Description
Practical advice on leading a software development team, aimed at software engineers who have become project leaders. Foreword by Shari Lawrence Pfleeger Preface THE NEW LEADER 1 Ive just been made team leader of a new project. Where do I start? 2 Im taking over the leadership of an existing project. Where do I start? 3 I am the most experienced engineer on the team. If I let others do the design and coding, they will not do it as well as I would. How can I do the important design and coding, if I am expected to write documents and plans all the time? 4 When should I review other peoples work, and how? 5 When should I call a meeting and how should I chair it? 6 I have to interview a job applicant. How do I go about it? 7 How do I make a presentation? 8 How do I earn the respect of my team? PROJECT MANAGEMENT 9 How do I draw up a project plan? What use is it? 10 Ive been told when I must deliver my project, but the time-scale doesnt seem realistic to me. What should I do? 11 How can I stop my project from coming in late? 12 My team is working closely with another team, but the quality of their output is poor. What can I do? 13 My last project never seems to go away, Im constantly doing fixes and changes to it. What can I do? 14 How can I get a good job done when our procedures are so bad? LEADING PEOPLE 15 What is meant by teambuilding? Is there something Im supposed to be doing to build a better team? 16 Sometimes I think Im being a soft touch and letting people walk all over me. Other times I think people resent me for interfering. How do I know when Im getting the style right? 17 One of my team members is an expert in an important aspect of the project that I know little about. I feel like a fool trying to lead on this issue. What can I do? 18 I cant get my team to do any design or documentation, they just want to code. What can I do? 19 When should I let someone do a thing their own way, and when should I make them do it my way? 20 How many hours should I and my team be working? 21 I want to praise people when they do well, but it sounds so condescending. How should I reward good work? 22 Ive got someone on my team whos a real problem. What should I do? 23 I think one of my people is going to leave. How can I prevent them from going? 24 One of my team is spending too much time chatting and web browsing. What should I do? REQUIREMENTS CAPTURE 25 What is meant by requirements capture? How do I go about it? 26 The customer keeps asking for changes and improvements. Can I really say no? STRESS AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT 27 Im very stressed at the moment, and so are some of my team. What can I do about it? 28 My team seems to spend too much time arguing. What can I do? RELATIONSHIP WITH MANAGEMENT 29 I want to tackle the project in a particular way. How can I make sure that my management will let me? 30 My boss is useless. How can I put up with this? 31 I feel Im not getting the support I need from management. What can I do about it? MAKING DECISIONS 32 I constantly have to make decisions on the project, often with little time for consideration. How can I be confident that Im getting the decisions right? 33 I have to take a decision, and it involves taking a significant risk. How can I decide whether to take the risk? ANALYSIS AND DESIGN 34 Is analysis really necessary, or can I go straight into design? 35 How do I decide on the best architecture and design for my project? 36 We have adopted an object-oriented approach, but everyone on the team seems to have a different idea about how best to use it. How should an object-oriented approach be used? 37 Several of my team members want to adopt a new technology on the project. Should we use the new technology or do it the old way? 3
