Thursday, August 16, 2018

Experience Report: Problem Solving: A Hands-On Workshop

Participants of the first Problem Solving: A Hands-On Workshop
LtoR: Sivabalan, Dinesh, Vinod, Sandeep, Aneesh, Ajay, Jyothi, Parmesh, Sagar.
Deepti had left early.
I don't remember when I asked Jyothi if she would be interested in doing a workshop together, but I am happy that I asked. It was in the second week of July and we decided that we will have the workshop on Aug 15th. There were multiple Skype calls, lots of comments exchanged on Trello, multiple files shared on Google Drive and we met on the day of workshop - thanks to internet!

So, we were the trainers and we had partnered with ManuMantra.com

Few things I learned/relearned from this workshop:

Never Give Up
Our first call did not happen as scheduled. The Trello board was inactive for a week. There was just one registered participant till a week before the workshop date. We had not yet finalised the slides and exercises for the workshop. Few days before the workshop, we got to know about Jerry's demise. I was in my last week of my notice period. There were multiple things going on at the same time. Some drastic measures were taken and the workshop was successfully conducted! This entire workshop experience will be one of the reminders for me that if we persist hard enough, impossible will become possible.

Differences can be resolved if we have the right attitude
Jyothi and I seem to have contrasting styles in how we prepare for a workshop and how we present. I am someone who mostly flows with the flow and waits for the last minute till I get that one brilliant idea. Jyothi seems to be someone who is more organised than me, likes to rehearse every detail and be prepared. Every word on her slide was powerful and my slides had more images than words. If someone had looked at our slides, they would have thought that we were preparing for two different workshops. We did not have many arguments - our goal was to create a good experience for the audience. We did not hesitate to let go of our work and vote for each other's work.

Partnership based on trust is beautiful
Each one of us (Jyothi, myself and ManuMantra) trusted each other and result was just brilliant. All the pieces just fit the overall workshop puzzle so well that I myself was surprised on some occasions. Certificates not yet ready - no problem - ready on time. Handout not ready - let us use the lunch break and finalise - Projector showing a blue tint, use cello tape and fix it.

What audience learned
To be honest, I did not anticipate what would the audience learn. Whenever I talk about problem solving, I go into a peaceful mode. Maybe, I start thinking about Jerry Weinberg and the whole class where we talked, argued, learned, observed problems and their solutions. So, towards the end of the workshop - when we asked the audience to share what they learned, we were surprised to know that some of them got solutions to their problems and some got confidence to solve their problems. Nothing gives the workshop instructors more happiness than seeing participants leave the workshop, satisfied and energetic to apply the lessons.



And it was a good start. Time for more workshops.

The next one is bit.ly/mobtestworkshop - Mobile Testing Workshop at Bangalore


followed by http://gtr.agiletestingalliance.org/workshop.html#workshop3 - Problem Solving Techniques for the New Leaders/Managers at Pune

Leia Mais…

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Agile Testing Days - Vote for Ramit's talk - "Just Pass is not Quality"

One of our friends - Ramit Kaul needs our help to get his talk selected for Agile Testing Days 2018.

https://agiletestingdays.com/community-talk-vote/



Please vote for him along with five other good speakers.
I have heard him speak and he is a knowledgable and entertaining speaker!

All the best to Ramit. 

Leia Mais…

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

What Next? Aug-Sep?

Few things are lined up for this year and will keep me busy! Hope to see you there :)

Aug 15: Bangalore: Workshop

bit.ly/aug15workshop
This is the first time I am doing a workshop with Jyothi Rangaiah and I am excited about this collaboration.

If you want to experience two passionate testers help you solve problems, attend our workshop - Problem Solving: A Hands-On Workshop

Link: bit.ly/aug15workshop
Just let me know if you need a discount.

Aug 30, 31: Bangalore: STeP-IN SUMMIT 2018

I will be there. It would be interesting to learn about the next wave of technology and the impact on software testing in general. Loads of activities - talks, panel discussion, testautothon, some games and good opportunity to confer!

Link: https://stepinsummit.stepinforum.org/

Sep 8th: Bangalore: Workshop with The Test Tribe community

https://www.thetesttribe.com/
The details will be updated soon. I have promised to conduct one workshop with them. Join the community and experience the #AskTribe #TestingHours and loads of community activities that are practical, engaging and thought provoking.

Sep 27, 28: Pune: Global Testing Retreat


Sshhh: I am going to launch my new book in this conference.
Link: leanpub.com/50mistakes

On 28th Sep, I have a workshop - Problem Solving Techniques for the New Leaders/Managers
Link: http://gtr.agiletestingalliance.org/workshop.html#workshop1

Exciting times ahead. More news to be updated soon :)



Leia Mais…

Mar-June 2018: How STeP-IN Forum helped me sharpen my skills

It feels good to be back on my blog and post an update on my journey for the past few months. I have been sharing few articles on my LinkedIn Pulse. You can read them here:

How learning happens - Theory vs Practicals
An instance of trying to apply what I read from the Python book and how I was failing repeatedly till I learned the lesson

Test it Out!
The joy of discovering a pattern while learning and how to test it out instead of assuming things.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't: Simon Sinek
Few thoughts from Simon Sinek's book on Leadership and Team work

Mobile App Usability and User Experience - Where does your app rank?
Check out for some key questions one might have to ask before releasing the app with respect to app usability and user experience

Superwomen: Inspiring Stories of 20 Women Entrepreneurs
This book talks about how each of the twenty women started their own business after identifying a problem they felt, needed to be solved and never looked back even after facing multiple challenges.

So I wanted to share how I am utilising STeP-IN Forum's initiatives in my learning journey.

Videos from STeP-In Forum events:
There are many videos from past events like conferences, evening talks, webinars, contests and workshops.
I love the diversity of the talks and you can view them here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/stepinforum

One of the must watch videos is this keynote by Col Prabir SenGupta.



Workshops: 
I attended two workshops conducted by STeP-IN Forum in the last two months.

May 19, 20: Web Security Testing Workshop by Rahul Verma
June 07, 08: Design Sprint Workshop by José Díaz

Leia Mais…