Instilling Quality in Your Teams
Thursday, February 14 2008 1 Comment
Quality is important. I think that deserves repeating. Quality is important. Quality of code, quality of process, quality of requirements, quality of communcation, quality of behavior, quality of teams, quality of customers. I tend to focus on the code side of things, but it is always important to remember that quality matters.
Often times (due to lack of quality in some of the other areas), quality can get pushed aside in the interest of getting things done. This is a balance that all of us must deal with. Ensuring good communication can put out fires long before they blow up in your face. Quality of code can ensure that future maintenance and development goes on without slowing to a crawl in productivity. Quality in process can guide you automate the tedious repeatable tasks to streamline your work. Any breakdown in these areas can be catastrophic to a team.
We had a meeting last night at Sogeti, and quality kept coming up as a topic. I was very proud to see the end result of the meeting:
Often times (due to lack of quality in some of the other areas), quality can get pushed aside in the interest of getting things done. This is a balance that all of us must deal with. Ensuring good communication can put out fires long before they blow up in your face. Quality of code can ensure that future maintenance and development goes on without slowing to a crawl in productivity. Quality in process can guide you automate the tedious repeatable tasks to streamline your work. Any breakdown in these areas can be catastrophic to a team.
We had a meeting last night at Sogeti, and quality kept coming up as a topic. I was very proud to see the end result of the meeting:
Stephen Nimmo
2.18.2008
10:35 AM
Just a couple of thoughts...1) Unless the project manager's signature is on there as well, and the project manager has the authority and commitment to enforce and maintain the quality requirements while being pressured to deliver from outside stakeholders, it's all just words. 2) Quality takes commitment from all involved. Quality takes determination from each member of the team to not settle for mediocrity. Quality takes time. Most importantly, quality requires the discipline to stand up in the face of chaos and enforce the standards - see #1. I've known some people almost get fired for delivery quality. ;)