THE LUST FOR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

MARCEL VAN BRAKEL

28 JAN. 2011

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MYSELF

Development PHP

Open Source

Content Management

Custom applications

Teams,processes, business

Dog, movies, gaming, gadgets, musicals

∂ Developer since 2000

WHAT IS THIS TALK ABOUT ?

Understanding the stuff that makes knowledge so hard to get and even harder to share, therefore making experience the main influential aspect in development team evolution.

∂ NOT about recruitment

WHAT IS HAPPENING ?

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Widely accepted More large scale projects

Rising aspiration

∂ PHP Developer hunt is on

MORE AND BETTER WORK

∂ NO MORE UNDERDOG!

DEMAND IS CHANGING …

∂ … SO IS THE WAY WE WORK

PHP Apache Linux

MySQL HTML

DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT

PHP Apache Linux

MySQL

HTML

Symfony Drupal

WordPress

Zend Framework

CakePHP

Typo3 Social media

API’s

OAuth

MongoDB

NoSQL Solr MariaDB Oracle

MS SQL

Amazon S3

Azure nginx Varnish

Zend Server SSL

Hadoop Tika Gearman Memcached

CouchDB

ActiveMQ PHPUnit

THIS IS A LOT

THIS IS A LOT

TEAMWORK !

WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE ANYWAY?

KNOWLEDGE, AS A FUNCTION

K = ƒ( I.S.A )

Information , Skill, Attitude

EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE

“This talk is about knowledge”

∂ Codified

IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE

“How do airplanes fly?”

∂ Can be codified

TACIT KNOWLEDGE

“How do you operate a complex machine efficiently”

∂ Can NOT be codified

THE DEMAND

COMPANIES ARE LOOKING FOR:

High knowledge level (sr.)

Broad focused

Specialist

Several ( 3 – 6 ) years of experience

∂ NOT REALLY REALISTIC

DEVELOPMENT TEAMS

GENERAL TEAM COMPOSITION

Senior developer Domain knowledge

System architecture

Medior developers

Production, development

Junior developers

Production, implementation

∂ “Knowledge equals Power”

APPLIED KNOWLEDGE

HIERARCHY within the team

DECISIONS top – down

COMMANDS no collaboration

LEARNING by doing

∂ Efficient and effective for production only

THE DANGERS

TERRITORIAL behavior

SHARING not implemented

JUNIORS steep learning curve

NO INSIGHT in knowledge

WHAT DO WE WANT ?

More knowledge Explicit and implicit

More experience

Preferably > 3 yrs

Self supporting team

Sharing knowledge

Better synergy

EFFICIËNT KNOWLEDGE SHARING

SHARING OPTIONS

Sessions

Knowledge base

Yellow pages

Master - apprentice – pupil

PERSONAL SHARING SESSIONS (1)

By SENIOR

For ALL

∂ Conference, presentation, meeting

TARGET

Minimize interpretational difference

Providing information

“Improve” attitude

PERSONAL SHARING SESSIONS (2)

PERSONAL SHARING SESSIONS (3)

Motivate sharing Certification

CFP’s

Variants Open Podia

Corporate blog

User group initiatives

∂ Part of performance review

KNOWLEDGE BASE (1)

By ALL

For ALL

∂ Wiki, lotus notes, custom application

TARGET

Provide data and explicit knowledge

KNOWLEDGE BASE (2)

∂ Inline documentation !?

KNOWLEDGE BASE (3)

Transfer information Explicit knowledge

Project facts

Warnings Time consuming

Strict formatting

∂ Use for archive

YELLOW PAGES (1)

By ALL

For ALL

∂ Wiki, intranet, custom

TARGET

Insight in knowledge and skill locations

Insight in low density area’s

YELLOW PAGES (2)

YELLOW PAGES (3)

Who knows what?

What are we missing when someone is unavailable?

Where can I go to?

Who can teach me?

MASTER – APPRENTICE – PUPIL (1)

By SENIOR / MEDIOR

For MEDIOR / JUNIOR

TARGET

Actively engaging in teaching

Easier tacit knowledge transfer

Structural team member growth

MASTER – APPRENTICE – PUPIL (2)

∂ Teaching I will …

MASTER – APPRENTICE – PUPIL (3)

1. Teach the teacher

2. Master “teaches” pupil

3. Pupil becomes apprentice

4. Apprentice supports new pupils

5. Apprentice becomes master

∂ … share it you must

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

IMPLEMENTATION / TOOLS

WHERE TO START

Assign a coordinator

Create team awareness

Gather budget

Analyze your needs

Implement in phases

JUNIORS TAKE THE LEAD

Absent knowledge

Important topics

Seeing the gap

PHASE 1

∂ YELLOW PAPERS ?

SKILL MATRIX

KNOWLEDGE MATRIX

PHASE 2

TACIT KNOWLEDGE SHARING Sessions, blogging, open podia

∂ MOTIVATE !!

PHASE 2

MASTER – APPRENTICE – PUPIL Personal attention

∂ Self organized

PHASE 3, 4 , *

KNOWLEDGE BASE Documenting information

RECAP

Self supporting teams

Awareness

Willingness

Tools

∂ Knowledge no longer equals power !!

joind.in/4775 || www.slideshare.net/mvbrakel || @mvbrakel

THANKS !