Testing teams may be distributed over different locations and may not even be employed by the same organization. The Test Manager must know how to manage test teams in different locations, which belong to a different organizations.

Test effort by such teams is of three types:

• Distributed – The test team is distributed across multiple locations
• Outsourced – The test team comprises members employed by a different company and do not work at the same location as team working on the project
• Insourced – The test team comprises members employed by a different company but they work at the same location as the team working on the project

It is necessary to have clear communication among the project as well as testing team members in all these three types of testing efforts for success. Deliverables, tasks and goals must be stated clearly.

These are the factors that shape up the communication channels in such teams:

• Informal communication like hallway and social conversations are not to be depended on, for sharing information
• Ways of communication must be predefined, especially for escalating issues, the kind of details which should be shared, acceptable communication channels, etc.
• Every team member must understand his/her role and responsibilities
• Cultural differences, time zone issues and geographic concerns must be addressed
• No team member should have unworkable expectations of any other team member

Using common testing techniques is a very important factor in avoiding problems. Say, the product is being developed using Agile methodology but the testing provider uses a testing technique that needs input in a sequential way. Here, the two teams will have serious issues in delivering as well as accepting test items.

In case of distributed testing, testing objectives for each group must be clearly defined. Otherwise even the most skilled teams may not be able to deliver what is expected of them. It is the responsibility of testing management team to distribute testing tasks correctly so that there is no overlap of activities.

Last but not the least, all the individual teams must have complete faith that other teams will execute their share of the work effectively and efficiently.  Any degree of mistrust will reduce efficiencies, cause unnecessary delays due to verification of testing processes and promote organizational politics.

Test Manager must be able to motivate the testing team irrespective of the organization they belong to.

In the next topic we look into managing & applying industry standards in software testing projects.

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