Forming the Scrum Team for Testers Part 2

The value in forming a self-organising scrum team, is in having a team that can effectively decompose the work required to deliver a shippable product. Testers will need analysis skills to participate in the decomposition activities and define the various portions of testing – unit, regression, integration- that are required within a sprint. Depending upon the complexity of the features and the overall release planning, sprints that focus solely on regression or integration validation may be recommended by experienced testers.

During the early sprint planning ceremonies, the scrum team will begin to learn the cadence of various team members. Some developers may be reluctant to hand off components of features for frequent testing while others will welcome frequent inspection. During the formation of teams, learning this cadence and establishing trust between developers and testers will produce better, and faster results. Developers who are traditionally reluctant to hand off components until they are considered to be “perfect” should become more willing to get feedback early and often minimising rework.

Sprint Retrospective

This Sprint Retrospective ceremony is where the greatest value in identifying areas for continuous improvement is present. Scrum team members who are primarily responsible for testing may determine that hand-off of components was not as effective and resulted in a reduced time for validation. Retrospectives allow team members to move from the formation to the storming phase and into the norming phase within the Tuckman model, by learning to trust and openly discuss challenges.  The team can then develop actionable plans for the next sprint.

Team formation within scrum teams is a critical component in the successful delivery of products. Testers with cross-functional skills add value during the formation phase and can move the scrum team through the stages of team maturity.  Team members become more comfortable within the team and can deliver effectively through transparency with continuous improvements.

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Our Book Recommendations

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