A day in the life of a Tecknuovo associate: Paul Hammond

We sat down with one of our associates, Paul Hammond, to talk about his experience working as a Quality Assurance Lead on-site with one of our customers. He shares how his work helped their teams tackle major financial challenges through data-powered monitoring. He also sheds a light on why working with Tecknuovo is a world apart from conventional consulting — thanks to community-based support, access to new and exciting projects, continuous learning on the job, and more.

For a taste of Paul’s role, how he worked with his team and the wider community, and life as a Tecknuovo associate, read our Q&A!

On project work with Tecknuovo

What was your role and what did it entail?

I worked as a Quality Assurance Lead aka a Software Test Manager, if we’re using old-school speak.

I’ve been in software testing for the last 30 years, working on over 30 projects spanning financial services, utilities, and the public sector.

With Tecknuovo, I worked with a team of fellow associates on a transformation programme for one of our customers — a major UK utilities company. I coordinated a test strategy for the programme, heading up the writing and running of a series of test scripts across the entire software development lifecycle.

What was the programme you worked on, and what were you trying to solve there?

The programme’s objective was to build the software for a Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) dashboard for the customer. It pulls together critical data for their executive board to let them monitor their performance, but also to compare that performance against extensive data on their competitors.

I focused a large chunk of my work on performing checks on the data that was being surfaced to the executive board. It was imperative to make sure it was accurate, timely, and aligned with data from other parts of the business.

What was the project’s outcome, and what did it enable the customer to do?

In its finished form, this dashboard will let the customer identify and eliminate errors in their system that are currently racking up millions of pounds’ worth of fines per year. With the insights from the dashboard, the leadership team will be able to monitor and continuously make targeted improvements to the system, helping them make huge cost savings as a result.

On life as a Tecknuovo associate

What does it take to be a Tecknuovo associate?

You need to be dynamic, curious, really know your field, and always be willing to think outside the box.

On top of that, you need to constantly innovate on efficient ways of upskilling the customers’ teams at the same time as you build and deliver their solution. This is a key part of how Tecknuovo projects work, and means that the customer will be left with something they can run fully independently of your support after you leave the project.

What attracted you to joining Tecknuovo?

I was excited to join Tecknuovo because I knew I’d be part of a solid team of experienced people. I started contracting in the late 1990s, and for most of that time, I was completely on my own. Working with Tecknuovo is a different picture completely — it lets you form connections with and get support from a wide community of other associates.

What are the benefits of being part of the Tecknuovo community?

Being part of Tecknuovo means you get to work with some very exciting customers. I also know that if I do a good job on a current project, I could be offered many more interesting opportunities in the future. This is miles from the selection of work you have access to as an isolated contractor.

It’s also a great environment to be in terms of growing your skillset. In my day-to-day, I get to work with some very experienced people in cloud computing, DevOps and agile. Although I have some knowledge in those fields already, I am constantly absorbing more— from people on my project team and from the wider community as well. I feel like I’m growing my knowledge each and every week.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced at Tecknuovo?

On a programme I worked on last year, I had the challenge of wholesale upskilling an entire team at the same time as delivering the quality assurance work I was responsible for on the project. I had a big task ahead of me to run these things efficiently in tandem!

The team didn’t have much experience in either quality assurance or testing, so I spent a lot of my time mentoring, supporting, and explaining things to them to make sure they’d be fully capable of taking over after I’d gone.

I returned to that customer a year later to work on a separate project, and it was very rewarding to see how successful my upskilling efforts on the previous project had been. The team are performing brilliantly in their new roles.

How did you overcome the challenge?

Throughout my upskilling and mentoring work, I of course also had to focus on the delivery aspect of the project, assessing the testing landscape to determine what good looked like in that context, and what the customer was currently doing well.

To fit everything in, I invested lots of time on mentoring and training outside of meetings, and came up with a plan to make sure that the team were up to speed. I monitored that plan week by week as we went through the programme and built the solution together, tweaking and improving where it was needed.

I was also lucky to be able to draw on the wider network of Tecknuovo associates for help. Together, we were able to pull together our knowledge and resources to make the project a success.

What are the benefits of being part of the Tecknuovo Associate community?

The first thing that stands out is that the onboarding happens at pace. There aren’t any hoops or red tape to get through, and once you’re on site, you’ve got a full range of support. It comes from the people working on the programme with you, and also from the wider group of associates from the community.

Describe Tecknuovo in three words:

It’s fast-paced, it’s innovative, and it’s orange!

How would you describe Tecknuovo to your friends?

I would describe Tecknuovo as a supportive network of individuals who really know their fields. It’s a hard-working, dynamic, and rewarding place to work.

If you’re interested to know more about our community of associates and how you could join us, head to our page on how to become a Tecknuovo associate.