Home  Blogs Practical Teamwork FEATURED BOOK: Software Teamwork: Taking Ownership for Success, by Jim Brosseau
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FEATURED BOOK: Software Teamwork: Taking Ownership for Success, by Jim Brosseau |
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Written by Brad Appleton
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Sunday, 18 May 2008 |
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:
- Individuals,
- Groups,
- Teams, and
- Stakeholders
For each
stage, a matrix is provided where the columns represent the relevant chapters
& sections of the book and the rows are split into the following four types
of notes:
- Trouble Signs
- Success Indicators
- Questions to Ask
- Tools for Support
Each of
these stages and note-types are represented by a different, suggestive image (an
"icon" or "avatar"), and the images are used throughout the book in headings
and margins for easy visual navigation.
The book is
divided into seven parts:
- Part I is entitled "The Problem
Space" and asks "Why are we so challenged" and then discusses "Doing the
right thing."
- Parts II-V are devoted to each of the
four stages of team (which might be more aptly labeled as "levels of
scale" of interpersonal interaction).
- Part VI, "Putting it all Together"
is summary and highlights of the recurring themes and final advice for
applying the material in practice
- Part VII is an appendix of "Core
Tools": Consciously design workspaces, Mind-Maps, Vision Statements, and
Conflict management. Each tool is described with an overview,
core-elements, hints & caveats, and additional resources.
Speaking of
resources, the author's website itself has an online resources page devoted to
the book (you can also sign-up for their weekly email newsletter, The Compendium).
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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