How do i identify improvement areas for software development in my team?

Question

hi guys, i just joined this new group and basically haven't even really done any heavy lifting development but just some basic web store migration stuff. and i've been given the challenge of coming up with improvement areas for the development process. I'm thinking of using Joel's list as the basis for determining what can be improved in my team, and besides that perhaps ask few of my seniors there who have been around for a while.

i'm not exactly sure why i was given this but i'll take it on anyway as it sounds like a good challenge. but what other tips or resources that you would advice me on how to do this properly.

P.S: i have about two weeks to do this, thus please suggest something practical and nothing to big as it's just lil ol me who has to do this within this time frame. :)

thanks

Answer 1

I think you'll probably have to start by finding out where the major weaknesses are. Given your time-frame, you'll have to focus on the a few of the major issues.

Try and find out where time is being wasted. Interview your colleagues, customers, etc to try and find out where the pain is being felt. Observe the team at work and try to identify areas of inefficiency.

You'll probably find people are more receptive to your recommendations if you focus on the immediate problems, as opposed to coming at them with a range of good practices.

Once you've identified a few problem areas you'll be able to research some possible solutions in depth. Without a tighter focus, you'll be swamped by the different possibilities. And, in practice, you'll probably need to introduce new initiatives gradually anyway, which will involve you reviewing the next steps incrementally.

Answer 2

Since most humans come with a brain, teams usually already know what the problems are and how they can be solved. Only, there is a reason why the situation is like it is and there are forces which actively prevent change.

So just ask them what needs to be done and then find out a way how you can either do it or talk them out of it.

Answer 3

In order to decide what to improve you have to take into account the current status (obviously). Try to find "pain points" - the things that cause grief to the developer's while doing their job:

• Do they have proper tools?
• Are they fully aware of the current development goals?
• Do they have an optimal development environment?
• Are you using Agile/TDD/Pair programming?

I've choose the points above because they can be fixed easily in two weeks. You've been working in this company for enough time to come up with several points of improvement, also talk to the other developers to find out what they think could improve their work.

Whatever you decide remember that your goal is to improve the development process for the dev team but also for the end customer - think on how you can provide high quality software in less time (within budget).

Answer 4

Having been in this tricky position a few times let me give you one piece of candid advice.

The person who gave you this task almost certainly has an idea in mind, and they would like you to reinforce that idea.

How you react to this is up to you and the environment in which you work.