software engineering: the art of managing expectations

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Software Engineering: The Art of Managing Expectations

Min ChenMaster of Software Engineering

Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA

[email protected]

Abstract

Software engineers create solutions to improve the quality

of life and make life more efficient or comfortable. They

strive for constant improvement by applying scientific

principles to solve everyday problems in a practical way.

Technical skills are necessary yet they are not sufficient tosucceed as a software engineer because most of the

problems in software are sociological in nature.

In this paper I will reflect about software engineering as

the art of managing expectations because it is a human

intensive discipline that involves customers, managers, and

peers. I will explain the expectations that have to be

managed in software projects and the importance of meeting these expectations. I will also talk about how the

Master of Software Engineering (MSE) program prepares

software engineers in meeting these expectations.

1.

Introduction

It may sound ironic to consider software engineering as the

art of managing expectations when one of the mainreasons of choosing this field is to avoid the uncertainty of

dealing with people. Even though software engineering is

a technical profession, it differs from other engineering

disciplines in that there are people issues surrounding both

the development and management of software projects

which are equally, if not more, important than technical

issues. 1

Although managing expectations is important for any

discipline, the very nature of software makes setting

expectations much more difficult. There are essential

difficulties inherent in the nature of software, as explainedby Brooks in his book The Mythical Man-Month: software

in essence is abstract, complex, and invisible. 2 Hence,

software is difficult to visualize, and metaphors are often

used to help understand and communicate the properties of

a software system by relating them to traditional mental

models rooted in the world that can be seen, heard,

smelled, and touched. Moreover, the lack of physical

boundaries in software systems gives the impression thatsoftware is easy to change.

Given that soft skills are required to manage expectations,

there is a tremendous need for software engineers with

excellent verbal and written skills as described by most job

positions. This shows that as software engineering evolves

as an engineering discipline, the soft part of software

not only symbolizes the intangible nature of the solutionsbut the kind of skills that this discipline requires. Soft

skills such as communication and negotiation are

necessary to understand the impact of software solutions

on individuals and organizations as well as how these

individuals influence in the solutions. Technical,


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analytical, and problem-solving skills by themselves do

not make a software engineer successful.

Software engineering is all about managing expectations

of customers, managers, and peers. People at all levels of a

organization must combine technical expertise with the

ability to work effectively in teams, form productive

relationships with customers, and come up with a solution

that will satisfy all the stakeholders. 3

Customers in this context include the clients and end users

of the software solution. Managers involve the people who

are ultimately in charge of the project and who will

evaluate the teams performance, such as immediate

supervisor, middle manager, senior managers, and

mentors. Peers are the colleagues and teammates that work

together to design and implement the solution.

2.

Customers Expectations

Establishing a common understanding of what a software

system should do is not an easy task. The requirements for

most software projects are incomplete or inconsistent

because the customers have little experience in expressing

what they want or they dont know what they want until

they see it. Still, the customers are the people who will

decide whether the software system met their expectations,

and managing their expectations will determine the

success of the project.

There was a popular saying in the first years of the

software industry about people will come if you build

something good. Nowadays, building a flawless system

that no one needs is not acceptable. Software engineers

must use communication and negotiation skills to avoid

solving the wrong problem. That is why requirements

engineering has acquired so much importance within the

field of software engineering. Use cases, rapid prototyping,

contextual design, iterative development, and pair

programming are some of the current techniques to bring

the customers and the engineers in the same picture while

reducing the risk of rework. All of them require soft skills

to understand customers needs and interpret these needs

as technical requirements.

This relates to the Methods course of the MSE program

that teaches students different techniques to gather

requirements, test the validity of these requirements, and

design the right system as a part of a bigger ecosystem.

This also relates to the Models and Architecture courses

that teach how to use abstract models to represent and

reason about the properties of a system to make sure it

meets the requirements.

3.

Managers Expectations

The most traditional type of teams is the manager-led team

in which the manager acts as the team leader and is

responsible for defining the goals, methods, and

functioning of the team. The team members are only

responsible for the actual execution of their assigned work.

Hence, the manager is ultimately responsible if the project

has schedule slippage or is over budget. 3

In todays economy, software systems are expected to

satisfy high demands and increasingly complex

requirements. This means that engineers are expected to

specialize more and more in their areas of expertise, and

these areas will get even more narrow and interdependent.

Technical teams have evolved from manager-led team to


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perform as a team where the whole is more than the sum of

its parts.

The boot camp of the MSE program teaches students the

basics of teamwork. The Studio project is the test field for

students to build a team instead of a group of working

people.

5.

Conclusion

Reflecting on the studio project, I consider that the success

of my team was mainly because we mastered the art of

managing expectations.

First of all, why do I say that my team was successful? It

was successful because we met our teams picture of

success, our personal goals, the customers expectations,

and the mentors expectations.

Managing expectations was a team learning process that

lasted throughout three semesters.

In the first semester of the project, we were struggling with

forming an efficient team. The lack of understanding of the

team members and customers expectations inhibited us

from having a satisfactory performance.

In the second semester, we learned to work as a team

instead of a group of individuals, and we realized that our

customer had different expectations from our team than

what we thought. At the end of this second semester, we

improved our performance, we became more predictable to

each other, and we increased our customers satisfaction.

In the last semester, the customer decided to change the

original plan and deliverables of our project. This was like

our final test about managing expectations because my

team had to negotiate the scope of the new project, the

deliverables, and set mutual expectations to allow for an

efficient use of the resources, both at our side as well as

the customers side. Internally, we had to reorganize

ourselves by creating a new plan and new statement of

work, selecting a process, and adopting the new roles.

Externally, we had to understand the expectations for the

new deliverables. Also, the nature of our project became a

design activity more than an implementation activity, and

we struggled with finding the balance between innovation

and control.

My studio team was successful because we learned to

manage expectations. We met our peers expectations in

that we didnt have heroes in our team, we resolved our

conflicts, and we followed our process intelligently even in

difficult situations. We met our customers expectations by

delivering added value to the customers organization. Last

but not least, we meet our managers expectations based

on our mentors feedback.

References

1.

J. Tomayko and O. Hazzan, Human Aspects of

Software Engineering , Charles River Media, 2004.

2.

F. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month , Addison

Wesley, 1995.

3.

L. Thompson, Making the Team. A Guide for

Managers , Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.

4.

T. DeMarco and T. Lister, Peopleware. Productive

Projects and Team, 2nd Edition, Dorset House

Publishing Co., 1999.

software engineering: the art of managing expectations

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