Getting Your Message Across: Communications Skills for Testers

TQ Half-day Tutorials

5/6/2014 1:00:00 PM

Getting Your Message

Across: Communications

Skills for Testers

Presented by:

Thomas McCoy

Australian Department of Social Services

Brought to you by:

340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073

888-268-8770 ∙ 904-278-0524 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.sqe.com

Thomas McCoy Australian Department of Social Services

Australian software testing professional, teacher, and journalist Thomas McCoy has worked in the IT industry for more than two decades. Much of this time was spent as a software developer and IT manager with Australian government agencies. Wanting to make a greater contribution to software quality, Thomas re-oriented his career into the emerging discipline of software testing and has been an enthusiastic promoter of the profession ever since. At conferences in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Asia, and the United States, Thomas is a popular keynote speaker, who has received several best presentation awards. You can reach Thomas [email protected].

STAR East 2014

Getting Your Message Across 1

Getting Your Message Across

Thomas McCoy BJourn, BSc, DipEd, MInfTech

Canberra, Australia

STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 1

Topics • Introduction • Communication Challenges • Group Communication • Writing • Questioning • Persuasion • Oral Communication

• The Future and Social Media

• Summary and Key Points


STAR East 2014


Introduction

STAR East 2014 3 Version 1.0

STAR East 2014 4

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

George Bernard Shaw Irish playwright (1856 – 1950)

Version 1.0

STAR East 2014


Is communication within a testing context especially challenging?

• Review role

• Lacking power

• Pressured environment

• Held to higher standards

• Extreme technical complexity

• Nobody likes bad news


Communication Challenges


STAR East 2014


Barriers

RECEIVER

•Denial

•Cognitive dissonance

•Selective perception or recall

•Agenda setting

SENDER

•Self-censorship

• Introversion


Is “more communication” always better?

Sometimes the most effective

communication is silence


STAR East 2014


Which channel? • One-on-one personal and perhaps more honest

• Group information may flow freely but can lack commitment

• Meeting personal and can convey nonverbal and allow

interaction but may be uncomfortable for shy people

• Grapevine sometimes correct and can provide advance warnings


Which channel? • Phone immediate but can lack privacy in open plan

• Voicemail asynchronous with personal touch and can convey

nonverbals

• Phone or video conference captures some nonverbals but can be impersonal

• Video presentation can be powerful (but time consuming to create)


STAR East 2014


Which channel? • E-mail asynchronous, provides documentation, consistent

message, fast, encourages upward communication but can look sloppy if written in haste and might not be read or taken seriously

• Specialised software (e.g. JIRA, QC) can impose discipline on content through fields

• Intranet can be updated quickly but takes time to maintain


Which channel? • Newsletter

provides regular means of communication but can

be time consuming to produce

• Noticeboard

can reach many people but notices

can be pulled down or unread

• Report

can be succinct but will people read it? STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 12

STAR East 2014


Which channel?

• Instant Messaging immediate but sometimes seen as a vehicle for

gossip

• SMS useful for quiet messages

• Theatrical Performance? can be energising and novel but needs corporate

support STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 13

Choosing a channel

• Which channel will suit your message and its purpose?

• What are the preferences of the receiver?

• What are your preferences?

• Could you use multiple channels?


STAR East 2014


Informal organisational communication

• Sometimes called “grapevine gossip”

• Often provides advance warning and insights into what is really going on

• Needs to be ethical (not malicious)

• Must avoid mentioning source

• Can later be verified via official channels

• Some research suggests “gossip” can be beneficial to organisations


Extending our reach

Administrative

Business

Marketing

Technical

Finance

Management

Tentacled Tester


STAR East 2014


Sheila

Chaz

Bluey

Kylie

Ernie

Tezz

Molly

Nicole

Sidney

Snowy Talisha

Bazza

Brian

Hugo

Kezza

Magda

Mapping the organisation


Sheila

Chaz

Bluey

Kylie

Ernie

Tezz

Molly

Nicole

Sidney

Snowy Talisha

Bazza

Brian

Hugo

Kezza

Magda

is cousin of

disagrees with

got promoted over

plays rugby with

teaches trombone to son of

Mapping the organisation

RELATIONSHIPS


STAR East 2014


Group Communication


Do we need to encourage conflict? • Harmonious groups are not always

effective

• Disagreements can lead to better solutions (providing the focus stays on the problem)

• Of course, the corporate politics must then allow this approach (rather than punishing dissent)


STAR East 2014


Benefits of conflict • Release of pressure and frustration

• Increased cohesiveness and motivation

• New perspectives

• Differences can be resolved

• Change can take place


Groupthink

• Happens when desire for group harmony is so great that decision making becomes dysfunctional.

• Group members censor themselves and suppress dissenting views to reach a “consensus” decision without conflict.


STAR East 2014



Group pressure experiment by Solomon Ash

Is Line X the

same length

as Line A, B

or C?

X A B C

Effective group communication • Look out for groupthink

• Assertively challenge unacceptable situations (where possible)

• Pay attention to verbal and non-verbal behaviour

• Be aware of social loafing STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 24

STAR East 2014


Effective group communication

• Be ready to defend yourself against accusations of “not being a team player”

• Practice speaking skills, persuasion, and questioning


Professional language

• control flow analysis • cyclomatic complexity •defect density •equivalence partitioning •heuristic evaluation •mutation analysis

•N-switch coverage •orthogonal array •phase containment • static code analysis •vertical traceability •Wide Band Delphi


Terms like these can help to us to maintain a professional identity in the group:

STAR East 2014


Committees

“A committee is a group that succeeds in getting something done only when it consists of three members, one of whom happens to be sick and another absent.”


Meetings

• Always research and prepare well

• If doing an agile stand-up, make sure you have a consistent, specific (and brief story) about what you have done and will do

• If you have to give a presentation, check audiovisual tools and rehearse


STAR East 2014


Meetings • Ask questions to try and stay awake

• Watch for nonverbal and hidden agendas

• Practice listening skills

• Contribute

• Volunteer


Writing


STAR East 2014


Document design • Content and high quality writing is only one

aspect

• Document layout is critical to getting our message across

• Need headings, fonts, formats, spacing, bullet points, tables, colour, illustrations, hyperlinks and graphics


Document design • Needs entertainment value

and eye candy (graph, photo or table) at least every two pages

• Far too many reports remain unread

• Some eye candy examples follow…


STAR East 2014


Wordle Word Cloud of Seven Testing Principles


0

500

1000

1500

2000

Jan Feb Mar Apr

Overtime Hours

True Representation


STAR East 2014


1

10

100

1000

10000

Jan Feb Mar Apr

Overtime Hours

Logarithmic Scale STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 35

Jan, 200 Feb, 400

Mar, 800 Apr, 1600

Overtime Hours

Irrelevant Pie Chart STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 36

STAR East 2014


0% 50%

100%

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jan, 200

Feb, 400

Mar, 800

Apr, 1600

Overtime Hours

Meaningless 100% Stacked Horizontal Cone Chart STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 37

E-mail • Choose a meaningful

subject line (that may be all they read)

• Don’t cc anybody who doesn’t need to be involved

• Never use bcc

• Don’t flame

• Might talking to them be better?


STAR East 2014


Subject lines

Useless Useful

Defect found Defect found in time conversion routine for zones in Oceania

Meeting Team discussion, Room 3, 10am this Thursday (May 8) <EOM>

Testing status Testing status: 95% complete


E-mail body • Try to avoid going longer than a screen full

(but often not possible)

• Separate paragraphs with blank lines

• Use headings, sub headings, and bullet points

• Run spell and grammar checks and proof read before sending


STAR East 2014



Meaningful subject line

Attachment

First par summarises purpose of e-mail

Background

Further info

Corporate signature block

White space, semi-formal style, and bullet points used

Content in decreasing importance

Why do I only ever see my bugs in “Sent Mail”?

• Always check that attachments are included before sending

• Have the computer read you the message first


STAR East 2014


How quickly should I reply? • Not too quickly (but taking

urgency into account)

• If every message gets a response within 5 minutes it can create the impression of insufficient work

• On the other hand, if it will take days to reply, at least send an “I’m working on it” acknowledgement


Hope I get another

e-mail soon

Spelling and Grammar

“It is impossible at the present juncture to teach English grammar in the schools for the simple reason that no-one knows exactly what it is.”

British Board of Education committee 1921


STAR East 2014


Spelling and Grammar • Not worth obsessing over but

blatant mistakes can damage our credibility

• So, it is in our professional interest to avoid the most common errors

• Spelling and grammar checkers can not (yet) find them all


Candidate for a Pullet Surprise by Jerry Zar I have a spelling checker. It came with my PC. It plane lee marks four my revue Miss steaks aye can knot sea. Eye ran this poem threw it, Your sure reel glad two no. Its vary polished in it’s weigh. My checker tolled me sew. A checker is a bless sing, It freeze yew lodes of thyme. It helps me right awl stiles two reed, And aides me when aye rime.

Each frays come posed up on my screen Eye trussed too bee a joule. The checker pours o’er every word To cheque sum spelling rule. Bee fore a veiling checkers Hour spelling mite decline, And if we’re lacks oar have a laps, We wood bee maid too wine. Butt now bee cause my spelling Is checked with such grate flare, Their are know faults with in my cite, Of nun eye am a wear.

Now spelling does knot phase me, It does knot bring a tier. My pay purrs awl due glad den With wrapped words fare as hear. To rite with care is quite a feet Of witch won should bee proud, And wee mussed dew the best wee can, Sew flaws are knot aloud. Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays Such soft wear four pea seas, And why eye brake in two averse Buy righting want too pleas. Source: Zar (1994)


STAR East 2014


George Orwell’s writing advice

•Never use a long word when a short one will do.

• If it is possible to cut out a word, do it.

•Never use the passive voice when you can use the active.

•Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous.


Active vs. Passive Voice

Active Passive with nobody to blame

Passive

Dingo introduced a defect into the code.

A defect was introduced into the code.

A defect was introduced into the code by Dingo.

Wozza will cut back on overtime.

Overtime will be cut back.

Overtime will be cut back by Wozza.

Jacko added banana lounges to daily standups.

Banana lounges were added to daily standups.

Banana lounges were added to daily standups by Jacko.


STAR East 2014


Removing unnecessary words Before After

absolutely essential essential

completely surrounded

end result

equal halves

forward planning

in conjunction with

look back in retrospect

pair of twins


These are all “tautologies”

Removing unnecessary words

Before After

arrive at a conclusion conclude

conduct an investigation

deliver a recommendation

lodge an objection

make a decision

put in jeopardy

show a preference for

perform a diagnosis


These are all “nominalisations”

STAR East 2014


Removing unnecessary words

Before After

a high degree of much

afford an opportunity to

as a consequence of

during the month of May

not infrequently

it is incumbent on you

on two separate occasions

with the minimum of delay


These are all “circumlocutions”


Seven common mistakes

STAR East 2014


Complement or Compliment?

• He paid her the ________ of saying her test plan was outstanding

• We now have a full ________ of experienced performance testers

• The writing in the report was ________ by excellent graphics


Criteria or Criterion? • Previous testing experience is the most

important ________ we are looking at for this recruitment

• How should these be numbered in a job statement: Criteri__ 1: possess relevant qualifications Criteri__ 2: knowledge of Quality Center Etc.


STAR East 2014


Effect or Affect?

• The long hours ________ her ability to find bugs

• The long hours had the ________ of reducing her efficiency

• She ________ her escape from weekend work by citing family responsibilities


It’s or its?

• The company was developing ____ staff

• ____ lucky that we tested that condition


STAR East 2014


Principle or Principal?

• The ________ concern in this project is the risk of slippage

• In ________ I agree with the approach we are taking

• The ________ negotiator from the vendor team is hard to deal with


There or They’re or Their?

• ________ going to help us test tonight

• It’s ________ system so they must clarify the requirements

• ________ flying ________ in ________ private jet this weekend


STAR East 2014


Two or To or Too?

• They excitedly marched ____ the retrospective

• Tezz came along ____

• But only ____ people from the user group turned up



STAR East 2014


“I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who”

Rudyard Kipling


5Ws & 1H example • Who: Fred Nurk

• What: Discovered system crashes if negative quantities entered

• When: Last night

• Where:

Test lab

• Why: Inadequate input field checking?

• How: Running automated test scripts


STAR East 2014


The inverted pyramid

Importance (signified by width)

Position

Top

Bottom

Content


An effective layout •First paragraph: summarise the situation,

covering the most important aspects of who, what, when, where, why and how (this may be the only paragraph the person reads)

•Next: provide background or more details

•Optionally, you may want to use a “call to action” at the end


STAR East 2014


Example On the registration date screen February 29 is being accepted for all years, not just leap years. [Summary, covers “where” and “what”]

The problem may be due to the new external date routine, which was recently implemented on this screen. (The other screens still work fine.) [More info]

This could damage customer relations and create adverse publicity for the organisation and needs urgent attention. [Call to action]


Writing •Need a strong headline that will push relevant

buttons in people. The “headline” might be, for example, the: summary of your defect report; or the

subject line of your e-mail message

•The headline may be all they read

•Think about the “angle” of your message (what are you trying to achieve)?


STAR East 2014


Writing

•Start with most important point, which should answer some of 5Ws & 1H

•Secondary information later

•Use Plain English

•Use mix of long and short sentences

•Keep paragraphs to 3 sentences max


Writing •Clichés should be avoided

like the plague

•Always check spelling and grammar

•Write to express, not to impress

•A reading level of Grade 8 is recommended STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 68

STAR East 2014



Readability checker

In Word 2010 do: File Tab, Options, Proofing…


STAR East 2014


Settings …



STAR East 2014


Nuclear Physics: 15.5 grade level STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 73

Nuclear Physics & Green Eggs: 2.4 grade level


STAR East 2014


Readability statistics “cautions” Could get score down just by making all sentences very short. Compare:


I could not finish testing. The system went down.

I could not finish testing because the system went down.

Does the lower score version really communicate more effectively?

Readability statistics “cautions”:

• Don’t try to “write to the formula”

• It doesn’t take layout into account

• Not all readers are the same

• Usability testing is a better method


STAR East 2014


Questioning


Questioning allows us to: • Gather information

• Bring things into the open

• Let other person know we are listening and interested

• Convey embedded messages

• Maintain a humble demeanour (if done sensitively)


STAR East 2014


Question Types

•Direct

•Rapport-building

•Fact Seeking

•Hypothetical

•Testing

•Forced-choice

•Leading

•Embedded message


Response option may be Open or Closed

Embedded message examples

Project Manager

•“What percentage of test cases are we allowed to skip to meet our release date?”

•Embedded message: There are serious problems with meeting our release date


STAR East 2014


Embedded message examples

Business Analyst

•“I’m just wondering what happens on the payments screen if the user enters the same transaction code twice?”

•Embedded message: These requirements have holes


Embedded message examples Developer

•“What happens if the user types in February 29 for a non-leap year?”

•Embedded message: There is a bug in the date routine


STAR East 2014


Questioning techniques

• Start with friendly questions

• Use mix of open and closed

• Repeat questions if necessary

• Be comfortable in being “dumb”

• Use “blame others” method

• Use silence to advantage


The Pause Pit • Ask question and leave

pause after person gives answer

• Person will then often volunteer extra information to fill the deafening silence

• Often used in journalism

• But don’t over-use STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 84

STAR East 2014


Persuasion


Strong feature of our profession:

• Persuading developers to fix defects

• Negotiating for time and resources

• May be challenging


STAR East 2014


Three ways of persuasion Appeal to Logic Appeal to Emotions Appeal to Credibility

“As you can see, this defect is consistently reproducible in all environments.”

“If this defect is not removed there could be a significant backlash in the user community, leading to weeping and emotional distress among company shareholders.”

“You would be aware that the testing team’s defect detection rate is above 95%, so I have extreme confidence in their findings.”


The gentle art of persuasion 1. Get people onside through friendly

interaction (long before the event)

2. Build credibility

3. Use the informal network to increase awareness of the issue and its consequences

4. Determine key motivators of major decision makers and respond to those

5. Tap into greed, vanity, fear and guilt STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 88

STAR East 2014



Other persuasive techniques

• Assertiveness

• Ingratiation

• Exchange

• Mobilising support

• Higher authority

• Impression management


STAR East 2014


But being overly persuasive can:

• Annoy colleagues

• Cause alienation

• Damage reputation (sycophancy)

• Breed resistance among persuadees


Oral Communication


STAR East 2014


Advantages of oral delivery • Speaker controls message • Can obtain immediate feedback

(including nonverbals) • Inflections and passion can be

conveyed in voice • Less formal than writing • Captive audience • No record kept (usually) • Audiovisual support can be used


Defects

Planning a presentation • Biggest challenge is to keep

audience engaged and awake

• Every 20 minutes you need an interesting story, quote, fact, statistic, image, video clip, sound etc.

• Find out as much as you can about the audience in advance


STAR East 2014


Designing your presentation

• Adjust font size to expected depth of room (normally 20 points minimum)

• Not more than 6 lines per slide and 6 words per line

• Not more than 40 words per slide

• Not more than 40 slides

• No flashy transitions or effects (unless they make a point)


Designing your presentation

• Avoid excessive colour

• Aim for a consistent design

• Sequence slides to tell a story

• Think about using props, whiteboards and flip charts


Bet you weren’t

expecting to see one of these?

STAR East 2014


Final checks

• Rehearse entire presentation: In the venue Dressed up With full audio visuals And microphone In front of small audience

(if possible) Doing a video recording


Coping with nerves

• Exercise

• Yawning

• Deep breathing

• Meditation

• Music

• Water

• Arrive early

• Practice speaking in room to hear sound of voice

• Walk around empty room

• Mingle with audience

• Escape (“flight” from “fight or flight”)


STAR East 2014


Delivering the presentation • Ensure air conditioning is low and

lights are high

• Check that they can hear you via lapel mic (so you can move)

• Maintain eye contact and “listen with your eyes”

• Be humble and show respect

• Use open body language and gestures and smile


Not the best look for a presenter

Delivering the presentation • Don’t read your slides

• Speak clearly and vary your pace, pitch, pausing and volume

• Keep head fairly still

• Face the audience (not the screen)

• Avoid excessive pacing

• Relaxed body posture

• Be ready for emergencies


STAR East 2014


Voice

•Pitch

•Pace

•Pause

•Projection


Practice Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked The thoughtful tester told the troubled, tongue-tied techo that timeout targets terminated transcendent transaction threads. STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 102

STAR East 2014


The future: social media


To blog or not to blog?

• Is social media something you are involved in now?

• Or would like to become involved in at some time in the future?


STAR East 2014


Benefits

• Showcase your work • Allows you to reach wide audience • Interactive through comments • Find people with similar interests • See things from different perspective • Can improve your writing skills • Can enhance your professional image


Costs

• Enormously time consuming

• Writing coherently is extremely difficult

• Risk of posting in anger

• Flame wars can start

• Open yourself up to being insulted

• Can destroy your professional image

• Can damage image of your employer


STAR East 2014


Key Points


Key Points 1 • Communication is an integral part of our role.

• Through an awareness of barriers like “denial” or “selective perception”, we can work around them.

• The solution to communication issues is not always more communication.

• With so many communication channels available, we always need to choose one that matches our message, purpose and recipient.

• Informal organisational communication, if used ethically, can be a useful source of information.

• Extending our reach beyond our context, and understanding the broader organisational environment, is useful for our role.


STAR East 2014


Key Points 2 • Harmonious groups sometimes ineffective and may benefit from an

increase in conflict.

• Conflict can release pressure and lead to more creative solutions.

• Groupthink is dangerous and can result from excessive group harmony.

• A range of methods can be used for effective group communication.

• Our professional testing terminology can help us to maintain our identity.

• Committees and meetings present a range of challenges that we can work around.


Key Points 3 • Document design and layout have a big impact on our

communication success.

• Graphs, images, word clouds, and tables can serve as “eye candy” to keep the reader engaged.

• E-mail is extensively used and abused in the workplace.

• Guidelines for e-mail use and message layout can increase communication effectiveness.

• Correct spelling and grammar help us look professional.

• Computers cannot yet entirely check spelling and grammar.


STAR East 2014


Key Points 4 • George Orwell provides useful advice in terms of making

communication more succinct.

• Tautologies, nominalisations and circumlocutions can clutter writing.

• The 5Ws & 1H from journalism and the inverted pyramid can help us to write clear messages.

• The Word Readability Checker, which provides the Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level, can be useful in evaluating writing complexity.


Key Points 5 • Effective questioning is useful for gathering information and relies on

appropriate use of different question types and techniques.

• Messages may be subtly embedded in questions, making them less threatening that direct statements.

• The “Pause Pit” (from journalism) can be useful for gaining additional information.

• Persuasion is a strong feature of our work and three main methods have been used since Aristotle: logic, emotions or credibility.

• A range of other techniques is available but we must be careful not to over-persuade.


STAR East 2014


Key Points 6 • Sometimes oral communication is the most effective channel

because it provides greater control.

• Creating an engaging presentation relies on having entertaining content embedded within the factual message.

• A range of recommendations is available for designing PowerPoint slides.

• Working on voice is important.

• Social media allows us to blog anytime, anywhere, but is this always in our best interests?


Recommended Reading


STAR East 2014


• Anderson, Paul 2010, Technical writing: a reader-centered approach

• Brown, Rob 2009, Public relations and the social web: how to use social media and web 2.0 in communications

• Cobley, Paul 2010, Communications: an introduction

• DeVito, Joseph 2009, Human communication: the basic course

• Flatley, Marie E & Rentz, Kathryn 2010, Business communication

• Gates, Steve 2011, The negotiation book: your definitive guide to successful negotiating

• Goulston, Mark 2010, Just listen: discover the secret to getting through to absolutely anyone

• Grice, George L & Skinner, John F 2010, Mastering public speaking: the handbook

• Hartley, Gregory & Karinch 2010, The body language handbook: how to read everyone’s hidden thoughts and intentions STAR East 2014 Version 1.0 115

• Heinrichs, Jay 2007, Thank you for arguing: what Aristotle, Lincoln and Homer Simpson can teach us about the art of persuasion

• Jones, Gerald Everett 2007, How to lie with charts

• Keddy, Jackie and Johnson, Clive 2011, Managing conflict at work: understanding and resolving conflict for productive working relationships

• Kleiman, Jessica & Cooper, Meryl Weinsaft 2011, Be your own best publicist: how to use PR techniques to get noticed, hired, and rewarded at work

• Mann, Monroe & Levinson, Jay Conrad 2008, Guerilla networking: a proven battle plan to attract the very people you want to meet


STAR East 2014


Thank You!

An updated version of this presentation will become available on the STAR East website.

For any enquiries contact:

[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

Technology

Getting Your Message Across: Communications Skills for Testers