eProps Research Prject Report Q2 EEE 492

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eProps Research Prject Report Q2EEE 492
Ref EEE492 Lecture Slides

• OCdt. Kilburn

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Outline

• Whats the question?
• Management Styles
• Organizational Structures

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Q2

• The company typically organizes its project teams
  following a hierarchical organizational structure
  that is best described as adhering to a
  "separation" style of management.  Since the
  roles within XP dictate a different style of team
  structure you are asked to identify and describe
  the organizational structure and management style
  that you feel best fits the XP process.  Identify
  the differences between these two  styles of
  management.  Do you see any risks in the
  organization adopting this management style for
  its future projects?

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Basic Management Styles
Relation Directedness Attention to the individual
and their relationship within the organization
Low
High
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Organizational Structures

• Hierarchical
• Matrix
• Chief Programmer Team
• SWAT Team
• Open Structure

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Hierarchical

• distinct separation between workers and managers
• It works for software
• Changes to fit the structure of the system
• Functional sub-teams are often created for
  projects with a wide range of responsibility
• coordination at the project level/ generally
  accomplished through the standardization of both
  the process and the products

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Open Structured Team

• Principle of open management
• internal decisions made through consensus
• There is assigned a technical team leader who is
  responsible for external controls and unresolved
  decisions
• all other team roles rotate among the members of
  the team
• structure
• technical team leader ensures the project
  continues moving forward
• all important proceedings are recorded, including
  products, process, and decisions
• coordination one of mutual adjustment

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Discuss!
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References!
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Hierarchical Organization

• distinct layers of workers versus managers
• suitable for production of software
• often designed according to the structure of the
  system
• often includes functional sub-teams responsible
  for project wide areas of responsibility
• examples CM, testing, QA
• coordination at the project level, generally
  based upon standardization of process or
  standardization of work products
• particular subsystems may dictate other styles

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Hierarchical Org - Disadvantages

• specific knowledge and real work is at the bottom
  of the pyramid while power and decision making is
  at the top
• translation of information between top and bottom
  is often a lossy communications channel
• separating project evaluation from personal
  evaluation is difficult / challenging
• the Peter Principal - a person is promoted to
  their level of incompetence
• different skills are required at each level
• promotion may not be a suitable reward

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Matrix Organization

• employees act as corporate consultants, working
  on multiple teams at the same time
• a project team consists of a team core
  supplemented with matrix specialists
• matrix groups are usually formed based upon some
  common specialization
• examples GUI, databases, reliability, estimation
• coordination coordination of the matrix tasks is
  most closely aligned with the standardization of
  worker skills

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Matrix Org Disadvantages

• requires a high degree of trust and cooperation
  between matrix managers and project managers
• project manager goals are selfish short term
  project goals
• matrix manager goals are longer term corporate
  positioning goals
• workers may feel like they have multiple bosses
  and are constantly being pulled in different
  directions
• loyalty isnt always obvious
• who do they really work for?

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Chief Programmer Team

• software equivalent of surgeon teams Bro
• very small team sizes
• has a kernel of three people
• chief programmer - team leader, designer key
  programmer (competent technically and
  managerially)
• assistant - 2 I/C
• librarian - project administration and
  documentation, may be a junior programmer
  (trainee)
• coordination given the small team size and the
  predominance of the chief programmer, direct
  supervision is likely to be the means of
  coordinating tasks

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Chief Programmer Disadvantages

• elitist
• may lead to friction between Chief Programmer run
  teams and other styles of projects within a
  company
• where are you going to find enough good chief
  programmers?
• it is frequently the case that the best
  programmers make poor managers
• what happens if other team members challenge the
  decisions / competence of the chief?

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Skilled With Advanced Tools - SWAT Team

• usually only employed in an evolutionary or
  iterative development setting
• relatively small team (4-5 members- co-located)
• build increments of software systems
• employ whiteboarding / brainstorming techniques,
  component construction, high-level languages
  software generators
• often supported by GroupWare / workflow tools
• SWAT team leader more like a foreman
• team members generally multi-skilled
• coordination a mix of standardization of process
  (tied to tools) and mutual adjustment

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SWAT Disadvantages

• relies heavily upon the motivation and
  cooperation of the team
• implies keeping everyone motivated
• implies everyone gets along well
• both are difficult to maintain over an extended
  period of time
• may not scale well
• how do you coordinate multiple SWAT teams towards
  a larger common goal
• requires consistency of tools

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Open Structured Team

• combination of an open management style (to
  encourage innovation) with control structures (to
  ensure a timely execution)
• open management
• internal decisions are arrived by consensus
• technical team leader responsible for external
  controls and unresolved decisions
• all other team roles rotate among the team
• structure
• technical team leader ensures forward motion
• all proceedings recorded (products, process,
  decisions)
• coordination is by definition one of mutual
  adjustment

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Open Structured Disadvantages

• decision making is by majority voting
• this can split the team into factions
• minority groups may reject ownership of decisions
• selection of technical leader is a sensitive
  issue
• the style is applied in situations where the
  requirement for innovation is high selection of
  a technical leader not supported by the group
  members will likely stifle innovation