Track/s: Leadership
Everybody can run their head into a wall and get stuck – even the brightest, the most skillful, and the brilliant. One way to get out of the tarpit is by using coaching. Coaching goes two ways: it is a means by which a tester can be helped to see the problem she is facing in a new light and perspective, but it is also a way for the coach to learn. In the best coaching sessions, both grow their insights.
Anyone can be a coach – we will show the participants how coaching situations keep occurring in everyday life and work, and that coaching does not necessarily have to be a life-changing realization event happening with candlelight, black cats, and incense smoke. It’s more likely something we do already, through conversations and ‘lending an ear’.
We will use this workshop to help participants becoming better coaches, through practical exercises and shared reflection.
The aspects of coaching we will cover are:
- Feedback and how to give it so it is actually heard.
- Coaching situations – when you can coach with value.
- Coaching styles – find your own style, don’t be someone else.
- Meeting with the frustrations – sometimes work is needed before the coaching can be tackled.
- Coaching heuristics – a few tools you can use to help you when you as a coach gets stuck too.
The workshop will be held in a relaxed tone and atmosphere where we will have fun learning about this highly useful subject.
Workshop Takeaways:
- What coaching is and why it is valuable.
- When you can coach someone, and when you can’t and shouldn’t.
- Some notions of dangers about ‘playing coach’ all the time.
- What to do when your colleague is frustrated and stuck.
- Probably a few things about yourself and your own problem solving style.
Please Note: The presentations are intended for attendees only. The presentations page is password protected – contact info@softwaretestpro.com for verification of attendance and the password to access the presentation.
Session Speakers:
Carsten Feilberg – Consultant, House of Test, Denmark
Carsten Feilberg has been in IT for more than 20 years, 14 of which has focused on test and test management. His experience ranges from small projects to large-scale programs. People and human interaction plays a vital role in his work, being a PSL graduate and studying behavioral economics in his spare time. He tweets from @carsten_f and is a well-known blogger and presenter at conferences, strongly advocating common-sense in programming and testing and applying the context-driven principles. He lives and works in Denmark as a consultant at House of Test.
Speaker Details:
Carsten Feilberg – Consultant, House of Test, Denmark
Twitter: @Carsten_F
Blog: CarstenFeilberg.Blogspot
Prior Speaking Engagements: CAST, LetsTest, EuroSTAR, Copenhagen Context
Cindy Carless
Cindy Carless has studied NLP with the long-term goal of becoming a life coach. She is devoted to coaching and uses her coaching skills vibrantly and successfully in software testing, where she finds many opportunities to apply her coaching skills to add value to other testers and project team members. She draws on her diverse career over nearly 30 years. Starting out in accounting and financial management she has touched upon several roles in IT, such as implementation consultant, business analyst and project manager. She works presently as a tester in the banking industry in South Africa, and is also a renowned trainer and facilitator, subscribing to the context-driven school of testing.
Speaker Details:
Cindy Carless
Twitter: @CCarless
Prior Speaking Engagements: CAST, Tasting Lets Test SA