1. N° and issue date : 40301 - 10/03/2004
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So you are empowered , so what?
By Paul Grew , software development manager , LogicaCMG Mobile Payments
The start of the new calendar or financial year
often signifies an
opportunity for a kick-off
meeting ,usually in a
swanky hotel away from
the hustle of daily office life .The executive
team' s
previously decided strategy is presented
as a vision te ,the staff.And,by the way, inforni
us that we're all
empowernd .
We have ail corne across empowerment tales
in daily life; where the waiter in the restaurant
has run clown te ,the local garage just to satisfy
the customers urge for that post meal victory
cigar .But what are the implications for
empowering software developers? What are the
outcoines when software developers make their
own decisions? Is there a valid environnent for
empowering software developers and under
what constraints?
In simple terras , empowerment is allowing
subordinates to make decisions and act upon
them .To make decisions staff need te ,have full
access to sources of information on which to
base decisions and then need authority and
quite often resources to act .
The waiter has a direct communication
channel with the customer to determine his
needs , conversely the chef does not .Imagine the
chef deciding that since its cold he's
going te,
add extra chilli te, all his dishes .He' s made a
decision ,
but not based on the customer needs .
From this it tan be deduced that decision
making must happen at the point closest to the
customer .
A typical software project will follow the
waterfall lifecycle.Typically a sale occurs at some
level within an organisation and this is followed
by requirements capture , design , implementation
and test .Each of these activities is performed by
different individuals or teams.The person closest
to the customer is the requirements analyst or
the project manager.The best decisions are made
by these
people at the rime they are in-situ with
the customer; at the start of the project .As the
project progresses , the decisions become more
remote from the customer .
Imagine a simple scenario .A developer is
tasked with implementing a
print button on a
screen.The developer needs to make a decision
on what it should look like.The cost of getting
the requirements engineer to cal ] the customer
for an answer and then to reissuc the
requirements is too high , se, the developer
decides to implement it with the word
'print'
embossed .Months later when the project is
delivered , the customer is unhappy because lie
or she wanted a picture of a printer .
In this case the developer bas made a decision
based on the information available .In this
scenario it would have been the saure effort tu
implement either solution , but at the end of the
project it now must be done for a second rime
at a cost cither te ,the custoiner or the supplier .
One of the practices of extreme
progrannning is to have an onsite customer.The
customer sits among the developers and is able
to answer and clarify questions pertaining to the
requirements; the point at which software
engineering decisions are made is at the point
closest te ,the customer .When there are missing
or ambiguous requirements the developer can
discuss the options with the customer and
determine the exact expectations .
Jan Carlzon , former president of SAS ,
ScandinavianAirlines defined moments of truth
as: Any tune a customer cornes into contact
with any aspect of your business , however
remote , that customer bas an
opportunity to
fora an impression .
Placing the customer literally in the centre of
the software development provides the
customer with a moment of truth where they
experience the whole project revolving around
them .Not only clarifying requirements but
seeing actual progress undoubtedly gives them
confidence .
Since 70% of IT projects still fail , giving the
customer what they want and genuine progress
information ,will exceed their expectations .
Paul .Grew@ ogicaCMG.cour
LOGICACMG