Reflections on Management: How to Manage Your Software Projects, Your Teams, Your Boss, and Yourself (SEI Series in Software Engineering)
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“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 UnitA Lifetime of Invaluable Management Insights from Legendary Software Quality Guru Watts S. HumphreyIn 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 Managementbrings together Humphrey’s best and most influential essays and articles-sharing 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 code-they must manage teams, bosses, and above all, themselves.
Preface xviiPrologue xxiAbout the Authors xxvPart I: Managing Your Projects 1Chapter 1: Committing to High Quality 31.1 The Software Quality Challenge 31.2 What Is Software Quality? 61.3 Defects Are Not “Bugs” 101.4 Quality Is a Journey That Never Ends 111.5 Start by Defining Your Goal 14Sources 16Chapter 2: Planning for High-Quality Projects 172.1 The Hardest Time to Make a Plan Is When You Need It Most 182.2 Make Two Kinds of Plans: Period and Product 202.3 Make Product Plans for Every Major Task 232.4 Review Detailed Plans with Your Management 252.5 Everyone Loses with Incompetent Planning 272.6 Plans Must Meet Five Basic Requirements 302.7 When You Can’t Plan Accurately, Plan Often 322.8 Plans Must Be Maintained 34Sources 36Part II: Managing Your Teams 37Chapter 3: Elements of Effective Teams 393.1 Teams Commit to Common Goals 403.2 Teams Can Perform Better Than Individuals Do Alone 423.3 Teams Often Face Seven Common Problems 433.4 Four Reasons That Teams Fail 463.5 The Jelled Team 513.6 Four Things Effective Teams Need 523.7 Teams Develop Over Time 543.8 Three Elements of Team Communication 563.9 Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing 583.10 The Best Kind of Group 613.11 Teams Adopt Various Working Styles 653.12 Properties of Self-Directed Teams 69Sources 75Chapter 4: Being an Effective Team Member 774.1 Good Team Members Do Whatever Is Needed 784.2 Commitment Is an Ethic That Must Be Learned 794.3 A Goal Is Something You Want to Achieve 814.4 Every New Idea Starts as a Minority of One 834.5 All Team Members Should Contribute What They Know 844.6 Team-Building Requires Active Involvement of All Team Members 864.7 Good Negotiators Have an Effective Strategy 894.8 One Non-Participant Will Reduce Everyone’s Performance 924.9 Ask for Help and Offer Yours 94Sources 95Chapter 5: Leading and Coaching Your Teams 975.1 Leadership Makes the Greatest Difference 985.2 The Three Principal Motivators Are Fear, Greed, and Commitment 995.3 Making and Sustaining Commitments 1045.4 Create a Sense of Urgency with Short-Term Goals 1055.5 Involve the Entire Team When Selecting New Team Members 1075.6 The Power of Coaching 1095.7 Techniques for Getting All Team Members Involved 1105.8 Put Teams to Work During the Storming Phase 1235.9 Building the Management Team 1255.10 The Essence of Rational Management 127Sources 129Part III: Managing Your Boss 131Chapter 6: Negotiating Your Projects and Defending Your Plans 1336.1 Projects Get into Trouble at the Very Beginning 1346.2 Keep Your Team Focused on Top Priorities 1376.3 Always Make a Plan before Making Any Commitments 1396.4 Teach Your Manager to Negotiate With You 1436.5 Lean Really Is Mean 1456.6 What to Do When a Project Is Doomed 1466.7 Autocratic Bosses Demotivate Workers and Diminish Performance 1506.8 Is Your Environment Autocratic? 1536.9 Building a Case for Process Improvement 1556.10 Making the Strategic Case for Process Improvement 1616.11 Making the Tactical Case for Process Improvement 1696.12 What Management Expects from a Team Leader 176Sources 179Part IV: Managing Yourself 181Chapter 7: Taking Control of Your Work 1837.1 A Defined Process Will Help You Improve 1847.2 Be Your Own Boss, and Don’t Be a Victim 1857.3 How to Improve the Quality of Your Work 1867.4 The 18-Hour Work Week 1887.5 Fight Phantom Issues in High-Pressure Projects 1927.6 Support Staff Can Help You 1947.7 The Logic of Time Management 1967.8 Being Responsible Is about Ownership and Attitude 1997.9 Delay Is Almost Always the Worst Alternative 2027.10 Being Committed Is a State of Mind 2047.11 Manage Commitments So You Don’t Forget Any or Run Out of Time 2077.12 What Do You Want From Life? 2097.13 Devote Yourself to Excellence 211Sources 211Chapter 8: Learning to Lead 2138.1 How You Behave Affects Your Team 2138.2 Leaders Set an Example for Their Teams 2158.3 Learn to Avoid the Symptoms of Poor Leadership 2178.4 Leadership Must Be Earned 2208.5 Strive to Be a Transformational Leader 2228.6 Leaders Are Made by Their Circumstances 2248.7 Leading from Below 225Sources 227Epilogue: Software Engineers Are the Pioneers of Knowledge Work 229Appendix: PSP, TSP, and CMMI 237The Personal Software Process (PSP) 237The Team Software Process (TSP) 239CMM and CMMI 240 Bibliography 243Index 245
