While a permanent employee, Michael had a number of line management and team leadership roles. Operating through Compute Thing Limited he continues to lead and guide as appropriate.
Beyond performing tasks assigned Michael will observe and provide feedback on how tasks are performed. This can be:
Initially engaged to lead the acceptance team for an outsourced product development, Michael transformed and grew the team to a broader test and system quality function.
He supported the outsourced organisation in adopting practices needed for successful product delivery.
He worked across different client and supplier organisations to promote common goals.
As team leader and then group leader Michael grew the IndigoVision test team from 2 to 9 engineers. He was responsible for interviewing, mentoring, appraisals, performance management and weekly team meetings. He helped to develop the skills of the testers to match the changing scope of work. Alongside the other development group leaders and the engineering manager he worked to develop the engineering organistation.
Ability to achieve and an environment to be proud of, were seen as significant staff motivators. Starting from a cramped environment that had problems with heat, noise, poor ergonomics, restricted capabilities and interference with office IT systems Michael directed improvements towards a more capable and suitable test environment.
Continue readingIn a declining business Michael kept his team motivated by continuing to encourage pride in the work done by the team. This was done by driving improvements to the test data used and developing the relationship with the tools team to improve the tools used to create that data. He led the introduction of the Mercury Test Director (now Micro Focus Quality Center) tool, which provided the team with better feedback on their work and supported efficiency gains to balance the reduction in man-power.
At Motorola Michael established and grew the System Stress, Stability and Performance team in conjunction with the establishment of the test lab. He selected the team members and guided the team to develop the skills to undertake this demanding project. The value of the team was recognised
ExpandRecognised by colleagues as the natural leader of the team, Michael transitioned from being technical lead to group lead. He conducted appraisals, recruited new staff, led team meetings, coached and mentored staff, and managed issues with non-performance.
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