Many organizations spend a great deal of time and effort acquiring and learning to use the latest techniques and technology, but they make little or no attempt to train or mentor their staff to be better leaders. It is true that technology is important, but test teams without able leaders will struggle to be successful. Rick Craig shares some lessons he has learned in his roles as test manager, military leader, and entrepreneur. Rick discusses some classic leadership topics―leadership traits and styles, the cornerstones of leadership, and principles of leadership. Explore the importance of influence leaders and how to identify and encourage them. Discover the positive and negative indicators of morale and how to maintain high morale within a team. Learn how to give direction without being a micromanager. Discuss what motivates and what de-motivates testers. Rick encourages you to bring your leadership challenges to serve as points of discussion.

1. LEADERSHIP FOR TEST
MANAGERS
Rick Craig
colonelrcraig@verizon.net
@ColCraig

2. Agenda ― Course Outline
1. Introduction
2. Characteristics of Leadership
3. Motivation and Morale
4. Principles of Leadership
5. The Leader as a Teacher
6. Summary
2© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

3. Introduction
What is leadership?
How is leadership different
from management?
3© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

4. Management vs. Leadership
Management is the process of working with
and through others to achieve organizational
objectives in an efficient and ethical manner
Leadership is the art of motivating a group
toward a common objective
4© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

5. Management vs. Leadership
The Manager The Leader
Controls processes Makes informed inspired decisions
Assumes responsibility Sets and explains expectations
Manages within guidelines Creates new strategies and plans for
success
Referees disputes Inspires collaboration
Exerts authority Models, promotes, and rewards
initiatives
Solves problems Forms and shares vision and values
Polices behavior Builds self-esteem and focus
Minimizes impact of change Sponsors and supports positive
change
Manages things Develops people
5© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

6. Class Discussion
What are your
leadership
challenges?
6© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

7. Characteristics of Leadership
Cornerstones of leadership
Leaders—born or made?
7© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

8. Cornerstones of Leadership
Authority
Legitimate power
Responsibility
Obligation to act
Accountability
Answering for one’s actions
Leaders
8© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

9. Crosby’s Leadership/Personality Grid
Destructor Procrastinator Caretaker Preparer Accomplisher
Agenda “We’ll do it
this way
now”
“I’ll get back to
you later on
this”
“Make sure
this doesn’t
violate any
laws”
“Lay out the
strategy so
everyone
can see it”
“We will
review
milestones
each month”
Philosophy “I know
more than
you do”
“Let’s not rush
things”
“If it isn’t
broken,
don’t fix it”
“I want us
to be
consistent
in all things”
“I want
everyone to
know our
philosophy”
Relationship “I don’t
need
anyone”
“Let’s see how
they work out
first”
“We’ll do
what
worked last
time”
“We need
to have
more
seminars”
“Include
customers,
suppliers, and
employees”
What we
see
Insensitive
lout
Nervously
reluctant
Frozen in
time
Planned
progress
Vibrantly
consistent
9© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

10. Class Discussion
Are leaders
born or
made?
10© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

11. Are leaders born or made? (cont.)
• Great ManThomas Carlyle
• Cognitive CapacityElliott Jaques
• Twice-bornAbraham Zaleznick
• CrucibleWarren Bennis
• Leadership is not issued…USMC
11© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

12. Are leaders born or made?
– Alexander Graham Bell
A man, as a general rule, owes very
little to what he is born with – a man
is what he makes of himself.
12© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

13. Class Discussion
Characteristics of great leaders
What names come to mind
when you think of great
leaders?
What are some of the
characteristics or traits of
these leaders?
13© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

14. Motivation and Morale
What motivates testers?
What is morale?
What can you do if you have morale
problems?
14© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

15. Motivation and Morale
•Energizing of goal-
oriented behavior
Motivation
•Esprit de corps,
team spirit
Morale
15© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

16. Class Discussion
What motivates
testers?
16© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

17. Motivators and Demotivators
Lack of training
Understaffed
Lack of respect
Micromanagement
Lower pay
Challenging and valuable job
Modern tools
Modern processes
Training
Job progression
Professional work environment
17© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

18. Morale ― Esprit de Corps
— Alexander H. Leighton
The capability of a group of
people to pull together
persistently and consistently in
pursuit of a common purpose
18© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

19. Class Discussion/Exercise
What affects
morale?
19© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

20. A CEO’s Perspective
— Max De Pree
Former CEO, Herman Miller
“One of the most important things
leaders need to learn is to recognize
the signals of impending
deterioration…”
20© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

21. How Does the Leader Maintain Morale?
• Teach belief in the mission
• Instill confidence
• Consider job assignments carefully
• Demonstrate concern
21© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

22. Leadership Principles (Part 1)
• Know yourself and seek self-
improvement
• Be technically and tactically proficient
• Develop sense of responsibility among
subordinates
• Make sound and timely decisions
• Set the example
• Know your staff and look out for their
welfare
22© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

23. Leadership Principles (Part 2)
• Keep your staff informed
• Take responsibility for your actions and
the actions of your employees
• Ensure tasks are understood, supervised,
and accomplished
• Train as a team
• Employ your team in accordance with their
capabilities
23© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

24. Additional Leadership Guidelines
• Be patient
• Give clear directions
• Banish the “zero defect” mentality
• Do not oversupervise
• Be helpful
• Demand accountability
• Instill loyalty
• Reward
• Encourage
• Maintain integrity
• Anticipate needs
24© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

25. A Leader’s Span of Control
25© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

26. The Importance of Influence Leaders
• The effective span of control for a typical
leader is 4–8
• In a very flat organization, “influence”
leaders emerge
• They may become de facto leads
• They are chosen by their peers due to
their longevity, experience, personality, or
communications skills
• Influence leaders are the agents of change
26© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

27. The Leader as a Teacher
Commanders should see
the development of their
subordinates as a direct
reflection on themselves.
— FMFM1
27© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

28. The Leader as a Teacher
• Be patient
• Keep employees informed
• Use free time to talk to employees
• Ensure training is interesting and
relevant
• Counsel employees on a regular basis
• Pass on lessons learned to all
employees
• Make every effort to cultivate a sense
of belonging to the organization
28© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

29. A Leadership “Test”
List the top three responsibilities of each of your staff
members (your view):
1) _______________________________________
_______________________________________
2) _______________________________________
_______________________________________
3) _______________________________________
Ask these same staff members to list their top three
responsibilities (their view):
1) _______________________________________
_______________________________________
2) _______________________________________
_______________________________________
3) _______________________________________
29© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

30. Summary
Practical Advice
The Bottom Line
30© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

31. Practical Advice for Day to Day Management
1. Work a normal workday
2. Make your workplace more
productive
3. Don’t hog the credit
4. Be quick to praise in public—but
don’t gush
5. Criticize in private
6. Build on failures
7. People are not modules
31© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

32. Practical Advice for Day to Day Management
8. Trust your people
9. Stay technically competent
10. Invite criticism and comment
11. Act fast to right a wrong
12. Reward technicians the same as
managers
13. Give up (some) of your perks
32© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

33. The Bottom Line
• Managers who are also leaders
– Motivate
– Train
– Challenge
– Learn from their employees
– Lead within the parameters of their
personality
– Allow team members to succeed by failing
– Accept responsibility
– Promote testing within the organization
– Embrace new ideas and technology
33© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

34. Shameless Commercial Message
rcraig@sqe.com
34© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

35. Bonus Section
Vision Statement
Quality Goals
Policy Statement
35© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

36. Leaders Inspire and Set Direction
• Formal direction documents include:
Vision
statement
Quality
goals
Policy
statement
36© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

37. Vision Statement
• The system testing
strategy of the ABC
Software Company will
employ state-of-the-
practice testing
techniques and tools in
order to effectively and
efficiently measure the
quality of all systems of
the company
Vision
Statement
37© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

38. Quality Goals
• A regression test bed will be
established and maintained that
covers all requirements and
design attributes
• The testing organization will
achieve a DDP of 80% or greater,
and there cannot be any Severity
1 escapes
• An entire test cycle can be
performed in one week or less
• The TPI process maturity level
for the system test group will be
“efficient” or better
Quality
Goals
38© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

39. Test Policy
•A high level document
describing the
principles, approach,
and major objectives
of the organization
regarding test
Test
Policy
39© 2015 SQE Training V3.3

40. Example ― Test Policy
• The System Test Group will:
– Create and maintain System Test Plans
– Analyze all accounting functions and
perform a risk analysis to prioritize all tests
– Design and maintain a covering test set
– Execute tests according to the System Test
Plan and report results to CCB
– Advise/train development team on unit
testing issues
– Participate in design inspections; and if
requested, participate in code reviews
– Use the TPI model for continuous process
improvement
40© 2015 SQE Training V3.3