The OSCAR mnemonic is a tool that can be used to help understand the context around the problem, when coaching others to consider testing and quality.
This model helps quality coaches guide their clients towards achieving their desired outcomes by focusing on their current situation, exploring their choices, taking action, and reflecting on their progress. By providing your testing expertise, you can guide them towards efficient strategies for achieving success.
OSCAR stands for;
This model helps quality coaches guide their clients towards achieving their desired outcomes by focusing on their current situation, exploring their choices, taking action, and reflecting on their progress. By providing your testing expertise, you can guide them towards efficient strategies for achieving success.
OSCAR stands for;
- Outcome – help your stakeholder to define their ‘destination’, asking them open questions such as ‘what would success look like?’ or ‘what would you like to achieve in this release?’Â
- Situation – help your stakeholder to define their current situation (the starting point).
- Choices – generate as many alternative choices as possible and raise awareness around the consequences of each possible choice.
- Actions – help the team member to clarify their next steps forwards and take responsibility for their own action plan, ‘what needs to be in place for this testing?’, ‘what will you do next?’ and ‘who could support this regression testing?’ Â
- Review – outline the conversation that has taken place up to now, create an ongoing process of review and evaluation so that if X needs testing in the future or Y goes wrong again, the team is equipped to perform hands-on testing or root cause analysis on their own. Ask open questions with curiosity to learn ‘are the actions moving you towards your outcome?’
