Too often people do not understand or appreciate the skills needed to become a succsssful tester. I have frequently heard the comment, "Anyone can break something. I have a four year old that is always breaking things."
A tester does not just "break things." The tester's main responsibility is to ensure that the application is going to meet the user's needs. In order to do this the tester must have a clear understanding of what the user expects the application to do, in their environment. Each member of the project team speaks a different language and unfortunately, might have a different perception of what the user meant to say. As a result of this misunderstanding many projects fail, or go into cost overruns. There is a need to clearly understand user expectations prior to development. Unfortunately we often spend more time on "HOW" we are going to do it before we really understand "WHAT" needs to be done.
The tester must know what and how the user will be implementing the application prior to testing. Testers are often excluded from development meetings and thus get a lot of information second hand. Early involvement and improved communication will improve the success rate, and reduce rework and maintenance costs.
Give the testers a break. Make them a part of the project team. You will find that their input is invaluable.
