It’s the distinctions between agile and traditional software development approaches, as well as the adaptability of testers in these very different environments, that makes agile testing different from traditional testing. Agile demands more from its testers, and, in turn, it values them more, too. Let’s look at five main things that make an agile tester’s life different from that of a traditional tester.

Jurgen Appelo’s useful and fun-to-read book Managing for Happiness: Games, Tools, and Practices to Motivate Any Team gives you concrete tools to identify ways to help your team be happier and to create environments where people can thrive and be more productive. Despite the word managing being in the title, the book is a beneficial read for anyone.

If you're familiar with pair programming, you know how much it can increase code quality and encourage developers to learn from each other. You should try mob programming—the same concept, but with an entire team of up to eight people and only one keyboard. It's a great way to explore new techniques and solve problems as a team.

If you aren’t measuring the coverage your regression tests provide, you may be spending too much time for little benefit. Consider the value of your regression tests as you create and manage them. You need to be smart about the regression tests you maintain in order to gain the maximum value from the work put into creating, running, and analyzing their results.