Exercises for workshop on keeping testers interested
I've not yet transcribed the pdfs, nor updated my exercises. However, you'll find pictures of the flipcharts and a pdf of my teaching notes at staysharp.workroomprds.com.
I think that a tester's engagement and enthusasm for their work has a great effect on how well they work. I think that effect is more pronounced for testers than for some other roles in development. I think that testing has the potential to be exceptionally boring, and that dull testing excludes interested testers, leading to a terrible cycle of ennui that is a drag on the soul of a team.
So I think that testers need special attention to help them stay interested.
And that's what this repository of exercises is for.
There are plenty of exercises and ideas for motivating people, and I expect that many here will be adapted from existing ideas. However, I want all the exercises we keep in this repository to be relevant to testers and testing, in content, form, audience, aim, or some other facet.
The exercises will be primarily social exercises. A few may need software, or devices – and a few may need props – but most won't. I expect that most exercises will take 20 minutes or less, most will be do-able in small groups or perhaps on one's own, most could be done more than once. I'm leaning heavily on Keith Johnstone's exercises, Jerry Weinberg's insights, Sharon Bowman's teaching approaches, and perhaps a bit of Dan Pink, Daniel Arielly, and Malcolm Gladwell. I don't expect that the exercises in this workshop will be similar to my BlackBox puzzles.
Trial workshops and exercises at FiSTB 2016, NewVoiceMedia, Medidata, TestPartners, Net-a-Porter. Half-day workshop at EuroSTAR 2016