How to Build a Successful QA Team

Comprehensive quality assurance processes are vital to produce high-quality software that leaves your customers impressed. And what makes testing successful? A good team of course!

The right people can make or break your project. Along with good test case management skills, you need good team members to achieve success. Here are some tips to help you build a successful team for your testing processes.

Forming the Team

To create the right team, you need to be systematic. Identify your requirements and fill the gaps accordingly. Begin by understanding client requirements and list the kind of skillsets/testers you require. Do you want someone with expertise in a specific language, framework, tool or testing type? How experienced should they be? What industry and environment should they have worked in previously? Analyze your existing teams, and determine which resources you already have and where you need new hires.

Also decide whether you want to create your own in-house team or outsource one. Formalize on-boarding procedures and information sessions to welcome new team members and update them on company procedures, culture, and expectations.

Performance Evaluation

After forming your team, keep monitoring their performance. Use a test management tool to review work assignments. Monitor progress and work output but avoid micromanagement. Do not get too fixated on numbers but rather evaluate your team members on the basis of their overall potential, skills and attitude. Resolve conflicts quickly and address any grievances and dissatisfaction your teammates might have. Encourage your team members to grow and learn continuously by learning additional skills and completing QA certifications.

What Makes a Good Team?

A good team is one that works in collaboration and harmony. To implement succesful test case management and build a strong team, do the following:

Assign clear tasks

Assign clear tasks so everyone knows their individual responsibilities. End objectives should be clear so all work is geared towards the same end goals. Test management tools like Testworthy can be used to assign work and test cases to ensure clarity. Assign tasks that make use of your team’s strengths but also encourage them to explore new areas.

Inculcate responsibility

Even if a manager exists, everyone should have a sense of responsibility on an individual level as well. Give people ownership of work, subdivide tasks and delegate complete authority over certain areas as the team expands.

Recognize good work

Always recognize and praise good work. Appreciating team members can keep them motivated and happy and encourage them to work hard. Establish a fair recognition and rewards system to encourage employees to perform well. Make sure the praise you give is based on work quality and not favoritism or bias. 

Foster enthusiasm

Foster enthusiasm and curiosity in your team. Encourage out-of-the-box thinking and creative solutions. Your team should be working proactively to identify unique issues rather than going over routine tasks. They should be invested in creating applications that don’t just meet standards but go above and beyond them.

Motivate each other

A little healthy competition can be a good thing, make don’t overdo it. Your team should be working with, and not against, each other. Develop an environment of support and cooperativeness where everyone helps, motivates, and advises one another. Make sure no one blames, points fingers, or tries to take undue credit. A positive team culture energizes members and enhances performance.

Communicate

Lack of communication can lead to confusion, conflict, and chaos. For example, sometimes team leads do not communicate their discussion with the client to the remaining team. This means that team members are not updated and do not work in solidarity. Testing processes are often interdependent, so open communication is essential and working in silos can cause delays and productivity decline. Make sure to communicate openly, and exchange advise and constructive feedback.

Take time out for personal meetings

Managers should hold regular one-on-one sessions to understand and solve team member’s issues and exchange feedback. Use test management tools to evaluate performance and give advice for improvement. Learn about the goals and expectations of team members and give them work that aligns with that.

Encourage creativity and diversity 

Maintain a diverse team with people from varied backgrounds and expertise. You want people who bring something new to the table. Hire a mixture of newbies and experts so you have team members who can share previous industry experience as well as those who offer fresher perspectives to build innovative solutions.

Make room for mistakes

Modern agile practices require fast software development. Anything can happen in a fast-paced environment: projects get scrapped, work is discarded and pressures are high. Team members need to remain resilient despite setbacks. They should not be disheartened by mistakes or failures but focus on positive aspects such as the experience gained. Difficult situations often equal more growth and testers need to be able to see the rainbow after the rain.

Avoid micromanagement

Trust your team to fulfill their responsibilities and don’t be controlling. Trying to manage every little detail can be frustrating for your team members and exhausting for you. Of course, in the case of new hires, it is okay to monitor performance, but make sure to give them space to make mistakes and grow on their own. Test management tools like Testworthy can help you monitor team progress without being overly interfering.

Conclusion

QAs are responsible for maintaining the quality of products, identifying bugs, and giving fixes. However, for QA to be successful, a good QA team is crucial. It is important to hire skilled members who support and encourage each other. By following the tips above, you can build a foolproof team and enhance your testing outcomes like never before.