Agile is out of reach if you don’t focus on tests

Tests, processes, organization, product vision: all these elements are intrinsically linked to the success of an Agile team

This article has been originally published on my blog.

Cet article est également disponible en fran?ais.

Today I’d like to share about my passions: Agile and product vision of course, but also processes, organization and management, and finally tests and quality.

Jack of all trades

Come on! Quality, Scrum, org, product, isn’t it too much topics for a single person?

At first I would agree with you. That’s exactly what I imply on my website’s front page: I can assume these three different roles depending on the needs of the client:

• Scrum Master
• Agile Coach
• Test Facilitator

(Grey Hunter is a metaphor for change agent)

This is also how I introduced myself during my conference at Agile Tour Paris 2017 about the Scrum Master role (“Une semaine dans ma peau de Scrum Master”).

This is one of the slides from my conference at Agile Tour Paris 2017 about the Scrum Master role, on which I introduce myself and I explain that I have different hats I can wear.

Yes, but no

Well… Actually, those different roles aren't that different.

Recently I realized that all those hats (Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Test Facilitator) are actually bringing a lot to each other. In fact, I never take off any of those hats, wearing all three hats together and all the time.

Because in the end testing is pervasive to the developer’s job.

And the good testing strategy is inherently tied to the organization and the processes.

And in any case, it’s all about the business, and the business itself is dependent on all these topics.

All these topics are connected and it does not make sense to restrict oneself to a single role; moving forward actually requires to put attention to all these topics.

Tests are at the core of everything

• An iteration that ends well is first and foremost an iteration that started well. In other words, acceptance criteria are essential. In short: tests.
• How to make sure that everyone understands each other? By using a comprehensive set of concrete examples. Again: tests.
• What makes the fundamental mindset shift to Agile? Everybody collaborates and works together to clearly define the expected outcome, instead of staying in its own silo. One more time, it is tests that brings everyone together and speaking the same language.

Nothing great can happen without vision

• The Scrum team cannot do its best if the organization isn't supporting it, and especially by providing a clear vision.
• “Is the product doing the job?” But what does that mean exactly? What do we actually expect from the product? Without vision it is not really possible to test the product.

Processes and rigor are vital

• Good processes require less testing effort.
• A good testing strategy integrates into existing processes, and helps improving them.
• How to successfully “scale”? Above all you need individual thriving teams, and then you want the teams to talk to each other. The first step to Scrum scaling is to successfully implement and apply Scrum in the teams.

A relevant, appropriate organization is required

• A good management of the dependencies between teams makes possible to optimize the test effort.
• The best way to know the relevance of a given organization is to check the feedback loop between issue detection and fix. In other words, are design, code and test managed by the same team?
• An inappropriate organization will severely hinder the teams, perhaps even cripple them.

Everything is tied — so what?

I have already expressed my view that the best developers have grown great skills on the matters of test and quality as well as about product vision.

We could say the same about these facilitators and coaches that revolve around teams. It is natural to expect that a seasoned coach is able to help teams on these various complementary topics:

• Processes
• Methods
• Organization
• Product Vision
• Quality
• Tests

And of course everything about training, event facilitation, coaching, and so on.

We are looking for super-heroes, aren't we?

Maybe not! Several on-site Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches can help each other. Each one provides its own personal focus: technical, relationships, processes, quality, and so on.

Like in teams, the variety of profiles will bring more value.

Still the most important thing as a Coach, Scrum Master or Facilitator is to be aware that all these elements are important and that they are all correlated to each other.

For instance, it is clear that Agile doesn't work if technical good practices aren't put in place. Sandro Mancuso explains it very well in his book about Software Craftsmanship.

Don’t forget the tests!

Tests are often set aside while they should be very much on our minds. Here are some typical situations:

• Not all developers get that ultimately their whole job revolve around testing in many forms (yet)
• Many developers believe that all their quality problems can be solved by test automation while in fact most issues they deal with have more to do with processes and rigor than with automation
• The QA department is included lately (or maybe even lastly) in the Agile transformation
• Testers are integrated into the teams, yet the teams are doing mini-waterfall cycles instead of deeply changing the mindset, working daily in a truly collaborative fashion
• The company has no testing culture, resting instead solely on Product Owners to provide the entire test effort — unconsciously: no mention of it during interviews and “business” profiles are preferred over testers/QA

• Some Product Owners rooted into the old “business vs. technical” opposition and not even taking the time to use and explore the product, well no testing at all

After all, I don’t think I have any “hat” about tests and quality. It’s just a significant part of my mindset. Even better, it is exactly this focus that makes me relevant in my job as a Scrum Master or Agile Coach.

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