Is it time to reassess how we build and operate development teams?
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I figured this is a good place to get pro and con feedback. Soup to Nuts in Software Development[^]
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I figured this is a good place to get pro and con feedback. Soup to Nuts in Software Development[^]
Smells spammy to me. (Ah, so it's site-driving then?)
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I figured this is a good place to get pro and con feedback. Soup to Nuts in Software Development[^]
I prefer to continue to use the traditional way: Go to the harbor, fill up some developers and drag them aboard. What? Sailors? That could actually be the reason why all my ships sank and all software projects ended in chaos...
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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Smells spammy to me. (Ah, so it's site-driving then?)
Did you read it, or just sniff the link on the screen? š The OP is serious question, with a reference to a specific observation. Agree or disagree is fine, but why one comes to that conclusion makes for good discussion.
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Smells spammy to me. (Ah, so it's site-driving then?)
PIEBALDconsult wrote:
Smells spammy to me.
It did a bit to me, too, but the OP has a few CP articles under his belt, so I temporarily unblocked linkedin and had a look. Nothing for sale, just an article about what it says on the tin.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I figured this is a good place to get pro and con feedback. Soup to Nuts in Software Development[^]
I can see the overall point. It would be nice to have more technically-minded people in what are traditionally considered non-technical roles since the duties of those roles are inextricably linked to some degree with technical details, but I disagree with shoving PM+BA duties entirely onto lead devs in all but the smallest of projects. There are only 24 hours in a day.
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I can see the overall point. It would be nice to have more technically-minded people in what are traditionally considered non-technical roles since the duties of those roles are inextricably linked to some degree with technical details, but I disagree with shoving PM+BA duties entirely onto lead devs in all but the smallest of projects. There are only 24 hours in a day.
Good point. If a lead who is a software engineer cannot distill the PM and BA duties down to about 30% of their time, then they are not right for a āSoup to nutsā lead. I know this approach is feasible because I have done it and known others who did it, and did it well. But many, perhaps more than half of, software engineers just do not have (or want) the multidisciplinary knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it well.
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Good point. If a lead who is a software engineer cannot distill the PM and BA duties down to about 30% of their time, then they are not right for a āSoup to nutsā lead. I know this approach is feasible because I have done it and known others who did it, and did it well. But many, perhaps more than half of, software engineers just do not have (or want) the multidisciplinary knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it well.
MSBassSinger wrote:
perhaps more than half of, software engineers just do not have (or want) the multidisciplinary knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it well.
Which is fine, and they should be paid less. :^)
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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MSBassSinger wrote:
perhaps more than half of, software engineers just do not have (or want) the multidisciplinary knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it well.
Which is fine, and they should be paid less. :^)
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
ZurdoDev wrote:
Which is fine, and they should be paid less.
Seriously? The entire march of history is about economic specialization. If someone is great at software, why saddle them with product management, project management, or other things suggested in this article? Those roles should be filled by people who are also good at those roles, but they don't make someone a software team lead from a technical standpoint.
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ZurdoDev wrote:
Which is fine, and they should be paid less.
Seriously? The entire march of history is about economic specialization. If someone is great at software, why saddle them with product management, project management, or other things suggested in this article? Those roles should be filled by people who are also good at those roles, but they don't make someone a software team lead from a technical standpoint.
Greg Utas wrote:
If someone is great at software, why saddle them with product management, project management, or other things suggested in this article?
Because it's a small team.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Greg Utas wrote:
If someone is great at software, why saddle them with product management, project management, or other things suggested in this article?
Because it's a small team.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Sure, but I saw nothing in the article about team size. It seemed to be a general prescription.
Greg Utas wrote:
I saw nothing in the article about team size. I
I didn't read the article and was not limiting my comments to whatever it said. Just a general observation.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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MSBassSinger wrote:
perhaps more than half of, software engineers just do not have (or want) the multidisciplinary knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it well.
Which is fine, and they should be paid less. :^)
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
ZurdoDev wrote:
and they should be paid less
Rubbish - you want to take 30% of the time of a highly productive developer and devote it to other duties, bloody silly idea. I don't know about others but as a senior developer I was paid dramatically more than a PM or BA.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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ZurdoDev wrote:
and they should be paid less
Rubbish - you want to take 30% of the time of a highly productive developer and devote it to other duties, bloody silly idea. I don't know about others but as a senior developer I was paid dramatically more than a PM or BA.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
Mycroft Holmes wrote:
I was paid dramatically more than a PM or BA.
Precisely. So imagine being a good developer and doing project management stuff. Or, just a developer only. Clearly you should get paid more the more that you do.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Mycroft Holmes wrote:
I was paid dramatically more than a PM or BA.
Precisely. So imagine being a good developer and doing project management stuff. Or, just a developer only. Clearly you should get paid more the more that you do.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
You seem to assume that a developer can have the same quality of skill as a PM/BA, that is highly unlikely if he is highly skilled in one. You have heard of the saying "jack of all trades is a master of none". Seems appropriate.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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You seem to assume that a developer can have the same quality of skill as a PM/BA, that is highly unlikely if he is highly skilled in one. You have heard of the saying "jack of all trades is a master of none". Seems appropriate.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
Your experiences and mine are different. Nothing wrong with that.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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I figured this is a good place to get pro and con feedback. Soup to Nuts in Software Development[^]
There has been some discussion around this, and it is clear that different people have seen different things work well. There is no single solution. It is up to whoever assembles a team to know (or observe) the strengths and weaknesses of its members. In some cases, combining roles works well. In others, letting people specialize is preferable. All team members should be compensated for their contribution. No role--product management, project management, senior developer--is inherently more valuable than another. My own experience has been that some outfits value managers more than developers, so they end up with developers going into management when it would have been better, for everyone concerned, if they had remained pure developers.
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There has been some discussion around this, and it is clear that different people have seen different things work well. There is no single solution. It is up to whoever assembles a team to know (or observe) the strengths and weaknesses of its members. In some cases, combining roles works well. In others, letting people specialize is preferable. All team members should be compensated for their contribution. No role--product management, project management, senior developer--is inherently more valuable than another. My own experience has been that some outfits value managers more than developers, so they end up with developers going into management when it would have been better, for everyone concerned, if they had remained pure developers.
Excellent points. A good leader knows how to take solid principles and adapt them to what makes the team work best. On your point about developers going into management, I have seen that happen, also. That is why I donāt take a leadership or management position unless it also involves coding. I find that being a programmer is essential to really understanding how to lead a team of developers to be greater than the sum of their parts. Thanks for your post.
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Sure, but I saw nothing in the article about team size. It seemed to be a general prescription.
Not a general prescription. General principles that can be applied to teams of various sizes. If teams grow large, then other considerations have to be applied. Should a team of twenty be broken into four teams of five? If so, how is leadership delegated effectively? Those are topics for another day. I have successfully applied the principles I wrote about to teams from three to twelve. I think that covers the size of most functional teams.
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I figured this is a good place to get pro and con feedback. Soup to Nuts in Software Development[^]
