Customer Reviews

Software Teamwork: Taking Ownership for Success

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This book is brilliant and it reads very easily, as a good novel might. If anybody wants to really understand the challenges of software development and especially projects that require teams of individuals, this is the book for you. There simply is not another book out there that I have come across that effectively communicates and codifies the issues inherent in team software development. As a software developer, I consistently said to myself "somebody else gets it" as I read through it. If this book were to get enough press, it could be revolutionary. The trouble is that it does not offer buzzwords or acronyms for the marketers to focus on. Enjoy this book and become an effective participant in the software development process, regardless of whether you are a developer or a stakeholder of another sort. You'll be glad you did.

The book is lengthy but fun to read, and very inspiring too. The author had one opportunity to participate in an project management simulation, this is what he concluded:

"Almost all attempts at the simulation apparently start off fine for the first couple of months, but most end up with significant time and cost overruns, with huge quality issues, too. The beauty of this simulation is that we see the cause and effect of a ten-month project in the span of a couple of hours, and thus we can more easily make the connection between cause and effect."

The author's tone remains very positive and sharp at the same time:

"Sometimes doctors tell patients something they don't want to hear, anything from "you should quit smoking" to "get your affairs in order quickly." Although there are clear stages in the absorption of information, people will progress through these stages at different rates. Some will never get past the stage of denial, whereas others will quickly take affirmative action on the information and have the greatest chances for survival and growth."

The book can be much shorter, the point Jim made is that both management and the software developer often lose sight of what are really important.

SOFTWARE TEAMWORK: TAKING OWNERSHIP FOR SUCCESS is a practical guide to improving the human interactions which go into software development. Years of work with a range of teams contribute to tester/developer author Jim Brosseau's expertise and insights. His book shows how to take small, tested routines and strategies and apply them to the whole team and its wider purposes, making for a set of realistic development routines which provide solid results. Business and computer libraries alike need his approach to software team development.

"Software Teamwork: Taking Ownership for Success" isn't just about teams. The book provides tips on the individual, group, team and stakeholder levels. (A group is defined as interacting with others without being a team.)

I particularly liked the inside cover references. Each of four tables (individual/group/team/stakeholder) that cross reference the chapter number and four areas (trouble signs, success indicators, questions to ask and tools for support.) These combine to form 16 icons. The icons are used within the chapters to highlight key concepts or find them later. While this sounds complicated trying to describe it, it's a case where a picture is worth a thousand words and the concept works very well in reading/navigating/referencing the book.

I also particularly liked the "how is this relevant?" section that ends each chapter. After the chapter summary, the author picks key concepts and asks questions to get you thinking about how it applies in your workplace.

I'm always a bit skeptical of books that claim to address everyone involved in the software development process including managers, developers and stakeholders. This book manages the task impressively.

And finally, the book resonates with problems and phrases used in industry. My favorites are the problem with "and then a miracle happens" and the repeated emphasis on what "done" means throughout the book. There are good analogies, stories and examples throughout the book. It was a great read and very informative. I highly recommend this book.