You can improve your software testing efforts by understanding the roles of others on the development team and by understanding the consequences of "shortcuts."
Understand the work of others on the team
Have team members cross-train in tasks, projects or services that impact their work. This will assist them in appreciating the effort of the other team members or groups and should help them understand the impact of underestimating the role of others. A little understanding goes a long way.
Uneducated cuts
Often shortcuts made in software projects are based on incorrect or incomplete understanding of the impact of sacrificing steps. These decisions are usually made as a result of suggestions from influential individuals who have no idea of the effort required to complete the targeted task.
Example 1: Cutting time used to unit test or perform integration testing.
Example 2: Cutting time used for design review in order to get the software out the door.
