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Agile developers and testers collaborating Testing in Agile: How to Get Started

There is a lot of interest in organizations around a transformation to agility. However, the focus is usually on agile development, so it may not be clear how software testing is done in agile. If you're responsible for leading your testing teams, don't let them be left behind. Here’s how you can make testers part of the transformation, too—step by step, because this is agile, after all.

Balazs Schaffhauser's picture Balazs Schaffhauser
Agile team deciding how best to accomplish their work 6 Anti-Patterns Preventing Agile Teams from Self-Organizing

People have different cultural backgrounds, habits, beliefs, interests, capabilities, knowledge, skills, and temperaments. When put together on a team, they can’t always be governed by a rulebook to become self-organized. The dynamics among them have to be understood to recognize the anti-patterns first. Here are six anti-patterns that must be avoided and remediated to help teams move toward self-organization.

Ajeet Singh's picture Ajeet Singh
Team working on a project with laptops at a table The Differences between Traditional and Agile Project Management

Traditional project management and agile project management are two contrasting styles that are often pitted against each other, each with unique values and downfalls. The best methodology to use for a specific project largely depends on the nature of the project and its requirements. Consequently, it’s important to understand the premise of each of these styles and the attributes that differentiate them.

Michael Dehoyos's picture Michael Dehoyos
QA professionals performing continuous testing How Continuous Testing Is Done in DevOps

DevOps does speed up your processes and make them more efficient, but companies must focus on quality as well as speed. QA should not live outside the DevOps environment; it should be a fundamental part. If your DevOps ambitions have started with only the development and operations teams, it’s not too late to loop in testing. You must integrate QA into the lifecycle in order to truly achieve DevOps benefits.

Junaid Ahmed's picture Junaid Ahmed
Dollar bills 3 Ways to Be More Agile in a Fixed-Price Project

Fixed-price projects are a challenge to manage when using agile practices, as software teams need the flexibility to change what they are building based on customer need, and that often alters what can be done within a fixed budget. However, there are ways to achieve agility even within a fixed-budget constraint. Here are three ways to make a fixed-price project a win for all parties involved.

Pratik Kothari's picture Pratik Kothari
Members of a Scrum team discussing backlog items for the next sprint 18 Questions to Ask for Better Backlog Refinement

Refinement is time spent during the current sprint discussing and elaborating product backlog items so that they are ready for future sprints. Unfortunately, many teams do not unlock the full potential of refinement. Backlog items should be sliced, and a solution should be proposed, reviewed, and discussed. If your team is having trouble getting started, here are 18 questions you can use to trigger refinement discussions.

Derk-Jan de Grood's picture Derk-Jan de Grood
Car dashboard with various meters and dials 5 Key Elements for Designing a Successful Dashboard

When you’re designing a dashboard to track and display metrics, it is important to consider the needs and expectations of the users of the dashboard and the information that is available. There are several aspects to consider when creating a new dashboard in order to make it a useful tool. For a mnemonic device to help you easily remember the qualities that make a good dashboard, just remember the acronym “VITAL.”

Nels Hoenig's picture Nels Hoenig
Tech support representative at a desk with several computer monitors How to Implement an Agile Methodology into Tech Support

Tech support is notorious for having a bad reputation about their service, both on the receiving side and the serving side. Fortunately, the situation is improving, particularly in innovative organizations that are adopting an agile approach to tech support. Agile is helping customer service teams prioritize tasks, collaborate, and continuously improve. What can you do to be agile in your organization’s tech support?

Ashley Wilson's picture Ashley Wilson
Rocks stacked on a stable surface Effective Release Management Starts with Stability

Release management is an evolving process that needs continuous improvement, and there’s no such thing as a “perfect” release process. The best you can do is find one that works for your organization, which takes time, effort, and a willingness to evolve. However, teams can adopt a strategy that accelerates this trial-and-error period and helps deliver organizational consistency around a common goal: stability.

James Smith's picture James Smith
2020 letters and confetti 7 Agile Testing Trends to Watch for in 2020

With 2020 upon us, software development firms seeking to increase their agility are focusing more and more on aligning their testing approach with agile principles. Let’s look at seven of the key agile testing trends that will impact organizations most this year.

Nick Karlsson's picture Nick Karlsson

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