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SHIFTING FEEDBACK LEFT IS THE RIGHT AGILE APPROACH [#Agile #ShiftingFeedbackLeft]

1. PLAN YOUR SHIFT
2. INVEST IN TESTING

The traditional feedback loops deployed in non-Agile methodologies typically limit the options of development teams.

A team might develop partial functionality limiting the testers on the test coverage they are able to deploy in completing the development process.

Another option in a traditional feedback system might require developers to complete iterative milestone builds which then go to General Availability testing.

These traditional feedback loops often force Testing teams to perform testing simply as a finale to the development process, incurring, as a byproduct, weeks or months of Testing team thumb-twiddling as they await the delivery of the final product for testing.

And then, of course, the pressure is on as the Testing team is squeezed by fast-approaching delivery dates and an immense testing workload.

Regression testing often becomes little more than an afterthought as the Testing team is forced to focus limited time and resources on testing new features.

Tighter feedback loops are a key component of the Agile methodology.

And shifting feedback left by injecting testing earlier into the SDLC is a cannot-miss means of increasing agility. The earlier testing is involved in the process, the earlier development teams can receive crucial feedback.

Setting the stage for shifting feedback left requires organizations to perform 2 key chores:

1. PLAN YOUR SHIFT
Plans should be formulated for running sprint cycles that will each generate sufficient finished-quality software to test every 2 or 3 weeks.

Each sprint cycle must create enough software to make the testing worthwhile.

2. INVEST IN TESTING
Brands must invest in dedicated testers.

Simply nabbing members away from other teams temporarily to perform testing — pulling them away from the essential tasks of their day-to-day jobs — will place a development team on a path toward failure and may lead to a complete loss-of-control of the development process.

The efficiency of the entire development team will plummet, and missed software bugs will quickly multiply.

Dedicated Testing teams will prove invaluable to the attempt of any organization to shift feedback left and discover quality issues earlier in the development process.

ADAPTED FROM
Where Culture and Quality Fits Into Agile Environments:
CMSWire