Quality Doesn’t Just Happen

Judy McKay writes a very interesting article, Quality Doesn’t Just Happen about project management process, and how to place Quality front-and-center of a project lifecycle.

A quality-focused team produces a better project in a shorter amount of time, every time, but you have to have the right people to make it happen. We won't need the heroes to ride in at the end to save the project if it's never in distress. A well-planned project with a quality focus won't be in crisis. There may still be trade-off decisions, which is why we use risk-based testing to be sure we mitigate the highest risk first, but these can be informed decisions with measurable consequences.

As I gain more experience, both as a developer, and a team leader, I try to learn from past mistakes, pickup good practice and processes. However, I still had to smile to myself and feel uncomfortable in my seat while reading some of this article. This is a good thing - it means I'm still learning!