Clearly there are many critical skills required of test professionals. Two of the most crucial are effective communication and leadership skills. This workshop will take a fast-paced and hard look at these two skill areas and give attendees practical guidance and ideas on how to increase their effectiveness as testing leaders and communicators.
The first half of the workshop focuses on improving Communication & PR skills across your QA, Process and Test teams so that your key partners better understand your role and its importance. You will be introduced to a variety of effective techniques for improving your communication and collaboration within your own teams, within your projects and across your organization. Half the workshop is spent in experiential break-outs – practicing the techniques as a group.
The second half of the workshop focuses on 7 core skills for effective leadership. Typically, managers are promoted up from the ranks. If you've shown strong abilities in your individual contributor role, it isn't long before you're given a management “opportunity”. Usually that includes very little in the way of formal training and very high and immediate expectations. It's truly on the job training of the worst kind.
Using Stephen Covey's 7 Habits for inspiration, t his talk focuses on 7 fundamental habits that will enable test managers to evaluate and improve their leadership effectiveness. Effective leaders can create powerful teams that can accomplish extraordinary things. Learn these 7 habits and how to apply them immediately within your teams.
- Understanding of some of the inhibitors to effective communication
- Practice and skill crafting 30 second status “commercials” and audience targeting skills
- Exposure to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator MBTI as a baseline for personality types
- Guidelines for crafting and targeting better defect reports
- Introduction to a quick quality assessment vehicle
- Insight into a variety of test communication challenges and techniques to improve your effectiveness (perceptions, attitudes & metrics)
- One of the keys to effective leadership is to first understand yourself before trying to influence and lead teams. Learn what to look for in personal reflection.
- How to create an environment of continuous learning so that your team “recreates itself” to handle all eventualities.
- Teams inevitably connect to their first level leaders. Learn how to harness this connection with your care and passion for your team
- Many managers avoid the “hard bits” and hope somehow, some way a miracle occurs. Learn how to face these tough situations and why it's important for your teams' growth and performance.
- How to effectively balance between tactical execution and strategic thinking and development of your team – Quadrant 1 vs. Quadrant
Morning Session – Communication Skills
- Introduction to effective communication – it's all about PR
- Tailoring your commercials - considering your audience
- Creating excellent defect entries & Quality Assessments
- Dealing with perceptions, attitudes, metrics & understanding
- Finding & seizing PR opportunities
- Wrap-up and Q&A
Afternoon Session – 7 Habits of Effective Test (or any technology) Leaders
- Personal Reflection – Who Are You?
- Learning to “Set the Stage”
- Create “Learning” Organizations
- Motivating Your Team
- Handling the “Hard Bits”
- Proactively Managing “Up”
- Compelling Leadership
- Wrap-up and Q&A
Each session will have 2-3 breakout sessions for experiential learning and practice.
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