There should be healthy professional tension between test and dev, where quality is held to account and pushed. As testers we don’t just have to measure quality, we can champion for it too! Here’s some ways to champion quality:
Set out your stall in advance, say that you’re going to champion for better quality and get buy in.
Don’t aim for perfect; aim for better. You’re more likely to be able to make incremental changes than massive ones.
Know when to back down! Sometimes people and teams aren’t ready to be pushed, so know when to stop advocating for more.
Back up your thinking! Use bugs, customer reports, knowledge from other projects or discussions with a PO / Manager to add weight to what you’re saying.
Show don’t tell by implementing tests (where you can) or showing the outcome of testing with narratives. Evidence will work better than a hypothetical discussion.
Inspire, don’t punish. Talk to the benefits of better quality rather than talking up the bad things that’ll happen.
Have I missed anything? What other tips do you have when you’re championing quality in your teams?
This post was originally a LinkedIn post.