Chapter 43. Introduce a More Agile Communication System
MOST RETROSPECTIVES OF FAILED PROJECTS place a great deal of blame on communication breakdowns between software project managers, team members, and stakeholders. Project managers are taught to mitigate communication breakdowns between team members, and provide constant, effective communication. The weight of this responsibility sometimes leads project managers to overreact. They blur the line between essential, concrete communications and those where the content-to-noise ratio actually harms project progress instead of helping it.
To solve this problem, many software development endeavors are moving toward a more flexible, agile process. The key to agile methodologies is timely communication loops that enable agile teams to respond effectively to unfore-seen changes, and quickly reassess and reprioritize project features.
How do agile project managers keep communications limited to the essentials? They promote the daily "15-minute stand-up" meeting. It entails developers describing what they've accomplished since the last standup, what they're planning to accomplish "today," and any impediments they foresee in reaching their goals. The negative risk of a stand-up meeting is that it may rely solely on the precision of each developer's self-assessment. The solution? To make stand-up meetings more effective, integrate ...
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