Tag: Process Improvement

Now that we are into a new week, we are seeing a few articles talking about what to do after the the restrictions are lifted. The discussions are more at the macroeconomic level at this stage. Individual industries are not being discussed although the ones we are speaking to definitely have plans as to what to do once they can.

From an IT point of view, most projects have continued at a reduced level as far as can be done with remote working. We are mainly hearing from utilities and healthcare clients about things that must be done no matter what the situation. However, assuming that the restrictions are lifted reasonably soon, we expect a lot of activity from people who have been brought to a standstill for a few weeks but still have fixed end dates that must be met. Education comes to mind although that will depend on the fall term starting on time and not delayed in a ripple effect.

Finally we thought we would opt for a nice peaceful picture this week. We wish you the best in the current situation.

Give us a call to continue the discussion. We have supplied Assessment, Coaching, Consulting Management and Training to Financial, Telecommunications, Utlities, NFP, and Government to name just a few.

Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

Like many people in the past few weeks, we have been spending more time at home and in isolation as best we can. Most non-essential businesses in our area have been closed or are closing tonight. However, several of our clients are in the exempt list so work will be continuing in the short term at least. Most items can be done online so there is little loss of productivity.

The biggest change that has been noticed is the slowing down of some projects. Projects that would have rushed the planning stage are now taking time to consider all the possibilities and the required Testing and Quality Assurance processes before signing off on the scope and timeline. It is nice to have the time to consider the best way of doing project tasks even if the original reason for this change is not one we, or anyone, wanted. A global pandemic is NOT something anyone wants.

It seems the Project and Product Managers are also considering this since they realise they may have limited time to implement the projects and little or no chance to redo items. Even if we wait until after the concern has passed, there will be a backlog of projects that will put pressure on timelines. The more we are ready with full planning and everything ready, the faster the projects will move at the end.

For projects and initiatives that were already underway when the restrictions came into place we are seeing some creative solutions to current testing needs although some technical considerations are leading to trade off decisions on what can and cannot be done. Mobile devices used for testing which can only be used internally on the office network being one example of something needing a decision.

Finally we thought we would opt for a nice peaceful picture this week. We wish you the best in the current situation.

Give us a call to continue the discussion. We have supplied Assessment, Coaching, Consulting Management and Training to Financial, Telecommunications, Utlities, NFP, and Government to name just a few.

Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

We have all heard them. We provide a small list here obtained from online media in the last few months.

• Technical issue forces early closure on Toronto Stock Exchange as markets fall
• Information about 69,000 Phoenix pay system victims sent in error
• A company sent an Ohio man 55,000 copies of a letter
• Federal IT systems at risk of ‘critical failure,’ (Canada)
• Air Canada system failure at check-in kiosks strands hundreds; delays flights
• Toronto is furious about Metrolinx’s claim that Presto cards rarely malfunction
• Luxury resort overcharges customers by thousands, then ignores them

This is only a small subset of what we have in the list and the oldest one in the list above is less than 2 months old. These are all within the first two months of 2020!

A couple of questions come to mind:

• How much did all the above errors cost (or might still cost in the future)?
• How much of that cost could have been (or could be) avoided by proper application of QA principles?

We all know defects and problems cost more the further into the process one has gone. Later defects (inside or outside software) are almost always more expensive. Some suggestions:

1. Invest in a QA Assessment to see what you need in terms of QA. A good assessment will tell you what you need and a roadmap will tell you how to get there.
2. Take the time to review the assessment and apply the appropriate improvements.
3. Set up checkpoints to ensure that the process is not diverging from what was planned.
4. Invest in coaching sessions to resolve any issues that arise (before they become a problem).

Give us a call to continue the discussion. We have supplied Assessment, Coaching, Consulting Management and Training to Financial, Telecommunications, Utlities, NFP, and Government to name just a few

Photo by Ari Spada on Unsplash

Resources are one of the awkward issues in QA.

• Do you go with a QA resource and hope to teach them the business?
• Do you go with someone who knows the business and hope to teach them QA?
• Does your resource require specialised technical knowledge (not directly related to a test tool)?
• Does your resource require extensive knowledge of a specific Test Tool?
• What about leading or managing the QA effort?
• Do you wish you had someone who considered the long term impacts? This usually comes up after the project is over.

What everyone wants is all of the above and that almost never occurs.