Project Team

When starting a project you're getting a project team of developers, QA tester, technical leader, and a dedicated client relations manager.

  • The team leader will be responsible for controlling the technical side of project running: responsible for taking technical decisions, analytical work, controlling of fulfillment of all tasks in accordance with technical specification, etc.
  • The client relations manager is in charge of controlling project running from the point of keeping deadlines, budget running, receiving updates or additional tasks, providing you with new estimations if necessary, reconciling of contracts with you, taking into consideration your ideas on improving cooperation way, etc.

Development Process

Summary

  • Improve developers today, to deliver better products tomorrow.
  • Manage projects like a business in micro-cycles, with long-term views.
  • Prioritize features, develop needs, and deliver a little extra.
  • Promote collaboration amongst all stake-holders.

Coding Standards

  • Teach them
  • Use them
  • Review them
  • Improve them
  • Self documenting code
  • Take pride in code

Software Development Methodologies

Project Management

  • Task
    • No task greater than 16-hours
    • Make big tasks into smaller tasks
    • Assignment
    • Follow-up
  • Twice weekly half-hour progress meetings
    • Monday, Thursday, 11:15 AM
    • Work day change up
  • 10 AM to 6 PM or other likeable 8 hour block of time.
  • 6 to 7 hours per day of development or training
  • Enforced breaks, meals
  • Code reviews
  • Process reviews
  • Pragmatic Teams and Processes
    • www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/ppbook/index.html
    • No broken windows - if it's broken fix it
    • Boiled frogs - remain vigilant of the work environment and developemtn efforts
    • Communicate - team personality or identity, centralized external, free-flow internal
    • Don't Repeat Yourself - project librarian
    • Orthoganality - organize around functionality, not job functions
    • Automation - if it's done more than once, automate it - tests, scripts, templates, etc.

Code Goals

  • Stable
  • Reusable
  • Maintainable
  • Efficient
  • Generalized
  • Extendable
  • Quality and dependability over speed
  • Teams own the code, not the developer

Improvements

  • Test first, code second
  • Release early, release often
  • Involve users in feedback often
  • If it's broken, fix it
  • If it can be improved, do it
  • Refactor early, refactor often

Develop the Developers

  • Invest in our people
  • Teach developers to code more effectively
  • Pragmatic Programming Ideals
    • DRY - Don't Repeat Yourself
    • Make learning a habit
    • Fix the problem, not the blame
    • Don't assume it, prove it
    • Separate views from models
    • Test ruthlessly
    • Make it easy to reuse
    • Exceed user expectations
    • Sign your work
  • Developers that do well, matched with developers who don't, but are willing to be open and learn
  • Have developers work with customer support to see clients usage and understanding of our products

Sample Project Team

  • 1 Customer Support rep
  • 1 Accounting rep
  • 1 Project manager
  • 1 Graphics design rep
  • 1 Network operations rep
  • 1 Senior management rep
  • 1 Client/end-user rep
  • 2 to 7 developers

Sample Development Area

  • Board table to sit all participants
  • 3 to 4 pair coding stations
  • White boards, markers
  • Scratch paper, pens
  • Water, coffee
  • Projector and screen

Documentation

  • Minimums
    • Project Plan
    • Requirements Specification
    • Design Specification
    • Testing Plan
  • Use Wiki or like to document:
    • Processes
    • Procedures
    • Developer guidelines
    • Desktop user guides
    • Project use cases
    • Project statuses
    • Project notes
  • Use PHP-Doc or like to document code

Morale Keeping

  • Query team on
    • Their interests
    • Own Ideas
    • Thoughts for improvement
    • What's bad
    • What's good
    • Value to company
    • Incentive
  • Review team code for
    • Good work
    • Improvement
    • Reuse
    • Examples of what to do
    • Examples of what not to do
  • Don't let philosophy differences break teams
  • Teach different methodologies
  • Explain those that are actually used
  • Direct excess talents to side projects or outside contracts

What Our Clients Have to Say

I first encountered Michael when I was looking for some assistance with the Mojavi Model-View-Controller framework for PHP application developement. We corresponded several times and I was so impressed that I asked him to come in a consulting capacity to conduct a "boot camp" on the framework with a prototype application I was attempting. Following the "boot camp" experience, when I needed to hire a full time developer, I called Michael to see if he was interested. He multitasks with ease has a thriving consulting practice and is the person that I call first when I have a *nix, Macintosh, or another really hard question.
Jonathan Lord, Sunrise International Leasing Corporation

 

Contact Cannonbose for a Free Consultation

Call +1 (800) 559-9773 or email using this form





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