Jimali Software Engineering

This page contains links to documents discussing Human Resources. This page will be updated on an ongoing basis as more documents are located.

Articles

Title	Author(s)	Notes
10 non-monetary benefits to attract and retain top developers	Justin James	This article describes 10 things that an organisation can do to retain developers without necessarily paying them a huge salary. The ideas expressed in this article are quite interesting, and are (probably) applicable to other areas of IT.
10 ways to explain things more effectively	Calvin Sun	This article discusses a number of things to keep in mind when explaining technical detail so that it is explained in such a manner that the listener is engaged and understands the explanation.
10 ways to give a bad presentation	Paul Glen	This article discusses various ways of giving a presentation that is essentially a waste of time for all concerned.
10+ things you should do when you resign	Calvin Sun	This article describes 12 things that you should do when you resign from a job. I think this is a good start, although above all else BE PROFESSIONAL.
Don't ask employees to be passionate about the company!	Kathy Sierra	This blog talks about being passionate about your profession NOT the company you work for. Quite an interesting read.
Don’t wait to address performance problems on a project	Tom Mochal	This article discusses why we shouldn't wait to address personnel performance problems on a project, and suggests an approach to dealing with it.
Effectively Managing Team Conflict	Barbara Bulleit	This is an in depth discussion of how to deal with conflict that arises in the workplace. It discusses identification of conflict, root cause analysis, and resolution strategies. The article identifies several approaches to root cause analysis to help managers look at all aspects of the conflict before embarking on a programme to resolve the conflict. This is a well written article with plenty of information for managers and team leaders.
Giving and Receiving Feedback	BNET_Editorial
Heroes: Carrying a Double-Edged Sword	Paul Kimmerly	This article talks about the impact that "heroes" have on projects and an organisation. A "hero" in this context is the person(s) who know most about a particular system, and without whom the system cannot operate properly. A system in this case is a software system, but the principle applies to other areas too. Heroes often have knowledge learned through experience that is not written down, and is applied implicitly by the hero in their day to day work. People without this knowledge are not able to perform the tasks of the hero, increasing the dependence upon the hero. Having heroes is a risk to an organisation because they can become choke points to getting work done. Organisations that rely on heroes are often severely impacted when the hero is unable to work (for whatever reason). The article cites examples where heroes have actually caused significant problems for an organisation. The article then discusses options for reducing the dependence upon heroes by leveraging their knowledge to implement appropriate processes. Capturing the hero's implicit knowledge and teaching it to others, allows the heroes to focus on things that they are good at, and allows others to take over some of their responsibilities.
Hiring the Super Project Manager	Jay Rollins	This article discusses the need to have project managers understand the vision for the project they are working on. The reason for this is that they understand what drives the sponsor not just the requirements of the project management methodology leading to a better project outcome than might possibly have occurred without having a vision for the project. The advice sounds solid in theory, but I need to put it into practice to be certain.
Inspiring your user-evangelists	Kathy Sierra	This blog gives advice for helping product users become evangelists for the product. There are some interesting ideas here.
Master these 10 processes to sharpen your project management skills	Tom Mochal	This article discusses the 10 primary processes that a PM should use when managing a project with links to supporting documents.
Recruiting the Top 1 Percent	Joel Spolsky	This article describes how Fog Creek Software recruits it's staff members. It's quite and interesting read and provides some food for thought.
Talking Shop: How to identify and manage workplace conflict	Steven A. Watson	This article discusses some of the reasons for workplace conflict, and ways to reduce conflict between team members.
The Econ 101 Management Method	Joel Spolsky	This article talks about paying staff monetary bonuses for aspects of their work, and the manner in which this backfires. The article talks about how people tend to optimise the things they're being paid for, often to the detriment of the company and the intent of the payment. It's quite an interesting read.
The learning edge	Phillip G. Armour	This article discusses how people learn and apply their knowledge. The article postulates that we go through various phases in learning from being not competent and ineffective due to anxiety, to being very competent but ineffective due to boredom. The article also talks about the "learning edge" which is where we learn most efficiently. It seems to me that this article has more than a single element of truth because it is important for us to continue to learn and push ourselves, otherwise we become stuck in a rut and our knowledge deteriorates.
Three habits of highly effective employees	Toni Bowers	This article discusses 3 aspects of highly effective employees. The article is quite well written and points out (what I believe are) the right things.
When to step in if employees are fighting	Ken Hardin	This article gives some tips on resolving conflicts between staff members.

Source	Article	Notes & Comments
	Effective practices for IT skills staffing (added 23-Jun-06)
	Twenty dirty tricks to train software engineers (added 23-Jun-06)
	Educating software engineering students to manage risk (added 23-Jun-06)
	Assessing the need for training in IT professionals: a research model (added 23-Jun-06)
	Instilling professionalism in a software development organisation (added 6-Jun-06)

Case Studies