CS 501: Software Engineering Fall 1999 Lecture 20 Management III Managing People

2 Administration  Assignment 5 due date changed  No recitation next Monday

3 Community Development  Shareware  Open source (e.g., Linux, Apache, Perl, etc.) -> Shared development -> Market penetration Example: TCP/IP for Vax/VMS Software may be open source, but packaging and services can be profitable businesses

4 Open Source  Free redistribution  Source code  Derived works  Integrity of the author's source code  No discrimination against persons or groups

5 Open Source  No discrimination against fields of endeavor  Distribution of license  License must not be specific to a product  License must not contaminate other software

6 Practical Advice Be aware of the law, but do not pretend to be a lawyer. Use a professional for:  Contracts and licenses  Troubles (complaints, injunctions, subpoenas, etc.)  Personnel issues  When in doubt, ask help!

7 Managing People Theoretical:  Organizational behavior  Industrial psychology (group behavior)  Cognitive fundamentals Maslow's hierarchy of needs Economic motivation

8 Software Engineering Basics  Professional staff are the major cost of software  Professional staff vary greatly in productivity => Ability => Education and training => Motivation => Interaction with colleagues and leaders => Work environment  People are productive when happy and happy when productive

9 Software is Built by Teams  Best size for a team is 3 to 8 people  Team members may include: developers (from trainee to expert) domain experts graphic or interface designers software librarians testers  Teams must have: administrative leadership (manager) technical leadership

10 Group Working 50% interaction with others 20% non-productive 30% working alone

11 Communication  Informal Kitchen, smokers' doorway, after work, etc. Walkabout (tours) Ad hoc meetings  Staff meetings (non-technical) Example: Tektronics  Technical meetings Facilitation Record of decisions

12 Administrative Leader (Manager)  Personnel Assigning tasks Hiring, promoting, etc.  Resources Budgets Space, facilities Equipment  Project management Relationships with other teams and clients Project plan and schedule

13 Hiring Criteria Productivity is a combination of:  Analytic ability  Verbal ability and communication skills  Education  Application domain knowledge  Adaptability and inquisitiveness  Personality and attitude  Platform experience  Programming language experience

14 Staff Retention  Technically interesting work up to date hardware and software opportunities to learn and experiment  Feeling of appreciation management recognition money and promotion  Working conditions space, light, noise, parking flexibility  Organizational dynamics

15 Firmness Managers must be firm when needed:  Assignment of tasks must be equitable and open; everybody will have to tackle some of the dreary tasks  Carrots are better than sticks, but poor performance must be addressed.  Nobody is indispensable; nobody should be allowed to think that they are indispensable

16 Technical Challenges  Canceling projects Example: the Andrew window manager  Changes of environment Example: the World Wide Web  Technical tinkering v. needed re-engineering

17 Turning a Group Around To turn a weak group into a strong one is the greatest challenge of leadership  The art of the possible  Promotion of the best over the old leaders  Using opportunities to reorganize  Resignations and terminations  Respect people who try, yet refuse to accept problem areas Brutal and abrupt rarely equals persistent and firm

18 How to be Led As a junior member of a team, what can you do to make it productive?

19 Reading Before Thursday November 11, read Sommerville Chapters 28, 29 and 30, pages 589 to 656