QA Challenge #4: Execution (Getting Stuff Done)
Posted on Wed, Aug 31, 2011 @ 03:24 AM
In my last few blog posts on QA Challenges, I touched upon the importance of planning from a QA perspective and how to deal with seemingly conflicting situations like whether to focus on either quality or the schedule. Although this may all sound conceptual (or strategic), the biggest challenge here is actually execution (or delivering a positive outcome).
I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas from the book, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. I think these concepts can be applied in any leadership capacity at any level in the organization.
1. Strong leadership is a requirement for successful execution. Some of the key behaviors that any leader must exhibit are:
- Know your people and your business – start looking at the big picture.
- Insist on realism – bring facts (or risks) upfront and do not avoid reality just because it’s uncomfortable or there are too many details. Instead, encourage this behavior amongst your team and make things more transparent so people start thinking about ways to improve.
- Set clear goals and priorities – Establish SMART goals (Specific, Measurable , Achievable, Relevant and Timing) and focus on only 3-4 priorities (apply the A, B, C, D, E rule from the book, Eat that Frog!).
- Follow through – as a leader, you must not micro-manage but follow up through emails or meetings to know if the goals are clear and if there are any obstacles.
2. A cultural change is required when things aren’t going well. Making a change in one area or shifting the burden from one to another is not healthy or helpful in a long run. To deliver better results, take time to look at what’s working well and what’s not working, what change need to happen (people, processes and products) to make things work. Encourage more of a dialogue (open and informal) as compared to formal discussion for better engagement and better outcomes.
3. The third building block to successful execution is having the right people in the right places – It’s again a leader’s responsibility to build a team (people capability, expectation and key performance indicator) and then have the flexibility to choose right people to execute the plan.
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
- William A. Foster