Growing Software: Proven Strategies for Managing Software Engineers

Description

As the technology leader at a small software company, you need to focus on people, products, processes, and technology as you bring your software to market, while doing your best to put out fires and minimize headaches. Growing Software is your guide to juggling the day-to-day challenges of running a software company while managing those long-term problems and making sure that your business continues to grow. With practical, hands-on advice, Growing Software will teach you how to build and lead an effective team, define and sell your products, work with everyone from customers to CEOs, and ensure high-quality results. Instead of learning by trial and error, you'll benefit from author Louis Testa's 20+ years of management experience. Testa combines big-picture advice, specific solutions, and real-life anecdotes to teach you how to: Work effectively with your CEO and executive team Improve development team efficiency and enthusiasm Evaluate your software methodology to improve effectiveness and safeguard against failure Use product prototypes to bridge the gap between marketing and engineering Defuse technology time bombs Whether you're new to managing software or newly lost, Growing Software will help you and your growing company thrive. Brief Contents Contents in Detail Copyrights Acknowledgments Introduction Book Organization and Conventions Company Growth Stages Real-Life Accounts Spreadsheets Templates PART I: Development Team 1: Getting Started Finding Your Way in a New Job Dealing with the Immediate Undergoing Initial Training Collecting Information Understanding the People Reluctance to Reveal Information Learning the Technology, Process, and Product Understanding the Customer Understanding the Corporate Business Workflow Back to the Big Picture 2: Managing a Development Team Understanding Your Core Management Values Trust Flexibility Sincerity Confidentiality Respect Empowerment Communicating with Your Team One-on-Ones Project Communication Team Meetings Conflict Resolution Training Coaching Motivating Your Team Members Coaching Problem Employees Reviews and Evaluations Creating the Review Delivering the Review Providing Late and Deficient Reviews Additional Reading 3: Creating an Effective Development Team Effective Team Organization Programmer Efficiency Office Space How Other Teams Communicate with Engineering New Manager, Old Habits Have Fun Additional Reading 4: Growing a Software Team Designing a Selection Process Interview Traits Technical Skills Success History Cultural Fit Work Habits and Preferences Industry Experience People Skills Communication Skills Personality Enthusiasm Problem-Solving Ability Sense of Humor Pulling It All Together Phone Screening The Office Interview Coaching Your Interview Team Interview Sessions to Avoid Review Session Making the Choice Additional Reading PART II: Product and Technology 5: Defining the Product Product Definition Process Product Definition Contents The Whole Product Concept Define the Product Using Prototypes Prototypes in General Quick and Nimble Approaches Clickable User Interface Prototypes User Interface Design Build a Relationship with Marketing Avoid Poor Relationships Keep Marketing and Engineering Teams Together Build a Balanced Relationship Customer Perception of the Product Surprise! Unplanned Features Improving a Product in an Alpha Release Understanding an Existing Product’s Composition Additional Reading 6: Driving Releases Release Planning Release Timeline Early Release Strategy Planning Product End of Life The Release Process Release Criteria Process Steps Post-release Review Release Version Identification Three Number Release IDs Patch Releases Component Numbers vs. Release Number Numbering Across Releases Software for the Gentleman Farmer Additional Reading 7: Evaluating Your Tools and Methods Backing Up Intellectual Property Backup Frequency Offsite Copies Disk-Only Backup Creating and Managing Development Documentation Source Control Versioning Software Build Method and Timing Software Release Process Bug-Tracking System Selecting the Right Development Tools Additional Reading 8: Assessing Your Technology System Documentation System Scalability Failure Modes Error Handling and Messages Software System Flexibility and Maintainability Third-Party Packages Integrated into the System System Application Programming Interface Security Data Reporting and Analysis Data Warehouse International Support Looking at the Big Picture Additional Reading PART III: Outside of Engineering 9: Working with Your Company Company Culture and Practices Corporate Style Management Style Meeting Style Handling Interteam Problems Growing Peer Relationships Engineering Team Respect Additional Reading 10: Working with the CEO and the Executive Team Supporting Your Boss Ensuring Clarity of Goals Providing Useful Information Communicating Influencing Decisions Collaborating with the Executive Team Resolving Conflict Taking up Your Mantle with Confidence Opening Communication Collaborating Effectively 11: Listening to Your Customers Customer Satisfaction Customer Meetings Closing the Deal When the Sales Team Overpromises Requests for Quotes Support and Customer Requests PART IV: Making Work Flow: Projects, Process, and Quality 12: Project Estimating Building an Estimate Creating a Task List Creating Task Estimates Considering Estimation Bias Building the Estimate Writing and Delivering the Estimate Collecting Raw Project Data Summarizing Data Using a Spreadsheet Engineering Maintenance and Overhead Additional Reading 13: Starting a Project Understanding the Goal Assembling the Project Team Substitutions Game Delays Setting Priorities Selecting the Framework Mapping out the Timeline Creating a Project Plan Kickoff Meeting Additional Reading 14: Project Execution and Tracking Managing a Project’s Execution The Five Rules of Project Management Project-Tracking Approaches Gantt Chart Project-Tracking Spreadsheet Change Control Process Risk Management Additional Reading 15: Designing a Software Development Process What’s in a Software Development Process? Types of Development Processes Ad Hoc Waterfall Process Modified Waterfall Process Iterative Process Spiral Process Agile Processes Other Processes and Approaches Customizing a Process Selecting a Process Introducing a Process Additional Reading 16: Process Improvement Creating a Process Model Define the Process Boundaries List the Process Steps Create a Flow Chart Estimate a Range of Times Create a Spreadsheet Model Verify the Model Analyzing the Process Model Process Analysis in Action Using the Model to Improve the Process Working with Other Teams Getting It Going Additional Reading 17: Understanding Quality Assurance Importance of Quality Quality Defined Valuing Quality Quality Assessment The Quality Assurance Team QA Tools and Environment QA Activities QA Processes Defect-Ranking Process Functionality and Usefulness as Specified and Built QA Metrics The Impact of Defects on Quality and Productivity Additional Reading PART V: Planning the Future 18: Setting the Direction Listen to the Market Create a Whole Product Defuse Technical Time Bombs Plan a Technology Overhaul Optimize Customer Setup 19: Product Roadmap and Strategy Creating a Product Roadmap Evaluating Choices Cost-Benefit Calculation Cost-Benefit Comparisons Creating One-Page Assessments Project Components Additional Reading 20: Going Forward A: Software Company Structure Company Tasks Typical One-Person Company Typical Two-Person Company Twelve-Person Software Company Twenty-four to Fifty-Person Software Company Hundred-Plus–Person Software Company Hierarchical Structure Matrix Organizations Small Product Team Flexible Project Teams Conclusion B: Internationalization Internationalization Questions to Ask Translating Staffing and Costs Database Considerations Country and Language Requirements Currency Questions Dates, Metric, and Dimension Issues Best Practice Approach to Internationalization Locales Translation Process Quality Assurance Database and Import/Export Translation Firm User Interface Summary C: Corporate Workflow Diagram Creating a Simple Workflow Diagram Workflow Example Index Updates