What small language shifts have made a difference?

[simon_tomes]

Kat Obring (@kato) makes a compelling point:

We can’t release yet’
‘Here’s what we need to feel confident about this release’

Small language shifts, massive impact on team morale.

Source: LinkedIn.

What language shifts have you made to improve team morale, be more collaborative and positively persuasive?

I’ll start …

I found this bug with your code
I think I’ve discovered a problem

We need to change the login form validation
There’s a good opportunity here to improve the validation on the login form

These requirements don’t make sense
I’m unsure if I’ve understood these requirements. Can you help me understand them?

What else? …

[thomas74 (Thomas Dietsch)]

I have found a bug
I have found an interesting behavior of the application

[thomas74 (Thomas Dietsch)]

I have encountered a serious problem that is causing the software to crash.
I have found a real quality treasure

[ansha_batra (Ansha)]

That’s not my responsibility.
I am not the best person for this,but let’s find someone who can help!

You made a mistake in this report.
I spotted something that might need a quick fix.

[ujjwal.singh (Ujjwal Kumar Singh)]

This is whole testing team’s responsibility.

This is whole team’s responsibility.

BDD is a agile framework.
BDD is an agile approach.

[andrewkelly2555 (Andrew)]

I learned a lot of value in softer language when it comes to testing.

xThe bug is fixed
I am not seeing any evidence that the bug still exists.

xThere are no bugs
I’ve not discovered any blockers yet and the testing has been fairly robust

xWe are okay to release
No clear blockers to release discovered at this point

It can seem like a bit of a copout but generally much more accurate and can avoid some blame game later as some people will take you exactly at your word and use it.

[thomas74 (Thomas Dietsch)]

We will try to solve the problem
We’ll find a solution

[hananurrehman]

This is not a scope change it’s a basic logical error that anyone with an ounce of common sense would agree with
I suggest we rectify this logical bug on priority

[steve.green (Steve)]

What chimpanzee wrote this???
This feature provides a sub-optimal user experience.

[sebastian_solidwork (Sebastian Stautz)]

The testing pyramid
A testing pyramid

[sebastian_solidwork (Sebastian Stautz)]

@simon_tomes

We need to change the login form validation

At the very least I would change that into “I think we need to change the login form validation”.
While the “We need to” sounds to me like an order which should be followed, when you add “I think” changes multiple thinks:

• It makes it clear that it is your personal thought. A wish from you.
• It changes from the style of order to the style of proposition. While you may still see some urgency, it communicates more that is a suggestion which can be discussed.

While there are still some “I verb” phrases I would avoid (share your observation and need and not your judgement of others, see for details here), I think that adding “I” improves communication by opening up space for discussion.

[komalgc (Komal chowdhary)]

We can’t support this integration
We are currently unable to support this integration

[aleesha]

This really helps. With this we can definitely avoid the blames later.

[kristof (Kristof Van Kriekingen)]

There is a problem
There is a challenge

[jane_d_cruze]

There are a number of problems/issues identified
There are several opportunities to improve this solution identified.

[thomas74 (Thomas Dietsch)]

We have to change that
We develop this further

[simon_tomes]

Wow! We really want to do that!?
Am I right in thinking we’re ok with that decision?

I don’t get it. That doesn’t make sense.
Plays back understanding. Have I understood this correctly?

[simon_tomes]

Er, why is it doing that?
Why might that be?

[olly_f]

“You should do this, that or the other”
“You could do this, that or the other”

(Unless there’s compliance or some kind of standard you need to meet. In which case, “should” is the right word)