SPM Generalities and People Management

Andrea Polini

Software Project ManagementMSc in Computer Science

University of Camerino

A.Y. 2016/2017

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 1 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Intuition

Project ManagementManaging and arranging people and activities to achieve some statedgoals using limited resources, budget, and time

SPM concern project management when the goal is to build a softwaresystem

SPMDevelop and mantain a software product by applying projectmanagement principles as well as software engineering principles sothat the software project is delivered at minimum costs, withinminimum time, and with good product quality.

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 2 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Intuition

Project ManagementManaging and arranging people and activities to achieve some statedgoals using limited resources, budget, and time

SPM concern project management when the goal is to build a softwaresystem

SPMDevelop and mantain a software product by applying projectmanagement principles as well as software engineering principles sothat the software project is delivered at minimum costs, withinminimum time, and with good product quality.

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 2 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Peculiarities

SPM has some peculiarities making it particularly difficult:The product is intangibleNo standard software processesLarge software projects are one-off projectsAll activities are strongly dependent on people qualities

The 4 “P”s on which SPM is based are: People, Product, Process,Project Roger Pressman

Bad PM is the main cause of failure for software projects

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 3 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Peculiarities

SPM has some peculiarities making it particularly difficult:The product is intangibleNo standard software processesLarge software projects are one-off projectsAll activities are strongly dependent on people qualities

The 4 “P”s on which SPM is based are: People, Product, Process,Project Roger Pressman

Bad PM is the main cause of failure for software projects

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 3 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Management Activities

Even if each project is different from each other typical are activitiescommonly needed:

Proposal writing: includes objectives, cost and scheduleestimation and motivation for project assignmentProject planning and scheduling: activities, milestones anddeliverablesProject cost: estimation of resources to accomplish the planProject monitoring and reviews: observing and comparingPersonnel selection and evaluation: creating the teamReport writing and presentations: periodic reporting tomanagement

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

People

People working in a software organization are its greatest assets.

Project Managers are then responsible for getting returns from thisasset. A PM uses people to solve technical and nontechnicalproblems, and they have to motivate people in their team, plan andorganize their work, ensure the work is done properly.

Bad people management is the mostcommon reason of project failures

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 5 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

People

People working in a software organization are its greatest assets.

Project Managers are then responsible for getting returns from thisasset. A PM uses people to solve technical and nontechnicalproblems, and they have to motivate people in their team, plan andorganize their work, ensure the work is done properly.

Bad people management is the mostcommon reason of project failures

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 5 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

PM qualities

A PM is a person able to:motivate peopleorganize workconceive new idea and bring innovationhave managerial skills“perceive people”

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

Critical Factors

A PM has to act respecting some basic principles:Consistency: all fairly threatedRespect: people are differentInclusion: everyone can have brilliant ideasHonesty and being humble: Superman is just a comic book!

Aim is not to be a good person but a good PM

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

Selecting staff

PM that have to establish a team have limited resources

Three different information sources are generally used

CV

Interviews

Recommendations

The World Wide Web (Social, Code Repositories . . . )

General considerations:

Constrained and limited availability of internal staff

Some skills are not highly common

Junior team members are normally more enthusiastic in learning new things

The most technically proficient person is not always the right choice

Defining different paths for “techies” and managers

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 8 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Selecting staff

PM that have to establish a team have limited resources

Three different information sources are generally used

CV

Interviews

Recommendations

The World Wide Web (Social, Code Repositories . . . )

General considerations:

Constrained and limited availability of internal staff

Some skills are not highly common

Junior team members are normally more enthusiastic in learning new things

The most technically proficient person is not always the right choice

Defining different paths for “techies” and managers

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 8 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Selecting staff

PM that have to establish a team have limited resources

Three different information sources are generally used

CV

Interviews

Recommendations

The World Wide Web (Social, Code Repositories . . . )

General considerations:

Constrained and limited availability of internal staff

Some skills are not highly common

Junior team members are normally more enthusiastic in learning new things

The most technically proficient person is not always the right choice

Defining different paths for “techies” and managers

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 8 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Selection process relevant factors

In staffing a team some factors have to be generally considered:Application domain experiencePlatform experienceProgramming language experienceProblem solving abilityEducational backgroundCommunication abilityAdaptabilityAttitudePersonality

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

Qualities, metrics and measures – intuition

A quality highlight a particular aspect of a system.

Qualitative aspects are important but quantitative consideration areneeded in an engineering activity

Metrics and measurement techniques need to be defined in SEactivitiesTo assess people qualities psychometric tests are generally used

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 10 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Qualities, metrics and measures – intuition

A quality highlight a particular aspect of a system.

Qualitative aspects are important but quantitative consideration areneeded in an engineering activity

Metrics and measurement techniques need to be defined in SEactivitiesTo assess people qualities psychometric tests are generally used

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 10 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Qualities, metrics and measures – intuition

A quality highlight a particular aspect of a system.

Qualitative aspects are important but quantitative consideration areneeded in an engineering activity

Metrics and measurement techniques need to be defined in SEactivitiesTo assess people qualities psychometric tests are generally used

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 10 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Qualities, metrics and measures – intuition

A quality highlight a particular aspect of a system.

Qualitative aspects are important but quantitative consideration areneeded in an engineering activity

Metrics and measurement techniques need to be defined in SEactivitiesTo assess people qualities psychometric tests are generally used

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 10 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Motivating people

People are motivated by satisfying their needs

Maslow’s hierarchy provide a structured organization of typical humanindividual needs:

Physiological needs: not a PM taskSafety needs: not a PM taskSocial needs: give time and space to meet each other or organizeevents (in particular with distributed teams)Esteem needs: recognize achivementsSelf-realisation needs: assign challenging but possible tasks, anddefine a personal development plan

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 11 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Motivating people

People are motivated by satisfying their needs

Maslow’s hierarchy provide a structured organization of typical humanindividual needs:

Physiological needs: not a PM taskSafety needs: not a PM taskSocial needs: give time and space to meet each other or organizeevents (in particular with distributed teams)Esteem needs: recognize achivementsSelf-realisation needs: assign challenging but possible tasks, anddefine a personal development plan

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 11 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Motivating people

People are motivated by satisfying their needs

Maslow’s hierarchy provide a structured organization of typical humanindividual needs:

Physiological needs: not a PM taskSafety needs: not a PM taskSocial needs: give time and space to meet each other or organizeevents (in particular with distributed teams)Esteem needs: recognize achivementsSelf-realisation needs: assign challenging but possible tasks, anddefine a personal development plan

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 11 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

People attitude

Bass and Duntenam classified professionals motivations in threecategories:

Task-oriented: motivated by the work itselfSelf-oriented: motivated by personal success and recognitionInteraction-oriented: motivated by pleasure of working with otherpeople

If you want to be a bit better then the others, then compete. if you wantto be better by far then cooperate

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 12 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

People attitude

Bass and Duntenam classified professionals motivations in threecategories:

Task-oriented: motivated by the work itselfSelf-oriented: motivated by personal success and recognitionInteraction-oriented: motivated by pleasure of working with otherpeople

If you want to be a bit better then the others, then compete. if you wantto be better by far then cooperate

Andrea Polini SPM and People Management SPM – A.Y. 2016/2017 12 / 18

Sofware Project Management Generalities

Forming groups

Group compositionyou should create mixed groups (task, self, interaction) and appoint agroup leader for each of them that somehow monitor and reportprogress made by the group to the general PM. Leaders have to beaccepted by the team.

Is election by the team a good idea??Other important aspects to consider:

problem complexitydimesion of the resulting softwareduration of the teammodularityrequired reliabilityconstrained and relevance of deadlines

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

Communications and Organizations

Group communications: good communication is essentialbetween members. Some factors make it more complex:

sizestructurecompositionphysical work environment

Group organization: people should be allocated so that theircompetences are favored. Old style organizational strategies doesnot seem to be much effective – chief programmer

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

Cohesiveness

Group cohesivenessMembers should feel that the group is more important then theindividual. Team members trust each others and no individualist

group quality standard can be established easilymembers work closely together - learn togethermembers can get to know each other’s workEgoless programming can be practised

Favor cohesiveness through: naming, social activities, and gaming. Donot hide information to group members

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

Working environments

Studies have identified some important psychological aspects to takeinto account organizing the working space of programmers:

PrivacyOutside awarenessPersonalizations

Areas with different destinations should be available

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

P-CMM

People Capability Maturity ModelFramework to assess and improve the way in which an organizationmanages its human assets

it introduces 5 levels to classify people management practiceswithin an organization

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Sofware Project Management Generalities

Resources

Study material can be found here (also previous editions of thefollowing books):

Roger Pressman and Bruce MaximSoftware Engineering a Practioner’s Approach 8thEd .McGraw-Hill 2015.

Chapter 31 - Project Management Concepts

Ian SommervilleSoftware Engineering 10thEd .Addison Wesley 2016.

Chapter 22 - Managing People

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