How could you maintain quality and organizational efficiency, when the quality staff is reduced? What can you do to optimize improvement effort, and contribute to organizational results? How do you keep up morale in difficult times? This presentation will show a continuous process of keeping focus, involving people from line and projects, collaboration, and communication. The approach was driven by strong needs from management, and implemented based on values and key success factors of the company. The results are better control, increased performance, and meeting organizational targets.

1. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 1 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Agile quality:
maximize results with a small quality team
PSQT 2005 Conference,
Las Vegas, May 3
Ben Linders
Operational Development & Quality
Ericsson R&D, The Netherlands
ben.linders@ericsson.com, +31 161 24 9885

2. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 2 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Agile Quality?
Quick & Dirty?
Agile is for developers?
Survive as Quality Engineer?
It’s quality Jim, but not as we know it…

3. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 3 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Ericsson, The Netherlands
• Market Unit Northern Europe & Main R&D Design Center
• R&D: Intelligent Networks
– Strategic Product Management
– Product marketing & technical sales support
– Provisioning & total project management
– Development & maintenance
– Customization
– Supply & support
• 1300 employees, of which 350 in R&D

4. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 4 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Agile Manifesto www.agilemanifesto.org
“We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more”

5. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 5 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Agile Quality Assurance Vision
• Customers define quality
• Way to quality is via developers
• Things will change, be prepared
QA has to:
Collaborate!
Communicate!
Coach!
The Context
• QA is not in control
• Expectations on QA are high
• More and quicker results

6. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 6 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Deploying the vision
• Approach
– Stepwise improvement
– Use opportunities
– Support the bottom line
• Accomplishments
– Control: Balanced Scorecard
– Learn: Continuous Improvement
– Support: Management System
• Key Success Factors

7. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 7 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Control: Balanced Scorecard
Management should be in control
Developers are doing the work
Make the connection!
• Set/communicate targets
• Measure/analyze
development work
• Review with management
• Decide, take actions
• Communicate

8. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 8 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Balanced Scorecard – QA role
• Support management in setting targets
• Measure and report the results
• Evaluate the scorecard
• QA should:
– not analyze the data but coach developers on how to analyze
– not make conclusions but assure that proper conclusions are made
– not decide but supply information to management so that they decide
– be supportive but remain also critical

9. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 9 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Learn: Continuous Improvement
Targets are challenging, they can only
be met if the organization improves
Coach result oriented learning!
• Communicate targets
• Analyze performance gaps
• Enable/stimulate improvements
• Measure results

10. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 10 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Continuous Improvement – QA role
• Driver of improvements
• Measure the benefit on targets
• Evaluate the improvement
• QA should:
– not force improvements but coach people to find improvements
– not come with solutions but support people in defining the solutions

11. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 11 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Support: Management System
Developers have knowledge & skills
Management wants the results
Provide the means!
• Focus Stakeholders/customers
• Small set of processes
• Organizational structure
• Resources & capabilities

12. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 12 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Management System – QA role
• Support & coach management in defining the system
• Document and provide the system to the organization
• Evaluate the system
• QA should:
– not “invent” the system but investigate/clarify management needs
– not own the system; management remains responsible

13. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 13 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Key Success Factors
• Management Commitment & support
• Drive and motivation of the QA team
• Build-up of skills & knowledge

14. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 14 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Management Commitment & support
• Economic situation: Management needs to know performance
• Management believes that focus on targets helps to get results
• Management wants QA to work with engineers (and with them):
Joined forces!
Balanced Scorecard provides overview
Management is enabled and takes action
Co-operation paid off!

15. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 15 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Drive & motivation of the QA team
• QA believes that improvements can help a company to survive
• QA didn’t want to do it alone, now they could work together
• Very experienced QA team, strong personal skills
Different role of QA enabled workman's pride
Some reduction in QA workload
Added value of QA has become visible

16. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 16 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Build-up of skills & knowledge
• Auditor, facilitator, project manager, process support: QA has it all
• Less focus on knowledge, shift towards change agent
• QA persons coaching each other
Increased efficiency: More projects & line work
QA gets things done!

17. Agile quality: Maximize results with a small quality team 17 March 18, 2005 Ben Linders
Conclusions
QA role has changed:
– Helping people to understand quality & processes
– Coaching them on how to improve
Commitment & support, motivation & drive, skills & knowledge
Accomplishments:
– Balanced Scorecard: Contribution to organizational targets
– Management System: The means for people to do their work
– Continuous Improvement: Learning to become more efficient
ben.linders@ericsson.com, +31 161 24 9885