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Behaviorally Speaking Behaviorally Speaking: Distributed Development
Behaviorally Speaking Behaviorally Speaking: Distributed Development
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Large Scale distributed software development can be complex and challenging for a number of important reasons. It’s true that each day information technology gets more and more exciting along with the necessary processes to coordinate the work done by technology professionals working around the clock in literally every part of the world. However, it is also true that the process and technology issues are simple compared to the cultural and behavioral issues implicit in large scale distributed development. Read on if you’d like to consider some of the important ways that these issues will affect your work on a daily basis. Coordination The simplest challenge associated with distributed development may very well be the effort to coordinate the work. This can be tough in any large scale development effort, but work that can be distributed throughout the world adds a new dimension to the effort required to coordinate and control change. Distributed platforms such as Unix and Windows lend themselves to being developed in a distributed fashion. Coordination includes complex technical challenges as well as the people issues involved with any large scale effort. My day constantly involves coordinating technology changes in India, Chicago, London, and various locations throughout the United States of America. Communication Good communication is essential in any development effort. With work that is distributed the difficulty of establishing effective communication is considerably more difficult and yet obviously essential. I used to have a boss who said that, “communication is a miracle.” Most of us have had times when we believed that it would certainly take a miracle to effectively coordinate communication on large scale distributed projects. Styles of communication can be especially challenging. I used to be blind (although I have forgotten most of the Braille alphabet). I like communicating on the phone. I like the internet and email. When I am working I really dislike when people drop by my desk to chat. I also find the demands of being “visual” (when I am talking with visually sighted people) to be less than intuitive. We all have different communication styles. I usually communicate process requirements and details in writing. It’s been my own experience that many people, especially from countries like India, prefer to stop by and speak in person. I really prefer the checklist and detailed process model. Communicating with people from different cultures, speaking different languages, can be especially challenging. The distributed world means that worldwide communication is now the norm. Culture Different cultural norms and mores may impact distributed development in many different ways. In this author’s work the cultural issues involved with offshore global development are indeed substantial. Understanding and respecting diversity is a good start, but cultures also collide at times and getting the job done effectively may be very much at risk. Development Managers need to understand that learning about and respecting cultural diversity is not just a mandate from the Human Resources Department. Today it’s really the only way to manage a large scale software development effort. The real challenge comes when disparate cultures must find an effective way to share, communicate and coordinate their work in a fair and open manner. Understanding cultural norms takes on new and increased meaning in these circumstances. In some cultures it is completely unacceptable for a man to physically touch a woman, even if it just a handshake. As a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician I have asked a translator to ask the woman’s permission before I touched her – even in the presence of her husband. I personally really enjoy cultural diversity and find that the more that I understand about a group of people – the deeper my respect and understanding for their way of life grows. Trust With understanding there can be less fear. Trust comes from relationships where we come to understand and respect others. I am reminded of a beloved children’s story where a Lion (or was it a tiger?) explains to a child that the animal must be “tamed” over time so that the child and wild animal can learn to love each other. Cultural challenges can erode trust and severely impact productivity. Today’s distributed technology environments require that we build up trust as we try to “tame” the savage technologies that we all deal with every day. Competition I have been severely criticized for my pro-offshore stance in previous articles. Some of the email has been pretty strong. But I love a little competition and I really believe that technology professionals have to strive to be the best that we can be. My readers may have noticed that I skipped writing a bunch of months. This article is so late (and rushed) that I may very well miss my deadline. Aside from my hectic hours working in a very distributed environment, I am also doing more graduate work, at NYU, in Computer Science. I am not just collecting master degrees, but I am truly enjoying refreshing my own technical skills. Although, it’s very humbling to realize how tough it can be to do another graduate degree with younger (and smarter) graduate students from all over the world. A little competition is good for us and we should all step up to the challenge. Most of all working in technology means that we must work very hard to keep our technical skills fresh and updated. We also need to keep growing in our knowledge of effective software processes and the people skills necessary to bring about change in a positive and constructive way. Commitment Are we really committed? The challenges of distributed development are obviously immense. The rewards are also significant. Personally, I really enjoy the challenge of working in today’s demanding technology rich environment. Distributed development makes great demands upon CM practitioners, however the rewards are also great. Recent articles have indicated that many technology professionals earn more than many medical doctors. We’re also at the forefront of a changing and exciting global economy. In the coming months we will discuss more about our involvement with Data Security including Disaster Recovery and maintaining the integrity of the World Wide Web. This is an exciting time to be involved with technology and CM!!! Bob Aiello is a Senior Editor for Crossroads News and an Associate Director at a major financial services firm in NYC, where he has company wide responsibility for Software Configuration and Release Management best practices. Bob is on the Steering Committee of the NYC Software Process Improvement Network (CitySPIN), where he is also the chair of the CM SIG which meets in Midtown NYC. Mr. Aiello has a Masters in Industrial Psychology from NYU and a BS in Computer Science from Hofstra University. You can reach Mr. Aiello by email at bob.aiello@cmcrossroads.com
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 April 2008 11:05 |
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