When your QA team is in-house, you’ve got several things going for you. First, the team is already familiar with the product and the company culture. Second, communication between the dev and QA teams is simple -- a test engineer just walks down the hall to find a developer, and vice versa. Though these are undeniably valuable benefits of having QA under the same roof as dev, experienced testing partners help bridge the gap between onsite and outsourced teams with a project kick-off meeting and several important QA processes.
As you get started with your new software testing company, you should implement these QA processes first and foremost:
Software requirement specification (SRS)
A clear, thorough software requirement specification (SRS) helps your QA team develop the project plan they’ll follow going forward. The project plan is segmented into modules, with developers focusing on technical design and QA engineers creating test scenarios and test cases in the meantime. These will cover most of the functional tests outlined in the SRS.
As modules are assigned to the QA team, basic smoke testing is performed -- if any issues appear, these are returned to developers for fixing before moving forward for any required manual testing.
Communication strategy
During and following the project kick-off meeting, all stakeholders are expected to communicate openly and regularly to help define the project scope form. All communication should be logged and documented to ensure that there is no deviation from the requirements as the project progresses. How else can you improve the dynamic between QA and dev teams?
Daily standup meetings
These meetings serve a double purpose. They provide a clear picture of the state of the project deliverables for key stakeholders, and they keep all team members in the loop about the general health of the project. This provides insight into what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change to achieve success.
Scrum meetings
Scrum Masters lead these meetings to provide updates about the engineering team and their various contributions to the project. Scrum meetings help expose any problems in strategy, process or team communication that may be negatively affecting progress.
Evaluation of the test case management tool
Test cases are the backbone of any testing project, so a thorough evaluation is required to ensure that the right one is chosen. It should clearly fit the requirements of the project and be dynamic to help support test case management, bug reporting, and any other needed functionality.
Evaluation of the test automation tool and process
Like the test case management tool, the test automation tool is vital to the success of projects requiring a robust automation framework. The tool should fit the project’s technical requirements and be accessible to non-technical users if they will be conducting tests. The right tool will help generate a quick ROI when extensive automation is implemented. Learn more about selecting the right test automation tool.
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