At PNSQC 2009, I’ll be talking about “Building Alliances.” For a long while, I have avoided discussing assorted topics especially at conferences that might be viewed as “soft” topics. As a software tester without a developer’s background and being raised in small development companies, I didn’t feel I could take the risk of being viewed as “fluffy.” But now some years later, I want to talk about some of the topics that aren’t technical but are just as essential in getting the job done. I want to share ideas about how to build solid working relationships.
I want to talk about ideas on how to build working relationships and ways to collaborate with other people and other teams. I’m fortunate to have had experiences working with some really great people and teams over the years. But people dynamics aren’t always happy path just like software isn’t always functional in the early build stages, so I also want to talk about adversarial relationships and share some stories and ideas on how to re-route and realign relationships. People issues, politics and team dynamics are factors in how well or even whether some products evolve, not to mention how fulfilling or frustrating work time can be.
One of the principles from the context-driven school of testing states: “People, working together, are the most important part of any project’s context.” I want to share ideas for how to make that happen.