Automating work allocation so quality checks never wait on one person

The problem

Quality checks on new sales depended on a manual step: a QA manager reviewing each incoming sale and assigning it to a team member. It worked, but it created a single point of failure. Any absence or late start delayed every check behind it, and with them the time to activate customers.

My approach

• Started from the expert. Worked from a business requirements document written with the QA manager, so the automation encoded how assignment actually worked, not how we assumed it did.
• Rules, not guesswork. Designed allocation around role-based permissions and each reviewer’s assigned partners, so work only goes to people qualified and permitted to handle it.
• Kept a human override. Automatic assignment covers the gaps, while the manager can still step in and reassign.
• Phased rollout. Launching with one business line first, then extending to others with line-specific rules, rather than one big-bang release.

Outcome

[add outcome, e.g. queue wait time before/after, or % of sales auto-assigned]

What I learned

Automating a person’s judgement only works if that person helps design it. Making the QA manager a co-author of the rules turned a potential source of resistance into the strongest advocate for the change.