IMPROVING

SOFTWARE
ECONOMICS
Chapter 3.3
Michael Davis
IMPROVING TEAM
EFFECTIVENESS
Personnel Differences are HUGE!!!!
Account for the greatest swings in productivity
COCOMO model
Impact factor of 4
A team of superstars DOES NOT guarantee
project success
Superstars = Super-Dysfunctional
Just formulate a good team
BALANCE AND
COVERAGE
B&C
2 of the most important aspects
Whats balance
Whats coverage
Theres no I in team
You can bet
Well managed team with nominal members can succeed
Mismanaged team with experts will almost never succeed
Well architected system can be built by a nominal team
Poorly architected system given an expert team will flounder

And? What does it mean?

BARRY BOEHM
THINKS
1. Principle of top talent
2. Principle of job matching
3. Principle of career progression
4. Principle of team balance
5. Principle of phaseout
TOP TALENT

Use better and fewer people

Natural Team Size
Team Dynamics
PRESURE
JOB MATCHING

Fit the tasks to the skills and motivation

of the people available
Who screws in a light bulb with a hammer?
Dont get caught in a double whammy!
Career Progression

An organization does best in the long run

by helping its people self-actualize
Self Actualize? Develop or achieve ones
full potential
Organizations can be friend or foe
Organizational Training
Strategic and educational
Project Training
Tactical
TEAM BALANCE

Select people who will complement and

harmonize with one another
Raw Skill
intelligence, objectivity, creativity, organization
Psychological Makeup
Leaders/followers, risk takers/conservatives
Objectives
Financial, feature set, quality, timeliness
PHASEOUT

Keeping a misfit on the team doesnt help

anyone
Demotivate
Effects self-actualization
Obvious
GET RID OF THEM YESTERDAY!
BALANCING BALANCE

Team Balance and Job Matching are #1

Top Talent and Phaseout are secondary
Career Progression is the least important

Back to the Project Manager

PROJECT MANAGERS
Should possess the following skills
Hiring Placing the right person in the right job
Customer-Interface Establish a good repose with
your stakeholders
Decision-making
Team-building Manage the many faces and
provide directive
Selling skill Negotiation, compromise, and
empathy
IT ALL MEANS

Team effectiveness hangs on the scale of

balance and coverage
Superstars dont guarantee a thing
Personnel Ecosystem and the project
manager is mother-nature