How do you convince the team to develop other pieces of software?
Sometimes, when I present part of the software development process to certain people, tell them that the dispatcher or manager has no experience.
- Automated unit tests and integration tests versus manual functional testing.
- Using code generators and scripts for repetitive tasks.
I have met with resistance sometimes. Some of the reasons are:
- They say that's how we do it here. Our system works and there is no need to add to our process.
- They are busy with their work. They say their task is to receive projects, and our task is to deliver them to them until they are satisfied. They are satisfied if it is a manual system, repetitive, but on time.
- They are very conservative about code generators. I gave them an estimate that it takes a significant amount of time for the first project to use this project and the time to train my teammates as this approach is relatively new to them. The overhead of the first project overshadows the long-term benefits for them, but I explained that it's a convenience for us developers, but they always fixate on doing things the same way.
What would be your strategy for this?
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You must be a salesperson at the end of the day. You have to tell people why your suggestions will make their life easier .
If you can back up your claims with some time wasted / saved time, you will land on a winner. Another thing is to gain reputation gradually, agreeing that changes will be implemented in stages. Implement simple changes on a small part of the project and prove that it mattered to them. Then roll it up a bit more and move on to the next thing like unit testing or code generation. Given time, this will be on its own.
I don't believe you can't get people to read books, they put them aside and think you are disgusting. It is best to get small results and use them as stepping stones so that they can be targeted towards higher goals, as people understand that perhaps best ways to do things after all.
If you are really passionate about it, you can always take some of your time and prepare a short demo (30 minutes) that shows them how quickly you can create a tiny application without gen code, then the same application with a few bits of code. The proof of the pudding is in the food.
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"You can get a lot more with a smile and a gun than you can with a smile."
- Al Capone
Just kidding, but this is the first thing that crosses my mind :)
The gun is a metaphor (duh), as is the mistake someone made during the day figuring out that with a good process, they are good at doing funnier ways.
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It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission.
There is no objective measure of ROI style to "improve" the software development process. Software development is inherently complex - it is the capture of knowledge - must be unknown. If you knew everything, you would already have the software.
Consequently, you can never convince the manager of something ahead.
You can only demonstrate that you can do something better, cheaper, or faster. When they ask what the secret of your productivity is, you can show them your tool, method, or approach.
Until they ask, you don't really have enough evidence to change any mind. When they finally ask, then you don't need to change your mind, you need to show them your decision.
Since they don't want to disrupt the "do it all by hand" schedule to invest in their tools, you have to build your tools step by step, one project at a time.
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