RE: Re: Do C-Level managers, and business drivers really need to know about XP?

Steve,

 

Well if that is the case that is very short sighted. The reason I can
respond today is I redoing the work responsibility matrix. This states
who is doing what and why. Each skill set is critical to us here in the
PMO, since we need to provide resource planning for our customers. If
all developers or other engineers were interchangeable, well then life
would be easy. But since that is not the case, the resource planning
process is complicated by the fact that people are not interchangeable
in the way you suggest. XP makes the case that all participants are
interchangeable, but that doesn't seem to be the case in real life.

 

Now if people "don't want to do things," I may see that in a different
light. Noel Coward had a great quote when his actors asked about their
motivation. "You want motivation, think of your pay check at the end of
the week."

 

Resource planning (who do we need to do what) is a management job at one
level and a small group job as well. The VP probably needs to understand
first that interchangeability is nice goal but not reality. Then make a
RAM (Responsibility Assignment Matrix) a see where the people fall
relative to the planned work. Gaps can then be made visual, and the
question answered "where well we get the needed skills?"

 

But the other side is that developers can't be the only ones making the
assignments. If skills are missing, train (PP is good here). If training
won't close the gap outside resources are needed, but with these
training has to be in the plan so this process of having gaps is short
lived.

 

So being way overboard is not good, but the planners do see staff as
resources, it that's just part of life in writing software for money (or
for our case a government contractor).

 

Glen B. Alleman

VP, Program Management Office

Information Technology

CH2M HILL

Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site

10808 Highway 93, Unit B, Bldg 060, MV72

Golden, Colorado 80502

Office: 303.966.5865  Nextel: 303.994.0874 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Ropa [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 9:28 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [xpAdoption] Re: Do C-Level managers, and business drivers
really need to know about XP?

 

Hi Glen,

 

	[Steve Ropa] <snip good stuff>

	 

	RE: your conversations with your VP, if its anything like it is
here there is very little time to discuss the broader issues. Our
management team of four (with a staff of 120) only gets to talk strategy
outside our prescheduled strategy development meetings at lunch or after
hours. Even then interruptions and of business steals our time. As one
looking "into" the org I'd rather have the functional managers be the
source of the solution for the "pluggable replacements" than to let that
view leak out of the small senior management group - but in that senior
management group, there are many times that the staff is just that
"resources," to be planned and rearranged.

	 

	
	[Steve Ropa] As you know, I usually agree with you on these
matters.  There tends to be an oversensitivity to the idea of being
thought  of as a "resource".  In this case, the vp in question is WAY
overboard.  He is basically using the programmers for whatever other
activities may come down the pike.  When I pointed out that some of
these programmers don't want to do some of the activities in mind, he
said "hey, we all have to help out."  When I asked who from the other
groups would also be "helping out", he blustered, hemmed and hawed.  It
was more than just plugging the hole in the line before the confederates
can take the hill.  It was a demonstration of an attitude about these
folks.