Maria Lindqvist is Quality Assurance Manager at eBerry, part of Nordic Choice Hotels. Besides leading her team, she ensures they have the right people and tools to deliver great digital quality products to our hotel guests. She enjoys the company culture as you’re allowed to try out your ideas, and if something doesn’t go according to plan, it’s seen as a valuable learning process.
What are you doing at Nordic Choice Hotels?
I am working as a Quality Assurance Manager. As well as leading a small team, I keep everyone informed about the quality of our digital products and improve our way of working. I give my team space to grow and the freedom to take responsibility for their own work. We always want to be better and strive to improve. My day-to-day work involves being there for my colleagues, removing blockers, making sure that they grow as people and that we have high-quality products. I am one with the team and we work together closely, always performing the required checks to ensure that we have the tools to deliver great quality to our guests.
How did you end up here? Tell us about your current role.
My journey started as a front-end developer and over the years I became more interested in testing, which eventually became the starting point of my new career as Quality Assurance Manager. I have worked as a tester, an automation tester, a test lead and Quality Assurance Manager primary in the finance industry so the opportunity to change to the hotel industry was a challenge to learn new things.
Can you describe a typical working day from start to finish?
We start every day with a standup, where the team goes through their focus areas for the day and what blockers they have. After that, I work on my testing tasks and keep the team informed about my findings. I have meetings throughout the day during which we discuss improvements to our daily operations and the quality of our products. I also conduct weekly one-to-one meetings with individual team members to ensure that they have everything they need to perform their tasks and to spark their inner drive.
What kind of things do you sort out for hotel guests?
In the end, the most important thing is to make sure that our guests have a great experience during the booking process and during their stay. The app allows guests to choose their room number, pay, check in/out, use their phone as a mobile key or receive their membership restaurant vouchers. In this way we make every step of their journey convenient and memorable.
“I really appreciate that we work together to create fun products that everyone can relate to. I also enjoy that we work closely with our end-users, the hotel guests."
What is the best thing about working at Nordic Choice Hotels?
You will always get the opportunity to try out your ideas. Hopefully your idea will turn out great, but if not, there are no worries we will back you up and fix it together. We really encourage people to try new things, and have the courage to fail, so we can learn together. Our organisation is also really flat - everyone talks to everyone, you collaborate closely and take joint responsibility for the work.
Another thing I really appreciate is that we work together to create fun products that everyone can relate to. I also enjoy that we work closely with our end-users - the guests - and we get to visit our hotels to see how the hotel staff work and how the guests use our products.
What are your thoughts on the company culture? What makes us unique?
It’s very obvious that we’re working in the hospitality industry - people are extremely guest-oriented and service-minded. There’s always someone willing to help! Everyone has a voice, regardless of what their role within the organisation might be.
Why do you want to keep working for Nordic Choice Hotels?
Our company culture and the desire to create the best possible guest experience. It’s great to be part of that journey, and I love working and growing together with amazing people. It’s that energy that gets me up in the morning!
Can you describe a typical Nordic Choice Hotels employee?
We’re service-minded, we encourage each other, we celebrate each others successes and we learn together from our failures.
How do your values align with those of the company?
The whole company is very diverse and sustainable - there are people here from all over the world. We really do have room for all!
What’s the best thing about working in tech within the hotel industry?
Traditionally, the hospitality industry hasn’t been particularly technical, so this is an opportunity to make a real change and work with some cool products. It’s fun to see how they make a difference straight away!
