As if releasing a quality software project on time were not difficult enough, poor management dealing with planning, people, and process issues can be deadly to a project. Presenting a series of anti-pattern case studies, Ken Whitaker describes the most common deadly habits-and ways to avoid them. These seven killer habits are mishandling employee incentives; making key decisions by consensus; ignoring proven processes; delegating absolute control to a project manager; taking too long to negotiate a project's scope; releasing an "almost tested" product to market; and hiring someone who is not quite qualified-but liked by everyone. Whether you are an experienced manager struggling with some of these issues or a new software manager, you'll take away invaluable tips and techniques correcting these habits-or better yet, avoiding them altogether. As a bonus, every attendee will receive a copy of Ken's full-color 7 Deadly Habits comic .

1.
BW1
Concurrent Session
11/7/2012 10:15 AM
"Seven Deadly Habits of
Dysfunctional Software Managers"
Presented by:
Ken Whitaker
Leading Software Maniacs
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073
888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com

2. Ken Whitaker
Leading Software Maniacs™ (LSM)
Ken Whitaker of Leading Software Maniacs™ (LSM) has more than twenty-five years of
software development executive leadership and training experience in a variety of technology
roles and industries. Ken has led commercial software teams at Software Publishing, Data
General, embedded systems software companies, and enterprise software suppliers. He is an
active PMI® member, Project Management Professional (PMP)® certified, and a Certified
ScrumMaster (CSM). Sources for LSM’s presentations come from case studies, personal
leadership experience, the PMI Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide),
and Ken’s leadership books: Managing Software Maniacs, Principles of Software Development
Leadership, and I’m Not God, I’m Just a Project Manager. Read more
at pmchalkboard.com and pmuniversity.com.

3. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software
Managers
Ken Whitaker
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Leading Software Maniacs Marks
Applying Project Management Principles to Software Development Leadership,
Principles of Software Development Leadership, 4Ps, Leading Software
Maniacs, Soft-Audit, Jus’ E’Nuff, Nerd Herd Game, the 4Ps logo, the Leading
Software Maniacs logo, PM University, PM Chalkboard, and the Nerd Herd
Game logo are marks of Leading Software Maniacs, LLC.
Project Management Institute Marks
PMI, PMP, PMBOK, the PMI logo, and the PMI Registered Education Provider
logo are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
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1

4. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Agenda
§ Everyone should refer to your “7 Deadly Habits
of Ineffective Software Managers” comix
§ For the next hour we’ll discuss each of the 7
deadly habits …
… and constructive ways to handle them
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My goal today?
You’ll learn at least
one new tip today
to put into practice today!
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2

5. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Agenda
§ Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
§ Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But
Who Everyone Likes
§ Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
§ Promising Developers Incentives
§ Delegating Absolute Control to a Project
Manager
§ Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and
Schedules
§ Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
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Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Ø Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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3

6. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Daniel, newly promoted software executive, wants
to prove himself
§ Company was in trouble
§ 3 quarters of disappointing financial results
§ A major product upgrade Company Quarterly Financials
in progress
§ …and it needs to be released this quarter
$700
$600
$500
$400
$300
$200
$100
$0
Planned
Actual
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
(current)
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Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Daniel thought the delivery was possible and
proclaimed:
“We CAN deliver the software
suite THIS QUARTER!”
Then, Daniel informed his team of the news…
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4

7. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
“Get with it, Man
… NO software is
100% error free!”
“This software isn’t
close to being
ready for
release!”
Becky, Engineering Lead, wearing a
“Born to Kill Microsoft” helmet
Dante, QA Lead (a descendant from
Dante’s Inferno)
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Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
A month went by
§ Defect trends (incoming versus fixed) not good
§ Daniel presented facts back to the executives
Defect Tracking Control Chart
“No quarter shipment is possible”
10
9
8
7
Defects
§ What did the executive team decide???
6
5
Incoming
4
Corrected
3
2
1
0
M
T
W
T
F
M
T
W
T
F
Daily Progress
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5

8. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
The executive team made the decision to:
1. Release the product anyway
2. We’ll follow with a quick maintenance
update
always show how
customer-centric you are by how fast
“You can
to market you release and how fast you
fix the defects”
Crazy-talkin’ VP of Marketing told the executive staff
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Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Deadly Results
§ Product launch was a disaster!
§ Management team had no recourse but to layoff
staff
§ Engineers worked hard to correct issues…
and to help customer support
§ Company lost credibility with customers
§ Management team lost credibility with
employees
§ Everyone paid the price for poor quality
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9. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
What could have been done differently?
1. Never commit until you have the facts and
support from the team
2. Rather than be a hero, ensure that risks are
understood and
communicated frequently
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Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
What could have been done differently?
3. Always make decisions on your predefined
checks
Defect Tracking Control Chart
and
8
7
balances
Defects
6
5
4
Incoming
3
Corrected
2
1
0
M
T
W
T
F
M
T
W
T
F
Daily Progress
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7

10. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Quality Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Monitoring &
Controlling
Plan Quality
Perform Quality
Assurance
Closing
Perform Quality
Control
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
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Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
§ Habit
Ø Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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8

11. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
Shelly wants to hire a senior database engineer
§ Required skill set or is it just desired?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Designer and implementer (“hands on”)
Balance mixed workload (multitasking)
Ability to communicate
Demonstrated experience in C#, Java, …
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Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
Position was posted
§ Received tons of résumés
(out of a 100, how many are usually qualified?)
Interviewing took place, no great candidates
§ Three months came and went …
§ In walks Brian!
§ Interviewed well, articulate, employed, …
§ Has been technical, recently a project manager
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12. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
Brian comes in for a second round
Shelly whispered the “low down” before the
interview
§ Interview feedback was mixed, isn’t it usually?
§ Wasn’t quite as technical as the team would like
§ Would fit into culture quite well
§ Genuine excitement for the candidate
§ HR performed reference checks
(Shelly didn’t have the time)
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Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
Bottom line:
Brian was hired. Great!
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13. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
At first everything went well…
1. Then Brian started getting behind
2. Team had to shoulder his workload
3. Resentment set in
4. After three months…
Brian was let go!
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Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
Deadly Results
§ Set the project back
§ Destroyed team morale
§ Undermined confidence in hiring manager/
process
§ Brian’s résumé now has a major blemish
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11

14. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
What could have been done differently?
1. Solidify job expectations as
requirements
targeted job posting
Shelly should have performed reference
checks
2. Pre-screen with
3.
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Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
Best practice
You could resort to the
try before you buy
approach, right?
No!
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12

15. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite
Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
Human Resource Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Monitoring &
Controlling
Closing
Develop Human Acquire Project
Resource Plan
Team
Develop
Project
Team
Manage
Project
Team
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
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Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
§ Habit
§ Habit
Ø Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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13

16. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
Prior project was just released
§ Major product update badly needed
§ Tim, project manager, kicks off a
team meeting:
This meeting
ended BADLY!!!
“Let’s decide what goes into
the next version!”
§ No agenda, just ideas…
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Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
A second try…
Tim was better prepared with multiple lists:
§ Key defects
§ Customer feature requests
§ Customer support issues
§ Competitor’s key features
And,
everybody was invited!
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17. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
This time, there was lots of brainstorming:
§ War room formed
§ Each department had a different priority view
§ Needs of the customer, quality, revenue resulted
in an impasse
§ Jody, at the mercy of an indecisive jury, stormed
out!
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Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
What do you think happened?
…The executive team stepped in and took control!
1. “The business was in pain, no more
procrastination: we’ll decide for you!”
2. “Those features that will bring in the most
revenue win.”
3. “Case closed!!!”
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18. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
Deadly Results
§ Nobody wanted to go through this again
§ Team’s morale wasn’t good on new project
(features were decided for them)
§ Loss of confidence in management
§ Wasted time and energy
§ What if the forced decision was wrong???
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Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
What could have been done differently?
1. Prepare agendas and
(Tim didn’t)
desired outcomes
2. Establish a unified decision
beginning of a project
criteria
at the
3. Add credibility and sense of urgency with
time
boxed meetings
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19. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
Best practice
1. Agree to the right decision criteria up front
2. Involve the right stakeholders
3. Prepare: do the necessary homework
4. Buy-in is more important than consensus
5. Clearly communicate and reinforce the final
decisions
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Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
Project Integration Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Develop Project
Charter
Planning
Develop Project
Management
Plan
Execution
Monitoring &
Controlling
Closing
Direct and
Manage Project
Execution
Monitor and
Control Project
Work
Close Project or
Phase
Perform
Integrated
Change Control
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
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17

20. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Make Every Decision a Consensus
Decision
Project Communications Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Monitoring &
Controlling
Identify
Stakeholders
Plan
Communications
Distribute
Information
Closing
Report
Performance
Manage
Stakeholder
ExpectaAons
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
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Promising Developers Incentives
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
Ø Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
.
.
.
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21. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Promising Developers Incentives
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
Ø Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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Promising Developers Incentives
“Let’s motivate the programmers by dangling some
incentives!”
§ Jason reluctantly offered incentives to two of the
key engineers
One engineer wasn’t convinced,
but reluctantly agreed
The other engineer was
excited, “Why not? I could
use the money!”
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22. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Promising Developers Incentives
The “catch”!
A delivery schedule
must be made
So, did the team deliver?
Oh oh – what did
management do?
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Promising Developers Incentives
Deadly Results
§ You guessed it! The incentives were
dropped
§ Incentivized members were mad
§ Non-incentivized members
found out, then they were mad
§ Management lost all
credibility
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23. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Promising Developers Incentives
What could have been done differently?
1. Management vs employee culture statement:
Win-win, win-lose, lose-win, or lose-lose
2. Avoid encouraging incentives: they can
introduce shortcuts and bad implementation
3. Always reinforce the right culture:
Team-centric
Commitment
Trust
Transparency
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Promising Developers Incentives
So what happened to the project?
Glad you asked…
1. Project was FINALLY
released!
2. The best
developers quit
out of disgust
3. The company
eventually folded
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24. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Promising Developers Incentives
§ Definition
Two definition terms
stand out for Incentive:
inducement and
bait
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus
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Promising Developers Incentives
Best practice
Awards
are significantly better than
incentives
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22

25. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Promising Developers Incentives
Human Resource Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Develop Human
Resource Plan
Monitoring &
Controlling
Closing
Acquire Project
Team
Develop
Project
Team
Manage
Project
Team
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
Copyright
©
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So2ware
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Reserved.
Delegating Absolute Control to a
Project Manager
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
Ø Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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23

26. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Delegating Absolute Control to a
Project Manager
Is
command & control
needed?
The team
There is typically a division of power where a balance of power is needed instead
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Delegating Absolute Control to a
Project Manager
Question
Just how technical does a
project manager
need to be?
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24

27. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Delegating Absolute Control to a
Project Manager
Lana chosen by
Rowland
1. “Rollback” logic
feature needed
2. Lana presents the
story to the team
3. The team commits to
2 weeks of effort
Rowland gets involved
with Lana
1. “Rollback” logic reexplanation
2. May need a more
robust solution
3. The team commits to
2 months of effort
D?
NE
PE
AP
TH
HA
W
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Delegating Absolute Control to a
Project Manager
Deadly Results
§ Negative impact to the team
§ Low team morale
§ No confidence in management
§ No trust with decision making process
§ If not handled correctly…
§ PM role became a “scheduler”
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25

28. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Delegating Absolute Control to a
Project Manager
What could have been done differently?
1. W-W-W-W
2. If you don’t know
the content,
buddy-up with
somebody who
does!
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Delegating Absolute Control to a
Project Manager
Project Scope Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Collect
Requirements
Define Scope
Create WBS
Monitoring &
Controlling
Closing
Verify Scope
Control Scope
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
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29. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature
Sets and Schedules
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
Ø Habit
§ Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Nobody wins
(but I do have
a little
secret…)
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Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature
Sets and Schedules
§ Project was shipped
§ The team was exhausted
§ Project manager and
product manager met
Then they met with
with the team…
“What do you want?”
EVERYTHING!
“Ohhhhhh sure, we’ll get back to you!”
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30. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature
Sets and Schedules
Team responds with laundry list estimates
“Too many and unfocused, we’ll get back to you”
Product management is
thinking “I don’t trust
these estimates…”
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Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature
Sets and Schedules
The one thing both parties didn’t realize…
§ Over 50% of requested features
used!
aren’t even
Always
7%
Often
13%
Never
45%
Sometimes
16%
Could this
be an
example
of the
80/20
rule?
Rarely
19%
Jim Johnson, XP 2002 requested feature survey results (The Standish Group)
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31. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature
Sets and Schedules
Deadly Results
§ After weeks of negotiating it came down to this:
“What’s more important: the schedule or the
feature?”
“BOTH!”
§ Two sides to every coin: “I lost a lot!” &
“Why weren’t you all realistic to begin with?”
Copyright
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Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature
Sets and Schedules
What could have been done differently?
1. Reduced
projects
unnecessary gaps
between
Project Vision first
Use forward motion technique
2. Establish a
3.
4. Minimize any clash
and emphasize trust
between departments
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29

32. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature
Sets and Schedules
Project Scope Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Monitoring &
Controlling
Collect
Requirements
Verify Scope
Define Scope
Closing
Control Scope
Create WBS
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
Copyright
©
Leading
So2ware
Maniacs,
LLC.
All
Rights
Reserved.
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release
Quickly
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
§ Habit
Ø Habit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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30

33. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release
Quickly
“We gotta get this product released!”
The result is
always a mess
My friend’s
company has no
process at all…
Isn’t that
what agile is
about???
They seem to
ship on time!
We don’t…too
much process
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Ignoring a Process In Order to Release
Quickly
Self-driven team empowered to just “get it done”
At first…
“This is pretty neat”
“No meetings – we can focus on doing the work”
E-mail becomes
The
communications vehicle
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34. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release
Quickly
Deadly Results
Project status becomes difficult to determine
Water cooler decisions abound
“Gold
Engineers become
feature happy
Quality is DOA
plating” suits
me mighty fine!
(not everybody is
kept informed)
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Ignoring a Process In Order to Release
Quickly
The #1 action of an
“out of control project” took place:
You guessed it:
Project restart!
CHAOS 2000 survey results (The Standish Group)
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35. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release
Quickly
A not-so-famous marketing consultant told me
“Any software development team can get by
without a process once
… but you’ll always get beaten by a competitor
with a process in the long run.”
Copyright
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Ignoring a Process In Order to Release
Quickly
Integration Management knowledge area
… in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Process Groups
Implementation
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Monitoring &
Controlling
Closing
Develop Project
Charter
Develop Project
Management
Plan
Direct and
Manage Project
Execution
Monitor and
Control Project
Work
Close Project or
Phase
Project
Management
InsAtute,
a
Guide
to
the
Project
Management
Body
of
Knowledge,
(PMBOK®
Guide)
-­‐
Fourth
EdiAon,
Project
Management
InsAtute,
Inc.,
2008,
extract
from
Table
3-­‐1,
Page
43
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Leading
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Maniacs,
LLC.
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33

36. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Bibliography
§ Project Management Institute, Inc. A Guide to the Project
Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide, 4th Edition.
Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 2008.
§ The Standish Group. Chaos Reports (1994-2006).
www.standishgroup.com.
§ Whitaker, Ken. Principles of Software Development Leadership:
Applying Project Management Principles to Agile Software
Development. Boston: Course Technology PTR, 2009.
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37. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Soooo, did
you learn what
you expected
today?
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www.leadingswmaniacs.com
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Leading
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