Testing Peers
Testing Peers is a growing community of ~60 peers in testing, software quality, agility, test leadership, engineering management, and broader software development. We’re united by a shared goal: to drive quality in everything we do within our workplaces and beyond. Through collaboration, accountability, and mutual support, we strive to elevate one another both professionally and personally.
The Testing Peers podcast is now expanding beyond its original four hosts, David Maynard, Chris Armstrong, Russell Craxford and Simon Prior, striving to represent the voices of a diverse and thriving community. Our inaugural in-person conference, PeersCon, launched in Nottingham in March 2024 and will return in March 2025, further solidifying Testing Peers as a not-for-profit, by testers, for testers initiative.
Testing Peers
Glue Work
Hello and welcome to episode 73 of the Testing Peers podcast, where this week we are talking about glue work.
This week, regulars Chris, David and Russell are joined by the brilliant Vernon Richards.
Before diving in, Vernon asks the Peers about their favourite non-work books.
Chris then introduces the main topic of glue work, shouting out to Cassandra Leung for bringing the brilliant talk 'Being Glue' by Tanya Reilly into their world.
You can find the talk here: https://noidea.dog/glue
The group draw comparisons to sports teams and housework, as well as the terrible precedent in the workplace of glue work often being handed to non-males. Often glue work is not recognised, used as a measure of success, but when the person who carries it out isn't present, then it all falls apart!
We discuss a tester's natural inclination to infiltrate the entire SDLC, identify problems in a process, documentation, ways of working, etc. to mitigate issues earlier in the lifecycle.
Vernon also brings up the concept of quiet quitting. Is how we're being measured at work a fair reflection of what we are doing and the value we bring?
We discuss the challenges with this in leadership, to recognise it and present a more balanced view.
A huge thank you to Vernon, for more of his thoughts, follow his social blog here: https://typeshare.co/vernonrichards
We hope you found the discussion useful and would love to hear your feedback.
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