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  • Chapters
    • Introduction
    • The Stages of a Project
    • Chapter 1. Sponsorship and Leadership
    • Chapter 2. Defining the Objectives and Benefits
    • Chapter 3. Planning the Project
    • Chapter 4. Ensuring the Project is a Manageable Size
    • Chapter 5. Defining the Budget
    • Chapter 6. Managing the Risks
    • Chapter 7. Getting the Right Project Manager
    • Chapter 8. Getting Customer Representation
    • Chapter 9. Defining Roles & Responsibilities
    • Chapter 10. Getting the Right Resources
    • Chapter 11. Monitoring and Reporting Progress
    • Chapter 12. Communicating Progress
    • Chapter 13. Consultation and Leadership
    • Chapter 14. Getting Realistic User Requirements
    • Chapter 15. Defining Your Approach
    • Chapter 16. Conducting Structured Testing
    • Chapter 17. Creating an Implementation Plan
    • Chapter 18. Conducting a Post Implementation Review
    • Chapter 19. Realising the Benefits
    • Chapter 20. Learning the Lessons
    • Chapter 21. Celebrating Success
    • Checklist
  • About Us
  • FAQ
  • 21 Ways to Excel at Project Management

Conducting Structured Testing

Question 16: Have you conducted structured testing?

Good Practice: You should test deliverables early. One of the fundamental lessons from delivering IT projects is that the later you leave the testing in the development cycle, the more it costs to fix.

A structured test plan should be developed and executed by people independent of the development team. Besides testing the deliverables, you should also test the overall infrastructure over which the deliverables will run. The major components in the architecture should be tested before building the final deliverables.

Three business people running a test using a black computer

The test development life cycle has the following elements:

  • Test plan.
  • Test specification.
  • Code tests.
  • Validate test.
  • Run tests.

Test documentation is a necessary tool for managing and maintaining the testing process. Documents produced by testers should answer the following questions:

  • What to test?
  • How to test?
  • What are the expected results?

When end users get involved in the final stages of testing, light bulbs go on, and they often have an 'aha' moment. Unfortunately, that is often too late.

Frank R. Parth

Common Mistakes

  • No test plans and, therefore, no testing.
  • Testing is conducted in an ad-hoc way by the development team.
  • Waiting until the deliverable is deployed before testing.
  • Using test time as a contingency when development is running late.

Warning Sign: Documentation or testing stages are cut to make up lost time.

Conducting Structured Testing

Question 16: Have you conducted structured testing?

17
Creating an Implementation Plan

Question 17: Do you have a comprehensive implementation plan?

18
Conducting a Post Implementation Review

Question 18: Have you conducted a post implementation review?

19
Realising the Benefits

Question 19: Will the deliverables and benefits of your project survive?

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