1. T-76.4115/5115 Software Development Project I/II Experience Exchange Session: Project Managers Jari Vanhanen Ohjelmistoliiketoiminnan ja –tuotannon laboratorio Software Business and Engineering Institute (SoberIT)

2. Agenda  Esittäytyminen  Iteraation suunnittelu  Ryhmätöitä  kommunikaatio  projektin tavoitteet ja riskit  työmäärien ja edistymisen seuranta  Ryhmätöiden purku  Kommunikaatio ja "pehmeät" asiat  Työmenetelmien valinta ja jatkuva parantamien

3. Iteraationsuunnittelu  Miten teitte suunnittelua?  Ketkä osallistuivat?  Kuinka tavoitteet muodostettiin?  Miten tehtävät ja työmääräarvioit tehtiin?  Mitä haasteita oli?  Onko suunnittelusta ollut jo jotain hyötyä?

4. Ryhmätyöt  Aiheet  kommunikaatio  projektin tavoitteet  työmäärien ja edistymisen seuranta  Valitkaa yksi projekti kontekstiksenne  mutta tuokaa esille ajatuksia kaikista projekteista  Onko asia tärkeä (miksi, miksi ei)?  Mitä haasteita on tiedossa?  Miten asian saa hoidettua hyvin?

5. T-76.4115/5115 - Fall 2006 How to Communicate, Build Trust and Work in Distributed Teams? 3.10.2006 Maria Paasivaara

6. ”It is the People – not the procedures and techniques, that are critical to accomplishing the project objectives.” “Most managers are willing to concede the idea that they’ve got more people worries than technical worries. But they seldom manage that way.” (DeMarco & Lister, Peopleware) Managing Software Development Projects

7. Setting Goals  Challenging goals  “Establish a vision”  Goals must  be specific and measurable  represent a significant challenge  be achievable and accepted by team members  Setting goals  By having all team members participate in defining the team goals helps them to accept the goals  Goals should be followed and adjusted if needed

8. Communicating in a Distributed Project (1/3)  Most common team problem is poor communication  PM spends 50-90% of his time on communication!  Informing  “There is a lot of information at the corridors”  In a distributed project people get only the information you give them  Do not expect anyone to know anything -> make sure they know How to communicate?

9. Communicating in a Distributed Project (2/3)  Frequent and fast communication  Encourage to quick replies (if you don’t have time to answer – tell that)  Agree on main communication channels used for different purposes (e.g. mailing lists, wiki, chat, skype)  Keep communication visible  Problem solving communication is hard (face-to-face optimal)  Problems brought up too late -> problems solved too late  Encourage to bring up problems (don’t shoot the messanger!)  Agree on channels

10. Communicating in a Distributed Project (3/3)  Agree on face-to-face meeting schedule early enough  E.g. regular meetings once a week to discuss issues, resolve problems, plan work, follow progress  Well-prepared meetings are effective (e.g. agenda)

11. Trust  Hard to build - easy to loose  Can be lost e.g. when expectations are not met  What are the expectations of different parties?  Trust building in the beginning important  Arrange a kick-off meeting for team members to get to know each other  Give frequent, easy opportunities for the team to succeed together and celebrate the achievement  Sence of team identity  Ways to build trust  Face-to-face meetings  Role based trust  Achievement based trust

12. Following Progress / Visibility  How to create visibility?  Are my team members working or not?  -> Communicate when you can work, when not, when you can finnish tasks etc.  How is the whole project progressing?  Team members need progress information -> motivating factor  Frequent check points important  Frequent and precise feedback motivates  Practices:  Regular meetings  Progress reports (E.g., tasks done, open questions, problems, future estimates)

13. Project Manager Should...  Involve team to planning as early as possible  Commitment to plans & motivation  Arrange a project kick-off meeting  Formal and informal parts  Build trust (e.g. role based, achievement based)  Provide transparency of progress  Give feedback  Project manager is a facilitator - provides possibilities for effective work, supports team, follows progress, steps in when problems, reports to management, communicates

14. Työmenetelmien valinta ja jatkuva parantamien  Materiaalia  Cockburn: Agile software development  Cockburn: Crystal Clear – A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams