ut e’ e ot getti g the e et

Aha, tell e o e

-or-

... So e’ e t i g ut e’ e ot getti g the e et

Oka , so tell e o e a out hat ou’ e t ied so fa

What do you a t fro this o ersatio ?

Good to help set expectations / help you guide the conversation in a relevant

direction

What if you had ti e, o ey, support, po er hat ould you do/ hat ould it ha ge?

Who ight e a le to help you?

A lot of people fi d it st essful to ask fo help. This uestio a so eti es ake aski g fo help easie as ou togethe ha e a k o ledged the eed

What's the first, s allest i pro e e t you ould do?

Help get some forward motion, helpful when the other person seem to have given

up/ a ’t fi d a lea di e tio

What's stoppi g you?

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Ho do you thi k <so e guru> ould ha dle this?

Sometimes taking a step back from o e’s own perspective can help.

-as in-

Ho do ou thi k Ja es Ba h ould app oa h this?

-or-

What do ou thi k Ri ha d B adsha ould sa a out ou auto atio f a e o k?

What do you eed to feel o te t?

This is often a good question to open up with when the other person seems to be on

the verge of giving up completely just to establish what must be dealt with first to

ot isk losi g the othe pe so losi g a ea e e thi g f o ot ei g engaged in the session to the person leaving the company)

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Person A: Keep talking about the challenge from the first exercise (start a new one if

do e

Person B: Look for assumptions, unclarity etc. to form questions. Use the slides

a out Co e to help ou.

Pe so A does ’t ha e to lea e as o ious gaps i thei o u i atio this ti e ut it’s helpful if ou take e ough pauses to allo pe so B to ask ou uestio s ithout having to interrupt you.

Example (continuation of the example for the first exercise):

B: A d hat did ou espo d?

A: I said ’Oka ’ a d sta ted googli g to at least fi d so ethi g to put i the epo t

B: Wh is it that this epo t is so i po ta t? (<- assumption, unexplored, unclear)

A: Ho estl I do ’t k o , I thi k a age e t does ’t ho little I k o a out the su je t

B: Oka , so the asi all thi k ou a des i e ho ou ill test i this e o te t ut ou do ’t, o e t? (<- rephrase)

A: Yeah, e a tl

B: Ha e ou asked the h this epo t is so i po ta t the a ? <- unasked

question)

A: No I ha e ’t ut it’s a good poi t, I p o a l should. M guess is it’s uppe

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management that thinks my report will mitigate the risks of moving to this new way

of o ki g a d the ’ e p essu i g a age to get so ethi g ead

B: Ho ould ou like it to e ha dled i stead?

A: Fo sta te s it ould had ee good if e hi ed so eo e ho ha e a p io e pe ie e of this a d if e did ’t at least e should u so e ki d of p oof of o ept efo e e sta t to guess ho e ight o k i the a hite tu e e do ’t

know how e’ll i ple e t eithe .

B: So the a hite tu e is ot ead ? <- clarification)

A: No it’s just as u h of a o k i p og ess as epo t, it ha ges dail

B: Do ou ha e a egula o ta t ith the people setti g the a hite tu al pa ts?

A: Yeah, ut e ould defi itel talk o e ofte

B: What’s stoppi g ou?

A: That’s... A good uestio , I do ’t k o

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How did it feel to be Person B?

Harder than in the first exercise? Scary? More engaging than in the first exercise?

Did you find this valuable, as Person A, and if so; in what way(s)?

Be careful when making suggestions as Person B:

A person considering herself less senior than you might discard her own ideas and

miss the opportunity to learn to figure out solutions on her own; if you make

suggestions to quickly without her given a good chance to think for herself.

A person considering herself more senior than you (in the matter discussed) might

lose espe t fo ou if ou suggest so ethi g she thi ks is o ious ou u de esti ate he , she thi ks o ’t o k o thi gs that tu out ot to full sol e the problem.

One way to somewhat mitigate this is to frame the suggestion as a question:

Ha e ou t ied to speak ith the othe tea ? Rather than...

You should speak ith the othe tea !

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Some people prefer a clear purpose and direction in the conversation, especially if

f a ed as a oa hi g sessio . So e people a efe oth to the oa h a d the person being coached; remember that you might not have the same opinion!

The left st u tu e is asi all a sessio he e ou i itiall figu e out as u h as possible about the problem, context etc. Next you start to look into the direction

fo a d hat ould pote tiall e do e /goals a d fi all ou eate lea a tio s a d s hedule so e ki d of follo up to see that the ’ e ee pe fo ed a d evaluate the result.

The figure to the right represents how I prefer to organize my session where we have

a conversation and when the other person touches upon something interesting we

dive into it.

The left side st u tu e akes it lea he e e’ e headi g a d it fits people ho wants clear, tangible results. Fits well when you know exactly what you want to

a hie e . The ight side st u tu e is easie to ake lo p essu e ut a ake the di e tio

u h less lea . Fits ell he ou’ e ot su e hat ou a t to a hie e .

To break down the structure to the left:

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Understand

Learn the problem

Learn the context including people involved, assumptions made, feelings,

observations etc.

Direction

Look for direction / ways to deal with the situation / goals

Action

Check if the person being coached is ready to commit to one (or possibly a couple,

but preferably one) action. This action should still e thei s; ou’ e ot the o e forcing them into something (this structure is not more forceful or different from

hat e’ e dis ussed al ead , just o e fo used i o e di e tio . So the pe so being coached still decides what suggestions to try and when to follow them up)

Follow up

At a later stage (e.g. start of next session or a quick check in a week later) you check

in to see if the person has acted according to what they committed to and follow up

if it rendered the wanted result.

Example of a meeting agenda based on the left side structure:

1. (Understand) Look into your overall needs for education; where do you feel like

you lack competence/what would you like to improve.

2. (Direction) Prioritize which areas are most and least important to improve

3. (Direction) Find and list relevant educations for the most important areas

4. (Action) If you want, we can try to book the education you find most valuable

immediately

Follo up We ill s hedule a e eeti g soo afte ou’ e atte ded ou fi st education assuming we find one suitable for you. This meeting will focus on

assessing if the education helped you and what to focus on next.

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Debrief

Read o e a out SBTM a d de iefs i ase ou’ e e to it: http://www.satisfice.com/sbtm

http://thetesteye.com/blog/2010/06/an-analysis-of-session-based-test-

management/

Debriefs are basically designed to facilitate test coaching so no need for me to say

too much... Just schedule a debrief and if you follow the general guidelines for

debriefs you have a great foundation for a coaching session.

I think adding left hand side structure from the previous slide can help. This is

so ethi g I’ e ot t ied e ough at Ve isu e ut it should help si e ou ui kl repeat yourself if you have a freeform format (my experience/feedback from

testers).

Test scope presentation

You can basically apply everything from above (Debrief) but before the testing starts.

Your goal as coach is not to complain about the scope or greatly increase the scope

ut athe to help la if if the testi g is fo used o hat’s i po ta t/that othi g important is missed.

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Test process visualization

Step 1:

The person or people being coached describe their current test process

At this poi t the oa h’s ai jo is to help guidi g these people pass assu ptio s

Example:

A: ...afte that e he k ith the de elope s so the a sha e thei opi io a out the s ope

B: Do ou al a s do this? <- assumption/clarification)

A: Nah... To e ho est it’s ofte fo gotte ut e p o a l should do it e e ti e

B: So hat ou’ e sa i g is the e a e o situatio s he e it’s a aste of ti e o fi i g the s ope ith the de elope s? <- eph ase just to ake su e the ’ e

not overcomplicating the test process)

...

Examples of formats that can be used when describing the current process are:

Understand -> Plan -> Test -> Report -> Evaluate -> Improve

For each of these, describe what the team is doing.

Example (very simplistic and without details):

Understand (to understand the testing task at hand)

Backlog refinement

Ask questions to PO

Study tech/test stuff that will be used in the solution during Slack

Sprint plan

Plan (planning the testing)

Test plan interview with coach (ses below .)

Write test cases / write charters and plan sessions

Test (how is the testing performed)

Run relevant automation cases

Explore / execute test cases

Report (how is the testing reported)

Report bugs in Jira

Update story status in Jira

Update physical scrum board

Stand up meeting

Evaluate (evaluate if the testing was good)

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Acceptance test by PO

Self-evaluation

Bugs in production

Improve (things we do to improve the testing)

Study during slack

Team competence sharing meetings

Retrospective

Another way is to draw a ti e li e ith lea a out so ethi g to test o o e e d a d epo ted a d fi ished o the othe a d let the pa ti ipa ts des i e everything that happens in between. You can also do the same thing with the time

line describing a sprint and let the participants describe what happens during a

sprint (relevant to test).

... There are many more ways to approach this but the most important thing is to get

the current test process visualized/described.

Step 2:

Look at the test process described and start to improve it. If the participants have

lots of ideas, just let them go and focus on only a few questions to guide them pass

pote tiall ha ful assu ptio s. If the pa ti ipa ts a ’t thi k of a s to i p o e it, ou a settle ith the u e t p o ess a d sa see s to o k fi e the , do ’t fi hat ai ’t oke . If the tea still does ’t see happ a out it ou a eithe sta t

to suggest thi gs ou thi k a i p o e the p o ess, f a ed as uestio s e.g. so ou update the status of e e test ase to ’sta ted’ efo e ou u it, is that e essa ? I’ thi ki g a out the ti e ou ight sa e if ou just epo t the e d

status? o ou a dig deepe o so e of the ite s o the oa d: Could ou des i e hat ou put i the ha te efo e sta ti g a sessio ? The idea he e is as ou get i to details/e a ples ou’ll atu all fi d thi gs o th

adding/removing/tweaking.

Test plan / test strategy interview

test pla a efe to elated a ti ities/a tifa ts su h as test strategy or charter)

Ofte test pla s a e eated so e e pe t a d it’s o e fo the sake of p odu i g

the document rather than actually support the testers.

The idea with a test plan interview is you gather the various people knowing

relevant information (testers, developers, project lead, product owner, ops people or

hoe e ight help a d alk th ough a set of uestio s to see if the e’s a thi g worth documenting or act on immediately. If the company demands a formal

document you can write down a full summary of the meeting but I prefer to only

write down details that we think testers might forget while testing and that are

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a tuall p o le ati if the do e.g. hat’s i po ta t to test o hat should ’t e tested). Actions should be handed out immediately and followed up.

There are some lists of questions that can work as a foundation for you as a coach. I

ha e listed a u h of uestio s as ell as li ks to othe ’s lists he e: http://erik.brickarp.se/2016/11/test-plan-questions.html

Your job as a coach through all this is ask the basic questions and after that use

various coaching techniques to help reveal even more relevant information about

the current question.

Example:

B: So hat’s ost i po ta t to test?

A: Ho do ou ea ?

B: Well e a sta t ith ualit ha a te isti s; elia ilit , usa ilit , o feeli g fo the customers, security, performance, easiness for the admins, compatibility with

e.g. different o se s... A of those that a e o e o less i po ta t

A: I’d sa usa ilit a d se u it a e the ost i po ta t o es hile I thi k it’s less of a p o le if the se i e is ot up % of the ti e

B: Okay, a pa ti ula pa t of the featu e that’s o e o less i po ta t?

A: H , I’d sa est i ti g use so they a o l do hat the ’ e allo ed to do is crucial, the user administration interface in general should be of high importance as

ell... Not su e if a thi g sta ds out as less i po ta t. It’s a p ett iti al featu e i ge e al

B: Did ou efe to the use ’s dash oa d o the ad i ’s dash oa d he ou said use ad i ist atio i te fa e?

A: Well oth, ut the use ’s dash oa d is o e i po ta t of the t o

Identify testing impediments

This is a session around the question:

What stops ou f o pe fo i g ette testi g ight o

... And then you try to identify which of the things identified are most important and

how the most important ones up can be improved/solved. You might need follow up

ith se e al uestio s elated to p io it as it’s eas to o e esti ate e tai p o le s a d u de esti ate othe . Also, ask fo e a ples f e ue tl as it’s eas to end up with vague, high level discussions that are hard to do much with e.g.

We ha e poo o u i atio , e should o u i ate ette

What do ou ea ith ’ o u i atio ’ i this ase, ould ou gi e e a ouple of examples of when you communicated poorly and how you should had done

i stead?

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Recent successes

Simply let the other person describe what has worked well lately. This can be a good

e e ise if the o e satio s ou usuall ha e a e hea il fo used o hat’s ot working.

As coach you try to help the other person learn both why something worked out

well and how they can build on this/make this happen more often/use this strength

more often in their job.

Training needs

Focus the session on what the other person would benefit from improving and how

those things can be improved.

Areas to explore are:

• Weaknesses that need improvement

• Strengths to build on

• Conferences and courses the person is interested in

• What do they want to do next (career) and what kind of skills are necessary for

that

• What are they doing already to improve and is this the most valuable actions they

can think of (should they focus differently)

• Create an education plan

• Who at the company could help (coach/mentor, internal education etc.)

• What should ’t the fo us o / hat’s asted effo t gi e hat the a t to learn/do) and how to they avoid focusing on that

Talk and visualize

You stand together in front of a whiteboard. Depending on the setup the other

person might hold then whiteboard marker, you might hold the marker or you both

do. Make sure you have several different colors and actually use more than one (pro

tip .)

After that the person being coached starts to talk about the situation and as they do

whoever holds the markers starts drawing.

This helps greatly to both get a better overview of the topic as well as align different

peoples understanding of the topic.

Examples of situations where this can be helpful:

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• Des i e the pe so ’s ole

• How a product/feature works/will work

• Test process (as described earlier)

• Team process (e.g. scrum process)

• Describe stakeholders in a project and their needs

• Describe how the full system looks

• Map team e e s’ o pete e to hat’s e pe ted of the tea . A gaps/strong dependency on one person

• Map the people involved in something (e.g. a problem or project); feelings,

relationships and stakes/agendas

• System analysis such as threat modeling (e.g. STRIDE... google it) or performance

analysis

Ultimate scenario

The person being coached describes how a problem would be dealt with in an

ulti ate s e a io /pe fe t o pa .

Do ot fo us o hat to ha ge f o he e ou a e toda i stead des i e the hole setup f o s at h at a diffe e t supe - o pa . You got a e a ple o the

next slide (Exercise 3).

The goal is to help the person being coached to see beyond assumptions, problems

and obstacles and be able to reform fundamental parts that are hard to even think

of he ou fo us o ou u e t o te t. The i te esti g thi g is these ulti ate s e a ios ofte e eals solutio s that a e pe fe tl doa le e e i the u e t situatio ut the a e so ha d to ide tif he ou’ e o ed i ho thi gs a e currently solved.

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Person 1: Looks at the problem from the previous exercises but from the perspective

of Ulti ate S e a io

Person 2: Coach

If you want to you can try to stick to the following agenda (optional):

1. Describe the optimal scenario

2. Summarize all the differences between your current situation and this ultimate

situation

3. For each of these differences, explore if they could be applied to your current

situation

4. Check if Person A is willing to commit to trying one or two of these suggestions

5. Ag ee to a a ou ill follo this up e.g. take ea h othe ’s e ail add esses

Example (continuation of the example in Exercise 1 and 2):

B: So let’s sa all this ith figu i g out ho to test i this e o te t happe ed i a o pa that ha dled the halle ge pe fe t, ho ould that look?

A: Ho do ou ea ?

B: ... Explains something like the description on the previous slide ...

A: Oka , ell fi st of all the ould ’t sta t iti g a thi g efo e IT ope atio s a d de s had figu ed out hat the a t to do

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B: Would ’t that pote tiall lead to a solutio ith a testa ilit issues si e teste s e e ’t i ol ed? <- assumption/unexplored ...ish)

A: Yeah, ut teste s ould e i ol ed i the pla i g of the solutio ithout ha i g to de ide e a tl ho to test at that poi t

B: Good poi t, so teste s a e i ol ed i the eeti gs, e pe i e tatio et . ut ot fo ed to des i e ho the ill test at this poi t? <- rephrase)

A: E a tl

B: So is that e ough o hat else ould e eeded? <- deciding direction, if A

sa s eah that’s e ough I ill dig deepe othe ise I ight ait

A: Well, I still thi k e teste s eed suppo t f o so eo e ho k o s a out these thi gs

B: Like a e te al e pe t?

A: Yeah

B: A idea of ho that ould e? <- looking for an example)

A: Well... If the did this pe fe tl I’d sa so eo e like that teste iti g the ook a out teste s a d de ops; Kat i a Clokie

B: Just out of u iosit , do ou ha e the ook o do ou k o Kat i a?

A: Nah, ut getti g the ook is a tuall a good idea.

B: So ou ha e the ook a d ou ha e asked Kat i a fo help, let’s i agi e she has agreed to some contract with the company; how do you think she would be able to

help ou? <- looking for an example but not expecting it yet)

A: Well, she should ha e e pe ie e of this a d is a o e skilled tha I a so I would probably just look for her opinion or ideas; she probably knows better than

e ho to a t

at this poi t Pe so A see s a it ague a d o fused so as B I’d p o a l a t to get a detailed des iptio of ho Kat i a ight e i ol ed a d hat Pe so A thi ks she ould do. To ake this happe I’ll p o a l ha e to ask fo a lot of e a ples othe ise e ight get stu k o the idea that Kat i a ould p o a l k o hat to do ut I do ’t hi h o ’t help Pe so A u h

...

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As Person A: Did the conversation seem valuable to you? Did you learn anything new

or got any good reminders?

Ca ou see ou self use the ulti ate s e a io fo at afte the o fe e e?

(many of you probably have done this, in one form of the other, already)

Did you phrase any suggestions different? How did that feel/work out?

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One of the hardest situations as a coach is when someone approaches you with the

uestio : Ca ou oa h e? o a a iatio to it su h as M a age sa s ou oa h teste s o ho a I s hedule a oa hi g sessio ith ou? .

Othe e uests he e oa hi g is t pi all hat the ’ e looki g fo a e: I eed ou ad i e o ..? , Could e dis uss...? , Ca e to e sou di g oa d?

Ho e e , these likel ake ou less st essed to e ei e so e’ll fo us o a ou oa h e?

M ad i e is to, as ui kl as possi le, fi d a i fo al setti g he e ou do ’t isk people eavesdropping on your conversation.

After that, start looking for a topic and when you have one, just start coaching. At

the end of the session you can decide if you want to schedule another session later.

Questions to find a topic:

• So why are you looking for coaching, any particular topic you want us to look at?

• Anything that has bothered or frustrated you lately?

• Anything in particular you want to improve?

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A safe topi is ofte : What ould ake ou a e e ette teste / What ould ake ou testi g e e ette as it e ou ages the other person to think of

training, challenges etc. that might help and this is often an easy opening to topics

worth exploring.

A othe a is to just talk a out the pe so ’s u e t situatio i ge e al a d as ou listen you try to listen for possible topics (the list from Exercise 1 can help here)

Fi all : You’ e ot a agi ia ... If the othe pe so a ot o e up with any topic

you might have to politely say:

I’d lo e to help ou ut I thi k ou eed so e o e ti e o ou o to figu e out a topi efo e e a sta t

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Pe so A: Sta ts ith the se te e: Ca ou oa h e?

Person B: Coach

Find at least one topic (more is a nice bonus and then prioritize among them). If you

get any extra time, start a coaching session on the selected topic.

Example:

A: Ca ou oa h e?

B: Su e, a thi g i pa ti ula ou a t to talk a out?

A: Yeah, I eed so e help ith ho to sol e the a epta e testi g i the p oje t I’ o ki g o

B: A solutel , a ou tell e a it a out o e? / A solutel , a othe topi ou thi k ould e i te esti g to o is that the o e e should sta t ith?

...

-or-

A: Ca ou oa h e?

B: Su e, a thi g i pa ti ula ou a t to talk a out?

A: Well, I do ’t k o eall

B: Oka , a pa ti ula easo ou a ted oa hi g ight o

A: Yeah, it feels like I’ ot eall p og essi g as a teste

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B: Ho do ou ea ’ ot p og essi g’?

...

-or-

A: Ca ou oa h e?

B: Su e, a thi g i pa ti ula ou’ e a t to talk a out?

A: Well, I do ’t k o eall

B: Okay, a pa ti ula easo ou a ted oa hi g ight o

A: Not o e tha that I just lea ed a out ou... To e ho est...

B: Okay, so a thi g that f ust ates o othe s ou ight o ?

A: Not eall , is that eeded?

B: No ut it’s ofte a eas pla e to sta t. Do ou a t us to talk a out ho ou a e o e a e e ette teste i stead?

A: That sou ds i te esti g!

B: Al ight, so ould ou des i e a it hat ou’ e doi g ight o a d if the e’s a pa ti ula a ea i hi h ou’d like to i p o e?

A: Well, I thi k I ould like to get o e o ga ized

B: O ga ized i hat a ?

...

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Did you find at least one topic? More than one?

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(continue)

Person A: Person being coached

Person B: Coach

Continue on the topic you selected in the previous exercise. Use the example in

Exercise 2 and the content from the Core slides as support. If you want to get

adventures and/or get a clearer target you can try to define a structure by using the

content from the Structure slide.

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How did it feel being Person B?

Did you learn/get reminded about anything valuable as Person A?

Noti e ou e e put i a situatio that’s a o g the ha dest ou a e d up i as a coach! And you survived, well done!

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Do ’t sta t s heduli g fo al oa hi g sessio s!

Start easy by applying the coaching techniques to everyday conversations such as

during your lunch break, small meetings and other job conversations

Also, do ’t sta t ith the diffi ult people, people ot t usti g ou o ho a ts concrete results immediately!

Instead, start with your allies, friends, people curious in coaching, simply people who

ha e a ope i d a d ho o ’t i d if ou’ e st uggli g a it. A great group to start with is actually kids! They love to be listened to and when

grownups show interest in their ideas/take their ideas seriously.

Finally, start at this conference! Instead of changing topic during lunch just stop and

listen and try to find a relevant question to ask!

Also, do ’t u de esti ate the I te et. People ite a ti les, e o d pod asts, presentations about coaching are recorded and shared on video sites etc.

Bonus

I wrote the notes for this slide at home while my daughter, Malva, was playing with

sti ke s e t to e. So he e’s a ough t a s ipt of e appl i g so e of the lesso s

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f o this o kshop to ou o e satio M=Mal a, E= e . O iousl si e she’s just fi e ea s old the e’s a e diffe e t to e to the o e satio a d I’ d i i g this o e satio fo a d a lot o e tha I’d e o e d o all ut the te h i ues

used are still basically the same and with older kids the conversation becomes more

similar to your conversations today:

E: Oh, hat is that? poi ts at a sti ke ith a p i ess a d a additio al sti ke o top with a white butterfly)

M: It’s a astle ith p i esses a d utte flies

E: Wo , ho did the utte flies e d up i the astle? <- unexplored area... I

should probably had said so ethi g like tell e o e at this poi t i stead ut instead I started setting the direction for the conversation)

M: The flo i th ough the i do s

E: So the left the i do s ope , hat if a thief ould t to eak i ? <-

rephrase and kinda driving the conversation forward... again)

M: It as the to e i do s, stupid, thieves a ’t fl *laughi g*

E: Ho do ou k o the a ’t fl ? <- assumption)

M: Be ause the do ’t ha e i gs of ou se

E: A e ou su e, ould ou des i e a thief? <- example)

M: A thief has st iped lothes a d steals thi gs

E: So all thieves ha e st iped lothes? <- rephrase, just to confirm)

M: Yeah... so e hat u su e, I’ se si g this is a a ea o th e plo i g fu the

E: So he e do the get all thei lothes f o if the all ha e the sa e lothes?

M: H , f o the p iso

E: A e ’t the thie es efo e the e d up i to p iso ? <- once again exploring an

assumption)

M: Yeah... But the still do ’t ha e i gs! <- love this comeback by the way!)

E: Heli opte s a e? <- I guess you could say assumption/unexplored area but

p o a l o e dad ei g sill M: No, heli opte s did ’t e ist he the e e e astles a d p i esses! *laughi g*... But a e the li ed <- daughter figu i g so ethi g out, let’s help her forward)

E: Yeah, li i g is a i te esti g idea, do ou thi k the ould do that?

M: No

E: Wh ?

M: Be ause the to e is e tall

...

It ended up being a quite interesting discussion about whether or not thieves could

break into our house since we sometimes have open windows but after some talking

e ag eed the ould ’t fo a u h of easo s, hi h she as happ a out .

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Was the content practiced today valuable? What was most valuable to you? Lessons

learned?

Can you see yourself appl the thi gs e’ e p a ti ed he e toda he ou get a k home?

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Remember coaching, at its core, is just a o e satio . Do ’t o e o pli ate a d start easy!

Also... The person being coached is doi g the o k, keep that i i d! You’ e just guiding and if everything fails it can be the guide but just as well the worker (you

a ’t ake alua le i fo atio appea out of o he e .

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Bonus material

Self-coaching

The various techniques described can be used to coach yourself as well. In its

simplest form you just ask yourself questions as you think about the challenge. It can

help to take otes / isualize hat ou’ e t i g to sol e as it eates so ethi g easie to ea t to tha just ou thoughts.

A i te esti g o ept I’ e e e t ied self ut dis ussed e e tl ith a f ie d would be to record yourself describing a problem and then listen to the recording

while listening for the various things described in the Core slides.

Self-coaching is a great tool for introspection.

Styles

We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. By identifying yours you can tweak

your coaching so that you maximize the use of your strengths as well as work around

your weaknesses.

To give you an example using myself:

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Strengths:

• I have a very strong sense of passion and curiosity for most things and can

communicate it

Adapt: Allow myself to be myself even when I feel a bit eccentric

• I’ p ett good at seei g patte s/ide tif i g hat’s i po ta t/su a ize thi gs (probably what stands out the most)

Adapt: Provide a written summary after the session, base sessions around this

a ilit , do ’t sh a a f o isualizi g o hite oa ds, eph ase ofte et . • I have a high level of theoretical understanding of testing

Adapt: Explain to the other person why their idea is probably quite good to

strengthen understanding and their confidence

• A community person who knows a lot of testers in general

Adapt: Help people get in contact with people who might help them better than I

can

Weaknesses:

• I’ ot e o ga ized

Adapt: If a session has a very specific goal I need to frequently stop an assess if

I’ e d ifted a a f o it

• I often talk about myself

Adapt: Before I start talking, stop myself and question if this is actually valuable

for the other person or just for me (fails like... often)

• I t pi all eed to put thi gs i to o ds spoke o ds he I’ figu i g something out

Adapt: Stop self so I do ’t go o fo too lo g a d/o sa s thi gs the othe person should preferably figure out on their own.

• I’ very impatient

Adapt: Bite my tongue, bite my tongue, breathe slowly, bite my tongue, let the

other person think, bite my tongue ... .)

Sho t e sio : I’ good at su a izi g hat has ee said a d this helps eate clarity

So e othe oa hes I’ e et ha e othe st e gths: • O e is i edi le at fi di g that eak ess i ou a gu e tatio so she’s g eat

especially when I need help before explaining something to someone else or

when I want to achieve very deep understanding in a particular topic.

• One is incredible at understanding humans and the reasons for their behaviors.

She’s a azi g at oa hi g e th ough o fli ts, to help e u de sta d ho others might perceive me or when I need help understanding myself.

• O e is g eat at aki g e dis o e t e otio al self f o a tio s

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aki g he a azi g he I eed help deali g ith a istake I’ e do e I e e feel judged personally)

• Finally one is incredible at identifying strengths and he has helped me many times

to ealize ho I a o t i ute i a eas I’ e ot thought a out/a e to

There are many more examples and in case you think it sounds like I hang out with

an unusual amount of coaches; bear i i d t o a e p e ious a age s I’ e had, o e is a tuall a oa h at jo a d o e is a lose f ie d I’ lu k to ha e. Othe g eat oa hes I’ e et a e u e t a age , o e of the teste s at Ve isu e a d a lose f ie d ho’s a UX e pe t. So ou do ’t eed to ha e a ole alled oa h to e

able to use the content in this workshop, quite the opposite.

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