1. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 1 Managing people l Managing people working as individuals and in groups

2. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 2 Objectives l To describe simple models of human cognition and their relevance for software managers l To explain the key issues that determine the success or otherwise of team working l To discuss the problems of selecting and retaining technical staff l To introduce the people capability maturity model (P-CMM)

3. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 3 Topics covered l 22.1 Limits to thinking l 22.2 Group working l 22.3 Choosing and keeping people l 22.4 The people capability maturity model

4. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 4 People in the process l People are an organisation’s most important assets l The tasks of a manager are essentially people oriented. Unless there is some understanding of people, management will be unsuccessful l Software engineering is primarily a cognitive activity. Cognitive limitations effectively limit the software process

5. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 5 Management activities l Problem solving (using available people) l Motivating (people who work on a project) l Planning (what people are going to do) l Estimating (how fast people will work) l Controlling (people's activities) l Organizing (the way in which people work)

6. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 6 Limits to thinking l People don’t all think the same way but everyone is subject to some basic constraints on their thinking due to Memory organisation Knowledge representation Motivation influences l If we understand these constraints, we can understand how they affect people participating in the software process

7. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 7 Memory organisation

8. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 8 Short-term memory l Fast access, limited capacity l 5-7 locations l Holds 'chunks' of information where the size of a chunk may vary depending on its familiarity l Fast decay time

9. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 9 Working memory l Larger capacity, longer access time l Memory area used to integrate information from short-term memory and long-term memory. l Relatively fast decay time.

10. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 10 Long-term memory l Slow access, very large capacity l Unreliable retrieval mechanism l Slow but finite decay time - information needs to be reinforced l Relatively high threshold - work has to be done to get information into long-term memory.

11. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 11 Information transfer l Problem solving usually requires transfer between short-term memory and working memory l Information may be lost or corrupted during this transfer l Information processing occurs in the transfer from short-term to long-term memory

12. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 12 Cognitive chunking

13. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 13 Knowledge modelling l Semantic knowledge knowledge of concepts such as the operation of assignment, concept of parameter passing etc. l Syntactic knowledge knowledge of details of a representation e.g. a C++ for loop. l Semantic knowledge seems to be stored in a structured, representation independent way.

14. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 14 Syntactic/semantic knowledge

15. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 15 Knowledge acquisition l Semantic knowledge through experience and active learning l Syntactic knowledge acquired by memorization. l New syntactic knowledge can interfere with existing syntactic knowledge. Problems arise for experienced programmers in mixing up syntax of different programming languages

16. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 16 Problem Solving l Software development ability is the ability to integrate new knowledge with existing computer and task knowledge and hence derive creative problem solutions l Thus, problem solving is language independent

17. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 17 Problem solving l Requires the integration of different types of knowledge (computer, task, domain, organization) l Development of a semantic model of the solution and testing of this model against the problem l Representation of this model in an appropriate notation or programming language

18. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 18 Problem solving

19. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 19 Management Implications l When choosing members of a long term project – should look for problem solving ability, and domain experience rather than specific language skills

20. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 20 Management Implications l Structured Programming works for a reason Based on semantic concepts Short term memory not overloaded

21. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 21 Motivation l An important role of a manager is to motivate the people working on a project l Motivation is a complex issue but it appears that their are different types of motivation based on Basic needs (e.g. food, sleep, etc., safety) Social needs (e.g. to be accepted as part of a group) Personal needs (e.g. respect, self-esteem, self realization (personal development)

22. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 22 Mazlow’s Human needs hierarchy

23. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 23 Motivating people l Motivations depend on satisfying needs l It can be assumed that physiological and safety needs are satisfied l Social, esteem and self-realization needs are most significant from a managerial viewpoint

24. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 24 Need satisfaction l Social Provide communal facilities Allow informal communications l Esteem Recognition of achievements Appropriate rewards l Self-realization Training - people want to learn more Responsibility

25. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 25 Personality types l The needs hierarchy is almost certainly an over- simplification l Motivation should also take into account different personality types: Task-oriented Self-oriented Interaction-oriented

26. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 26 Personality types l Task-oriented. The motivation for doing the work is the work itself l Self-oriented. The work is a means to an end which is the achievement of individual goals - e.g. to get rich, to play tennis, to travel etc. l Interaction-oriented The principal motivation is the presence and actions of co-workers. People go to work because they like to go to work

27. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 27 Motivation balance l Individual motivations are made up of elements of each class l Balance can change depending on personal circumstances and external events l However, people are not just motivated by personal factors but also by being part of a group and culture. l People go to work because they are motivated by the people that they work with and the work that they do

28. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 28 22.2 Group working l Most software engineering is a group activity The development schedule for most non-trivial software projects is such that they cannot be completed by one person working alone l Group interaction is a key determinant of group performance l Flexibility in group composition is limited Managers must do the best they can with available people

29. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 29 Time distribution

30. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 30 Group composition l Group composed of members who share the same motivation can be problematic Task-oriented - everyone wants to do their own thing Self-oriented - everyone wants to be the boss Interaction-oriented - too much chatting, not enough work l An effective group has a balance of all types l Can be difficult to achieve because most engineers are task-oriented l Need for all members to be involved in decisions which affect the group

31. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 31 l Leadership depends on respect not title l There may be both a technical and an administrative leader l Democratic leadership is more effective than autocratic leadership l A career path based on technical competence should be supported Group leadership

32. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 32 Group cohesiveness l In a cohesive group, members consider the group to be more important than any individual in it l Advantages of a cohesive group are: Group quality standards can be developed Group members work closely together – learn from each other and together Team members get to know each other’s work Egoless programming where members strive to improve each other’s programs can be practiced

33. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 33 Developing cohesiveness l Cohesiveness is influenced by factors such as the organizational culture and the personalities in the group l Cohesiveness can be encouraged through Social events Developing a group identity and territory Explicit team-building activities l Openness with information is a simple way of ensuring all group members feel part of the group

34. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 34 l Group members tend to be loyal to cohesive groups Downside – if leadership changes to somebody outside the group, they may face resistance from the group l 'Groupthink' is preservation of group irrespective of technical or organizational considerations l Management should act positively to avoid groupthink by forcing external involvement with each group Group loyalties

35. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 35 Group communications l Good communications are essential for effective group working l Information must be exchanged on the status of work, design decisions and changes to previous decisions l Good communications also strengthens group cohesion as it promotes understanding

36. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 36 l Group Size l Status of group members Higher status members tend to dominate conversations l Group Structure and Communication channels Communications channelled though a central coordinator tend to be ineffective l Personalities in groups Too many people of the same personality type can be a problem l Sexual composition of group Mixed-sex groups tend to communicate better l Physical work environment Group communications

37. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 37 Group organization l Software engineering group sizes should be relatively small (< 8 members) l Break big projects down into multiple smaller projects l To be discussed in turn: Small teams may be organized in an informal, democratic way Extreme variant – Extreme Programming Chief programmer teams try to make the most effective use of skills and experience

38. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 38 Democratic team organisation l The group acts as a whole and comes to a consensus on decisions affecting the system l The group leader serves as the external interface of the group but does not allocate specific work items l Rather, work is discussed by the group as a whole and tasks are allocated according to ability and experience l This approach is successful for groups where all members are experienced and competent

39. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 39 Extreme programming groups l Extreme programming groups are variants of democratic organization l Extremely rapid prototyping l In extreme programming groups, some ‘management’ decisions are devolved to group members l Programmers work in pairs and take a collective responsibility for code that is developed l Extreme Programming Explained: embrace change, by Kent Beck, Addison Wesley 2000

40. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 40 12 Practices of Extreme Programming l Customer On-Site with development l Daily Planning, involving customer/ developers l Small Releases l Simple Design l Continuous Integration l Testing constantly – planned in advance l Strict coding standards l Refactoring (re-work) encouraged l Collective Ownership of Code l Pair Programming (at same computer) l 40 hour work week l Collective vision (“metaphor”) l Practices work as a group, they depend on each other!

41. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 41 Practices work as a group, they depend on each other! l Planning is dependent on On Site Customer l Small Releases is dependent on Planning l Small Releases is dependent on Simple Design l Continuous Integration is dependent on Small Releases l Continuous Integration is dependent on Testing l Refactoring is dependent on Testing l Collective Ownership is dependent on Testing l Collective Ownership is dependent on Coding Standards l Collective Ownership is dependent on Pair Programming l 40 Hour Work Week is dependent on Continuous Integration l …

42. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 42 Watch Out l Will not work in Dibertesque corporations l Will not work for large projects (> 20 people) l Will not work if customers are slow to give feedback l Will not work if programmers are physically separate l Generally seems to assume OO environment l Not Appropriate if maintaining Legacy Code or earlier release structure is important l May require highly qualified and motivated staff in order to be successful l Concern – Return of quick and dirty?

43. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 43 Chief programmer teams (IBM developed)

44. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 44 Chief programmer teams l Consist of a kernel of specialists helped by others added to the project as required l The motivation behind their development is the wide difference in ability in different programmers l Chief programmer teams provide a supporting environment for very able programmers to be responsible for most of the system development

45. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 45 Problems l This chief programmer approach, in various forms, has been successful l However, it suffers from a number of problems Talented designers and programmers are hard to find. Without exceptional people in these roles, the approach will fail Other group members may resent the chief programmer taking the credit for success so may deliberately undermine his/her role While backup programmer is prepared to take over for chief programmer, if both the chief and deputy programmer are unavailable, there is a high risk that the project will fail Organizational structures and programmer levels (e.g. Sr Programmer etc) may be unable to accommodate this type of group

46. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 46 22.3 Choosing and keeping people l Choosing people to work on a project is a major managerial responsibility l Appointment decisions are usually based on information provided by the candidate (their resumé or CV) information gained at an interview recommendations from other people who know the candidate l Some companies use psychological or aptitude tests There is no agreement on whether or not these tests are actually useful

47. Staff selection factors

48. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 48 l Physical workplace provision has an important effect on individual productivity and satisfaction Comfort Privacy Facilities l Health and safety considerations must be taken into account Lighting Heating Furniture Working environments

49. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 49 l Privacy - each engineer requires an area for uninterrupted work l Outside awareness - people prefer to work in natural light l Personalization - individuals adopt different working practices and like to organize their environment in different ways Environmental factors

50. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 50 Workspace organisation l Workspaces should provide private spaces where people can work without interruption Providing individual offices for staff has been shown to increase productivity!! l However, teams working together also require spaces where formal and informal meetings can be held

51. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 51 Office layout – Really Nice!

52. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 52 22.4 The People Capability Maturity Model l Intended as a framework for managing the development of people involved in software development l Five stage model Initial. Ad-hoc people management Repeatable. Policies developed for capability improvement Defined. Standardized people management across the organization Managed. Quantitative goals for people management in place Optimizing. Continuous focus on improving individual competence and workforce motivation

53. The People Capability Maturity Model

54. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 54 P-CMM Objectives l To improve organisational capability by improving workforce capability l To ensure that software development capability is not reliant on a small number of individuals l To align the motivation of individuals with that of the organization l To help retain people with critical knowledge and skills

55. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 55 Key points l Managers must have some understanding of human factors to avoid making unrealistic demands on people l Problem solving involves integrating information from long-term memory with new information from short-term memory l Staff selection factors include education, domain experience, adaptability and personality

56. ©Ian Sommerville 2000 Software Engineering, 6th edition. Chapter 22Slide 56 Key points l Software development groups should be small and cohesive l Group communications are affected by status, group size, group organisation and the sexual composition of the group l The working environment has a significant effect on productivity l The People Capability Maturity Model is a framework for improving the capabilities of staff in an organisation