R2 Testing Cohort
You're in the R2 testing cohort
You already know how to test. You do it every day.
Testing R2 means confirming that your area's critical processes still work in the preview tenant. It is light, it is owned by your team, and there is help on hand the whole way. Here is how it works.
Preview opens August 15 | Your sign off due September 11 | Goes live September 19 |
The role of testing
What you're being asked to do
Workday has already tested that the software works. Your job is the part only you can do: confirm that your processes still behave correctly after the change. A screen may look different, a step may move, a total may calculate a new way. You will notice, because you run this work every day.
That is why testers have to be the people who actually operate the process. And it matters: the last time a large change went in without this step, errors reached production and took months to clean up. Your sign off is the proof your area was checked by someone who would know.
Workday tests the code. You test the impact on your work.
If you run it every day, you are the right person to check it. No special training needed.
The R2 timeline
Where testing sits
Aug 5 | Docs published |
Aug 15 | Preview opens · testing begins You start here |
Aug 28 | Gate A · features assigned |
Sep 11 | Gate B · your sign off |
Sep 15 | Gate C · go or no go |
Sep 19 | Goes live |
Your window is August 15 to September 11, with daily ten minute stand ups and in person help. Everything after your sign off is handled by the release team.
How the cohort works
What you can count on
Schedule Daily stand ups A ten minute check in every day through the window, so questions get answered and blockers surface the same day instead of piling up. |
| Your area Test scripts and rubrics Each functional area gets a rubric prepared for it, so you are not guessing what to check. Follow the script, and note anything off. |
| Support In person demos and assistance Hands on help is available through the cycle. Come to a demo, or get someone alongside you while you test your own processes. |
Types of testing
The four kinds of checking
Regression testing Automated Does everything that worked before still work? Repetitive by nature, so automation carries most of it. |
| Functional verification You lead Your core task. Run your own critical processes in the preview tenant and confirm each behaves correctly. |
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New feature review You lead Try the optional features R2 offers your area and tell us whether they are worth turning on. |
| Data & report checks You lead Confirm the reports and figures you rely on still return the right numbers. Wrong totals are hardest to catch later. |
Good habits
Five ways to test well
✓ Test as the person who does the work
Use the real scenarios from your day. The everyday cases are where the impact shows.
✓ Write it down so it can be reproduced
Note the steps, what you expected, and what happened. A screenshot beats a paragraph.
✓ If you didn't check it, it isn't verified
“It is probably fine” is not a result. Only sign off on what you actually ran and saw work.
✓ Raise blockers the same day
The daily stand up exists so problems get help while there is still time to fix them.
✓ Ask early, ask often
Unsure if it is a bug or just new? Ask. Every release question goes to one place, and none is too small.
One Place To Ask
Every release question goes to Workday Help
Testing questions or anything the release touches, ask there and it is tracked to an answer. Workday Wednesdays each week walk through the release, live.
Get Help