Whether you already have an established QA partner or are in search of a new partner, there are several characteristics that should define your outsource QA team.
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One Team Attitude
Having a QA team that can understand your product or application is essential to the success of a project. Ensure that your outsource QA partner listens to the goals of your project. Understanding the inner workings of the product allows your team to feel more invested in the project especially in hybrid outsource-onsite models. The “one team” attitude between you and your outsource QA partner can propel the team to not just be more invested in the project, but directly reflect on the deadlines and tasks that are set, increasing productivity.
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Proactive and Innovative Attitude
A QA team with a proactive attitude can play a dynamic role in the timeline of your project. Ensure that your team can and is willing to adapt to new tools, technologies and methodologies during the duration of your project. As these new resources become available, having a team that can discover, learn and apply these to your project can increase productivity and can also play a direct effect on the timeliness of deliverables. The very best QA teams go even further by being proactive, making recommendations about utilizing the best methods and technologies for your product.
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Trust and Commitment
Without trust there is no partnership. You not only need to trust your QA team, but your QA team needs to be able to trust you. When there is an environment of trust, the team morale will boost as well. In terms of trust, the QA team should feel comfortable quickly reporting any issues to stakeholders. At the same time, stakeholders should be able to count on the team to report any issues in a timely manner. This is especially essential when outsourcing QA, as you may not be able to see and/or speak to your team every day. This type of balance will increase not just team morale, but also ensure that they are motivated and committed.
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Transparent Communication
Maintaining communications transparency between you and your QA team can really help increase productivity and make sure your project goals and deadlines are met in a timely manner. Transparency, along with trust, allows problems to be solved faster and teams to be built stronger. Ensuring a two-way communication stream can give peace of mind to you and keep your QA team committed to your project. A key to this is to make sure that not only are problems communicated, but enabling a problem solving oriented method of communication.
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Quality of Work
It goes without saying, but you want an outsource team that focuses on excellence and takes great pride in the quality of their work. Look for outsource companies that are dedicated to QA and therefore hire engineers that want a career in QA. Also look for companies that dedicate significant resources to initial and ongoing training as well as maintaining advanced technology groups, institutes for research and training, and a focus on employee career development. You should feel comfortable that the individuals leading your QA processes have been trained in the latest tools, technologies and processes that lead to quality products.
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Timelines Followed
You want a QA partner that has enough experience to know what they can commit to at any given level of resources. Again, this is where communication and transparency come in, especially when there is a lot of pressure to get a project or sprint completed. A quality QA partner will be open and honest about what can and cannot be achieved within your deadlines.
While these characteristics are not the only things to look for in your QA provider, they are essential to keeping the partnership alive and strong.