Developers and testers clash on testing duties in agile projects. Can you find a harmonious resolution?

The catch phrase everyone loves to use when it suits them is "Quality is everyone's problem", so devs and testers "clashing" shouldn't really be an issue. Devs can assist QA/testers, and vice versa. Find ways to divvy up the testing burden to ensure that each individuals skills are utilised, and more importantly, try and impart some knowledge which can further the testing goals within the team.

Open discussion and clear understanding with verified requirement or functional documents followed by regular meetings as per planned sprint with sprint members plays a vital role in reduction of clases between developers and testers. To sumup , I would like to say that as a tester, kindly address issues with proper logic and requirement details rather arguing for mistakes as Bug/Error reported to developers.

Firstly, clashing on testing duties occur only when the dev team have enough bandwidth to have themselves involved in testing activities except for unit testing. This depends on the projects resource efficiency. With that said, if at all to avoid such conflict in test activity, Project owner/Scrum master needs to have the roles clearly defined after having discussions with both Dev and QA teams for each of the sprint, if suppose dev need to pitch in to perform testing activities. If both peers happen to involve, then across which areas and what level of test needs to be done on both sides needs to be clearly communicated and documented.

In my experience, working as a software tester, when the goal and motto of every ongoing sprint in an Agile project are clear then, the success rate of the project as per the planned timeline will more, and this will come through regular meetups with the agile team including Software Developers, Testers and Stakeholders that will lead to a healthy discussion and the timelines required to complete the project based on previous feedback, expertise and requirement complexity.

Clear Communication plays a vital role in successful product delivery. With proper logic, proof, and requirement understanding of the software product, not only resolve the conflict during the discussion of the concerns/Issues with developers but also leads to a healthy communication environment. We have various tools available in the market for addressing the Concerns/Issues like Jira, Clickup, etc.. through which addressing & tracking issues with a proper communication will be easier with tracking the product development till final delivery.

Effective communication is the backbone of resolving conflicts between developers and testers. Regular stand-up meetings, retrospectives, and planning sessions provide opportunities for both sides to voice concerns and suggestions. Open dialogue helps clarify expectations and fosters mutual respect. Tools like Kanban boards or backlogs can also aid in visualizing work progress and dependencies, further enhancing transparency and understanding between roles.

In my professional life, I have always achieved the best results when I have been able to work with developers and customers on a product. I see myself as a mediator between the two worlds. On the one hand, I translate the customer's wishes and needs for the developer and ensure that the way the product is implemented reflects the result and the customer's needs. That's often not so easy. And that is why we have developed a best practice for planning new functions: QA plans the functions together with the product managers and I then formulate the use cases before the developer starts. I prefer to present this to the developers so that questions can be clarified directly.

Adaptation process is part of develop and improvement, because the new role can't speed implementation , so review part by part implementation is a balance with a process adaptation

In my professional experience, it is advisable to seek out individuals who inspire you to continuously improve. By viewing disagreements as constructive discussions and prioritizing software quality, you can achieve not only enhanced quality but also improved communication, mutual respect, and an understanding of individual roles and contributions. This approach can benefit you throughout your career. As a developer, it provides fresh perspectives when developing features for clients, while as a tester, it enhances clarity of logic and internal workings.