"Calendar tester" with you again! In 2017, Kontur’s testers had 32 department volunteers, 3 test sessions, 2 online conference viewing, 14 master classes, an external testing guru with a lecture and training, and much more. Most of the activities were organized by the testers themselves.

Our new article is that the best drivers for testers are done by testers themselves. Tatyana Kudrevatykh and Igor Borisykhin, Kontur's product testers and experienced event organizers, will teach you to create events of various levels. In the article you will learn what benefits the organization of events can bring you, what problems are encountered, and how to cope with them. And the guys will share ideas of moving, which even a novice can do.

How is the organization of events useful to the organizer?

We are not a hippie, but we want a better world.

See the imperfection of this world and there is a desire to fix it? Start small. Tired that the front-end tender in the project does not provide minimal protection against XSS attacks? Arrange his web security training.
Tip: teach you to test the front-end all inputs at least for <script>alert(1)</script> .

Tired of the analyst in the team writing "sheets" of productions in the style of Tolstoy? Read, finally, Ilyakhov and conduct training on infotile.
Council “Write, abbreviate” Ilyakhov, although written on 440 pages, really helps to make the texts (and bug reports) better.

No one to ride a bike, run in the evenings, go hiking? Organize a cycling race, jogging, hike, tell about it and be sure to find like-minded people.
Council For example, the cycling club in Contour for 270 participants uses the following scheme:
- 1 arrival - more than 30 kilometers;
- frequency - once every 2 weeks;
- at least 2 participants in the race;
- publicly announce the start of the previous day, and better before;
- attach a track of at least one participant in the post-report after the arrival.

Self + Development

Beaten advice that you need to develop yourself, acquires a new breath, if you make a move. You pump your knowledge in breadth - great! You pump knowledge deep down - great! Do not forget to share news with colleagues. If, for example, you already know some kind of tool, then organize a master class on its use. If you carefully study the documentation on it, you will still know better, open up new sides that you didn’t suspect before.
Council When you arrive at the conference, go to the most incomprehensible to you reports. So you learn new things for yourself and broaden your horizons. And after the conference, publicly share brief retellings of the reports and your opinion on the batches of the department. No voucher department? Collect colleagues at the bar!

Now you are a teacher. Continue to share knowledge and create movement.
Council For example, organize your MC on GIT. So you will study the documentation, start using GIT bash and you will be able to give an answer in your mind about what is going on here:
mkdir testgit
cd testgit
git init
echo "1" >> 1.txt
git add.
echo "2" >> 1.txt
git commit -m "boom"
git reset --hard
cat 1.txt

Surprise - you are a manager too

Movement requires the participation of several people. If you are the author of the idea, then, most likely, lead the process. So you are the manager. Do not hurt your nose ahead of time! The manager has important skills. He is able to delegate tasks, keep deadlines, understand what MVP needs and what can wait. A good manager successfully applies these skills in life.
Council Learn to communicate effectively with people, work will be better. To learn how to communicate - communicate (thanks, Cap! But it really works, practice). You need the skills of communication every day when you communicate with a programmer, analyst, designer, manager and even a shop assistant.

We will not be cunning, the first couple of times it is difficult to organize large projects, so it’s best to start with small moving companies. You should not start with the organization of the city test session for 100 people. It would be better if you collect a test session among your colleagues, for example, for 10-15 people. So you can get a new perspective on the product and try your hand at organizing.
Council Read, finally, Jedi techniques. In this book there are many good things that will help you work with your time, tasks and lead projects both personal and business.

We hope that everything will work out for you with a small project and “you will pump up your abdominals and not earn a hernia”. Now move on to bigger and bigger projects.

Remember, the organization of events gives its buns: competent, interesting people are drawn to you, new acquaintances appear, you get moral satisfaction, recognition from friends and colleagues. Each tester must catch a bug, read Kaner and organize a move.
Council For example, if you organize a training course, you can recruit the best students to your team. Work with professionals!

What is stopping you?

Why, seeing all the advantages, we are not starting yet? Fear, procrastination and uncertainty. We have collected top excuses why we do not start moving, and tips on how to overcome it.

No time

Do you think you have no time? No, there is time. All 24 hours a day. Perhaps you invest it in the wrong place.

Another problem is if 146% of your working time is taken. This is an unhealthy situation in the team. Tasks already in abundance, and the manager throws more. Talk to the manager, determine reasonable limits, set priorities, find helpers. If you are engaged in driving only during off-hours, there is a risk to burn out. Protect your time.
Advice: no, seriously, read the Jedi techniques. How to make 25 hours a day the book will not tell, but it will help to find more time among those 24 hours that already exist. The authors liked the book. IMHO. Here is an example: "The Magic Fairy Method." Imagine that a little fairy fairy has flown to you. In her business, she is still a novice, and you will not receive any serious help from her. All that a fairy can do for you is give you 20 minutes a day. But only if you use this time to bring yourself closer to the completion of your project. The result of these 20 minutes should be some kind of progress. 20 minutes a day is a short time, but after a while the result will surprise you.

I have family

Indeed, you may have other priorities. Now you need to devote time to home, garden and parenting. Yes, the organization of movement is now not important for you, but do not forget, if you postpone all the time (and there will always be excuses), then you can never wait for a good moment. If you find that lucky moment, then there will be something to tell the children around the fire.
Tip: Look at the family not as a limitation, but as helpers with whom you can consult, discuss ideas, rehearse speeches. And children are the generators of such ideas that will never come to mind to adults. Connect your family to the organization of the movement, which will unite you and leave pleasant memories.

I just want to test

Do you want to grow professionally, and not to engage in all these events? Why do you ask initiatives if you want to develop only in testing? To create or change something is a creative and complex work, connected with leaving the comfort zone and professional growth. If you were going to organize a building, most likely, nobody organized it before you. This is the path of the first mover. IT loves new, fresh.
Council Draw goals for yourself: who do you want to become in 3 (5,10 ...) years? Most likely, one of your goals will just suggest the organization of some professional movement.

No team

There is one tester in the project and it seems that there is no one to help. It just seems. Just start. Dvizhuha interest colleagues who have not yet been involved in the activity. There may be people who you did not know before.

Now, thanks to several first Contour activists, the topic of movement has been unwound. More and more people are becoming more active and involved in the non-project development of the testing department.
Tip 1. Find a partner. A partner will help with the separation of duties. If the partner picked up the idea, then it will be more difficult to quit. Joint activities will be the reason for strong business ties. Plus, everyone will gain valuable group work experience. Together (threesome) everything will go faster.

Where to search and how to search for a partner? Everything is simple - ads paper and electronic mailing. Conversion will not be big, but it will be. Communicate with people, tell about their movements and plans, there will be people willing to help. According to the results of activities write articles about how it was, people will be pulled.

To work effectively - synchronize with the team. It is better to go "legs" and talk. It is more convenient to write letters, messages and call up when the team is large or distributed. But live communication is more effective.

Tip 2. Use intangible motivation. After the event, it inspires participants to further work and attracts new activists. Here are some examples:
- Exchange - game currency for activity, which can be changed to nishtyaki - trips to conferences, trainings, corporate gifts.
- Achivki - a special electronic medal on the corporate portal for organizing or participating.
- Thanks - public thanks to the person who helped you.

I do not know how

Organizers are not born. This is a skill that can be pumped. Maybe our little checklist will help you get started.

- Find an idea.
Tip: Brainstorming is well described here to generate ideas. If your idea yet, in the text below, we will show options.
- Set a goal, deal with motivation.
Tip: remember the magic fairy method.
- Describe the desired results.
- Look on the Internet for advice and opinions of people on a given topic, ask for advice from experienced colleagues.
- Sell the idea to the manager to get time and help.
Tip: Before you talk, ask the question “What will change after all my labors?”. If the answer is "Nothing", then maybe you should not organize this movement? Without clear motivation, everything will be bent. But if the motivation for you is clear, then explain it to the manager. Managers are interested in the development of employees and companies. They are experienced and adequate people, for the most part :) They can suggest in which direction to move or dissuade. It is necessary to perceive the manager as an assistant, and not as a boss. If you are sure that you would like to work on the organization, and the manager is totally against it, you may not be on your way. You need to understand this and break up.
- Start! Yes, there will be mistakes. Ideal will not work, 100% something goes wrong. But until you start somehow, nothing will come of it.
Tip: Run a test run of the event. You will notice the growth zones. Invite people who will give constructive criticism. Treat criticism as a help, take it as an opportunity to make the event better.

Ideas backlog

Now you can organize everything that is enough imagination. For example:

- flyers on various topics depending on the competencies that are in the company. The format of the fly may be different: a report, a discussion (books, reports, ideas, testing techniques, etc.), brainstorming, a round table or even a story about your team and work in it,
- test session
- mitapy,
- the creation of a library in which specialized literature will be collected,
- invitation of testing gurus, organization of training,
- master class on the use of tools or equipment,
- in the end, writing a series of articles on Habr :)

Do you want to learn more about any movement, please contact , share experiences. Get inspired by the 2017 event calendar of the Kontura testing department.

Offer your ideas and share success stories in the comments.

List of calendar articles:
Try a different approach
Reasonable pair testing
Feedback: as it happens
Optimize tests
Read the book
Analytics testing
The tester must catch the bug, read Kaner and organize a move.
Load service
Metrics in QA service
Test security
Know your customer
Disassemble backlog