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 Jim Brosseau's Software Teamwork: Taking Ownership for Success is nothing less than a handbook of guidelines, tips, and techniques for anyone wishing to effect change and influence improvement in the effectiveness of software development teams. The book bills itself as an "intensely practical guide to improving the human dynamics that are crucial to building great software" and I would say it delivers on that promise. The preface clearly sets the tone for who the target audience is:
Tagging along for the ride is easy, but to be effective you need to be an active, proactive, and intentional team member. We must each take active responsibility for making things happen, for committing to and fostering a healthy environment where great products can be built. This is a book for everyone involved in software development, not just the managers or anointed change agents who are deemed as the point people to drive change. We all need to actively drive our work environment - it is not simply a management concern. As individuals, we can all significantly improve our productivity. Practitioners are the ones best suited to propose and contribute to changes to our overall team performance. "Leadership" here is cooperatively participating with others to most effectively achieve a common goal. A team of effective leaders work miracles. We all need to take ownership and convert these miracles to reality on our teams.... Upon first opening the book, one immediately notices just how thoroughly the book has been organized. The inside front & inside back covers form a visual at-a-glance navigation guide, split up into separate sections for each of four different stages of teamwork:
The book is divided into seven parts:
What I found most striking about the book was the relentless focus on the dynamics of human interaction to effect change in team outcomes & results. There are a few times when the reading is a bit dry, but also many other times when the examples and stories used resonate deeply with poignant clarity. Even the detailed table of contents reads like compelling list of questions and key insights (I was sorely tempted to include it here in this review, but I wouldn't have had enough space left over for the review itself.) The organization of the book is flawless, almost perfection. In addition to the navigation guide and icons in the margins, the sections flow ever so smoothly (both conceptually and visually) like wine into the always relevant sidebars and vice-versa. Each chapter ends with a summary, and a visual sidebar "How is this Relevant?" highlighting the key take-aways from the chapter. There are a few sentiments here and there that some agilistas might find themselves in disagreement over (such as the value of certain kinds of documentation) but I found the discussion to reflect the business realities and attitudes many of us must face when addressing these topics in our own projects. I found Software Teamwork to be an immensely helpful, intensely practical, profusely insightful field guide to improving team outcomes and changing team behaviors by focusing on interpersonal action and personal leadership. This book belongs on any software team-leader's bookshelf, along with Jean Tabaka's Collaboration Explained and Murray Cantor's Software Leadership. About the Reviewer Brad Appleton is an enterprise SCM/ALM solution architect for a Fortune 100 technology company. Currently he helps projects and teams adopt and apply agile development & SCM practices. Brad also author's the Agile CM Environments blog, and is co-author of Software Configuration Management Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration, the "Agile SCM" column in CMCrossroads.com's CM Journal, and is a former section editor for The C++ Report. Since 1987, Brad has extensive experience using, developing, and supporting SCM environments for teams of all shapes and sizes. He holds an M.S. in Software Engineering and a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics.
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