My vision
Software Engineering methods allow to
- … control risks, what means to produce better software with less emotional stress for the project team.
- … reduce complexity. This not only reduces the time needed for specific tasks (and consequently enhances project profit) and reduces the number of errors, but first of all it reduces the pain that is caused by cognitive overload.
- …standardize or even automate the development team´s work processes, so the simple tasks become daily routine and people only need to discuss and decide about the innovative, risky and creative parts of the project. Simply: They can focus on what is important and interesting.
These are the topics of my trainings:
- requirements engineering
- project management
- time management
- complexity reduction in software engineering
- decision-making in software engineering
My courses are based on Best Practices from practice, empirical research results and on my vision.
I am specialized on small projects and light-weight methods.
I believe the reason why practitioners often do not apply software engineering methods is not “This does not work here”. This can be true when methods or tools are too complex for the purpose or simply do not fit. What practitioners need for improving their software engineering processes is:
- Smooth integration of light-weight methods into their current processes. Even while improvement takes place, they still must be able to do their daily work. Any revolutionary change not only keeps them from productive work but also entails the risk that with the new methods things become even worse than before. Managing the known problems is always preferred to learning to manage new problems. But with simple templates, checklists or mental models, much improvement can be achieved.
- Translation of research results into practitioner language. When a practitioner reads a research article, afterwards he asks “So what?” because research articles usually answer only very specific questions and present incremental knowledge gains which for themselves are of not much practical value. In order to make sense, they must be put into the state of the research context, combined with similar research results and translated into practical Best Practices (like: “These research results mean that you must never have more than 9 items on your slides.”)
- Translation of general models into Best Practices. If a practitioners takes his time to read a 300 pages book, this book although costing him several hours of his time, only repeats the same abstract basic knowledge that he probably already knows. In order to be useful, abstract and general knowledge must be applied to the project in which the practitioner works. This is not easy and might also demand a translator.
- Even light-weight methods need some experience in order to feel at ease with them. Many people learn and get convinced by touching things and by doing, not just by listening to an expert.
Therefore, the concept of my trainings is that I present results of scientific research and draw practical conclusions from them. I present light-weight but efficient methods and mental models, and recommend Best Practices. In the exercises, the participants apply the recommended methods and are provided with templates, checklists and other simple tools that they can take home and use daily.
- … control risks, what means to produce better software with less emotional stress for the project team.
- … reduce complexity. This not only reduces the time needed for specific tasks (and consequently enhances project profit) and reduces the number of errors, but first of all it reduces the pain that is caused by cognitive overload.
- …standardize or even automate the development team´s work processes, so the simple tasks become daily routine and people only need to discuss and decide about the innovative, risky and creative parts of the project. Simply: They can focus on what is important and interesting.
These are the topics of my trainings:
- requirements engineering
- project management
- time management
- complexity reduction in software engineering
- decision-making in software engineering
My courses are based on Best Practices from practice, empirical research results and on my vision.
I am specialized on small projects and light-weight methods.
I believe the reason why practitioners often do not apply software engineering methods is not “This does not work here”. This can be true when methods or tools are too complex for the purpose or simply do not fit. What practitioners need for improving their software engineering processes is:
- Smooth integration of light-weight methods into their current processes. Even while improvement takes place, they still must be able to do their daily work. Any revolutionary change not only keeps them from productive work but also entails the risk that with the new methods things become even worse than before. Managing the known problems is always preferred to learning to manage new problems. But with simple templates, checklists or mental models, much improvement can be achieved.
- Translation of research results into practitioner language. When a practitioner reads a research article, afterwards he asks “So what?” because research articles usually answer only very specific questions and present incremental knowledge gains which for themselves are of not much practical value. In order to make sense, they must be put into the state of the research context, combined with similar research results and translated into practical Best Practices (like: “These research results mean that you must never have more than 9 items on your slides.”)
- Translation of general models into Best Practices. If a practitioners takes his time to read a 300 pages book, this book although costing him several hours of his time, only repeats the same abstract basic knowledge that he probably already knows. In order to be useful, abstract and general knowledge must be applied to the project in which the practitioner works. This is not easy and might also demand a translator.
- Even light-weight methods need some experience in order to feel at ease with them. Many people learn and get convinced by touching things and by doing, not just by listening to an expert.
Therefore, the concept of my trainings is that I present results of scientific research and draw practical conclusions from them. I present light-weight but efficient methods and mental models, and recommend Best Practices. In the exercises, the participants apply the recommended methods and are provided with templates, checklists and other simple tools that they can take home and use daily.
AndreaHerrmann - 6. Mär, 19:24
