Franke James is Editor/Founder of Office-Politics.com and Inventor of the Office-Politics® Game.

Peter R. Garber has worked as an HR professional for over 25 years and is the author of many business books including: Winning the Rat Race at Work and 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of your Boss.

Dina Beach Lynch, is an Ombudsman, Author and former attorney. An award-winning mediator, Dina served as the Corporate Ombudsman for the 7th largest bank in the US helping over 48,000 employees to resolve workplace issues.

Dr. Rick Brandon is CEO of Brandon Partners. He has consulted and trained tens of thousands at corporations worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries.

Dr. Marty Seldman is one of America's most experienced executive coaches. His 35-year career includes expertise in executive coaching, group dynamics, cross-cultural studies, clinical psychology, and training.

Arnie Herz, is a lawyer, mediator, speaker, author and consultant nationally recognized for his practical and inspired approach to conflict resolution and client counseling.

Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities.

It is critical that this software release on time and with acceptable quality; more than a billion dollars worth of business uses this software... Bottom line, it is not going to be ready for the deadline...

	Peter Garber, Author of 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of Your Boss : It is a sad but true fact that Quality depts often get the blame for problems that really aren't always their fault. I do believe that you are being set up as the goat.

September 2006

Dear Office-Politics,

I am a new QA manager in a software development group. A very important release, funded by another division, is due to be released this year. The current version of this software will not work after Jan 1 because the database it relies on will no longer be supported. Therefore, it is critical that this software release on time and with acceptable quality; more than a billion dollars worth of business uses this software for planning and design.

The project is very poorly managed; only a small fraction of the software has been available for testing. It should have been complete by now. Bottom line, it is not going to be ready for the deadline.The Project Manager is already laying the groundwork to blame it on QA. He is considered to be a fast tracker and is hence untouchable. How do I protect myself and my team from the blame for this? Our mutual boss and he are good friends and have many contacts in the division which is funding this project (they were originally part of this division and moved into my division when the company decided to consolidate all software development in a single division). Help!!

Scapegoat

Dear Scapegoat,

It is a sad but true fact that Quality departments often get the blame for problems that really aren't always their fault. I do believe that you are being set up as the "goat".

The best thing for you to do is to let your boss exactly what problems you are facing meeting the January 1st launch date. But don't just go to your boss with the problem, offer suggestions on how to deal more effectively with the situation. Provide the boss with a number of different options that you suggest ranging from conservative to "out of the box" solutions. The most important point is that you sound the "alarm" that the project is not on schedule. Not hearing about this problem until January 1st is surely not the way your boss would like to bring in the New Year!

A good idea is to get others involved in dealing with this situation in either finding a solution or developing a plan to deal with the late launch. Sharing ownership of this problem will take some of the pressure off of your group. You might suggest to your boss that a team be developed to address this problem including the Project Manager (or more likely a designee-but that's fine). You might want to take a leadership role on this team so you could have more control over the plans, actions, and most importantly the assignments made to the team members to address this problem.

One last bit of advice- because of the relationship between the Project Manager and your common boss don't play the 'blame game' as it will likely backfire on you. Remember that the Project Manager has already had the boss's ear on this problem and has heard his side of the story. Deal with the challenges that lie ahead for you and your department and leave blaming individuals out of your discussion.

Thanks for writing to Office-Politics.

Regards,

Peter

Peter Garber, Author
100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of Your Boss

FEEDBACK FROM READER

As a QA professional myself who has been the scapegoat before, I am aware that there are tried and tested methods of dealing with this problem. One that immediately springs to mind is that the QA manager who has been writing into you has got to draw up a risks and issues register and register every issue or risk. (There should be more advice online about how to go about this). Each risk should be discussed. The tester should assess the likelihood of the risk happening and the severity of the consequences if it did happen. These should each be given a value of between 1 and 5 (5 being highest). These are typically multiplied with eachother and priority risks are quickly identified.. This register should be emailed regularly to all managers in the project community so that there is widespread visibility over the risks faced. In addition to this, the test team must break down the system into key functionalities and liaise with the wider project community to allocate a priority to each one.. Feedback should be solicited from key project stakeholders (ie users, developers, BAs) as to priorities and agreement should be reached over the aims of the test team.... ie QA will test 100% of priority 1 areas, 80% of priority 2.. etc. The team should insist on feedback from the project community and keep a written record (ie email) of all communications. Decisions made during minutes should be followed up by an email which confirms what the writer has just heard... "As I understand it, Development blah blah blah.....) I would be very grateful if you could email this to the person who wrote to you as I am sure it would help him or her out and is likely to be causing a good deal of stress.

Office-Politics Review: 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of Your Boss

100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of Your Boss by Peter R. Garber is an entertaining and humorous read designed to help you improve your relationship with your Boss. Garber, who is the author of over 40 books, draws on his 25-years experience as a Human Resources Professional, to give readers ‘tips on how to deal with difficult bosses’. He says, “The challenge is to find ways to deal with even the most difficult bosses you may have to work for during your career.” Read the full review