10 Factors that enable Quality Engineering teams as a major source of Innovation

Gone are the days where the Corporate Research and Development (R&D) department was the single source of innovation to firms. Innovation responsibilities have now spread across the corporation, positioning Quality Engineering (QE) organizations as a major source of innovation. Here are the top 10 defining factors.

1. Business-outcomes-driven QE will naturally force creativity

Unless Quality Engineering drives improved business outcomes, it will be viewed as a “necessary waste” of resources. If Quality Engineering is only part of the life-cycle activity, it is mostly a project- or resource-based process that puts it in a silo. As product/software lifecycle processes are integrated with business processes, quality orchestration is a necessity across the lifecycle, forcing the level of collaboration required for innovation. To do that, quality engineers should participate in end-to-end quality orchestration.

2. Innovation is all about timing and speed

History has proven that innovation doesn’t necessarily have to be new; it just has to be done at the right time and at the right cost. DevOps philosophy forces IT and Operations to come together and work in harmony, enabling speed to market and cutting the cost. Quality engineers in the DevOps model are in a unique position to produce new ideas so that the innovation lifecycle can progress in parallel to the DevOps cycle.

3. Social Quality Management Vs. Technical Quality Management

Technical Quality Management processes dictate mechanical methods,?tools, and processes for assurance activities, whereas Social Quality Management processes refer to social/behavioral attributes that involve management, employee training, learning, cross-functional collaboration, and teamwork. Research proves that Social Quality Management has the potential to influence not only product development and organizational processes but also the ability to innovate. Hence, it is important that quality engineers have or develop “soft skills” that range from collaboration and critical thinking to communication.

4. Diversity in Quality Engineering unlocks value

Diversity unlocks innovation and drives the market growth. Diversity comes in many forms, including but not limited to gender, age, country of origin, and academic background. For faster experimentation of innovation ideas, only cross-functional, diverse teams can help. Though QE teams are set up to access the multi-disciplinary teams within the organization, the QE team itself should have a multi-disciplined talent mix.

5. Governance that promotes collaboration, prioritization, and control

Performing an outward-facing analysis to understand the market is a critical step that will help define performance and innovation targets. Establishing a formal governance process to track the innovation activities and making necessary organizational changes are critical. This is important because many ideas contributing to innovation end up as incremental improvements in the way QE is done rather than disruptive ideas or creating new products or revenue streams. Hence, establishing proper controls will help apply priorities to innovation initiatives.

6. Innovation synergy with test processes and infrastructure

Companies that run an effective DevOps model have the advantage of running the DevOps cycles for both the delivery pipeline as well as innovation activities. Due to the inherent nature of DevOps philosophy, the development itself would be agile and incremental. Hence, changes that result from the innovation cycle can easily be adopted or “rolled back” in case of failure. Companies with matured QE organizations would probably have a decent test environment that is helpful for?testing?activities and innovation experiments in a studio-like setup.

7. Reward in a way that QE teams don’t take their eyes off QA

Nurturing an innovative mindset requires a motivated workforce. Spreading the innovative spirit requires a formal way to recognize quality engineering individuals and teams that are making a difference. Though it is important to reward and recognize fruitful ideas that arise out of QE teams, the rewards program should not encourage engineers to take their eyes off their fundamental business commitments – i.e., quality assurance. Rewards and recognition help build trust between employees and management. Research proves that it is the recognition of employees that truly builds a culture of innovation.

8. Co-innovation enhances the possibility of success

QE is built on partnerships within an ecosystem. When it comes to innovation, the probability of success is maximized when two or more organizations join forces to solve a common problem. Co-innovation happens between customers, partners, and teams with complementary skills. If the idea is to solve the problem of a particular customer, involving that customer in the co-innovation process will pay off beyond just solving the problem alone. Co-innovation with partners will bring together a complementary portfolio of products/services to address common problems or opportunities.

9. Attracting superior Quality Engineering talent maximizes success

There is an increasing trend in wanting QA engineers to have development skills with the quality mindset, in the spirit of improving productivity, achieving speed, reducing risks, and improving cost. Do everything possible to address the resource- and skills-shortage within your QE teams. Address the cross-functional technical skill mix in quality engineers as QE becomes a multi-disciplinary necessity. Address the need for future QE trends such as no-code?test automation?and AI-enabled testing. It is important that we continue to nurture the QE workforce in emerging technologies. Narrowing the choice of technologies when pursuing innovation will be counterproductive.

10. Executive commitment to innovation culture

For organizations to excel, they need a culture and the mechanism that constantly embraces new technologies, kindles the passion for knowledge, and eases barriers to creativity. Executive commitment is a must. When innovation projects have the Executive (and/or customer) endorsement, it helps in risk management, cross-functional resource availability as required, allowing QE teams to work on innovation projects, making creative people accountable for the organization’s objectives, and promoting rewards and recognition.

It will be very difficult to embed a culture of innovation within the fibers of the quality culture from the inside out. Unless QE processes nurture the innovation mindset, organizations cannot take advantage of the effective learning that results through quality orchestration. With the knowledge and experience of products, processes, and business models, coupled with strong interpersonal skills, Quality Engineering teams are well-positioned to be a major source of innovation to companies.

[Originally aired in Trending in Testing]