Providing Value as a Leader: More Than Just Being the Boss
Being a test manager is more than just being the boss. Sure, there is direction to set, issues to address, hiring, performance reviews, and status updates. But does that mean there’s no real work for a manager to do? Managers want to empower their team members to make good decisions and execute well, but how do you provide value when specific testing tasks are done by others? How does a manager go beyond being the boss to actually helping their staff do amazing work? Join Jeff Abshoff as he shares his experience working with new and seasoned testers. Hear some of the struggles he has faced and gain some practical ideas for one-on-ones, team meetings, collaboration, and growth challenges that you can bring back to your team in order to provide value.
Jeff Abshoff is a testing manager at ANSYS Inc., a global developer of engineering simulation software. Jeff has been with ANSYS for fourteen years and has worked in a number of different areas, from established products developing incremental features to new product launches looking to revolutionize the computer-aided engineering market. Jeff started his career at ANSYS as an entry level tester and now manages testing for multiple projects. He leads an international team of nine testers who are responsible for certification, performance, automated regression, interactive, integration, and exploratory testing. Jeff’s work has included a strong emphasis on exploratory testing, lightweight testing documentation, and risk-based test automation.