Testing Garage: Business and Software Testing: The Top 5 Challenges I See For Today -- Part 4B

I offer my skills, expertise, and time in exchange for the pay I get from a business [employer]. You too do that, right? That's how I make a livelihood and take care of myself and my family.

That means the business is a critical entity to me!

If I do not understand the business,

I cannot do software testing and automation that adds value
I will not be in a position to lead and deliver
I cannot help myself to grow in the professional and competing world

This blog post is a sub-part of the blog post "The Common Challenges as a Software Tester and How I Overcome -- Part 4".

The business and its service as a software solution are in need of software testing

But, what the software testing is supposed to be and what it has to do, is mostly driven from the project management and decision to the business
That way it looks like a business problem
It is a project management and decision problem that is made to appear as a business expectation

This is a different and unique problem statement; the business carries it
I will share my experiences and learning on this in the next blog post -- Project and Software Test Engineering: The Top 5 Challenges I See Today -- Part 4C

In Software Testing,

We focus on the risks as well
With the help of my testing, I try to learn the risks and help the stakeholders to know about them

The same here!

I try to learn the risks of the below five challenges

Because, it impacts me, my team members with whom I work, and my family members
By learning the risks, I will be better informed to make decisions so I can deal with the impact and have control of the situation

Here are the first few challenges that I witness in Software Testing around the Business context

My Work, My Fit, and Company Goals
Whose Opinion of Me Weighs and Influences My Growth?
Understanding the Decisions and Moves in a Project and Org
Sighting and Understanding the Dynamics of Changes
Being Hard to Replace -- The Myth

My Work, My Fit, and Company Goals

Why it is a challenge?

I can get easily deceived here

By believing I'm adding value to the organization

And, get into thought I and my work is valued and needed

But the manager and organization may have a different opinion

It does not get communicated until one day when I'm called into a meeting that includes the HR staff

How I'm solving it?

Read this blog post

It is about learning how my work fits the company's goals

I evaluate this consistently with my manager and her/his stakeholders
Yet, there will be differences and mismatches based on multiple factors

The business is one such critical factor

Whose Opinion of Me Weighs and Influences My Growth?

Why it is a challenge?

Of course, how I see myself stands first and it is more important

This is a challenge I have to balance throughout my lifetime

In the business and political world, to be in a better position for what I earn, it is important for me to know -- How am I perceived by the one who is more authoritative, powerful, and influential in the decision?

There is a person above my manager and all other managers, whose decision matters and maybe final

Do I, my work, and the value addition from my work to the organization, are visible to this person?
How does she/he perceive my work?

How will my work be rewarded?

This matters to me because my growth in the company and what I earn, depend on it

I work for this!
We all work for this, right?
Yet not all get what one wishes for! Why?

How I'm solving it?

To be honest, for most of the years, I said to myself -- "My work speaks for itself, and no need to bring visibility to it"

But, in reality, it does not go that way always
Most times the manager who does One-on-One regularly will not have a clue about what I'm doing though we meet every month to discuss
Then how someone else will know?

This is the reality!

Today,

I step up and talk about my testing team's work and value

Also I talk about the work and value added by other teams with whom I work as a team

I step up and talk about my work and its value
I step up and say how we are solving it as a team
I step up and say what's my contribution to the team's work
I find ways to bring visibility into my work, my role, and my value addition

I advocate for it
In a way, I'm a sales and marketing person for my work and presence
If I do not sell and market my work and presence, no one will do it unless I have a supporting and strong manager

I show how fit I'm to the equation of the organization's goals and plan of execution

Yet, this is a challenge of [for] everyday
I will be evaluated every day by different stakeholders
My past accomplishments are history and it does not work in the long run

What I do today and how I'm doing it, matters in alignment with the organization's goal
Do I make a fit with my work and the value I bring and add? How?

I will have to balance myself here in the business and political space

I ask and discuss with my manager -- How I and my work are perceived by the person who has the authoritative decision? This helps me to see how I and my work are interpreted by different people. It helps me to discuss and clarify if it is being perceived in other ways.

I also talk and discuss with the authoritative person about

My work
The value being added from my work and my role
My fit to the organization's goals and how I'm aligning with it

Understanding the Decisions and Moves in a Project and Org

Why it is a challenge?

The decisions and moves that happen in a project and organization will have an influence on everyone
Sometimes we will not be said why the decision is made, or, we will not even know a decision is made

I will be annoyed and uncomfortable with the outcome and happenings from the decision made
The decision can be in terms of

What one draws as a salary and benefits
The termination of certain roles and people
Cut down on benefits and compensations
How we work and deliver
And, more

This can make me be off trail and not align with the goals and decisions of project management and organization

This sends a different perception about me to the project management and business
This will surely not do good to me

We tend to talk or be annoyed about certain decisions. But there will be some reason behind it; just we are not said or we do not see it

How I'm solving it?

There will be reasons behind the decision made and changes happening or to happen
My manager will also not be aware of why certain decisions are made

I have to accept it

I talk to my manager asking why a decision and change in the priorities when I observe it

This is important to know
Sometimes my manager may not share about it if it is not disclosable to my role and I respect it

Talking and conveying the direction with what can be shared and cannot be shared is a skill!

As I say, awareness is a skill

When we are involved in the work we do, we lose sight and attention to what is happening outside the work on the floor and organization

There are certain heuristics that we can use to identify the changes happening

With whom we work
With operations that are executed in our work
For example,

the number of meetings [increased or decreased],
the calendar of my manager and of the authoritative person,
the project and business tabulation,
and more

The functioning of a service company is different from a tech product company. Be it an enterprise or a start-up or a mid-sized setup, how the floor runs, is different. I will have to tune myself to be a better observer and spot the changes. The quicker I do it and discuss about it with my manager and the authoritative person, it helps me.

Figure out ways to know why certain decisions and changes are done in priority. I do the same! I use to get lost in my work and practice. I would be unaware of what's happening in project management and business decision.

I'm learning and building the skills here for the last seven years.

Sighting and Understanding the Dynamics of Changes

Why it is a challenge?

The outcome of decisions, changes, and changed priorities need not be bad always

But, certain decisions and changes affect badly and it will be unexpected

This will have long-term effects on mental health and physical health

Being a leader, I should help my team to navigate through it with awareness

At least, I should be in a position to give the heads-up

This may not be possible always, but my team trusts me and I need to keep it practical and in the business orientation

I should be in a position to handle it with my emotions in control

The growth of my team people, my growth, and the benefits we earn can be impacted
Business and its dynamics are so unpredictable, it changes and it brings an impact on people who are with it

I have been impacted by it!
In a way it is good that it happens

But, can it be prevented and get off from being impacted?
How to spot and understand the change and the dynamics of the change?

How I'm solving it?

For first, I need to remain calm and not in the anxiety when there is an impact or when I spot the changes
The floor reflects the changes; just I have to be observant
I share the same with my team and tell them to spot a few heuristics

For example

If someone on your team who did not bother about what you are doing comes all of a sudden and asks for a demo of your testing, automation, and any of your work
The regular catch-up or one-on-one is no more done or its frequency has increased
The type of questions coming to you and what is expected in an explicitly said time period
The body language
How I'm included in the project and team for my role?
Is my work appreciated in public on the floor?
Did I get a personal message or email as appreciation and not as public as others in the team receive?
And, more

I should be in a place where I can spot it if something of this kind is happening
Talking to people helps

This is okay if it is something to do with me; that way I can fix it
What if it is nothing to do with me or my work, but happening?

I seek clarity from the person whose opinion matters and from my manager
I see nothing can be done in much
All is, I need to be skilled and be aware so that I don't put myself into the worst situation
Today, I work to be a better observer in these areas each day

I have not done it in the past as I was lost very much in my work and practice
I missed the indicators which I could have used for my benefits and the team's benefits

As I said, know your organization and its business. Know your team and its people. It is different from other organizations, businesses, and people.

Being Hard to Replace -- The Myth

Why it is a challenge?

We are said and expected -- to be skilled and be so skilled it is hard to replace

This is a myth!
Software Testing is also helpful to break illusions and know the myths to which we are blind and biased

When the software versions we build are replaceable, we, who are developing it are also replaceable
If not by another version, the competitor will come up to replace

It is about serving value that is needed and building the strengths to sustain being resilient enough

I was in assumption, it is hard to replace if I'm skilled

10 years back, I learned, that's not actually the story
I'm easily replaceable given the context demands it
I saw my fellow team members being replaced
I saw myself getting replaced

We all are replaceable

It is a norm in business, competitive and political space
There is always a valid reason and necessity for business to do so

It is easy to fall into the illusion that I'm contributing and adding value

Well, I will be actually contributing and adding value

But, it may not be needed anymore for the business and organization

If not needed, what's next? I need not say that to you, right?

How I'm solving it?

I accept, I'm replaceable no matter

what are my skills, expertise, personality, and
what value I bring and add to the board, organization, business, team, and product

I keep myself in a position to not spoil my mental health and physical health
I'm learning and being much more courageous than yesterday
I ask for help when I need it with my network and communities
I find alternative ways to have an income so that I help my family with the basic needs
I also replace, what I see -- it has to be replaced
By being better in