When introducing Extreme Programming into a software development organization that has a separate testing and QA group, plan carefully how to overcome potential resistance and fear about XP and how to make the testers successful in an XP project.
Consider the current process, such as testing phases. Decide whether you're ready to drop certain waterfall practices, such as post-development testing phases. An incremental approach may be best.
Help testers succeed by making sure that
Programmers use the test-first practice effectively.
Programmers willingly take on acceptance-testing tasks.
All members of the team support testing and the testers.
Testers feel free to ask questions and pair with other team members.
Consider ways to maximize tester effectiveness when using non-XP processes, such as post-development testing phases. Multiple testers, each with responsibility for a particular release, may be needed.
When not enough testers are available, be creative in having programmers, analysts, or other team members fill in. Give them the responsibility for an iteration or release don't just assign tasks to them.