4 outcome-focused metrics to hold your QA process to account

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Posted by Brian Borg

You want to assess the status of your QA processes... But you don't have the technical or practical expertise. Does this problem sound familiar?

Well, the truth is, if you operate outside of your development team, you needn't follow every single nitty-gritty technical metric. That's overkill. You'll end up confusing yourself and wasting time.

Instead, you'll need to follow measurable, outcome-focused result metrics. That way, you can keep track of progress and accountability in a contextual way.

So, with that in mind, here are four metrics you should be tracking.

1. Scope and timeline

How big are the specific deliverables of your QA project? And what's the timeline? You'll need an estimation before the project begins.

To keep track of the task at large, it makes sense to use project management software, such as Jira, that plots your overall 'roadmap'. Then, you can make a note of various milestones and release dates, as well as understand when you should meet project targets.

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2. Cost and resources

If budget's a typical pain point for you, you'll want to measure the expected cost of the QA process. If you don't have a clear idea of this, you could be spending more pretty pennies than you'd like.

Resources are also a key part of cost management.

How many developers will the project need? If you're outsourcing QA services, you'll also need to know who will be doing the work, what they're doing, and how much it'll cost, too.

3. Productivity and accountability

When you're not in the trenches, it can be hard to understand whether your development team are being productive or not.

Ultimately, you need metrics that display progress and accountability.

To help remedy this, we'd suggest adopting a visual project management tool that displays Kanban boards, timelines and activity updates. With an overview of everyone in your development teams and what they're working on, you'll ensure no one's slipping behind or pushing back release dates.

4. Project issues and fixes

With any QA project, you can expect technical issues. While you may not be able to fix them yourself, it's good to track the progress of open, closed and resolved issues.

With Jira's average age and pie chart reports, you can keep up to date with your teams' progress and the typical time it takes to resolve an issue. Be sure to place a priority focus on the current sprint or development cycle, since slippages here cascade to all future efforts.

Hold your QA process to account

“If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” - Chinese Proverb

Managing a QA project can be tricky at best. Without the right insights, reporting and know-how, you'll fail to keep up with your teams' progress.

Hopefully, the four tips we've shared with you will help to keep your project ship-shape.

That said, if you need further help with your QA testing project, download our helpful guide.

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