Starting a Geographically Distributed Test Team

Susan McVeyIBM

Distributed Test Team

Planning Training & getting started Things to watch out for

Planning Decide how to divide work among sites Decide how you will communicate

Phone, Skype, virtual world, chat, email? Are your training materials ready?

All accessible online? From both sites? Anything non-translatable or site-specific?

How will you track status? Need new multi-site tools?

Training & Getting Started Seek feedback proactively Invite questions both verbally and via email or

chat (be aware of differing etiquette re: speaking up)

Record talks for later playback/translation You train the first new hires; they train others.

Ideally, have the first person come over for F2F training.

Assign some simple tasks early on, even if training is not done– it helps build the team. Ramp up as their skills grow.

Things to watch out for Slang, dialect, & jargon Be considerate about time zones Find ways to communicate what is said in local

discussions Trust and support your new team (in spite of

communication challenges)… …and verify the results (even though you’ve

hired great people and the training seemed to go well)

And enjoy the upside! You have new resources.