QA and only QA, or Jack of all Duties? Crossing Departmental Boundaries
- Thread starter normzone
- Start date
Yeah, QA is a popular destination for any hot potato that nobody else wants. To a point it is appropriate, perhaps initially acting as the analyst for who should really own any one potato.
Like everything else, it usually comes down to who has the most resources. I've seen both Engineering and QA address Document Control before in companies where nobody has a clear mandate, other outfits have a dedicated Doc Ctrl department that does it all.
Don't get the idea that it's because you're a woman. This man has had the same issues for around 30 years across several different companies.
Murni Ahmad
Involved In Discussions
I am open to wearing more hats, provided i have a team to actually manage things i have "straighten out". Knowing what to do, instead of doing it, will pretty much affecting the time i can allocate for each task.
Some hats i`m wearing (official and unofficial) after being in QA/RA for more than 10 years,
Some hats i`m wearing (official and unofficial) after being in QA/RA for more than 10 years,
- QA lead - QMS, SOP, Manual, audits - standard role
- RA lead - Registration of products with relevant authorities -standard role
- Compliance lead - Anti bribery expecting on cybersecurity soon (going to be big issue), PDPA, customer audits (code of conduct)
- Legal lead - review DA, NDA, once in a blue moon, more of helping to review, i think i was assign to this because no one else willing to sit and read all the clauses and transcribe it to a more layman term - i like to think so
- Safety lead - Revamp Fire ER team, coordinate Fire trainings, yearly fire drill for the building including our tenants etc. And coming soon is on OSHA, already in line for training
- Dangerous goods - handling documentation for dangerous goods, including import, export, audits
- Corporate governance - not sure if I`m leading this, but definitely I`m the one reminding people to comply to the code of conduct requested by customers on us (customer needs), and later i found myself need to learn on the requirement as later i will need to teach them - what to write, what to do, what to record & monitor.
Murni Ahmad
Involved In Discussions
Did i mentioned, my team support a few companies, local and overseas.
There are other licenses I`m managing, which i think should not be under QA/RA, but felt that no one wants to do it / want to learn to do it (although to me it is a simple process with a lot of confidential documents involved = time consuming).
I am happy to these at this age, but i don`t think its good for my health in long run.
Personally, i think some of these "task" should be put on other head, if manpower is not an issue.
Building safety / Hoist lifts / Fire safety/ OSHA - building maintenance
Legal - paralegal or company secretary / maybe a PA
Antibribery - Finance dept to lead
Cybersecurity - IT dept to lead
Data Protection - Human resource or IT to lead
Finance license - Finance dept to lead
Import export - Operations / Supply chain
Have i or my team crossing the line doing all these task? I`m not sure myself.
But we hope we are helping company to fulfill all the customer needs (users, authorities and suppliers), as we are known to be a "non-revenue department".
There are other licenses I`m managing, which i think should not be under QA/RA, but felt that no one wants to do it / want to learn to do it (although to me it is a simple process with a lot of confidential documents involved = time consuming).
I am happy to these at this age, but i don`t think its good for my health in long run.
Personally, i think some of these "task" should be put on other head, if manpower is not an issue.
Building safety / Hoist lifts / Fire safety/ OSHA - building maintenance
Legal - paralegal or company secretary / maybe a PA
Antibribery - Finance dept to lead
Cybersecurity - IT dept to lead
Data Protection - Human resource or IT to lead
Finance license - Finance dept to lead
Import export - Operations / Supply chain
Have i or my team crossing the line doing all these task? I`m not sure myself.
But we hope we are helping company to fulfill all the customer needs (users, authorities and suppliers), as we are known to be a "non-revenue department".
I have worked in a small company where no one bothered to read any of the fine print, and it came back to bite us when we neglected to meet a customer (military supplier) requirements, so I took on reading ALL the fine print. Now working in a much larger company, I have to remind myself that I'm not the organization's lawyer.
As for "we are known to be a "non-revenue department", it reminds me of an old meme "It's not my job to drive the train, I don't get to ring the bell, but let the damn thing jump the track and see who catches hell".
As for "we are known to be a "non-revenue department", it reminds me of an old meme "It's not my job to drive the train, I don't get to ring the bell, but let the damn thing jump the track and see who catches hell".
In small company where there is limited staff, employees may wear double hats. E.g. QA/QC cum Engineering. That is ok, provided 1) you have the knowledge and 2) you are not doing someone else's job, i.e. there isn't an engineering function in the company.
Good luck.
