A software test can bleed at multiple levels of a project. There may be a problem, for example, with personality or competence of the construction team, or even with the design or running of the tests, but there may also be technical difficulties. A rather special but not uncommon case when testing does not bring the expected results due to client-side management. Not a unique but delicate case. It is delicate because it requires sufficient flexibility and self-reflection, as well as sufficient room for maneuver on the part of management, which is not always given.
Leaders are usually in a difficult position everywhere. It is not easy to maneuver between the - sometimes conflicting - interests of different departments, it is not easy to ensure the financial stability of a company and at the same time to develop its internal systems towards the future.
However, not all management levels need to be actively involved in a software testing project. Depending on the size of the organization and the decision-making mechanism, as well as the complexity of the project, who has a say in the testing project. Therefore, the spectrum is wide and the position designation is also rich, but usually the CEO (Chief Executive Officer), CDO (Chief Digital Officer), CFO (Chief Financial Officer), CTO (Chief Technical Officer) tend to decide on strategic issues of testing. The final word is uttered from them.
What are the most common mistakes made by management in software testing projects? Although no two testing processes are the same, each project is different — so there may be a variety of side-by-side options — but we thought we would discover three typical middle and top management blunders in the software testing projects we have done so far. We don not claim that every company makes these mistakes, but we also want to help with this article to avoid similar cases and for companies not to run unnecessary laps. Let’s look at summarizing our testing experience so far to identify three typical management flaws.
An important success criterion for a software testing project is to accept the goals of current testing at all management levels to openly, fully shoulder-width behind software testing. Of course, it is not necessary for the head of every department or corporate area to be actively involved in the testing project, but if there is no support from the management as a whole, it often goes to the detriment of testing and results in ineffectiveness
2. Insufficient communication with testers
In a software testing project, especially at the beginning, in the test design phase, it is essential that management is involved in allocating resources and prioritizing tasks. Part of this is to facilitate the sharing of necessary information and documents. This is because if only the testers do not have enough quality and quantity of information for the project, they are more likely to develop an inaccurate test base and testing model, with the direct consequence of a faulty or ineffective testing project.
3. Testing is seen as a non-strategic element
Without a comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date SQA strategy for a company, it endangeres the effectiveness of the testing project, as no boundaries are set in this area. The larger a company, the more important it is to create a strategy for software testing activities, otherwise without it, huge chaos can be generated in corporate IT systems. (You can read more about this topic in our article on silent quality destroyers.) And strategy development for testing is the responsibility of current management, and if it is lacking, it can lead to project inefficiency.
