CEN 4021 Software Engineering II Software Project Planning

CEN 4021 Software Engineering II Software Project Planning (POMA) Human resources Instructor: Masoud Sadjadi http: //www. cs. fiu. edu/~sadjadi/ sadjadi@cs. fiu. edu CEN 4021 10 th Lecture

Acknowledgements Dr. Onyeka Ezenwoye Dr. Peter Clarke CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture 2

Agenda Organizing (POMA) – Human resources – The Project Team CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Class 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Project 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Project Team Life Cycle Teams need forming, developing and maintaining Amount of management activity differs at different stages of the team life cycle. Developing Relative management Effort Forming CEN 4021: Software Engineering II Maintaining Team Stages 10 th Lecture

Project 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Project Team Life Cycle Team formation Team Development Team maintenance CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Technical 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Technical 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Technical 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Soft 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Soft 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Soft 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Project Team Life Cycle Team Formation Team Development Team maintenance CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team Development Project manager may need to intervene in the team’s adjustment process. – Changing team members – Dismissing participants CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

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? CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Project Team Life Cycle Team Formation Team Development Team Maintenance CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Team Maintenance Rewarding team members Punishing team members Handling team attrition Team member growth CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Managing 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Managing 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness Five staffing principles 1. 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 CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness Five staffing principles 4. 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness Project managers need many leadership qualities in order to enhance team effectiveness CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture

Improving Team Effectiveness 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. CEN 4021: Software Engineering II 10 th Lecture