Solving Quality Issues
My friend who owned a software company complained: “I know that low quality is bad for business. I want to improve the way our developers work because fixing defects after released products to customers is very costly. How can I do that when I am very busy, my managers are busy, and my developers are also busy”.
I told him: “Busy is NOT an excuse for NOT doing anything. If there are other companies who can build quality software and want to compete with you then what would you do? Are you still being busy and NOT doing anything?”.
He explained: “I am a successful owner. I started with 25 people but grow to over 500 now. I have many customers, I work very hard, days and nights, but still have more paperwork to do. I have sent developers to additional trainings and quality seminars but nothing happened. They are still doing things the same way. Nothing really changed”.
I told him: “Change does not happen from the bottom. Change must start at the top then everybody will change. When the top person is so busy what do you think others would do? They are busy too because no one would relax when the “Boss” is busy. If they are not busy then they will act like they are busy. Training and seminars do NOT help if the process is NOT changing and old habit is STILL there. It seems to me that your quality problem may not cause by lack of skills but unclear expectation and too much works. Because developers are busy, they cannot think of anything else BUT WORK. Because managers are busy, they cannot think of any improvement BUT MANAGE. Because you are so busy looking at all detailed paperwork, you CANNOT LEAD the change. In a company where everybody is so busy then exhausted, no one would care about anything. That is why nothing changed. As a friend, may I say something that you may not like?”
He seemed surprised: “No, I do not mind, we have been friend for many years”
I told him: “You are a successful owner but you act like a manager. An owner should be a LEADER, not manager. You should NOT be bothered with too much paperwork, it is the job of managers. As leader, you must set the vision and the direction for your company. You must look at the LONG TERM GOAL, not the short term view. As leader, you must focus on the INNOVATION, not the administration. You should DEVELOP the company so it will grow stronger and bigger, not maintain paperwork, it is the job of managers. When it comes to do something, managers TELL those under them what to do. Leaders do NOT tell them but INSPIRE them and they are willing to follow and happy to do it. However, NOT many people understand the differences”.
He seemed quiet for awhile than asked: “OK, what do you think I could do to improve the software quality? You are correct, if customers are not satisfy, they may switch to another company.”
I told him: “NOW you are thinking like a leader. You are thinking about the company direction and the consequence of the no action. Because people always interest in whatever their leader want so there is something you can do: Assume that a project has a significant quality problem but it has been fixed. However, you come in unexpected and ask the project manager in front of everybody: “I heard that there is a quality problem here. What really happened? Is there anything that you want me to do here? Do you need my help?” In other words, you do not punish anyone, just expressing your interest in the quality of the project. What do you think the project manager would react when the “Boss” is asking that kind of question? He would think: “Am I in big trouble now? What is going to happen to me? Why the owner come to my project unannounced like this?” Of course, nobody likes visits from the owner who could fire them. That types of question will make every project managers uncomfortable”.
He laughed: “That is easy, I can imagine the face of my manager at that time”.
I continued: “What do you think will happen next? The result of this unexpected visit and questions about quality from the “Boss” who is “no longer busy” will set a new direction for the company. I am sure that the next time before the release of product to customer, project manager will take extra time to check every things out, to make sure there will be less chance of a “Boss” visit. This is a simple action, but very effective. Besides setting the direction that you are serious about quality, the project manager is also getting direction from you that quality is important. For a long time, you are so busy, you do not pay attention to projects so you get the news about quality late and nothing can be done. By set the direction early and clearly, by having direct contact with project people then things will change fast. The news that you come to a project and ask questions will spread quickly throughout the company and things will change. A leader leads by action, and set direction so others can follow. That is what I mean by change starts at the top down”.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
