Exploring the Impact of Scaled Agile Framework on the Tester Role

What impact might the adoption of scaled agile frameworks like SAFe, Scrum of Scrums, or LeSS have on the tester role? This master thesis deals precisely with this topic. More and more companies are adapting scaled agile frameworks to leverage organization-level agility. But such ...

Exploring the Impact of Scaled Agile Framework on the Tester Role
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Topic

What impact might the adoption of scaled agile frameworks like SAFe, Scrum of Scrums, or LeSS have on the tester role? This master thesis deals precisely with this topic. More and more companies are adapting scaled agile frameworks to leverage organization-level agility [1]. But such drastic changes are impacting the role of the tester. Processes, functions, and responsibilities are changing. Testing is becoming more complex due to cross-functional teams and increasing automation. For this reason, the two research questions "What are the tasks of testers in scaled agile frameworks? " and "How do they differ from the traditional role of the tester and its impacts?" were derived.

Relevance

This topic is crucial for companies planning to implement scaled agile frameworks or is in the process. According to studies, "problems with quality assurance and a loss of quality in code shortly after the transition to scaled agile processes"[2]. Companies and testers need to understand the new role and what it entails. This is the only way companies can start training new skills and hiring missing resources early.

Results

The results show that testers must have a higher level of knowledge and skills to meet expectations such as programming. Moreover, testers are now members of a development team, and testing is a team affair. Developers may be involved in test automation and business analysts in user story testing. Both tasks also overlap with the tester's jobs. For this reason, testers cannot define tasks blanketly and are highly dependent on context. Also, testers report the fear of being replaced by increasing test automation, but at the same time, testers are complaining about a lack of resources, which leads to higher workloads. Training helps testers understand their new role, thereby learning the necessary skills and easing fears caused by ambiguity.

Implications for practitioners

  • Start training early because training is the key to success.
  • The tasks of the tester depend on the defined tasks of the other team members.
  • Clarify the role of the tester before the project starts.
  • Test automation is essential and helps against the increased workload.

Methods

A qualitative research method with semi-structured questions was chosen to answer the research question. It has a high "face validity" and allows interaction with the interviewee to learn more details [3]. Especially semi-structured and open-ended questions generate a large amount of unstructured data. A qualitative content analysis, according to the Mayring method, is used to structure and evaluate the data. The researcher can summarize the information step by step, leading to a clear overview of the results.

Sources:

[1] Putta, A., Paasivaara, M., & Lassenius, C. (2018). Adopting scaled agile framework (SAFe). https://doi.org/10.1145/3234152.3234164    

[2] Kalenda, M., Hyna, P., & Rossi, B. (2018). Scaling agile in large organizations: Practices, challenges, and success factors. Journal of Software, 30(10), e1954. https://doi.org/10.1002/smr.1954        

[3] Freitas H., Oliveira, M., Jenkins, M., & Popjoy O. (1998). The focus group, a qualitative research method: Reviewing The theory, and Providing Guidlines to Its Planning. ​