The expectations to the test managers of today has changed a lot over the last couple of years, meaning that managements expectations to the test managers skills on how, they should match managements needs of information. We need to switch our approach on communication, so we communicate to them in their “Language” (time, Money, goals) and at the right time with the right audience. Who do we define as management (project-, program-, line manager, customers…)? and what are the different managers requirements and agendas?

We need to understand that our information is used for their decisions, so it is important, that we find the right match of information to all the different manager types we have in our organisations. Often our approach is based on our experiences from previous jobs, but when you get dropped in a “forest” of managers you need to have the right skills to become at success.

The test organisation at ATP contains 26 FTE Testers, 26 consultant testers and around 40 testers from the business, that helps us to test the complex application setup we have (out of the 92 testers there are around 15 Test managers, to manage the others. Most of them have 10+ year of experience with test).

Our story at ATP shows, that if you have the ambitions to get a highly educated and well functioning testing department, you have to be ready to fight for it; and you have to keep fighting for it, once you got it.

I have been working with software development the last 13 years. The roles that I have had, through my career, are in the following areas: Manager, Software development framework, Test and SCM. The industry that I have worked in are: Pension (ATP and KP), Web tool development (Catalog international) and ERP (Microsoft Business solutions).