Building products is one thing, and ensuring that those products meet certain thresholds of acceptability is another. Without any doubt, it can be asserted that quality plays an integral role in improving an organization’s efficiency and profitability. Keeping quality at the top of the list, the Quality Assurance Manager is the one who ensures that standards are met.
Inculcating a solution-oriented approach, Tudor Brad, the Quality Assurance Manager at BetterQA, is setting a striking example of proactive quality management and strategic leadership. Tudor brings 13 years of enriching experience in QA to the table.
An interview conducted between Tudor and CIO Look sheds light on how Tudor is leading the QA department of BetterQA to help companies improve the quality of software being delivered while lowering the projects’ risk.
Below is the highlight of the interview:
Brief our audience on your professional journey up to your current leadership position.
I’ve been working for more than 13 years in QA. My first job was working on an extensive US healthcare project for an outsourcing company. During the five years I spent there, I take pride in successfully building, training, and managing a team of more than 12 QA engineers.
At a certain point, I wanted to help other people learn the trade, so I moved on to work by myself using the contacts and resources I had accumulated. This is how BetterQA was created.
Brief us about your company and its prominent products/solutions/services that make you a preferred choice over your competition.
BetterQA came to life in 2018, and ever since, we’ve done all kinds of testing, both manual and automated: from Mobile Application testing to Web testing, UI/API testing, System, Regression, or Non-Functional.
Our goal is to be leaders in software testing. We want to achieve this by using a combination of onsite consulting, offshore test execution, tools, and frameworks that reduce the number of post-release defects. And do it faster.
In a nutshell, we want to meet our clients’ wildest objectives, all while lowering the projects’ risk and product malfunction.
What is your idea of impactful leadership? What style of leadership do you personally prefer and have implemented at your company?
I’m a very hands-on guy, and I love the work I do. Because I believe in the power of example, I take every opportunity to work closely with my team, and I believe it is the most impactful method I’ve tried. I am involved at the beginning of each project ramp-up to make sure that we are giving our best efforts and that everything is in order.
What were the challenges you came across in your career as a leader?
We all know how demanding 2020 has been for everybody. We got to see firsthand how big of a difference good leadership makes. Taking a different business approach has been challenging, of course, but we must adjust to each situation’s unique needs, our resources and projects included.
Taking into consideration the current pandemic and its impact on global economies, how are you driving your company to sustain operations and ensure the safety of your associates and employees at the same time?
Well, we’ve been working remotely since before the pandemic started, but we were still impacted by it. The stress, the uncertainty, and on top of that, project cuts forced us to reinvent ourselves. We found new, creative ways to obtain projects and still had time to train our resources from the comfort of our own homes so that everybody would be safe.
If given a chance, what change would you bring about in the ecosystem of your respective industry?
I am passionate about using good software. Software that does what you would expect it to do even in various stress conditions. I always attempt to make others aware of the importance of taking the time to find bugs and releasing a good, functional product instead of rushing through it and having it crash later. A few calculated steps taken at the right time can help out massively in the future.
What would be your advice for the- emerging and aspiring business leaders?
Don’t give up, and as much as it is drilled into your head, don’t dismiss it as cliche, it might keep you afloat. Always have a proactive attitude and try to find a way around the endless issues that always pop up. Take what you learned and better yourself and your business. There is always room for improvement, and that rarely happens solely through positive feedback.
What have you envisioned for yourself and your company to sustain its market position in the future?
I believe that the basis of any successful and long-lasting company is keeping your employees happy and satisfied with their work. Starting with a handful of people, I know how important each and every team member is and how one small factor could take the entire project off track.
The future is built by strong teams willing to put in the work to make big ideas a reality. That’s how we want to stay relevant.
