How do we cope with the increase in scope?

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Susanne Abdelrahman (@susanneabdelrahman) reality checks the growth in responsibility for QA/quality folks.

How about you, with the increase in scope for the role of a quality person, how do we cope with the increase in scope?

What questions can we ask to set boundaries about our roles without hindering creativity/flexibility/opportunities?

If you’re in a leadership position, how do you help your team seek clarity on what they’re responsible for?

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I try to refer back to an agreed roadmap/set of priorities and re-open the discussion on where the new work comes in, and if it takes priority, highlight the risk to other pieces of work.

I will always give my best guidance from my experience on what I think should be prioritised, whilst acknowledging the changes and wider priorities that may exist

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For me, its quite volatile at the moment where we’re managing spinning plates of quality risk up and down the lifecycle. So with my team, the coaching really is helping individuals to decide where the priorities lie and where their effort will get the best return. If there is a lot going on, then going back to the circles of influence - being clear what you can do something about directly, where you need others help - inside or outside QA - influencing them to do their bit. Most importantly, as leaders if people are overwhelmed, get in there and support them and shoulder some of the burden and find a solution or suitable owner.

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Hi Simon, The way our role as QA keeps growing - one minute you’re testing features, the next you’re talking release strategies, observability, accessibility, its a lot..

For me, coping with the growing scope has been less about drawing hard lines and more about finding clarity.

I’ve started asking things like:
What’s actually expected of me here?
Where am I supporting vs owning?
Am I stretching into this because I want to or because no one else is picking it up?

These little check-ins help me stay grounded.
I’m still happy to jump in and help where I can, but it keeps me from accidentally becoming the catch-all for “quality everything.”

When it comes to boundaries, I’ve learned it’s not about saying “this isn’t my job” but instead:
I can support this, but who’s leading?
If I go deep into this, what’s something else I should let go of for now?

It’s made conversations with teammates feel more collaborative, not defensive.

And if you’re leading a team, I think the best support is giving people space to ask, “Does this fall under me?” without feeling like they’re pushing back. Because honestly, unclear scope leads to burnout faster than any bug backlog ever could.

Curious how others are managing the blur between helping out and taking on too much especially in smaller or fast-moving teams.

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