Anne-Marie Charrett. What I do Anne-Marie Charrett is a software test consultant offering the following services:

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1 Anne-Marie Charrett Anne-Marie Charrett is a software testing trainer and coach with an international reputation of excellence and passion for the craft of software testing. Anne-Marie graduated as an Electrical Engineer from Middlesex University and since then has worked as a tester, test manager and test consultant. Her courses are unique in that they focus on improving a tester s skill and the content is a direct result of her twenty years experience in software testing across multiple sectors. Anne-Marie currently has training classes organized in the UK, Ireland and Sydney. She regularly speaks and trains at conferences both in Australia and Internationally and will be keynoting at STARWEST in September this year. She is also an instructor for the Black Box System Testing online course run by the Association for Software Testing. Anne-Marie has close ties to many testing communities. In particular she is the coorganiser of Sydney Testers Meet-up, and until recently was on the committee for Softtest Ireland. Anne-Marie has developed a systematic approach to coaching testers. This approach has been developed in conjunction with James Bach (Co-author of Lessons Learned in Software Testing) and is the result of coaching hundreds of testers online. What I do Anne-Marie Charrett is a software test consultant offering the following services: Coaching Testers Exploratory Workshops Coaching Testers workshops Consulting on Test Team transformation International speaker & writer

2 Training Software Testing in an agile environment Agile has changed the face of software testing. Where in the past the focus on testing was very much a "black box," in agile; testers focus on automation, which requires higher technical capability and programming skills. This is a good thing. The better a tester understands the product, the better the testing. But is this enough? Why is it that we sometimes fail to test to our satisfaction? Why is it we fail to find critical bugs when testing? Is there something we can do to improve? Is there a better way? I believe there is. By studying what skilled testers do when they test I've designed a training program to help testers become better at testing. Software Testing in a waterfall environment How is it, that despite careful planning, software testing inevitably ends up being delayed and condensed into frantic testing before the release date? Why does software testing seem to handle change so poorly? Is there anything that can be done to improve the efficiency and business value of software testing? There is. Yes, we can make testing faster, smarter and maybe even cheaper but more than that, we need to help testers how think through these challenges. Training Approach All my seminars and workshops use an experiential approach to learning. Experiential learning is learning by doing and reflecting. Attendees get the opportunity to perform exercises to help create meaning helping to create deeper understanding of the topic at hand. All exercises are followed by a discussion were observations on the exercises are discussed and the consequences of what this may mean to a tester.

3 Seminars I offer a 2 hour introductory seminar to explain and demonstrate how we can improve testing skill. The topic varies but in the past I've held the following seminars Sapient Testing: Its not manual or automated, its sapient! Coaching Testers: Teaching testers how to think Can you handle the risk? Examining risk factors in your company Testing, the Smarter, Faster, Cheaper way Sapient Testing Seminar This hands on seminar is an introduction to sapient testing. A sapient process is any process that relies on skilled humans. Sapient Testing repositions software testing as a skilled cognitive activity regardless of the tools we use to test. In this seminar the focus is on test design. I describe and explore how software testing is a science, because in both we design experiments and evaluate information. These are cognitive activities. It follows then that to become better at testing, we need to become better at designing experiments and evaluating the data we receive. The seminar is explorative and attendees get the opportunity to perform some sapient testing using some fun robots. We'll then discuss any observations made, and how better test design can lead to better testing. Duration: 2 hours Max Attendees: Unlimited Cost: $500 ex GST Testing, the Smarter, Faster, Cheaper way This hands on seminar is an introduction to Exploratory Testing where attendees get to try out Exploratory Testing in a controlled environment. This is followed by a discussion on observations made whilst testing and the challenges we may face in performing this type of testing. The seminar concludes with some of the benefits of Exploratory Testing in both waterfall and agile environments. Duration: 2 hours Max Attendees: Unlimited Cost: $500 ex GST

4 Exploratory Testing Workshop Duration: 1 Day Overview This one day workshop takes testers through the concepts of Exploratory Testing in a practical and hands on approach. It investigates what Exploratory Testing is, examines its benefits and looks at some practical techniques and tools you can use in Exploratory Testing. Programme The workshop will focus on the following aspects of Exploratory Testing Understanding the basic concepts in Exploratory Testing How to recognise bugs without having requirements Charters and Heuristics to help increase your testing skill Reporting your Exploratory Testing to others Modeling and Test Coverage in Exploratory Testing Who should attend? This workshop is suitable for testers and test managers who wants to learn the basic concepts of Exploratory Testing How might I benefit? Exploratory Testing can help you find bugs faster, smarter and perhaps even less costly than a traditional scripted approach. By focusing on a tester s skill and critical thinking a tester can learn how to test better and in doing so become more motivated in their testing. What might I learn? You have the opportunity to learn the following: What is Exploratory Testing? Techniques in Exploratory Testing How to know when to stop Exploratory Testing Reporting to Stakeholders on the topic of Exploratory Testing The workshop is exercise oriented so there will be opportunities to practice Exploratory Testing. Please bring a laptop. Duration: 1 day Max Attendees: 12 Cost: $3000 ex GST (Offsite training $ GST)

5 1/2 Day Workshop Sapient Testing This hands on workshop teaches how to be a sapient tester. A sapient process is any process that relies on skilled humans. A sapient tester primarily applies skill and critical thinking to any testing they perform, be it manual or automated. In this workshop I describe and explore how software testing is like science, in that we design experiments and evaluate information. To become better at testing, we need to become better at designing experiments and evaluating the data we receive. And like science where scientists need to be aware of the biases and assumptions they may make while performing experiments, testers will learn typical bias and potential strategies to avoid them. We also examine explore alternatives to the automated testing framework. The workshop uses an experiential approach to learning and attendees get the opportunity to perform experiments and explore in detail how bias affects testing using fun robots. We'll then discuss in detail any observations made and how this may apply testing within the organisation. Duration: 1/2 day Max Attendees: 12 Cost: $1750 ex GST

6 Full Day Sapient Testing Workshop This challenging and thought provoking workshop examines in detail, the skills a tester needs to perform sapient testing with an emphasis on Exploratory Testing. It examine what testing is through looking at critical thinking and the scientific method. In addition, it examines how exploratory testing can help agile teams. This workshop is suitable for both developers and testers. The workshop explores the following themes: Scientific Method and Testing Modeling Bug Hunting Coverage The themes will be examined using exercises, followed by reflection through discussion and a short lecture on the topic. The workshop is based on an experiential learning approach. Experiential learning is to make meaning from direct experience. The exercises are designed to help the attendees think critically about the theme and then reflect on how it affects their testing. Duration: 1 day Max Attendees: 12 Cost: $3000 ex GST (Offsite training $ GST)

7 Coaching Testers Workshop Overview This one day workshop is an introduction to the systematic approach to coaching testers used by myself and James Bach. This approach is the culmination of our experience in coaching, investigation and analysis. Coaching testers facilitates the ongoing self-education for a tester. The tester controls what they learn, making it relevant and powerful compared to traditional teaching practices. Join me on this one day workshop to discover the basic skills needed to coach testers. Programme The workshop will focus on the following aspects of coaching testers: The Science behind the coaching The Coaching Task Navigating a Coaching Session Evaluating Coaching Sessions Who should attend? This workshop is suitable for experienced testers and test managers who want to learn how to coach testers. How will I benefit? Coaching testers is a skill that test managers and testers can learn to help improve tester skill either remotely or within a project environment. Attending this one day workshop will give you and understanding of coaching testers and an opportunity to practice this skill in a learning environment. What will I learn? You have the opportunity to learn my approach to coaching testers. This includes: Developing a coaching relationship Understanding a coaching task Managing a coaching session Evaluating a coaching session The workshop is exercise oriented so there will be many opportunities to practice the art of coaching testers. Please bring a laptop Duration: 1 day Max Attendees: 12 Cost: $3000 ex GST (Offsite training $ GST)

8 Coaching Testers (onsite or remotely) A test coaching session takes place when a tester, guided by a coach, works on improving their testing skill. It can be performed remotely or face to face a lasts approximately 90 minutes. Many testers feel frustrated that they fail to recognize bugs, or unable to develop an appropriate testing strategy. The traditional approach to solving a problem like this has been to hand feed testers with templates or examples of existing strategies. Real skill is more than filling in a template though, a tester needs to be able to develop a test strategy based on what they re testing, who they re testing and the environment their testing in. This spoon feeding approach has another negative effect. It does not encourage a tester to question or be skeptical, yet its these precise skills that we want our testers to have! My coaching approach encourages a tester to challenge their approach, to question why they test, to question their approach. In this way, testers become thinkers, designers and problem solvers. Tester s love to be engaged and empowered. My coaching approach affords them this opportunity. A coaching session falls naturally into 3 areas; the context the task the debrief To help a tester, it helps to understand the context of the problem. Time is spent to understand the tester, their skill level, what challenges they face and what they feel they need to work on. Considering this information, an appropriate task or exercise is chosen, reflecting the tester s skill level and what skill they want to acquire. The tester is taken through the testing exercise. Socratic dialogue is used to help them question their thinking, their approach to testing. Following the task, the tester goes through a debrief where we discuss the task, how it relates to their particular work consideration. Coaching testers this way demands that the tester owns the solution, in itself this is an empowering and motivating tool. And that what s the essence of my coaching, empowering testers in a practical way, allowing them to reach their aspirations.

9 References James Bach - Consulting Software Tester, Author of Rapid Software Testing Training Quentin Goldfinch CIO Silverbrook Research Michael Larsen, Chair Education Special Interest Group, Association for Software Testers Lisa Crispin: co-author of Agile Testing Links Blog: Website: LinkedIn: Association for Software Testing (AST) Twitter:@charrett Contact us To register your interest phone Catherine on or her at catherine@testingtimes.com.au All currency is in Australian dollars and is exclusive of GST. These rates are valid for 12 months from 1/1/2013. [GST tax is applicable to Australian companies only]. Travel expenses are additional.