What an Agile Project needs for success

In my previous posts I explained about the Attitude of a Great Software Developer and Attitude of a Great Software Tester.  I am a huge fan of Agile methodologies.  I believe, if an Agile project needs to be successful, there are certain factors that will make it happen.

• Technical Craft
• The technical capabilities of a team should be of top quality, if you want to run a successful Agile Project.  An Agile project is actually run by the collective strengths of the individual team members and hence they need to be highly adept at their jobs.
• Team maturity
• This is one of the critical success factors for an Agile Project.  Not everyone is comfortable in working in an environment where there are lot of changes.  Hence the team members and the team as a whole should be highly mature enough to understand the realities and make quick yet thoughtful decisions
• Collaboration
• I cannot stress this point enough.  The entire team should collaborate within themselves and also with external stakeholders.  This is actually one step ahead of an important point Communication.  It emphasizes the fact that it is a complete team game.  A developer needs to collaborate with Product Owners, Testers and vice versa.
• Team Morale
• Agile methodologies put a high emphasis on the people who run the projects.  It is a given that, a team with high morale will produce better quality work and with more speed.  It is important that the team is

Attitudes of a Great Software Tester

In my previous post, I explained in my own words the "Attitude of a Great Software Developer".  This post will focus on the testers.  Developers and Testers are two great personalities that work literally in the opposite direction but towards a common goal of producing good quality software.  One deals with the making aspect of the software and other with the breaking aspect of the software.

In this post, I will share the attitudes that a Great Software Tester should have, in my own views.

Attitude #1 - I want to break that software at any cost

Make no mistake about it.  A tester's job is to find out bugs and in the process, make the software better and better as time progresses.  A bug is a tester's best friend.  So his/her primary intent is to break the software at any cost, find the loop holes, find that best friend of his one way or the other.  Whether it is through a systematic process of executing test cases or adhoc testing or exploratory testing, the objective is clear.

If you want to be a Great Tester, your attitude has to be to "Break the software at any cost and find out that BUG".

Attitude #2 - Ms. Great Developer, I challenge you that I can find bugs in your code.

I seriously doubt how many testers have this attitude.  

But if a person wants to be a Great Tester,

I want to run an Agile Project

This 2 part video clearly explains the challenges in running an "Agile Project".  Funny but very thoughful videos.

"I want to run an Agile Project" - Part 1




"I want to run an Agile Project" - Part 2

Attitudes of a Great Software Developer !!!

Software development is an art, not just a science.  You can learn all the technicalities of software development, but you need to be absolutely passionate about coding and perceive it as an art to be extremely good at it.  If you are one such person, I will introduce you to the journey of becoming a "Great Developer".  The objective of a Great Developer, as i name him/her is to make his/her art as beautiful as possible and make it the best.

In my own thoughts, I will share some attitudes which a great developer should have apart from the general expectations of being technically and analytically sound, understanding requirements in detail, good design skills, etc.

Image Courtesy: minfullychange.blogspot.com

 

Attitude #1 -  A bug is a question of my ability to write good code

Fixing bugs is part and parcel of a software developer's activities.  A bug is obviously the worst enemy of a Developer.  But how many developers think in the following lines while fixing the defects

• What I could have done to avoid this bug in the first place?
• How did I allow this bug to escape my eyes?
• OK, something wrong has happened this time.  How do I avoid the same mistake next time? What steps do I need to take?

Truth is very few developers think on those lines.

A  person willing to be a great developer should consider a bug as a threat to his position, as a threat to his credibility, as a threat to his programming skills.  That is the attitude that will make him/her a great developer.

Attitude #2 - Mr. Tester, I challenge you to find bugs in my code

How many developers have this attitude?  Many developers think that the job of the testers is to find bugs.  Yes.  Obviously, but that doesn't mean as developers, we can take bugs for granted.

A great developer or a person willing to be a great developer should