Recommandé
Recommandé
Contenu connexe
En vedette
En vedette (18)
Similaire à Seven Deadly Habits of Ineffective Software Managers
Similaire à Seven Deadly Habits of Ineffective Software Managers (20)
Plus de TechWell
Plus de TechWell (20)
Dernier
Dernier (20)
Seven Deadly Habits of Ineffective Software Managers
- 1. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1 7 Deadly Habits of Ineffective Software Managers Ken Whitaker Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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 Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
- 2. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2 Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. My goal today? You’ll learn at least one new tip today to put into practice today! Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Agenda Releasing a Product Too Soon Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified Rely on Consensus Decision MakingPromising Developers Incentives Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature SetsIgnoring a Process for a Quick Release 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Ø Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
- 3. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 3 Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Daniel, newly promoted software executive, wants to prove himself § Company was in trouble § 3 quarters of disappointing financial results § A major product upgrade in progress § …and it needs to be released this quarter $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 (current) Company Quarterly Financials Planned Actual Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Daniel thought the delivery was possible and proclaimed: “We CAN deliver the software suite THIS QUARTER!” Then, Daniel informed his team of the news… Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. “This software isn’t close to being ready for release!” “Get with it, Man … NO software is 100% error free!” Becky, Engineering Lead, wearing a “Born to Kill Microsoft” helmet Dante, QA Lead (a descendant from Dante’s Inferno)
- 4. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 4 Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 M T W T F M T W T F Defects Daily Progress Defect Tracking Control Chart Incoming Corrected A month went by § Defect trends (incoming versus fixed) not good § Daniel presented facts back to the executives “No quarter shipment is possible” § What did the executive team decide??? Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The executive team made the decision to: 1. Release the product anyway 2. We’ll follow with a quick maintenance update “You can always show how customer-centric you are by how fast to market you release and how fast you fix the defects” Crazy-talkin’ VP of Marketing told the executive staff Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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
- 5. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 5 Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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 There’s one more monster thing... Releasing a Product Before It is Ready Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 M T W T F M T W T F Defects Daily Progress Defect Tracking Control Chart Incoming Corrected What could have been done differently? 3. Always make decisions on your predefined checks and balances Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Habit 1 Ø Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
- 6. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 6 Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Shelly wants to hire a senior database engineer § Required skill set 1. Designer and implementer (“hands on”) 2. Balance mixed workload (multitasking) 3. Ability to communicate 4. Demonstrated experience in C#, Java, … or is it just desired? Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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 Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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)
- 7. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Bottom line: Brian was hired. Great! Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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! Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Deadly Results § Set the project back § Destroyed team morale § Undermined confidence in hiring manager/ process § Brian’s résumé now has a major blemish
- 8. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 8 Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. What could have been done differently? 1. Solidify job expectations as requirements 2. Pre-screen with targeted job posting 3. Shelly should have performed reference checks Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Best practice You could resort to the try before you buy approach, right? No! … this usually means there’s no confidence in the hiring process Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Habit 1 § Habit 2 Ø Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
- 9. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 9 Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Prior project was just released § Major product update badly needed § Tim, project manager, kicks off a team meeting: “Let’s decide what goes into the next version!” § No agenda, just ideas… This meeting ended BADLY!!! Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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! 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! I guess consensus didn’t work this time!!! Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
- 10. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 10 Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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!!!” Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Deadly Results § Nobody wanted to go through this again § Team’s morale wasn’t good on new project (features were decided for them) § Wasted time and energy § What if the forced decision was wrong??? Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. What could have been done differently? 1. Prepare agendas and desired outcomes (Tim didn’t) 2. Establish a unified decision criteria at the beginning of a project 3. Add credibility and sense of urgency with time boxed meetings you don’t have to invite everybody either!
- 11. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11 Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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 Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 Ø Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7 . . . Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 Ø Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
- 12. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 12 Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. “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!” Promising Developers Incentives The “catch”! A delivery schedule must be made So, did the team deliver? Oh oh – what did management do? And then what happened to the incentives? Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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
- 13. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 13 Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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 Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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 Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Definition Two definition terms stand out for Incentive: inducement and bait Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus
- 14. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 14 Promising Developers Incentives Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Best practice Awards are significantly better than incentives Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 Ø Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7 There is typically a division of power Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager where a balance of power is needed instead The team Is command & control needed?
- 15. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 15 Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Question Just how technical does a project manager need to be? Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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 re- explanation 2. May need a more robust solution 3. The team commits to 2 months of effortWHAT HAPPENED? Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Deadly Results § Negative impact to the team § If not handled correctly… … the PM role became a “scheduler”… and that ain’t good!
- 16. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 16 Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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! Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 Ø Habit 6 § Habit 7 Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Project was shipped § The team was exhausted § Project manager and product manager met Then they met with with the team… “What do you want?” “Ohhhhhh sure, we’ll get back to you!” EVERYTHING!
- 17. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 17 Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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…” Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The one thing both parties didn’t realize… § Over 50% of requested features aren’t even used! Jim Johnson, XP 2002 requested feature survey results (The Standish Group) Always 7% Often 13% Sometimes 16% Rarely 19% Never 45% Could this be an example of the 80/20 rule? Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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?”
- 18. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 18 Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. What could have been done differently? 1. Reduced unnecessary gaps between projects 2. Establish a Project Vision first 3. Use forward motion technique 4. Minimize any clash between departments and emphasize trust Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. § Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 Ø Habit 7 “We gotta get this product released!” Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Sigh…this isn’t going to end well! My friend’s company has no process at all… They seem to ship on time! We don’t…too much process Isn’t that what agile is about???
- 19. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 19 Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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 Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Deadly Results Project status becomes difficult to determine Water cooler decisions abound Engineers become feature happy Quality is DOA (not everybody is kept informed) “Gold plating” suits me mighty fine! Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The #1 outcome of an “out of control project” took place: You guessed it: Project restart! CHAOS 2000 survey results (The Standish Group)
- 20. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 20 Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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.” Bibliography § Project Management Institute, Inc. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide, 5th Edition. Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 2013. § The Standish Group. Chaos Reports (1994-2006). www.standishgroup.com. § Whitaker, Ken. Managing Software Maniacs: Finding, Rewarding, and Motivating Software Developers. New York: J. Wiley & Sons, 1995. § Whitaker, Ken. Principles of Software Development Leadership: Applying Project Management Principles to Agile Software Development. Boston: Course Technology PTR, 2009. Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
- 21. KN-7DH Copyright © 2009-2014 Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 21 Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. www.leadingswmaniacs.com Copyright © 2009-‐2014 Leading So8ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.