Consultancy Practices
<default_to_action> When consulting on quality:
- LISTEN FIRST: Understand their context before prescribing solutions
- DISCOVER: What's the pain? What have they tried? What are constraints?
- PRIORITIZE: Impact/effort matrix - high impact, low effort first
- TRANSFER KNOWLEDGE: Leave them better, not dependent on you
- MEASURE: Define success metrics upfront, track weekly
Engagement Types:
- Assessment (1-4 weeks): Discover, analyze, recommend
- Transformation (3-12 months): Implement new practices
- Advisory (ongoing): Strategic guidance, course-correct
- Crisis (1-4 weeks): Fix critical issues blocking production
Key Questions:
- "Walk me through your last deployment"
- "Tell me about a recent bug that escaped to production"
- "If you could fix one thing, what would it be?" </default_to_action>
Quick Reference Card
The Consulting Process
| Phase | Duration | Goal | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | Week 1-2 | Understand context | Interview notes, observations |
| Analysis | Week 2-3 | Identify root causes | Impact/effort matrix |
| Recommendations | Week 3-4 | Present findings | Report with roadmap |
| Implementation | Month 2-6+ | Execute changes | Working system, trained team |
| Transition | Final month | Ensure self-sufficiency | Handover docs |
Impact/Effort Matrix
| Priority | What | Action |
|---|---|---|
| High Impact, Low Effort | Quick wins | Do first |
| High Impact, High Effort | Major initiatives | Plan carefully |
| Low Impact, Low Effort | Nice-to-haves | If time permits |
| Low Impact, High Effort | Distractions | Skip |
Common Patterns
"We Need Test Automation"
What they say: "We need test automation" What they mean: "Manual testing is too slow/expensive"
Discovery: How long is regression? What's deployment frequency?
Typical Finding: They need faster feedback, not "automation"
Recommendation:
- Unit tests for new code (TDD)
- Smoke tests for critical paths
- Keep exploratory for discovery
- Build automation incrementally
"Fix Our Quality Problem"
What they say: "We have too many bugs" What they mean: "Something is broken but we don't know what"
Discovery: Where found? What types? When introduced?
Typical Finding: No test strategy, testing too late, poor feedback loops
Recommendation:
- Shift testing left
- Improve coverage on critical paths
- Speed up CI/CD feedback
- Better requirements/acceptance criteria
"We Want to Scale Quality"
What they say: "Growing fast, quality can't keep up" What they mean: "Can't hire enough QA fast enough"
Discovery: Current QA:Dev ratio? Where's QA spending time?
Typical Finding: QA is bottleneck - manual regression, gatekeeping
Recommendation:
- Make QA strategic, not tactical
- Developers own test automation
- QA focuses on exploratory, risk analysis
- Use agentic approaches for scale
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Problem | Better |
|---|---|---|
| Cookie-Cutter | Same solution everywhere | Context-specific recommendations |
| Tool Pusher | Recommend expensive tools | Tools that solve actual problems |
| Process Nazi | Impose rigid process | Lightweight, fits their culture |
| Permanent Fixture | Never leave, create dependency | Work toward them not needing you |
| Blame Game | Point fingers at people | Fix systems, not blame people |
Difficult Situations
"We already tried that" → "Tell me what you tried and what didn't work" (learn from their experience)
"Our context is special" → "Help me understand what makes yours special" (they might be right, or making excuses)
"We don't have budget/time" → "What's the cost of not fixing this? Let's start small" (show ROI)
"That won't work here" → "What specific constraints? Let's adapt" (find what WILL work)
Agent Integration
// Automated codebase assessment
const assessment = await Task("Assess Codebase", {
scope: 'client-project/',
depth: 'comprehensive',
reportFormat: 'executive-summary'
}, "qe-quality-analyzer");
// Returns: { qualityScore, testCoverage, technicalDebt, recommendations }
// ROI analysis for quality initiatives
const roi = await Task("Calculate ROI", {
currentState: { defectEscapeRate: 0.15, mttr: 48 },
proposedImprovements: ['test-automation', 'ci-cd-pipeline'],
timeframe: '6-months'
}, "qe-quality-analyzer");
// Returns: { estimatedCost, estimatedSavings, paybackPeriod }Agent Coordination Hints
Memory Namespace
aqe/consultancy/
├── assessments/* - Client assessments
├── recommendations/* - Prioritized recommendations
├── roi-analysis/* - ROI calculations
└── progress/* - Implementation trackingFleet Coordination
const consultingFleet = await FleetManager.coordinate({
strategy: 'client-engagement',
agents: [
'qe-quality-analyzer', // Assess current state
'qe-regression-risk-analyzer', // Risk assessment
'qe-quality-gate', // Define quality gates
'qe-deployment-readiness' // Deployment maturity
],
topology: 'hierarchical'
});Related Skills
- quality-metrics - Metrics for client reporting
- risk-based-testing - Client risk assessment
- holistic-testing-pact - Comprehensive strategy
Remember
Good consulting is about empowering teams, not creating dependency. Your success is measured by them not needing you anymore - while still wanting to work with you again.
Best compliment: "We've got this now, but when we tackle X next year, we're calling you."
Be honest. Be helpful. Be context-driven. Leave them better.