??“ Raising questions about things you cannot be expected to know off-hand: tell him you don??™t
know, log the questions with a date, get the answers, and email them to the manager, copy to
every other attendee at the meeting. Keep the log in your notebook and observe:
??? how and if the questions change.
??? If any use was ever made of the answer.
When you have had enough of this (and the answers were not used) ask the project manager
why he needs to know. Then ask him very kindly not to play games with you.
The best counter to games is being aware that they are being played, ensuring everyone else
is aware, seeing if the organization as a whole is capable of reacting intelligently, and for
everyone to draw their own conclusions.
182 Manage Software Testing
9.7.2 Relations with Developers
Developers can even be persuaded to see testers and their manager as allies. Since the developers are the
people who must fix whatever bugs you find, you are likely to talk to them a lot: Here??™s how to treat them:
??? Never create a bug report of anything that??™s not repeatable.
??? Stick rigidly to the severity levels you have agreed except when you encounter a difficulty, when
you can ask their advice.
??? Don??™t talk to them, send them emails, let them talk to you. They need to be disturbed even less
than testers.
??? Agree a limited number of channels of communication with their team leaders such that only a
limited number of developers are ever liable to be disturbed and then only by a tester directly
involved in their domain.
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