The elephant in this conversation is 'How did I incentivize my QA team to rush quality checks?' I've been in QA, let me tell you how: 1. Turnover. QA needs institutional memory. If they are testing something that is on it's fourth developer, no one on the team remembers the original purpose and test cases. 2. No quality incentives. The best QA team makes invisible achievements, the product moves to customers without incidents swiftly. The worst companies penalize their QA for taking too much time, causing delays by doing their job, or overpenalize for missed errors. If a team can't make achievements, they can't be incentivized. 3. Ignorance. Disregard QA for speed, you lose their confidence. If you don't care, why should they?

1. Automating quality checks: Wherever possible, the checks shall be automated. As Deming said we should not rely only on quality checks. 2. Strengthen the process: Perform process capability analysis for the processes and implement the corrective actions. 3. Train the Team: Provide classroom an on the job training about the Quality Checks. 4. Get Feedback: Team members feedback and constructive criticism shall be taken seriously.

While no one likes to admit it, some work environments (particularly manufacturing facilities) are outdated and stuck in the past. Forget incentivizing good work, how about modernizing your core standard processes? Often time short-cuts are taken because there is: 1) A faster/better/more efficient way 2) The "ask" is unpopular and seems unreasonable. Ex: Recording drawn out data on paper vs using a tablet or smart data collection system. 3) The value of the task is not clear. So how do you address this issue? Modernize their daily-task so that the interest and willingness to participate is automatic, without having to incentivize or offer free lunch. Willful engagement leads to group accountability and pride of work.

Firstly, set clear quality standards and communicate them effectively to the team. Secondly, implement regular quality audits to identify and rectify issues promptly. Lastly, recognize and reward excellence to motivate the team to maintain high standards. By focusing on these areas, project excellence can be preserved even during busy periods.

If it is an early stage of production of a specific model with limited back data, we could add more manpower temporarily to speed up the quality check. As data builds up, we might identify which quality check is more critical. At that time, we might re-evaluate the quality check or its frequency. Since it could be an informed decision, we able to make a more confident decision.