I'm a "lifer" with 24 yrs of testing under my belt. For almost 2
decades, my experience was in traditional waterfall projects where QA
built elaborate test plans and had the code slung over the wall to them
by the development teams. In most of those experiences QA was thought of
as a necessary evil. We weren't equal in the eyes of the developers but
our value was appreciated more by the DEV Leads and project business
entities.
My first taste of Agile came in an internal project for an energy
provider. Continuous collaboration with the developers and business
analysts was an eye-opening experience for me. For the first time in my
career I felt like I wasn't cast aside in a caste system seemingly built
on self-importance. I was an integral part of a team and I felt like an
equal with all project team members.
I'm currently in a massive 3-4 year public-sector Agile project where
the team is building a customized Case Management system for a very
large City Municipal Court that ingests 1.2 million new Cases per year.
Besides developers and business analysts, this project also includes
roles of Process Owners, Product Owners and a Steering Committee
comprised of judges, attorneys, police captains, etc. What's really cool
about this project, which is also my initial venture in the public
sector, is that QA seems MORE valued than the development roles. We're
actually looked at as rock-stars by the public sector, especially by the
Product Owners and Steering Committee. Our voice is heard in every
meeting. Our opinions are gathered at every turn. We are constantly
sought out rather than being the seekers.
In my experiences, QA is definitely valued more in Agile than in
traditional projects.
Best wishes to all,
Joe
--- In agile-testing@yahoogroups.com, Lisa Crispin <lisa.crispin@...>
wrote:
>
> I've pretty much always felt that, as a tester, I was valued as highly
as
> programmers or others on the team, even in non-agile shops. Not that I
> haven't had to earn my credibility, but generally I've felt like an
equally
> valued team member. But perhaps this is because I started out my
career as
> a programmer? I've heard lots of stories of testers who were treated
like
> failed programmers or the like.
>
> Since agile values promote the whole team approach, cross-functional
teams
> where all roles have equal value, I'd like to think that there's no
caste
> system on agile teams.
>
> If you're a tester on an agile team, I'd like to know your experience.
Do
> you feel that all team members are equally valued?
> thanks
> Lisa
>
> --
> Lisa Crispin
> Co-author with Janet Gregory, _Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for
Testers
> and Agile Teams_ (Addison-Wesley 2009)
> Contributor to _Beautiful Testing_ (O'Reilly 2009)
> http://lisacrispin.com
> @lisacrispin on Twitter
> http://entaggle.com/lisacrispin
>
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