Post on 29-Dec-2015
CEN 4021 10th Lecture
CEN 4021 CEN 4021 Software Engineering II Software Engineering II
Instructor: Masoud Sadjadi
http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~sadjadi/
sadjadi@cs.fiu.edu
Software Project Planning (POMA)Human resources
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements
Dr. Onyeka Ezenwoye
Dr. Peter Clarke
2
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
AgendaAgenda
Organizing (POMA)– Human resources
– The Project Team
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Class activityClass activity
From soft skills and personal traits, pick 3 traits that you believe are especially important for team work. Rank them. Would your list be different if you were only concerned with individual performance.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Project Team Life CycleProject Team Life Cycle
Very few projects can be completed by individuals. Group becomes a team through proactive efforts by
members and project manager. Typical project team life cycle goes through three
stages:– Team formation– Team development– Team maintenance
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Project Team Life CycleProject Team Life Cycle
Teams need forming, developing and maintaining Amount of management activity differs at different
stages of the team life cycle.
Relative management
Effort
Team Stages
Forming
Developing
Maintaining
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Project Team Life CycleProject Team Life Cycle
Team building activities center on education and training on areas like:– Building trust– Negotiation skills– Listening skill– Responding to pressure
Project manager must ensure that there is enough time in the project schedule for such training.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Project Team Life CycleProject Team Life Cycle
Team formation Team Development Team maintenance
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team FormationTeam Formation
Having the best people does not guarantee success unless experts work effectively as a team.
Project might be delayed or fail due to personnel conflicts. Tasks may be independent but interrelated.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team FormationTeam Formation
Project manager will review tasks and decide on the skills required to complete them.
Team members should possess other behavioral characteristics or “soft skills”.
No perfect person exists, managers should not look for mythical candidates.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Technical Software skillsTechnical Software skills
Technical skill– A specialized skill in a subject that is needed to perform the
activities in that subject domain. Usually requires knowledge and training in a scientific, engineering, or business discipline.
– The skill areas include: Requirements solicitation and specification Database design Design, programming and debugging Test design and test script writing
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Technical Software skillsTechnical Software skills
Complementary set of skills and experience related to tools that support these areas is needed.
Project manager should be aware of the value of these tool-specific skills.
Learning curve for tools might be long.– Having ready-made experts can be an advantage.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Technical Software skillsTechnical Software skills
Roles should be clearly defined for people with multiple technical skills.
Many people with impressive skills may come with impressive egos.
Having highly skilled people in the same area might become a source of conflict.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Soft skills and personal traitsSoft skills and personal traits
Traditionally, managers tend to focus on technical skills and experience.
Managers should look for other characteristics, many of which are “soft skills”
Soft skills– A non-technical skill that can be utilized on multiple
occasions and is not restricted to any specific domain.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Soft skills and personal traitsSoft skills and personal traits
These personal traits might include:– Personal ambition– Interpersonal communication skill– Sense of urgency– Strongly held likes and dislikes– Attention to detail
Some team member may have negative personal traits.– E.g., Personal ambition over team goals.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Soft skills and personal traitsSoft skills and personal traits
Teams need a mix personalities– E.g., ambitious leaders as well as less ambitious followers.
Recruiting team members is based on best “guess” and not guaranteed to succeed
New members may have had erroneous expectations which can later lead to disappointment and degradation in performance.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Project Team Life CycleProject Team Life Cycle
Team Formation Team Development Team maintenance
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Project manager may need to intervene in the team’s adjustment process.– Changing team members– Dismissing participants
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Some key activities for project managers– Ensuring communication is taking place– Ensuring member are treated with respect– Ensuring clear understanding of roles and assignments– Ensuring the team is not harboring a chronic laggard– Ensuring members understand team goals– Ensuring that members follow the agreed-upon process
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Project managers need to bring members together and review these topics at the inception of the project and a new members come on board.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
To promote team building, managers may sponsor:– Off-site meetings– Motivational speakers– Team games, e.g., softball– Team presentations– Remembering birthdays
Group events create strong bond through trust– Member can relate experience to need for interdependence
in software project.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Team members behavior need to be continuously monitored
Project managers should perform conscientious socializing– Informal data gathering to pick up any signs of team disorder
(e.g., non-return of emails).
With remote and virtual teams– Communication is a major source of team related problems.
Members may need counseling on basic working etiquette
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Continuous focus on details is one of project managers’ major assets
Sometime more capable members carry one or a small number of team members and perform their responsibilities.– Team laggards
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Some reaction to team laggards are:– The team does not seem to mind– The team minds but does not want any change– Team minds but is waiting for management to fix it
Project managers need to fix matters or risk having a demoralized team.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Team or personal Issues One or more people are upset about something and
its negatively impacting the team.– E.g., personal (“I can’t stand working with Fred”)– E.g., systemic (“I hate how we do code reviews”)
Start by talking one-to-one to people involved Ask what is going on and what can be done? Seek out causes not just symptoms.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team DevelopmentTeam Development
Disagreement and conflict People openly disagree on what should be done
(which can be healthy)– Debate only the merits of different ideas– Treat each other with respect– The important thing is how people treat each other when
they disagree.– Disagreement and debate must be converted into positive
action.
The disagreement is preventing progress.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team Development Team Development
The disagreement is preventing progress.– Seek mutually beneficial outcomes (do not compete)– Find a point of unification (e.g., project need to be on time)– Don’t let personality traits distract you from the goal.– Force people to talk about interests (not positions) and reach
agreement– Be strong but supple
Know points of flexibility If you can’t give more time, can you allocate more money?
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Project Team Life CycleProject Team Life Cycle
Team Formation Team Development Team Maintenance
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Team MaintenanceTeam Maintenance
Rewarding team members Punishing team members Handling team attrition Team member growth
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Managing the teamManaging the team
Primary task of the manager is to have the right people do the correct work on time.
Managers job is to delegate– Understand the goal and limitations of each task– Be able to offer real guidance
Solving programming problems creates:– Lack of direction from manager– Demotivates members
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Managing the teamManaging the team
Avoid common management pitfalls:– Base decisions on facts, not solely on intuition and gut
instincts.– Unfairly questioning team’s honesty, integrity or skill– Making politically motivated decisions.– Oversimplifying tasks or avoiding internal detail.
Don’t expect consensus always Avoid micromanagement Address performance problems early
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
It understood that differences in personnel account for the greatest swing in productivity
Some estimation techniques (COCMO) take into account skill and experience of team
In practice it is risky to assess a team as being skewed in either direction
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
For large teams (>50 people) there are often wide variations in experience
It is impossible to staff a nontrivial project with personnel who all have optimal experience, and are fully trained in tools and technology
It this was possible, the team would likely be dysfunctional
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
Having good people does not imply having a good team
It is more important to have a good team balance and coverage are two of the most important
aspects of a good team When a team is out of balance, it is vulnerable. Great teams need coverage across different position
with strong individual players
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
A team with individual all competing to be team leader will be less effective than a balanced team that is focused on team result
Teamwork is much more important that the sum of the individuals
The project manager needs to configure a balance of solid talent with highly skilled people in the leverage positions
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
Five staffing principles1. The principle of top talent: use better but fewer people.
There is an “optimal size” for most jobs, being over or under is bad for team dynamics
2. The principle of job matching: fit the task to the skill and motivation of the people available
Personal agendas do matter, also people sometimes get promoted prematurely
3. The principle of career progression: an organization does best in the long run by helping its people to self-actualize
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
Five staffing principles4. The principle of team balance: select people who will
complement and harmonize with one another. Dimensions include raw skills, psychological makeup (leaders,
followers, risk takers, conservatives, etc)
5. The principle of phaseout: keeping a misfit on the team does not benefit anyone
A misfit will demotivate, and disrupt team balance.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
Project managers need many leadership qualities in order to enhance team effectiveness
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
Crucial attributes of successful project managers:– Hiring skills: placing the right person in the right job may not
be simple to achieve– Customer-interface skill: avoiding adversarial relationships
among stakeholders is key for success.– Decision-making skill: obvious but hard to define.
10th LectureCEN 4021: Software Engineering II
Improving Team Improving Team EffectivenessEffectiveness
Crucial attributes of successful project managers:– Team-building skill: teamwork requires that a manager
establish trust, motivate progress, consolidate diverse opinions into a team direction
– Selling skill: must sell all stakeholders on decisions and priorities. Selling requires negotiation, compromise and empathy.