QA Management – Why Bother?
Two weeks ago we asked if QA Management was a oxymoron. Today we are going to partially answer that question with a NO!
In the smallest set of terms; QA Management is there to save a company or organization money and to make a project run more smoothly.
- Quality Assurance Management anticipates and plans for problems and risks to a project.
- Quality Assurance Management is a group (or an individual) who looks back at the last project to see what went right and wrong and uses the information on the current project. ‘Lessons Learned’ or the ‘Post Implementation Review’ are not supposed to be check marks on the plan that are then discarded.
- Quality Assurance Management looks ahead to the next project and sees what can be better done for all projects moving forward.
You might call QA Management the ‘Conscience of the Project’.
Although it is a difficult and sometimes thankless task, QA Management is often valued and appreciated and has a very positive impact on projects and the long term benefit to an organizaton. Companies and managers who enlist the help of Quality Assurance Mangaement see the advantages of knowing what occurred previously and what worked and did not work. They appreciate the input to the current project and where it helps and finally (even though it may not directly impact the current project) they understand the long term benefit.
Some of the specifics include:
- Knowing Triggers that may cause Risk.
- Knowing thresholds of that may cause risk.
- Knowing best practices for processes and standards.
These are all wrapped up in the QA initiative and benefit all concerned.
Discussion Questions
- Do you get asked why QA needs a manager?
- How easy is it to defend QA Management?
- Should QA Management be designated as something else?
Next Week: Volume Testing
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