The Application of
Business Management Principles
to Software Testing

Part Three - Leading

"It is often the best artisans who are made supervisors. Yet it does not necessarily follow that such people make good leaders. A mediocre worker with qualities of leadership may well make a better supervisor than an excellent one who lacks those qualities."

"Introduction to Business Management"

The role of planning and organising in the modern approach to managing a testing organisation was discussed in the previous two articles in this series, along with reasons why sound business management principles are as valid to a testing organisation or department as to any other goal-driven organisation. This article delves a little further into this topic, focusing on leadership.

The importance of leadership

The performance and success of any testing organisation - independent of size and structure - is related to the quality of its leadership. Leadership is not the only component, but is definitely one of the more important ones that will ensure success. Leading a testing organisation or department is a challenging and sometimes frustrating endeavour that not only requires an in-depth understanding of software development and software testing, but exposure to the current repository of management information as well. There is as much disagreement on what makes a good manager or leader, as there is on what makes a good software tester. This article reflects the more often-travelled road, and highlights the classic definition of and approaches to leadership and management.

Leadership in the management process

Leadership is the third task in the management process; it is at this stage that we change the plans we have for our testing organisation into reality. One definition of leadership is 'the task of management is to combine and co-ordinate human resources and their performance to accomplish the goals of the organisation as productively as possible'. Leadership also includes the constant communication and sharing of goals and visions, as it provides motivation and direction to, in our case, the testing effort.

For a testing manager to influence the behaviour of his or her team, an understanding of the components of his or her leadership role is essential. These components - leadership, motivation, knowledge of group behaviour, and communication - are discussed in more detail below.

I. Leadership

To really understand leadership, one needs to differentiate between the terms 'manager' and 'leader'. A manager is the bearer of authority; this implies that he or she gets jobs done by ordering and instructing resources to perform tasks. Leaders, on the other hand, have the authority, but get things done without using force.

The aim in a testing organisation, as in any other goal-driven organisation, is to make good managers into good leaders. Leadership consists of the following aspects:

• Authority refers to the right of the testing manager to instruct the testing team to perform required tasks.

• Power reflects the ability of the testing manager to influence the actions of his or her testing team without using authority.

• Influence is the ability of the testing manager to move his or her testing team to make personal
  sacrifices.

• Delegation occurs when the testing manager transfers some of the authority to a member of the testing team.

• Responsibility rests with the testing manager for testing tasks allocated to him or her and his or her team.

II. Motivation

A good testing manager will understand the motives behind the behaviour of his or her testing team; conflict and pressure are constant companions of a tester in today's output-driven environment. It is the task of the testing manager to understand how to motivate the team to deliver quality output, despite these challenging factors. Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, needs can be categorised as physiological needs, security needs, social needs, esteem needs and self-realisation needs.

III. Groups in an organisation

It is important for the testing manager to understand the reason why formal and informal groups are formed within his or her test teams, and how to motivate these teams to perform optimally. Groups have characteristics that if understood can be used to increase motivation and productivity. Basic group characteristics include a leader, followers or members, norms and standards, group solidarity and interdependence.

IV. Communication

All previously mentioned aspects are dependent on constant communication between the test manager and his or her team. Good communication within the testing organisation leads not only to good relations between testing management and their employees and teams, but also between the testing organisation and its environment. It is of great importance that testing managers are able to communicate intelligibly, encouraging effective communication in the testing team.

Relevance of the business management approach

Leading is the third aspect of the management process, and it gets the testing effort going and keeps it going. It is important that the testing manager understands the fundamental concepts of being both an affective manager and a good leader. It is also important for the testing manager to identify weaknesses in his or her management or leadership capabilities and make a concerted effort to improve. It is once again clear that the contemporary approach to business management is relevant to the management of our testing teams.

Mike Snyman

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