Project Management Teamwork – a comparison of practices in software development teams with work at Google Graham Collins, UCL

Introduction  Article by Eric Schmidt (CEO Google) and Hal Varian (Berkeley professor and consultant with Google), ‘Google: Ten golden rules’ which explores getting the most out of knowledge workers and how this is achieved.  The following is a comparison of these rules with my experience in project management particularly software development and research projects, to gain an insight into getting the most from your project team.

1. Hire by Committee  ‘Everyones opinion counts’ is the philosophy at Google. They have several interviews and take on board both management and potential colleagues opinions, ‘making the hiring process fair and pushing standards higher. This positive feedback loop was started when the company was founded.  The trend in project management is very much a move to treating colleagues as fellow professionals, not just a task culture but fostering respect and passion, by valuing others opinions. (See also slide set ‘why projects fail’.)  What we can do. Joint planning is an obvious approach to gaining commitment from others via their input and views. In addition it is imperative not just to value the opinions of senior staff, but all those involved (see also implications of this in the Vienna Conference slides).

2. Cater to their every need  The Google article paraphrases Peter Drucker ‘strip away everything that gets in their way’ to ensure that the team can get on with their jobs unhindered. At Google this involves many of activities that are above typical fringe benefits including: carwashes, haircuts, dry-cleaning and first-class dining facilities  The traditional role of a project manager is often seen as a leader who makes clear decisions and the team follows. The last point makes it clear that in technology small research teams need to build consensus. In fact, individuals who disagree must be heard. An ideal forum is a workshop. This idea is not new (see also post project review slides)  What you can do. It is unlikely that you will have the facilities/resources available at Google but the shift is clear to the project manager acting as a facilitator and enabler ensuring that the team can function effectively and do their job.

3. ‘Pack them in’  ‘…sitting next to a knowledgeable employee was an incredibly effective educational experience’  Google believe that to make communications it is necessary where possible to place project teams in close proximity, ideally the same room  This is the same in agile project teams, small teams sharing the same project room with documents and tasks clearly displayed on whiteboards and Wiki project pages.

4. Make Coordination Easy  ‘…Googlers a snippet once a week to his work group describing what he has done in the last week.’  For agile projects, short stand up meetings at the start of the day to prioritise tasks, and uncover issues are often used. Weekly review meetings are useful to establish, goals, priorities and progress  I extend this idea to pair reporting, analogous to pair programming, where colleagues work in pairs and keep track of each others progress. The aims are to help themselves in case of problems or bring in the team in a supportive way with technical problems or to ensure work does not fall behind schedule.

5. ‘Eat your own Dog Food’  This colloquialism is self explanatory, with Google using web tools extensively  Keeping track of status using web-pages and the appropriate software is essential to keep the team up-to-date.

6. Encourage Creativity  Selecting projects of choice  Suggestions box – ideas mailing list  Allowing everyone to comment on these ideas.

7. Strive to Reach Consensus  ‘Building consensus often takes longer, but always produces a more committed team and better decisions.’  The role of the manager at Google is seen as an aggregator of viewpoints not as an autocratic decision maker  It is important to reach consensus, so that the goals of the project are clear. Workshops are an approach to air different views. Even if views are rejected then the speakers feel as though they have been heard and their opinions count. This is analogous to the Athenian ideals of fairness and allowing citizens to be heard.

8. ‘Don’t be Evil’  Google strive to foster an atmosphere of tolerance  Being tolerant of others ideas creates an atmosphere of less stress  In psychology it has been shown that to be creative and have innovative ideas you need to be relaxed. This encourages a different level of thinking. (See Vienna conference slides for more details on this area of psychology, which is often in business termed emotional intelligence, although this is not a separate construct.)

9. Data Driven Decisions  Decisions based on quantitative data  Analyse performance metrics and trends, using ‘dashboards’ to provide snapshots of progress  This should be achieved in all development projects so that at every level, whether in the project team or senior management, an understanding of progress and potential problems can be effectively made.

10. Communicate Effectively  Google believe in a wide dissemination of information which builds trust and loyalty  Each week an assembly occurs at Google which helps promote trust and involvement  Good communication underlies many of the practices in effective teams.

Article Google: Ten Golden Rules, Newsweek special edition issues 2006, The Knowledge Revolution, Dec 2005 – Feb 2006

Exercise On a whiteboard, in your group outline 20 activities you would include at work in your team, to improve teamwork