As my career develops, I have noticed a huge shift on my passion and interest move from Software Testing and Quality to more on people leadership, growing leaders and building effective teams. This section will focus on those areas.
People First Leadership – Rebuffing the Negative Stigma
Following my last post on People-First Leadership, I received a fair amount of feedback on the topic and not all of it was positive. This surprised me at first as I’ve always had the mindset of people-first, but clearly there is a different mindset of a need to be firmer and more commanding as a…
QA to QE – Winning Stakeholder Buy-In
Hopefully, if you are reading this, you’ll be aware that Quality isn’t just about finding defects, it’s about building confidence in the solutions we deliver. Despite advancements in automation and modern development practices, bizarrely, quality still remains quite misunderstood. Many organisations still view QA as a final hurdle rather than an integral part of success.…
QA to QE: Rethinking Quality in the Age of AI
I’ve been looking forward to writing this blog since I started this series. AI is not going to go anywhere, so we need to adapt our thinking in the QE/Testing world. The rise of AI is revolutionising how we build, test, and deliver software. Traditional Quality Assurance (QA) practices, focused on validating outputs, are no…
QA to QE – Navigating Compliance in Regulated Industries
Regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and aviation bring their own set of unique challenges. These sectors require strict adherence to compliance, risk management, and audit readiness, all of which can feel like a roadblock to innovation. However, by embracing the five phases of the QE Transformation Model, organisations can not only meet regulatory demands…
People First Leadership – Empowering Teams to Lead
In my previous post on this topic, I talked about the importance of People-First Leadership, how it’s not about controlling your team but working to support, guide, and inspire them. This approach helps create an environment where people feel valued and can thrive. But what happens when we take it one step further? What if…
Breaking Down Barriers: Why the Testing Community Needs Unity More Than Ever
In the world of software testing, we’ve got enough on our plates without tearing ourselves apart over the details. Yet, time and time again, we see divisions over things like “manual testing” versus “automation,” or over debates that flare up on LinkedIn, often leaving us looking fractured. It’s exhausting, and frankly, it’s holding us back…
QA to QE – Unlocking Success with Third Party Supplier Teams
Modern software development often involves collaboration with third-party suppliers, whether for specialised components, outsourced development, or external expertise. While these partnerships bring opportunities for scale and innovation, they also introduce unique challenges: inconsistent quality standards, misaligned priorities, and communication gaps. I’ve worked closely with a variety of suppliers over the last 6 years and have…
QA to QE – Implementing the Model with SaaS Solutions
The adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions offers organisations convenience, scalability, and pre-built functionality. However, these solutions come with their own complexities: limited customisation, vague quality assurance processes, and frequent updates driven by the vendors. By applying the five phases of the Quality Engineering Transformation Model, organisations could tackle these challenges head-on and transform their approach…
Transforming QA to Quality Engineering: Implementing across Industries and Contexts
Now that we have defined the model, I wanted to look into how it could be applied across different industries and into different ways of working. No two companies work in the same way so some of this will not apply directly, but the point of this article is that Quality Engineering isn’t hindered from…
QA to QE Phase 5 -Measure and Adapt – QE Feedback Loop in Action
Now that we have defined how we are going to work in the QE world, built the capabilities, delivered change and modified the culture, we now need to look at how we assess how effective we are now working. As we reach Phase 5 of the Quality Engineering Transformation Model, the focus shifts to creating…
QA to QE Phase 4 – Growing a Culture of Quality
Phase 4 is where Quality Engineering truly becomes part of an organisation’s DNA. This phase is all about fostering a culture where quality is a shared value, owned and embraced by every individual. By promoting shared responsibility, celebrating successes, and encouraging experimentation, organisations can create a lasting Quality-First Culture. Building this culture is something I’ve…
QA to QE Phase 3 – Implementing Practices for Quality Engineering
Follwing on from laying the groundwork and building the right capabilities, phase 3 is the pivotal stage where preparation evolves into execution. It’s the time to embed quality engineering principles into day-to-day delivery processes and create tangible impact across the organisation. This phase brings together strategies, tools, and people to drive transformation forward. See below…
QA to QE Phase 2: Setting Up Capabilities for Quality Engineering
Following on from Phase 1, once the groundwork is in place, the next stage is to build the foundations fully, this comes from ensuring we have all the right tools in our tool box to make the transformation effective. Transformation is never just a flip of a switch; it’s a journey. As we step into…
QA to QE Phase 1 – Assess and Plan – Laying the Foundations
Following on from the last post which summarised the whole model, let’s move onto the first step. Quality Engineering (QE) is a game-changer, but making the leap from traditional QA practices to a more modern, holistic approach takes some groundwork. You can’t just dive straight in; it all starts with understanding where you are now…
Transforming QA into Quality Engineering: A Pragmatic Approach
As the job search continues, I’ve been learning about a consulting mindset, had some great conversations with some awesome people and read some really useful books. All have led me to a point where a model I’d been working on for a while has been developed further and would provide a useful basis for helping…
Do Your Team Feel Safe? – Building Psychological Safety in Teams
With being a leader that works in a “People First” way, ensuring I create an environment where people feel safe is absolutely key. Psychological safety is essential for fostering an environment where people feel comfortable being their authentic selves at work (this is a whole blog post in itself, watch out for this one in…
Why the Tech Industry Needs Chief Quality Officers
Possibly slightly tongue in cheek, but as I start my job search, why not push for something I can see the need for… And also something that was briefly discussed at the last Quality Engineering forum, where we worked on what was next for the Quality Engineering Charter In the ever-evolving landscape of the tech…
Communicating Like A Boss – Leading your Teams Through Change
As a leader of people, one of the most crucial skills you need to continually hone is communicating with your teams. This might sound obvious, but it can have truly catastrophic consequences if you get it wrong. I’ve been part of teams where our manager has been an excellent communicator, treated us all like adults,…
Break the Mould – Leadership Podcast Appearance
I am a bit of a sucker for Podcast interviews, but this is the first one I have done which has been purely focused on the leadership side of my role and more specifically, the people leadership aspect. I first came across Tim Roberts when I started my coaching journey and came across the Coaching…
People First Leadership – Working for Your Teams
As a leader, I feel honoured and privileged to be trusted to lead a team of humans. This is a complete career change for most who transition into a manager/people leadership role as your domain knowledge skills become secondary. I also truly believe in Servant Leadership or my preferred term -“People First Leadership”. It’s clear…
Leading Minds of All Kinds – Embracing Neurodivergence in Your Teams
Leading a team can be hugely rewarding and helping then succeed through your guidance/mentoring and coaching can give you the ultimate job satisfaction. Following on from my previous article on supporting your team, you may find yourself in a place where you have team members who are neurodivergent and this can require a whole new…
In It Together! – Supporting your Team
All people managers have the unenviable task of leading a group of people, there is no straight forward way to make this successful, mainly because every single person in your team is different, has different needs, is motivated by different things and has different interests, so how do you even start to support them? The…
We Can’t Always Be Perfect – Owning Your Leadership Mistakes
Historically, there was expectation that to be a good leader, you had to be bulletproof and show no weakness, make no mistakes and certainly show no negative emotion. This lead to leaders masking their true selves and not being authentic. Instead, fitting the corporate mould to ensure they met the expectations of the company they…
WGS Speech Day 2023 – An Honour to return
Earlier this year, I was asked if I would be interested in returning to my secondary school as the Guest of Honour for their annual Prizegiving and Speech Day event. I had only been back once since I left in 2003, so for me, this was a big deal. As I share below in my…
Coaching Culture 2022 – A Day of Inspiration
It’s been a while since my last post, and since today has been such an inspiring day, I thought it was a good opportunity to get back to writing. I was given an opportunity through an internal Leadership Programme, to attend a conference of choice. I decided to go for something outside of the usual…
Building a World Class Test Team
I’m starting 2022 in a more senior role, and it has been an aspiration for the last few years to build myself up to this point. I’ve learned so much since I left my first role in management in 2018 and moved towards more senior leadership roles. One of the big things I believe I…
Introducing The Communications ReadMe
For so long, it’s been assumed that we all have to follow the same communication processes that the company requires us to use to do our jobs. This may be true, but within that, there are intricacies which can help ensure the best communications possible in a given scenario, equally there are some things which…
Defining your Story – Owning Your Quality Narrative
Following up from my previous post, I thought it would be a good idea to dive deeper into the idea of the Quality Narrative. As mentioned in that blog, I first came across the term from the ‘Leading Quality’ book by Ronald Cummings-John (@ronaldcj) and Owais Peer (@owaispeer). The book is a great reference for…
Growing A Culture of Quality – A Model
Following on from my earlier blog post (Changing the Perception – Working towards a Culture of Quality), I have been lucky enough to have a submission selected for the Test Leadership Congress 2020 which is a virtual conference happening over July-October this year. This got me thinking more about this topic, and it really has…
A Decade in Testing – How did I get here?
Ten years in a field of work I love, it felt as good a time as any to reflect on what brought me to this point. I still remember that feeling the day I finished my last exam at University in May 2006 and realised I needed to try and do something with the knowledge…
Changing the Perception – Working towards a Culture of Quality
Long ago was a time where testing was purely seen as an activity by a siloed team who executed 1000’s of tests towards the end of a project. In the modern world, this is still a very real situation in some areas, but on the whole, testing as a collaborative, continuous activity is much more…
We’re Not Dead! – The Art of Effective Test Leadership
The Tech industry is evolving faster than anyone is prepared for and with that, roles within the software world are in desperate need to change too, no more so than in the Testing world. With the demand for faster delivery, more complex tech stacks and more fluid ways of working, Testing roles and activities need…
Thinking Differently – Embracing Neurodiversity in Tech
Diversity has rightly become a big topic of discussion across many media and in the last few years there have been huge movements globally to try and correct imbalances in the workforce. These have included Race, Gender, LGBTQ, Age and Physical Disabilities. A lot of companies have worked really hard to close the gaps within…
My Personal Leadership Values
Following on from my previous post which focused on my personal testing values, this one will look at my Leadership values. I guess the first point to elaborate on is what is meant by Leadership? The dictionary definition suggests: “The action of leading a group of people or an organisation, or the ability to do…
The “No Desk” Experiment – Working Closer With My Team
Ever since becoming a manager, my motto has always been “People before Projects”, meaning that ultimately, if I provided my team everything they need, then the project work would take care of itself. Working for a big corporation which has a lot of moving parts, meant that for a while, I was consistently in 6…
A Change in Perspective – Moving from Tech Lead to Manager
I’ve been in Software Engineering since I left University as a graduate in 2006 and have performed many roles such as Software Developer, Scrum Master, Build Engineer and then in 2010, I moved into Software QA. At that point, I had several awesome mentors who I owe so much for fueling my love and passion…
Simon Prior 