A talk from Sylvia Verschueren, about how the company she works for got rid of the Test Management function. The testing itself is outsourced, which does affect things, and particularly the need for the people management part of the role, but it was interesting to see another view. Also good discussion afterwards, in particular around test templates from Iain McCowatt.
[ Paul Gerrard | Will The Test Leaders Stand Up | The Testing Planet issue 10, March 2013 , Paywall] paraphrased:
There are five broad choices for you to take if you are a test lead or test manager:
Provide advice to the business leaders, as an independent agent cajole project leadership and review performance
Take control of the knowledge required to define and build systems. Demand clarity and precision in requirements
Help agile projects to recognise and react to risks, coach and mentor and manage testing
Manage the information flow between the key groups and continuous integration system, control change and delivery
Manage outsourced and offshore teams, manage relationships