Software Management Plan
(part II)
Fear of trying: The plight of rookie project managers
Coaching the rookie manager
10 lessons learned from implementing integrated
product teams
Fear of trying: The plight of rookie project managers
• What do we teach the rookies who have just been
appointed to lead their first software project?
• Four attributes:
– Communication
• Understand how to tune your communication (presentation,
written report, a phone call, etc) to the audience
• The overall thrust of the communication may be the same, but
the tone and structure differ for each audience
• Some people has natural instinct, but most don’t
• Must be trained by mentors
By R. Pressman, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 281-283, 2006
Fear of trying: The plight of rookie project
managers
•
Four attributes:
– Negotiation
•
•
•
•
Rob Thomsett refers to “first, second, and third wave” project
management.
First wave (1960s, 1970s): software people dictated the
delivery dates and costs to the end users
Second wave (1980s): more balanced relationship
Third wave (1990s): balance of power shifted to the customers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Establish a dialogue
Plot negotiating strategy
Identify, then overcome, obstacles to success
Come to terms
Make it happen
By R. Pressman, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 281-283, 2006
Fear of trying: The plight of rookie project
managers
•
Four attributes:
–
Organization
•
•
•
–
Managers need organizational skills to administer the technical work,
coordinate the people who are assigned the tasks, and track/control
the progress
Organization is a partitioning process, know how to partition well
Partition the interactions with team members, know which roles are
most important in any given situation
Facilitation
•
•
Make things easy for the technical people doing the work
Shield the team from burdens of everyday corporate bureaucracy
By R. Pressman, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 281-283, 2006
Coaching the rookie manager
•
•
•
•
•
How do we grow good project managers?
Coaching vs. mentoring
Be willing to be coached
Learning through experience
An example of interaction between a rookie team
manager (Frank) and a developer (Henry)
– Match on “what must be done”
– Frank had section “what Henry does not need to do to
succeed.”
By L. Hohmann, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 285-287, 2006
10 lessons learned from implementing
integrated product teams (IPTs)
• Leadership
– Lesson 1: strong upper management commitment to
drive the implementation of concurrent engineering and
IPTs in the face of opposition is required
– Lesson 2: three to six months after adopting concurrent
engineering (CE) and integrated product teams (IPTs),
there is a high level of frustration and a desire to revert
to the familiar approaches. Strong leadership is required
to continue to employ CE and IPT approaches
By P.R. Popick and S.A. Sheard, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 295-298, 2006
10 lessons learned from implementing
integrated product teams (IPTs)
• IPT set up
– Lesson 3: take the time to clearly define the IPT
purpose, end products, customers, process, and
product measures, resources, and team incentives.
Encourage the IPTs to act within their empowerment
domains
• Decision making
– Lesson 4: Carefully define the consensus decisionmaking procedure and when it is to be used, and use it
to make some important decisions at all levels of the
organization
By P.R. Popick and S.A. Sheard, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 295-298, 2006
10 lessons learned from implementing
integrated product teams (IPTs)
• Roles and responsibilities
– Lesson 5: Make sure the leadership (including all levels
of management) and the IPTs define, record, and
commit to the new roles and responsibilities.
Periodically, the leadership and the IPTs should review
and revise the roles and responsibilities
• Communication
– Lesson 6: Effective and efficient team communication
depends upon the IPT membership recognizing which
work is best done as a team, as a subteam, and as
individuals
By P.R. Popick and S.A. Sheard, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 295-298, 2006
10 lessons learned from implementing
integrated product teams (IPTs)
• Communication
– Lesson 7: Establish a formal mechanism for
communication between IPTs, and identify IPT
dependencies early
• Team skills and training
– Lesson 8: Make sure the IPTs are supported with
training that defines a core set of engineering discipline
skills, interpersonal skills, IPT methods skills, and
project management skills
By P.R. Popick and S.A. Sheard, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 295-298, 2006
10 lessons learned from implementing
integrated product teams (IPTs)
• A changing work sequence to develop engineering
products
– Lesson 9: Engineers and managers need to recognize and adopt a
different approach to engineering work product development to
realize the benefits of concurrent engineering
• A balanced system approach to CE and IPTs
– Lesson 10: CE and IPT approaches require integration into the
overall system of management, with a focus on establishing the IPT
empowerment and determining how performance appraisals and
rewards will be administered in the team environment
By P.R. Popick and S.A. Sheard, Software Management, 7th Ed., pp. 295-298, 2006