Discussion ideas for Developers/Testers

Discussions
1

Hi all,

I need some discussion ideas for our weekly development team meeting.

Each week we have a meeting called ‘tech time’. Its meant to be a open mic style session where everyone can contribute (eg. presentation, show and tell, or just discuss a topic). I want to try to encourage more discussion in these sessions which both testers and developers and non-technical people can get involved in.

We had a really good discussion last week about the issues with blaming testers for issues that make it through to production. We all discussed the issues with putting the blame on one person and how everyone in the team is responsible for what issues make it through to production.

The discussion was especially good because both testers and developers got involved in the discussion. I want to try to encourage more discussions like this so was wondering if anyone had any ideas for questions and prompts which could get another friendly debate going.

Thanks for your help
Louise

2

If they apply to your context:

  • (Why) Do you need a test column on your board? (details)
  • How clear is your distinction of test/test case etc.? What refers to code and what to human action? (details)
3

You could use the testsphere cards for it!
Talk about the cards that are pulled from the pack, could reveal some interesting discussions.

You can always ‘cheat’ and pre-pick some cards :wink:

4

It feels like you could focus on open questions to drive this. Just make sure you use none judgemental phrasing in them. A few examples could be;

  • How could we use pairing to improve communication and quality?
  • What is one thing you would change about our development process?
  • Name one thing you would change to make your day better / easier / improve the product

Good luck and please share what works and anything that doesn’t land.

5

Why do you so much want non-engineering team members to get involved? I can see where you are coming from, but for me, having a meeting without measurable or actionable things really feels like a waste of my time and plays into bike-shedding very quickly. It’s a pretty wide net to cast, but can work in a show-and-tell format. Oh, and try monthly to start off, any new idea, far less work for you.

  • Security hacks is a very engaging topic area, because many technical hacks have social aspects that non-engineers will grok.
  • Anyone who crypto mines/trades, can do a talk. Even if you don’t agree with these hobbies, they are full of super fascinating insights into tech.

My personal experience is that when you cover non-actionable or “soft-skills” content, it never has the longer term effect without a lot of follow up over time, but examples: Testshere/heuristics and 6 thinking hats by Edward deBono, or a talk on DORA metrics, RACI, and things like Hawthorne effect are often a thing that needs turning into a series. However my experience is that around 2/3 of people in any company are inherently disinterested in their jobs. So they will smile and jsut go back to not talking. So I often hear good noises after a show-and-tell, but no actual outcomes, so be steeled for a long haul at this.