What I do exactly
As described above in the title, I have three different areas and roles that are part of my profesional life: quality management, sustainability management and team leading.
Sometimes the whole thing feels like a ball of wool in which all the fibres are intertwined somehow... plus it seems quite complicated to explain all these area together, so that is why I will break things down (divide and conquer) and provide details of each of them separately... Do not go yet, and keep reading :).
Being a Quality Manager
I started working as a quality manager over 12 years ago and helped to build up a quality management system for private brand items for the following product categories: toys, sport items, shoes and clothing. Currently, one of my core responsibilities is to ensure that products comply with legal, social and internal company requirements, so we put products to the test, evaluate them and iteratively repeat again to improve the process and get better over time.
My job also includes setting up different quality assurance (QA) systems for specific product groups and team support. If you want to dive deeper, just check out my post about Quality Management in the Toys Industry.
Being a Sustainable Manager
As a student, I was always interested ih the topic of sustainability, in particular, in working conditions (of women) in the global textile supply chain and how corporate sustainability strategies (can) positively contribute to the issue of gender equality.
That was a trigger, so I started to define and implement sustainable requirements for products in my job as a quality manager, and it was during this journey, when I entered the sustainability aspects of a product's entire life cycle: from the use of sustainable resources and the use of harmless chemicals to the most optimised logistics routes possible, to the disposal and recycling of materials. Today I am responsible for the sustainability strategy of my current employer.
Being a Team Lead
The most important levers to bring up a team to the next level are:
1. Know your people:This is about communication and I use 1:1s to indent strengths and areas of opportunities.By determining which team member excels at which task, you can delegate the required tasks to the appropriate person and keep the motivation at its highest level.
2. Inclusive working culture: development and progress can only happen in an inclusive culture where everyone can feel comfortable and ideas and doubts can be openly addressed and discussed. As a team lead we have to define values and team mission in a collaborative way.
3. Career Path: set up developing fields of each person and clear expectations.