TestFlix 2021 – Maryam Umar

'TestFlix 2021' - Esteemed Speaker

Maryam Umar

Head Of Quality Engineering at Thought Machine

Atomic Talk Title: The Joys of Managing Engineering Teams

Becoming a manager of an engineering team is a daunting task. Most of us love to write code and as we get better, we are asked to start managing teams.
My journey has been a little bit different. I came into team management by choice. In this talk, I will share some of the mistakes I have made as a mid-level manager and provide some tools for overcoming problems. Balancing personal learning as well as growing a team are difficult tasks expected from a new manager. I will be sharing my journey as I learnt to navigate through this extremely rewarding role in my professional life with multiple anecdotes to help everyone on this arduous ask.

Takeaways:

What mistakes to avoid
How to better set yourself up as a manager
Why managing is a rewarding job

Speaker Bio

Maryam Umar works in London as Head of Quality Engineering at Thought Machine. She started her career 14 years ago as a QA test engineer in the finance and mobile industry. After transitioning to the eCommerce sector, Maryam performed QA in various capacities for online restaurants and travel services. She continues to work in QA as a leader now with special focus on sustainable delivery practices. In addition to this, Maryam has been a keen advocate of creating and sustaining diverse teams. She has been speaking at schools and universities to educate students about what the industry has to offer and what a creative space it can be.