1.5.2. Whole Team Approach
One of the important skills for a tester is the ability to work effectively in a team context and to contribute
positively to the team goals. The whole team approach – a practice coming from Extreme Programming
(see section 2.1) – builds upon this skill.
In the whole-team approach any team member with the necessary knowledge and skills can perform any
task, and everyone is responsible for quality. The team members share the same workspace (physical or
virtual), as co-location facilitates communication and interaction. The whole team approach improves
team dynamics, enhances communication and collaboration within the team, and creates synergy by
allowing the various skill sets within the team to be leveraged for the benefit of the project.
Testers work closely with other team members to ensure that the desired quality levels are achieved. This
includes collaborating with business representatives to help them create suitable acceptance tests and
working with developers to agree on the test strategy and decide on test automation approaches. Testers
can thus transfer testing knowledge to other team members and influence the development of the
product.
Depending on the context, the whole team approach may not always be appropriate. For instance, in
some situations, such as safety-critical, a high level of test independence may be needed.