QualityMinds from the perspective of the Minds? Today’s portrait features Adina, who is a passionate tester and works in community management. Most of the time she works from home, where she takes advantage of the many training opportunities offered by QualityMinds in addition to her exciting tasks. She can also often be found in the beautiful Munich office, where she enjoys meeting up with her colleagues. Together they develop new ideas and exchange ideas over a cup of coffee.

What do you appreciate about your working model at QualityMinds?

Adina: The benefits of remote work are clear: flexible working is very practical, balancing family and career is easier, and overall, there’s less pressure and stress. With a child in elementary school, this work model is fantastic because I can adjust my working hours flexibly, allowing me to spend more time with my family. My husband and I have to take care of our child on our own, without grandparents we can call for help. I used to work in a traditional 9-to-5 job where I had to be 150% available all day. That put me under pressure in family situations, like when I had to pick up my child spontaneously because, for example, there was only emergency care available at the kindergarten.

I also appreciate being able to use my lunch breaks for exercise. Twice a week, my husband and I go on a 30-kilometer bike ride. It’s great for our fitness and allows us to escape daily life for an hour and a half. Although it’s sometimes hard to get going because there’s still a lot of work waiting, I always come up with new ideas while I’m outside. The ride refreshes me and makes my afternoons more creative. Especially in winter, when we enjoy nature despite the weather, sometimes spotting animals in the forest or experiencing the first snowfall.

Have you ever worked outside your home office, for example, in cafés or while traveling?

Adina: Since longer trips are challenging with my school-aged child, I primarily work from home. During the winter break, we spent some time in Berlin for the first time, where our grandmother lives. We worked from our holiday accommodation while the child stayed with the grandmother, and in the evenings, we were able to explore Berlin. Thanks to remote work, I can work from anywhere, a fantastic opportunity that QualityMinds provides me.

Are there also challenges with working from home?

Adina: In my home office, I work more focused and productively because it’s quieter there. However, for that very reason, I sometimes find it harder to take breaks or finish the workday on time. Since we don’t have a separate office, it’s often tempting to keep working.

To counteract this, I’ve established a fixed routine with calendar blocks. I schedule two daily time slots for communication, during which I respond to emails and Slack messages. After that, I turn off all communication tools and enter a ‘focus time’ where I work without interruptions. I’ve also reserved specific slots in my calendar for breaks, during which I consciously leave my home office workspace and refrain from doing any household chores.

Do you have rituals in your day-to-day home office routine?

Adina: My workday follows a clear structure that requires discipline but also ensures a healthier and better-organized daily routine. This ritual provides me with stability, though it can be refreshing when it’s occasionally disrupted. My flexible work model allows me to spend time with my family during lunch and work longer in the evening if needed. When after-school care is unavailable, we have lunch together, and our child does homework in the living room with us afterward. Interestingly, the focused work atmosphere also motivates our child to work more diligently.

How did you find your way to QualityMinds?

Adina: I started ballet at the age of six and completed my ballet training alongside my high school diploma. Afterward, I worked professionally at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. The discipline, organization, and structure I learned during that time continue to benefit me in my professional life today.

After my ballet career, I studied cultural management and then moved to the USA. Seven years later, I returned to Europe and began working as an executive assistant in Germany. However, since this position didn’t provide enough challenges, I transitioned to QualityMinds, where I initially worked in sales and later in testing, and now also work as a community manager on various projects.

In the testing area, I quickly realized that I had a knack for the work and gradually took on a role in team-building. I became the central point of contact, ensuring smooth communication between testers, test managers, and developers, while always keeping an eye on the well-being of the team members. My ability to connect people and create a positive atmosphere eventually led me to the exciting field of community management. I’ve been working in this area for a year now, using my experience from testing to build ‘Communities of Practice.’ This allows me to better understand the challenges testers face and address their needs more effectively.

I love that at QualityMinds, employees can constantly develop dynamically in and with their roles. When I expressed interest in the role of community manager, I was given the opportunity to pursue this direction without any difficulty.

Which further training opportunities do you use at QualityMinds?

Adina: I try to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible and reach my targeted learning time. QualityMinds’ agile learning coaching offering has been a great help in this regard.

Recently, I focused intensively on preparing for the ISTQB certification (an internationally standardized qualification in software testing). Together with a colleague in a learning tandem and with the support of my agile learning coach, Nora, we experimented with various learning methods and adapted them flexibly according to agile principles when they didn’t work. Learning in tandem was motivating, especially since we faced similar challenges with the complex material. We also structured our learning time with daily ‘dailies’ and check-outs.

One advantage at QualityMinds is that we were given a week off from our projects to fully concentrate on exam preparation. Our agile learning coach also supported us with personal learning challenges, offered spontaneous sessions, and taught us stress management techniques.

She also emphasized the importance of rewarding ourselves for our efforts. In many companies, an additional reward beyond achieving the learning goal, such as the certification in my case, is considered secondary. However, such incentives significantly boost motivation to truly reach the goal. My personal reward was treating myself to a spa day. As a motivational aid, I hung a visualization of this reward above my desk.

Before the exam, the agile learning coaching helped me realistically reflect on my fears and stay grounded. For instance, our agile learning coach asked, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Mindfulness and breathing exercises also helped alleviate nervousness. In the end, we passed the exam—a fantastic success!

My current learning project is Sketch Noting, the art of creating visual notes to represent concepts more clearly. This technique is my “passion project” because I am visually oriented, and I find it fascinating to present content in a visually appealing way during presentations. Sketch Noting also perfectly complements my role as a Community Manager, supports me in projects, and gives me the opportunity to teach this method to others. In a current project, the “Test Community of Practice,” I plan to use Sketch Noting in workshops to convey content more effectively.

This year, I also had the exciting opportunity to participate in the Cultivating Communities of Practice Workshop with Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner. This truly transformative and insightful experience with other leaders and innovators in Communities of Practice allowed me to step out of my usual environment, focus on further education, and escape the everyday routine. My participation in the Cultivating Communities of Practice Workshop was immediately supported.

At QualityMinds, we have the freedom to pursue further education beyond our direct work tasks and to explore topics that genuinely interest us. This support for professional development is one of the reasons I enjoy working here so much—unlike other companies that often only offer predefined training, we can choose what truly benefits us.

I often participate in our company-wide virtual learning group, which is facilitated by an agile learning coach. The participants use this time to work on their own learning projects. This learning slot provides a fantastic opportunity for further education and makes learning in a group setting particularly motivating.

How do you communicate in the home office?

Adina: In my team, there’s a desire to make the office atmosphere more tangible, even while working remotely. To achieve this, we’ve planned to set up a permanent Teams channel as a “virtual office” during the day. This channel is open to anyone who wants to connect with their colleagues, even without a specific meeting purpose.

The goal of this virtual office is to simulate the familiar office feeling and create a dynamic, collaborative work environment. There are no set topics or agendas—everyone works on their own tasks, but all within a shared digital space. Before joining the Teams call, you leave a short message in the channel so others can see that someone is already online and decide if they want to join as well.

The virtual office allows for easy discussion of small matters or giving each other feedback without the need for a formal meeting. It creates a flexible environment for spontaneous conversations and creative collaboration, which strengthens our team’s connection and spirit.

Conclusion

Adina: What I particularly love about my work model at QualityMinds is the flexibility that remote work offers. It allows me to better balance family and career while shaping my daily routine to fit my needs. The opportunity to develop through a wide range of training programs is something I find truly enriching. At the same time, clear structures and routines help me stay not only productive but also balanced in my home office, which positively impacts both my family life and overall well-being.

Want to learn more about Communities of Practice or other topics related to software quality, testing, requirements engineering, and agile software development? Feel free to check out our Podcast ‘QualityHeroes’.

Want to read more from our Minds? Check out the interviews with our colleagues here: Tine, Nora, Max, Bettina, Klaus, Mario, Katja, Tobias, Richard and Lukas.