Great Quality Assurance Manager: Real or Legend?

A Quality Assurance Manager has a critical role to fill in any organization. They establish the foundation, define the methodologies, hire and shuffle the personnel, set the acceptable quality ”tone”, create acceptance and rejection criteria, ensure all projects are scheduled, juggle shifting priorities, motivate their department to greatness, and garner support in other departments for improving the level of quality in the organization…all while balancing (and defending) their budget.

Pretty straightforward really. There are many ways to achieve these ends and just as many types of managers. Who are you? Who do you want to be?

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
-John Quincy Adams

As you come into your own as a Quality Assurance Manager, you must decide which you want to be. Is it more important to protect the company’s brand by demanding the highest quality products – OR – do you have to sacrifice some quality and ship a product that is “close enough” in order protect the company’s profits? This is a question that only you can answer.

Most Quality Assurance Managers that I have worked for and met would say that there is a balance to be struck between “highest-quality” and “good enough”. Many of them even seem to believe this. They believe if they can just get a little better testing, if they can get a few more testers on the project next time, if they can just squeeze a little more overtime out the budget…that quality will improve.

This shows an unfortunate lack of understanding about how to achieve Quality. Trying to cure the symptoms without treating the cause certainly makes you look like you are attempting to improve product quality, but this is an exercise in (very busy) futility.

Quality is a process. There is no shortcut to achieve great quality. A good Quality Assurance Manager knows that. A wise Quality Assurance Manager understands the challenges in getting an organization to take quality seriously (opens in new window).

A great Quality Assurance Manager implements the systems, processes, and procedures that allow and support quality improvement – then they build a staff that delivers on that vision.

What kind of QA Manager do you want to be?

The Evangelizer

This manager speaks so eloquently about product quality. He is the cheerleader on the development team that will do his best to urge you toward a better product. He knows that if everyone just believes in the process and works long and hard enough, everything will be ok!

She will find budgetary room for all the overtime she knows the project needs – since it’s no longer on schedule. She knows that although this time her team did not produce the highest quality product, they worked very hard, overcame many challenges, and the next project will be better.

This type of Quality Assurance Manager can be very enjoyable to work with since they truly do believe in delivering the best product possible…under the circumstances. They are on the side of anyone that shows a willingness to push for higher quality – no matter how they approach it.

If attitude alone could produce products with great quality, this manager would be all you’d ever need. In truth, this fantastic attitude only goes so far…not all the way to great quality. This manager needs more tools – more arrows in their quiver. They can get the team fired up about the project, but do not have the proper equipment in place to achieve the heights to which they aspire.

The Compromiser

Consensus on what to do now (get the project out – on time!). Consensus on what needs to happen next time (each department needs to improve in their areas of obvious weakness). Consensus on when change should be made (just as soon as this project is done). You get the idea…

She works and works to treat all the little symptoms that continually hamper her projects. She doesn’t understand why these same obstacles keep popping up to derail the schedule she agreed to. He has worked with other managers on the project team to get through this project with the promise for both that the next project will see improvement. He really doesn’t seem to understand why the same issues plague each project. He sees the symptom as the reason. His solution is to garner support for change by sacrificing quality today for the hope of quality tomorrow.

The Battleaxe

Although burned out and coasting, this manager can actually be somewhat effective when they choose to be. They know what to do, they just don’t have the energy to implement and execute anymore – at least not very often. He will have some procedures in place that, by their very nature, raise the probability of higher quality. She has hired some key people and given them the leeway to work for the change she knows is needed but no longer cares to fight for.

Too many years, on too many projects, banging his/her head against this wall and that wall have soured this otherwise effective Quality Assurance Manager. Equipped with the wisdom, the tools, the experience, and even the open-mindedness to learn better techniques…too many companies continue to question, criticize, and blame these managers. It’s no wonder that they don’t have the stomach for it anymore.

The Rebel

Well…chances are you have never seen a Quality Assurance Manager like this…and you probably never will. Although his unwillingness to make any compromise keeps the quality bar very high, this lack of flexibility also precludes him from having the chance to create lasting change. He just won’t be around long enough.

Either no one will want to work with her, or she will decide that the company does not deserve her insight. Either way it won’t last long. The rebellious QA Manager is more than anything else…a myth.

The Leader

She is able to communicate effectively outside her department and elicit support for the improvements that are always needed. He is able to show, in hard-data numbers, the reduced long-term cost of improving quality. He motivates his team. She mentors her charges and helps them grow both personally and professionally.

He understands that the actual testing is only a fraction of Quality Assurance. She demonstrates the value of proper and accurate measurement, of reproducibility, and of transparent reporting. He builds his department on a foundation of continual improvement. She trains her people well enough that she is effectively out of a job and able to tackle wider quality issues throughout the organization.

Rare and as valuable as the greatest treasure, this Quality Assurance Manager is not quite a myth…but close.


As you work in the field of Quality Assurance, consider what sort of professional you really want to be. What are you working to achieve? Who do you want to be professionally?

If you aspire to be (or already are) a Quality Assurance Manager, do you see yourself in one of the descriptions above? If so, is that who you want to be? Do you see any room for improvement?