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BW1 Session 6/5/2013 10:15 AM
"Seven Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers"
Presented by:
Ken Whitaker Leading Software Maniacs
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073 888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com
Ken Whitaker Leading Software Maniacs
Ken Whitaker of Leading Software Maniacs™ (LSM) has more than twenty-five years of software development executive leadership and training experience in a variety of technology roles and industries, leading many commercial software development teams. He is an active PMI® member, Project Management Professional certified, and a Certified ScrumMaster. Ken’s presentations come from case studies, personal leadership experience, the PMI Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), and his leadership books—Managing Software Maniacs, Principles of Software Development Leadership, and I’m Not God, I’m Just a Project Manager. Last year Ken introduced eLearning classes on pmuniversity.com and free, project management tutorials on pmchalkboard.com. Learn more at leadingswmaniacs.com.
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 1
7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers
Ken Whitaker
Copyright © Leading So2ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Drawing For a Free Book!
Leave your business card on the back table. One free copy of Managing Software Maniacs will be given away at the end of the class!
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Leading Software Maniacs Marks Applying Project Management Principles to Software Development Leadership,
Principles of Software Development Leadership, 4Ps, Leading Software Maniacs, Soft-Audit, Jus’ E’Nuff, Nerd Herd Game, the 4Ps logo, the Leading Software Maniacs logo, PM University, PM Chalkboard, and the Nerd Herd
Game logo are marks of Leading Software Maniacs, LLC.
Project Management Institute Marks PMI, PMP, PMBOK, the PMI logo, and the PMI Registered Education Provider
logo are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
Agenda
§ Everyone should refer to your “7 Deadly Habits of Ineffective Software Managers” comix
§ For the next hour we’ll discuss each of the 7 deadly habits … … and constructive ways to handle them
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Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 3
Copyright © Leading So2ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
My goal today?
You’ll learn at least one new tip today
to put into practice today!
Agenda
§ Releasing a Product Before It is Ready § Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But
Who Everyone Likes § Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision § Promising Developers Incentives § Delegating Absolute Control to a Project
Manager § Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and
Schedules § Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
Copyright © Leading So2ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 4
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
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Ø Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
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Daniel, newly promoted software executive, wants to prove himself
§ Company was in trouble § 3 quarters of disappointing financial results § A major product upgrade in progress § …and it needs to be released this quarter
$0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700
Q1 Q2 Q3
Q4 (current)
Company Quarterly Financials
Planned
Actual
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 5
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
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Daniel thought the delivery was possible and proclaimed:
“We CAN deliver the software suite THIS QUARTER!”
Then, Daniel informed his team of the news…
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
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“This software isn’t close to being ready for release!”
“Get with it, Man … NO software is 100% error free!”
Becky, Engineering Lead, wearing a “Born to Kill Microsoft” helmet
Dante, QA Lead (a descendant from Dante’s Inferno)
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 6
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Copyright © Leading So2ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
M T W T F M T W T F
Def
ects
Daily Progress
Defect Tracking Control Chart
Incoming
Corrected
A month went by § Defect trends (incoming versus fixed) not good § Daniel presented facts back to the executives
“No quarter shipment is possible”
§ What did the executive team decide???
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
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The executive team made the decision to:
1. Release the product anyway
2. We’ll follow with a quick maintenance update
“You can always show how customer-centric you are by how fast to market you release and how fast you fix the defects”
Crazy-talkin’ VP of Marketing told the executive staff
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 7
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
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Deadly Results § Product launch was a disaster! § Management team had no recourse but to layoff
staff § Engineers worked hard to correct issues…
and to help customer support § Company lost credibility with customers § Management team lost credibility with
employees § Everyone paid the price for poor quality
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Copyright © Leading So2ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
What could have been done differently? 1. Never commit until you have the facts and
support from the team 2. Rather than be a hero, ensure that risks are
understood and communicated frequently
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 8
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
Copyright © Leading So2ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
M T W T F M T W T F
Def
ects
Daily Progress
Defect Tracking Control Chart
Incoming
Corrected
What could have been done differently? 3. Always make decisions on your predefined
checks and balances
Releasing a Product Before It is Ready
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Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Plan Quality Perform Quality Assurance
Perform Quality Control
Quality Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 9
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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§ Habit 1 Ø Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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Shelly wants to hire a senior database engineer
§ Required skill set 1. Designer and implementer (“hands on”) 2. Balance mixed workload (multitasking) 3. Ability to communicate 4. Demonstrated experience in C#, Java, …
or is it just desired?
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Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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Position was posted § Received tons of résumés
(out of a 100, how many are usually qualified?) Interviewing took place, no great candidates § Three months came and went … § In walks Brian! § Interviewed well, articulate, employed, … § Has been technical, recently a project manager
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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Brian comes in for a second round Shelly whispered the “low down” before the interview § Interview feedback was mixed, isn’t it usually? § Wasn’t quite as technical as the team would like § Would fit into culture quite well § Genuine excitement for the candidate § HR performed reference checks
(Shelly didn’t have the time)
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 11
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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Bottom line:
Brian was hired. Great!
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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At first everything went well… 1. Then Brian started getting behind 2. Team had to shoulder his workload 3. Resentment set in 4. After three months…
Brian was let go!
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Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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Deadly Results § Set the project back § Destroyed team morale § Undermined confidence in hiring manager/
process § Brian’s résumé now has a major blemish
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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What could have been done differently?
1. Solidify job expectations as requirements 2. Pre-screen with targeted job posting
3. Shelly should have performed reference checks
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 13
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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Best practice You could resort to the try before you buy approach, right?
No!
Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified, But Who Everyone Likes
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Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Develop Human Resource Plan
Acquire Project Team
Develop Project Team
Manage Project Team
Human Resource Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
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Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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§ Habit 1 § Habit 2 Ø Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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Prior project was just released § Major product update badly needed § Tim, project manager, kicks off a
team meeting: “Let’s decide what goes into the next version!”
§ No agenda, just ideas…
This meeting ended BADLY!!!
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Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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A second try… Tim was better prepared with multiple lists: § Key defects § Customer feature requests § Customer support issues § Competitor’s key features
And, everybody was invited!
Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
This time, there was lots of brainstorming: § War room formed § Each department had a different priority view § Needs of the customer, quality, revenue resulted
in an impasse § Jody, at the mercy of an indecisive jury, stormed
out!
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Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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What do you think happened? …The executive team stepped in and took control! 1. “The business was in pain, no more
procrastination: we’ll decide for you!” 2. “Those features that will bring in the most
revenue win.” 3. “Case closed!!!”
Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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Deadly Results § Nobody wanted to go through this again § Team’s morale wasn’t good on new project
(features were decided for them) § Loss of confidence in management § Wasted time and energy § What if the forced decision was wrong???
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Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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What could have been done differently?
1. Prepare agendas and desired outcomes (Tim didn’t)
2. Establish a unified decision criteria at the beginning of a project
3. Add credibility and sense of urgency with time boxed meetings
Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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Best practice 1. Agree to the right decision criteria up front 2. Involve the right stakeholders 3. Prepare: do the necessary homework 4. Buy-in is more important than consensus 5. Clearly communicate and reinforce the final
decisions
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Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Develop Project Charter
Develop Project Management Plan
Direct and Manage Project Execution
Monitor and Control Project Work
Close Project or Phase
Perform Integrated Change Control
Project Integration Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
Make Every Decision a Consensus Decision
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Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Identify Stakeholders
Plan Communications
Distribute Information
Report Performance
Manage Stakeholder ExpectaAons
Project Communications Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
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Promising Developers Incentives
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§ Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 Ø Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
. . .
Promising Developers Incentives
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§ Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 Ø Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
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Promising Developers Incentives
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“Let’s motivate the programmers by dangling some incentives!” § Jason reluctantly offered incentives to two of the
key engineers One engineer wasn’t convinced, but reluctantly agreed
The other engineer was excited, “Why not? I could use the money!”
Promising Developers Incentives
The “catch”!
A delivery schedule must be made So, did the team deliver?
Oh oh – what did management do?
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Promising Developers Incentives
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Deadly Results
§ You guessed it! The incentives were dropped § Incentivized members were mad § Non-incentivized members
found out, then they were mad § Management lost all
credibility
Promising Developers Incentives
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What could have been done differently? 1. Management vs employee culture statement:
Win-win, win-lose, lose-win, or lose-lose 2. Avoid encouraging incentives: they can
introduce shortcuts and bad implementation 3. Always reinforce the right culture:
Team-centric Commitment
Trust Transparency
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Promising Developers Incentives
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So what happened to the project? Glad you asked… 1. Project was FINALLY
released! 2. The best
developers quit out of disgust
3. The company eventually folded
Promising Developers Incentives
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§ Definition
Two definition terms stand out for Incentive:
inducement and bait
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus
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Promising Developers Incentives
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Best practice
Awards are significantly better than
incentives
Promising Developers Incentives
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Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Develop Human Resource Plan
Acquire Project Team
Develop Project Team
Manage Project Team
Human Resource Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 24
Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager
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§ Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 Ø Habit 5 § Habit 6 § Habit 7
There is typically a division of power
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Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager
where a balance of power is needed instead
The team
Is command & control
needed?
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Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager
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Question
Just how technical does a project manager need to be?
Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager
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Lana chosen by Rowland 1. “Rollback” logic
feature needed 2. Lana presents the
story to the team 3. The team commits to
2 weeks of effort
Rowland gets involved with Lana 1. “Rollback” logic re-
explanation 2. May need a more
robust solution 3. The team commits to
2 months of effort WHAT HAPPENED?
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Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager
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Deadly Results § Negative impact to the team
§ Low team morale § No confidence in management § No trust with decision making process
§ If not handled correctly… § PM role became a “scheduler”
Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager
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What could have been done differently? 1. W-W-W-W
2. If you don’t know the content, buddy-up with somebody who does!
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Delegating Absolute Control to a Project Manager
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Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Collect Requirements
Verify Scope
Define Scope Control Scope
Create WBS
Project Scope Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules
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§ Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 Ø Habit 6 § Habit 7
Nobody wins (but I do have
a little secret…)
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Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules
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§ Project was shipped § The team was exhausted § Project manager and
product manager met Then they met with with the team… “What do you want?” “Ohhhhhh sure, we’ll get back to you!”
EVERYTHING!
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules
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Team responds with laundry list estimates “Too many and unfocused, we’ll get back to you”
Product management is thinking “I don’t trust these estimates…”
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Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules
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The one thing both parties didn’t realize…
§ Over 50% of requested features aren’t even used!
Jim Johnson, XP 2002 requested feature survey results (The Standish Group)
Always7%
Often13%
Sometimes16%
Rarely19%
Never45%
Could this be an
example of the 80/20 rule?
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules
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Deadly Results § After weeks of negotiating it came down to this:
“What’s more important: the schedule or the feature?”
“BOTH!”
§ Two sides to every coin: “I lost a lot!” & “Why weren’t you all realistic to begin with?”
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Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules
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What could have been done differently?
1. Reduced unnecessary gaps between projects
2. Establish a Project Vision first 3. Use forward motion technique
4. Minimize any clash between departments and emphasize trust
Taking Too Long to Negotiate Feature Sets and Schedules
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Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Collect Requirements
Verify Scope
Define Scope Control Scope
Create WBS
Project Scope Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
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Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
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§ Habit 1 § Habit 2 § Habit 3 § Habit 4 § Habit 5 § Habit 6 Ø Habit 7
“We gotta get this product released!”
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
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The result is always a mess
My friend’s company has no process at all…
They seem to ship on time!
We don’t…too much process
Isn’t that what agile is
about???
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Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
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Self-driven team empowered to just “get it done” At first… “This is pretty neat” “No meetings – we can focus on doing the work”
E-mail becomes The communications vehicle
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
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Deadly Results
Project status becomes difficult to determine
Water cooler decisions abound
Engineers become feature happy
Quality is DOA (not everybody is kept informed)
“Gold plating” suits me mighty fine!
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Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
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The #1 action of an “out of control project” took place:
You guessed it: Project restart!
CHAOS 2000 survey results (The Standish Group)
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
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A not-so-famous marketing consultant told me
“Any software development team can get by without a process once
… but you’ll always get beaten by a competitor
with a process in the long run.”
Copyright © Leading Software Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Deadly Habits of Dysfunctional Software Managers - 34
Ignoring a Process In Order to Release Quickly
Copyright © Leading So2ware Maniacs, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Process Groups
Implementation Initiating Planning Execution Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
Develop Project Charter
Develop Project Management Plan
Direct and Manage Project Execution
Monitor and Control Project Work
Close Project or Phase
Integration Management knowledge area … in the PMBOK® Guide provides great advice
Project Management InsAtute, a Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -‐ Fourth EdiAon, Project Management InsAtute, Inc., 2008, extract from Table 3-‐1, Page 43
Bibliography
§ Project Management Institute, Inc. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK® Guide, 4th Edition. Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 2008.
§ The Standish Group. Chaos Reports (1994-2006). www.standishgroup.com.
§ Whitaker, Ken. Principles of Software Development Leadership: Applying Project Management Principles to Agile Software Development. Boston: Course Technology PTR, 2009.
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Soooo, did you learn what you expected
today?
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www.leadingswmaniacs.com
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