cartmen34

So I'm a software QA specialist. I've been in the industry since '98 and I've worked for one of the largest software companies in America. (no, not m$soft) For the last year I've been working for a small-medium sized company doing web site QA. Now, my fellow team members are a hodge-podge of personnel. None of them have any technology experience, much less any QA experience. The manager has zero tech experience, and also has no QA experience. One person on my team even worked the office front desk before coming to work in QA! Anyway, our testing is very unstructured and basic (In the tech world it's known as ad hoc testing). With my knowledge of QA and QA methodologies, I've been trying to get my team to move toward more structured, formalized testing and quality control standards, with a mind toward improving the overall quality of our product. (So far, the team has missed many bugs on most all or our products.) My efforts have met with nothing but push back. The team thinks "we are doing just fine". They see no need to change what they do or how they do it. Apparently, me finding bugs in a product they thought was perfect isn't proof to them that they are doing a bad...make that unfinished job of QA. My manager is constantly holding meetings asking for ideas on how to improve quality. When I state and re-state my ideas, I get nothing but "we don't need that" from the entire team. I think you get the idea...

In the background is the company, which has hired a "repairman" to come in and fix the IT departments problems. He's now my manager's boss, and he basically is running the company. One day he came to each member of the QA team and asked for feedback on how to fix our team's problems. In response handed him a 4 page novel on what we do wrong and how I propose to fix it. Once my manager got wind of this, she blew a gasket (of course). Now the big boss liked what he saw, and wants to meet with myself and my manager to discuss what he says are "obvious problems." However, since he's running the entire company, he's a very busy guy, and he has not had time to get to us and solving the QA team's problems yet. It's now been 3 months and he still has not met with us. In the mean time things inside the team have escalated to the point of a "me against them" state of mind. My boss has turned to nit-picking to try and shoot me down. I am immediately questioned about anything I say, even from other team members. Often times my team emails go ignored, as well as my advice on work related items. I am often criticized on every project I do, and my manager has turned to having other member's of the team "double check" my work. My work was never a problem before.

So it's obvious my boss is out to get me now. I’m not sure where I went wrong, but it’s clear I’ve not clearly communicated my intentions to my team. I only want to improve the quality of our team output by setting quality standards for our product. I think the team has taken it and flipped it around. They interpret it as me insulting thy way they do things. I see it as trying to fix what is clearly broken, nothing more.

So what do I do? It’s clear my boss/team does not like or appreciate my experience or talents. I now hate my job. It’s causing my more stress than it’s worth. And being employed full time AND a full time college student, I’m stretched as thin as I can go already. Do I quit? Look for another job within the company? Keep pushing my ideals at my own risk? Try to oust my manager from power? Somebody…please advise me!! Argghhh!!

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"The problem with quick and dirty, as some people have said, is that the dirty remains long after the quick has been forgotten" - Steve McConnell