Top tips for talking with developers

- Hi there, I'm Mike Smith and in this series we look at the hidden tips of software testing. The types of tips that you don't learn in textbooks or certifications, but can greatly help your own experience. Software testers might sometimes take communication skills for granted. After all, talking is a pretty basic human skill that we probably practice most of our daily lives. But being able to communicate effectively with people is a different thing all together. Speaking to people from different parts of the business can help you immensely. It can mean that you understand who you're talking to and how speaking to them can help them understand what you're talking about. Speaking to developers should be easy, right? Developers are the ones who are the closest to a software tester's job in the business. And yet sometimes it can be difficult to speak effectively to developers in your organization for a number of reasons. So here are some tips on how to help you communicate more effectively with the developers on your team. You're not enemies. I know, it's controversial, right. But contrary to popular belief, software developers and software testers are not opposing forces dueling epically across a field of code. You're both skilled engineers doing specific jobs to help create the same thing, which is great working software for your customers. The software tester's job is to professionally critique a developer's work. Doing that can make it feel as if you're purposefully nitpicking at times. So keep in mind that you're not at war with each other. In fact, you're both trying to battle bad software from going out of the door. Feel free to ask questions. Most developers I know love talking about their code and their work. So if you have a question about the workings of the code then go ahead and ask. The worst thing that might happen is the developers might not have time at that moment, which is absolutely fine. Admit if you don't know something. I'm a big advocate that software testers can never ask too many questions and that there are no stupid questions. I have stopped myself from asking questions in the past, because I thought I should already know what the developers were talking about. This is a really bad reason. I eventually learned to say, I don't know what Angular is or I've never used Base64 in coding before. Collaborate. Let's say you're in a spring planning meeting and you start estimating a function, such as logging into a website. You've estimated, but you're not entirely certain how it works under the hood. Or you would love to know more. Here is a great opportunity to ask one or more of the developers to help you understand this area of the system. Here's an example. If anyone has some free time today I'd love to spend half an hour on Whiteboard to better understand how this works. Comments like this can be a great introduction to better working relationships with developers. Try and understand their position. I've never been a developer, but I can only imagine it's a really difficult job. When talking with your developers remember your job is to find issues with the application, but their job is to create the application. Try and avoid phrases like how hard can it be. Understand that both of your jobs are skilled and you both have different ways of approaching things. Be clear and concise if you're trying to explain something and the developer is more likely to respond positively. Don't be a rock star tester. I've seen a lot of testers who have approached developers with lists of bugs and Post-Its and huge grins on their faces. Don't be that tester who uses language such as problems with your code and you did this wrong. Be the kind of tester you would want to work with if they were looking at your work. Be constructive. I've found that using language like I found something odd in the application instead of I found a bug in your code can help build bridges between you and your development team. Thanks for joining me for this episode. Make sure to tune in next time for some more software testing tips.