1 TEAM BUILDING & MANAGEMENT

2 CONTENTS Generalities The individual The individual in the group To manage the group The group manager The group facing big projects

3 A software engineer does not spend all his time facing his computer screen. THE SOFTWARE ENGINEER BELONGS TO A TEAM Time distribution of a data processing expert 20% 30% 50% NON PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES WORK ON HIS OWN INTERACTIONS GENERALITIES

4 THE INDIVIDUAL

5 IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE MAIN QUALITIES REQUIRED FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO BELONG TO A SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM ? QUESTION

6 INDIVIDUAL BASIC QUALITIES An individual must have two basic qualities : –Resistance to stress : Respect of the project planning, Technical risks,... –Adaptation : Frequency of hardware and software renewal, Constant process changes & improvements,...

7 SOFTWARE ENGINEER’S KNOWLEDGE The software engineer’s knowledge is buried in his long term memory : –Semantic knowledge which is the concept knowledge : ALLOCATION, CHAINED LIST, SORT TECHNIQUE... –Syntax knowledge which concerns representation details : “:=” INSTEAD OF “=”, WAY OF DECLARING A PROCEDURE... The knowledge of the software scope (semantic) is certainly more important than the language itself (syntactic). Do not only focus on a language technique (language, tools, OS, …) but check if the training and the experience of the individual will allow him to learn the software development domain.

8 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE GROUP

9 IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF BEHAVIOURS THAT WE MAY FIND IN AN INDIVIDUAL PART OF A SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM ? QUESTION

10 TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR The hard worker: –Motivated by the work itself : in software engineering they often are technicians stimulated by the intellectual stake in software development. –Self-sufficient, resourceful, distant, introverted, aggressive, independent. The careerists: –Essentially motivated by his own success : The software development is only a means to reach his objectives, he doesn’t like to work with the group. –Unpleasant, dogmatic, aggressive, emulator, introverted, jealous. The social type: –Motivated by the presence and actions of his colleagues. We don’t find him very often in the software field. –Harmless, thoughtful, obliging.

11 TO MANAGE THE GROUP

12 LET THE INDIVIDUALS ADHERE TO THE GROUP The individual must feel responsible in the group: –Avoid to trap him in his main task (let him take part in the design works before coding for example, in small projects, it is very important for the individual to take part in every phase) The results of his work belongs to the group: –Avoid for instance that an individual appropriates his code, jealously defends it and does not accept positive criticism... –errors may happen but can be corrected thanks to the group, A decision is taken inside the group and with the agreement of all the members.

13 CONTROL MEANS AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL Non-formal discussions Periodic interviews (CONTRACT between SPM and INDIVIDUAL) –OBSERVE IF THE OBJECTIVES ARE MET –FUTURE OBJECTIVES –PROBLEMS MET... Individual interviews (on request of SPM or the individual himself) –AVOID TO TREAT THE PROBLEM ON THE SPOT

14 CONTROL MEANS AT THE GROUP LEVEL Progress meetings : –Definition of the people in charge for the actions to perform and with which delay, –Progress on the points of the previous meeting, –New points, –Take decision at the group level... Internal reviews (in-process reviews) : –Let the group dynamics operate, –Take decision at the group level...

15 THE GROUP MANAGER

16 WHAT SHOULD BE THE SPM QUALITIES FROM THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM MEMBERS POINT OF VIEW ? WHAT SHOULD BE THE SPM QUALITIES FROM HIS HIERARCHY POINT OF VIEW? QUESTIONS

17 SPM QUALITIES The SPM qualities from the team members point of view : –Technical competence (to be a good manager we must first be recognized), –Organization, –Relationships with the customers, the hierarchy, –Motivated, –Let spread the information, –... The SPM qualities from his hierarchy’s point of view : –Respect of costs, schedules, performances, –Knows how to report & report with transparency, –Knows how to manage the risks & manage the risks, –Has the courage to do estimations when the future is not clear, –...

18 THE GROUP FACING BIG PROJECTS

19 3 ELEMENTS 3 INTERACTIONS 6 ELEMENTS 15 INTERACTIONS NUMBER OF INTERACTIONS C 2 N N! 2 (N-2)! == POSSIBLE INTERACTIONS INSIDE THE GROUP

nber of hours communication / day team size CURVE OF TIME SPENT TO COMMUNICATE

21 TEAM PIVOT THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART IS A SET OF WORKING GROUPS