Reflections on management : how to manage your software projects, your teams, your boss, and yourself

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Humphrey, Watts S, Author.

Contributor:

Thomas, William R., Contributor.

Series:

The SEI series in software engineering Reflections on management

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computer software--Management--Development.

Computer software.

Process control.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxvi, 260 p.) : ill.

Edition:

1st edition

Other Title:

The SEI series in software engineering

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] Addison Wesley 2010

Language Note:

English

System Details:

text file

Summary:

“Whether you are in a startup or Fortune 500 company; are a developer, development manager, or CEO; use agile, lean, waterfall, or other methodology–if software and quality are important to you, you should read and pay attention to Watts’s reflections.” –Bill Ihrie, Former SVP & CTO, Intuit “You will enjoy this collection for its down to earth, accessible prose, its pragmatism, optimism, and, above all, Watts’s demonstration that software quality improvement is vitally important and very achievable.” –Aidan Waine, Information Solutions General Manager, Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division “Watts has developed a real weapon for beating your competition: a reliable, repeatable way to create software that has excellent quality and reduces the time to deliver it to your customer and lowers the cost of the entire software life cycle and improves employee morale. All at the same time!” –Michael J. Cullen, Vice President, Quality, Oracle Communications Global Business Unit A Lifetime of Invaluable Management Insights from Legendary Software Quality Guru Watts S. Humphrey In 1986, Watts S. Humphrey made an outrageous commitment: a promise to transform software development. As the pioneering innovator behind SEI’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM), Personal Software Process (PSP), and Team Software Process (TSP), Humphrey has more than met that promise. But his contributions go beyond methodology: For decades, his deeply personal writings on project management have been admired by software engineers worldwide. Reflections on Management brings together Humphrey’s best and most influential essays and articlessharing insights that will be indispensable for anyone who must achieve superior results in software or any other endeavor. Collected here for the first time, these works offer compelling insights into everything from planning day-to-day work to improving quality, encouraging teamwork to becoming a truly great leader. All of these writings share a powerful vision, grounded by a life in software that has extended across nearly six decades. The vision is this: To succeed, professionals must effectively manage far more than plans, schedules, and codethey must manage teams, bosses, and above all, themselves.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

Prologue

About the Authors

PART I: MANAGING YOUR PROJECTS

Chapter 1 Committing to High Quality

1.1 The Software Quality Challenge

1.2 What Is Software Quality?

1.3 Defects Are Not "Bugs"

1.4 Quality Is a Journey That Never Ends

1.5 Start by Defining Your Goal

Sources

Chapter 2 Planning for High-Quality Projects

2.1 The Hardest Time to Make a Plan Is When You Need It Most

2.2 Make Two Kinds of Plans: Period and Product

2.3 Make Product Plans for Every Major Task

2.4 Review Detailed Plans with Your Management

2.5 Everyone Loses with Incompetent Planning

2.6 Plans Must Meet Five Basic Requirements

2.7 When You Can't Plan Accurately, Plan Often

2.8 Plans Must Be Maintained

PART II: MANAGING YOUR TEAMS

Chapter 3 Elements of Effective Teams

3.1 Teams Commit to Common Goals

3.2 Teams Can Perform Better Than Individuals Do Alone

3.3 Teams Often Face Seven Common Problems

3.4 Four Reasons That Teams Fail

3.5 The Jelled Team

3.6 Four Things Effective Teams Need

3.7 Teams Develop Over Time

3.8 Three Elements of Team Communication

3.9 Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing

3.10 The Best Kind of Group

3.11 Teams Adopt Various Working Styles

3.12 Properties of Self-Directed Teams

Chapter 4 Being an Effective Team Member

4.1 Good Team Members Do Whatever Is Needed

4.2 Commitment Is an Ethic That Must Be Learned

4.3 A Goal Is Something You Want to Achieve

4.4 Every New Idea Starts as a Minority of One

4.5 All Team Members Should Contribute What They Know

4.6 Team-Building Requires Active Involvement of All Team Members

4.7 Good Negotiators Have an Effective Strategy

4.8 One Non-Participant Will Reduce Everyone's Performance

4.9 Ask for Help and Offer Yours

Sources.

Chapter 5 Leading and Coaching Your Teams

5.1 Leadership Makes the Greatest Difference

5.2 The Three Principal Motivators Are Fear, Greed, and Commitment

5.3 Making and Sustaining Commitments

5.4 Create a Sense of Urgency with Short-Term Goals

5.5 Involve the Entire Team When Selecting New Team Members

5.6 The Power of Coaching

5.7 Techniques for Getting All Team Members Involved

5.8 Put Teams to Work During the Storming Phase

5.9 Building the Management Team

5.10 The Essence of Rational Management

PART III: MANAGING YOUR BOSS

Chapter 6 Negotiating Your Projects and Defending Your Plans

6.1 Projects Get into Trouble at the Very Beginning

6.2 Keep Your Team Focused on Top Priorities

6.3 Always Make a Plan before Making Any Commitments

6.4 Teach Your Manager to Negotiate With You

6.5 Lean Really Is Mean

6.6 What to Do When a Project Is Doomed

6.7 Autocratic Bosses Demotivate Workers and Diminish Performance

6.8 Is Your Environment Autocratic?

6.9 Building a Case for Process Improvement

6.10 Making the Strategic Case for Process Improvement

6.11 Making the Tactical Case for Process Improvement

6.12 What Management Expects from a Team Leader

PART IV: MANAGING YOURSELF

Chapter 7 Taking Control of Your Work

7.1 A Defined Process Will Help You Improve

7.2 Be Your Own Boss, and Don't Be a Victim

7.3 How to Improve the Quality of Your Work

7.4 The 18-Hour Work Week

7.5 Fight Phantom Issues in High-Pressure Projects

7.6 Support Staff Can Help You

7.7 The Logic of Time Management

7.8 Being Responsible Is about Ownership and Attitude

7.9 Delay Is Almost Always the Worst Alternative

7.10 Being Committed Is a State of Mind

7.11 Manage Commitments So You Don't Forget Any or Run Out of Time

7.12 What Do You Want From Life?.

7.13 Devote Yourself to Excellence

Chapter 8 Learning to Lead

8.1 How You Behave Affects Your Team

8.2 Leaders Set an Example for Their Teams

8.3 Learn to Avoid the Symptoms of Poor Leadership

8.4 Leadership Must Be Earned

8.5 Strive to Be a Transformational Leader

8.6 Leaders Are Made by Their Circumstances

8.7 Leading from Below

Epilogue: Software Engineers Are the Pioneers of Knowledge Work

Appendix: PSP, TSP, and CMMI

The Personal Software Process (PSP)

The Team Software Process (TSP)

CMM and CMMI

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786612563072

9780131385634

0131385631

9781282563070

1282563076

9780131385627

0131385623

OCLC:

1027202708