We recently hosted the third annual Click Summit, and it was a huge success! Getting together the top minds in testing and optimization showed us a few important things: we all share a passion for testing, and we all experience similar challenges with this relatively unchartered territory.

Ed Wu from Dell was the moderator for our session on Building a Winning Testing Team. Here are five key takeaways that came out of that session:

1. Let the past inform the present. Tests that were run even a few years back can give you valuable insights into what you’re testing today.

2. Tear down the silos. A truly successful testing team has to have communication (and passion) across all departments.

3. Build the process first, and stick with it. Having a process for testing is crucial for the team, and keeping it consistent across the board helps everything run more smoothly.

4. There’s no perfect person for testing. When hiring for a testing team, some positions will be more challenging to fill, since this is a newer niche. Look for strengths like problem solving, curiosity, passion and intelligence.

5. Stay relevant. Testing is a fast-evolving field, so we must continually optimize our knowledge base and experience in order to keep up.

How would you build your perfect testing team? Let us know, and stay tuned for more Clickaways from the Brooks Bell Click Summit 2012!