In business, manufacturing, and engineering, the concept of quality has a pragmatic interpretation as the superiority of something, as well as referring to a product as ‘fit for purpose’ while simultaneously satisfying consumer expectations.
Quality is, to a certain extent, subjective and perceived. The term’s meaning may not be the same for everyone, but it will always contain the idea of a good outcome or excellent standards.
High quality of life usually means good health, safety, financial security, comfort, a sense of achievement or satisfaction, and, of course, happiness. So how does a quality assurance manager brings his life standards to work and vice-versa?
Meet Wendell Quesada:
DNAMIC QA’s leader
He is a father, a friend, a brother, a teammate, and a leader. He’s a visionary and an undeniable hard worker with years of experience and always opening new doors to his education and life.
He is at a point in his career where he can take a trip with his loved ones and not stress over the deadlines of four walls’ confinement. “Flexibility and freedom are the main elements for balance.”
A business that encourages quality of life in its employees can find productivity, creativity, and extraordinary ideas easier than one that doesn’t. People are better at their job when inspired to love it, not run from it when the clock hits.
What is Quality Assurance?
Quality assurance (QA) is a systematic examination of the quality of products and services. It is an approach to quality management that ensures that all products and services meet customer requirements and expectations.
“Quality Assurance is the verification and validation of the product in hand,
and the processes used to generate that product.”
The role of Quality assurance
and Testing Manager
It monitors and manages all processes that contribute to the quality of a product or service. It encompasses all aspects of the production process, from the initial planning to delivery and post-sales support. It ensures that all processes are aligned with the organization’s quality objectives and meet the requirements of the relevant quality standards.
A Quality Assurance Specialist is a person with an eye for details, a quick thinker, and a natural analyzer. It needs to see the problem, how it’s currently affecting it, and how to solve it for posterity, preventing ever seeing it again.
By proactively managing all aspects of the production process, a Quality Assurance manager can help to ensure that products and services are consistent with high quality.
Skills of a Quality Assurance specialist needs
Critical thinking
Attention to detail
Problem-solving
Organizational
Time management
Teamwork
At DNAMIC, we believe in the importance of quality assurance and the role it plays in ensuring the success of our business.
Communication with a drive to be and produce better drives business growth and quality assurance teams evolve. As a leader, Wendell brings skills such as active listening and empathy to try and understand potential issues, current issues, and how they affect a person, the team, or the whole project, and look for fitting solutions.
Quality at DNAMIC
In a company like DNAMIC, the responsibility and action of QA can be what stand us apart and represents who we are. Still, it also affects us internally, defining the standard of our products and processes.
For example, the website is our face of the commercial world, and social networks evidence who we are and what we do.
Quality must shine through. How is it achieved?
When it’s time to start a QA process, the first step is evaluation, meaning it needs to be an analyzing process to point out the factors that need work and the possible approaches that can help. Then the standard test starts, comparing the industry’s criteria and trends to decide which can be applied to fix, improve, and innovate the output.
“Are we doing this the same, better, or worst than the industry?”
Balance can also mean change
Quality Assurance is not only good results but the consciousness of quality from its foundation to the outcome.
In operations and mindsets, businesses that take the leap on breaking the mold usually adapt to changes faster because fear is not in the mix. They can thrive on out-of-the-ordinary solutions and keep their mind open and free to expand.
Automation is a clear example of this. It’s essential for QA, but we are also using it to surpass our standards company-wide. Automation will improve processes, making them more accessible and less time-consuming.
That’s why the ideals and working on these matter because they make our work better and faster, and easier to understand in the future. What we do is inherent to the individual.
“Right now, we are working on ISTQB certification for all QA teams to develop a language accessible for all to address and avoid confusion or errors in any process. It will exceed time allowing our teams to not worry about future documentation and work because we have established something we all understand and know”.
What is ISTQB?
ISTQB® is the leading global certification scheme in software testing.
As of Dec 2021, ISTQB® has administered over 1.1 million exams and issued more than 806k certifications in over 130 countries.
“The initiative of starting an ISTQB certification is a clear example of DNAMICs direction as a company that shows its commitment to human talent and growth.”
How do you innovate a business with QA?
To want to be better requires constant adaptation and leaving the places businesses might feel safe and comfortable just because things are working okay.
“Fear and attachment are the same; what it takes to break from it is to be brave that what lays ahead is better.”
But the business needs to free itself from thinking: “This is done like this because it has always been done like this.”
Wendell expressed how when he first started at DNAMIC, the break of this mentality allured him because he recognized that’s how innovation starts, leaving the comforting areas and being aware of the necessity of change, not because something is wrong, but because it can be better.
Our QA manager and teams work to improve our company, community, and approaches.
Make your business evolve
“Today, more than ever, we need integral beings, capable of working as a team, listening to each other, and being creative. Arturo (DNAMIC’s CEO) told me when I was just starting out that he wants people at DNAMIC to “be their best self.” This means being themselves and bringing their A-game to work, wanting to create the best and push themselves towards it”.
Anyone who believes this will undoubtedly build an exceptional environment to work in and will be relentless in creating extraordinary results. Wendell defines these skills as essential skills, the mix of what is known as ‘hard skills’, ergo, technical skills, and ‘soft skills’, such as communication, listening, time management, empathy, and interpersonal. When nurturing both, a professional can find balance in their life and, inevitably, success.
The integral method of a QA manager
As a professional, he has never stopped educating himself; knowledge is the best tool. He wants to become better in all aspects. What does that mean? Not neglecting any area, professional or personal.
Wendell is starting a second career in psychology to better understand people and how to help them thrive.
He finds himself studying but also being mindful about his life, spending time with his family and friends, taking walks with his dog Nala and listening to interesting podcasts. Cultivating skills goes beyond eagerness for professional success; it’s wanting to be better as an individual.
A lesson from a prior manager stuck with him and taught him that if a person isn’t correct for a position or isn’t good at what they’re doing, it means they might be misplaced. As a manager, he understands that if someone struggles at work, they don’t need a penalty; they need support. It can be inside the business or out of it.
“Quality is a presentation letter of you and a business; it can speak on its own of the type of person you are, the product you deliver, or the kind of talent you have. If you are a business that invests in quality, first impressions and outcomes will always be a success. And if you are someone who values the quality of life, success will always follow.”
