Lately, I’ve noticed lots of evidence of our donkeys playing hard. Their toys, such as the rubber Wellington boots, the cotton tug ropes, Jolly balls and plastic downspout connectors are in new locations and have new signs of chewing and bashing every time I go out to see them. There’s evidence of much running and […]
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In February I wrote about the experimental retrospective format for our team’s “cross-pod retro” (so-called, because our large team is divided into smaller pods). Since then, my manager Jo Webb and I have continued to tweak the retro format, based on feedback from surveys done following each retro. Building on feedback Our teammates said they […]
Read MoreYou might notice that my posts here aren’t necessarily about actually doing testing activities. For the past several years I’ve been one of only three testers on a team of 25 or more coders. Currently, I’m the only tester spread across several mini-teams that add up to around 17 coders. I can’t possibly test every […]
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My team has 40+ members, distributed into seven or so “pods” and across several locations. It’s a challenge to communicate information among the multiple pods. In addition, we often face obstacles that cross over multiple pods. We usually have a “cross-pod retrospective” once a month. It’s typically in the “Happy/Puzzler/Sad” format. We collect items in […]
Read MoreRaji Bhamidipati and I co-facilitated a day-long workshop at ExpoQA Madrid in June. We shared techniques testers can use with their teams to build shared understanding at the product, release, feature, iteration and story levels. Participants worked in teams to try out the various techniques and contribute their own experiences with ways to enable shared […]
Read MoreI’m a tester on a (to me) relatively large team. Recently I was asked to facilitate an all-hands retro for our entire team. I’d like to share this interesting and rewarding experience. It’s not easy for a large team to enjoy a productive retrospective. I hope you’ll share your experiences, too. At the time of […]
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