Managing the Testing Process: Practical Tools and Techniques for Managing Hardware and Software Testing

9.4. Working with Other Managers: Directions of Test Management

Test projects must be managed in three directions:

Inward.

Managing inward means defining your test team, hiring its members, organizing the team's structure, and supervising and motivating your employees.

Upward.

Managing upward means summarizing the status of the test process and escalating urgent problems to the attention of the project management team, setting expectations, responding quickly but prudently to changes in direction, participating in management meetings, and "selling" your test effort.

Outward.

Managing outward means communicating test results, clarifying problem reports, and discussing test needs and services with your management peers.

These three directions are represented in Figure 9.5. Chapter 8 focused on managing inward; here we'll look at the other two directions.

Figure 9.5. The three directions of test management.

9.4.1. Managing Upward

Managing upward is often a difficult challenge, especially when you are communicating to people who have only a dim understanding of what testing is all about. Managing upward requires that you spend a significant amount of time preparing reports, focusing on process, and devising an effective set of test indicators or metrics—the test dashboard—that your management can use to understand test status.^[]

^[] For another, similar perspective on managing upward ...