Keep removing risks to reduce uncertainty in your work The software engineering textbooks, and the project management ones too that I’ve seen all suggest you… Read More »Do the most risky part of the product next in team collaborations
Pause and think of how you might improve the work you do as a team. Growing up in the midwest of the US I remember… Read More »Student software engineering teams need to learn to use retrospectives
Meet with a regular rhythm to synch your work together. I regularly guide student teams in software engineering at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The… Read More »Software engineering student teams should meet with a suitable cadence for their work
Diverse teams are more successful than homogenous ones An extreme case of when a homogenous group got it right was the Cuban Missile Crisis. We’re… Read More »We should aim to create diverse student teams in software engineering
Plan classroom interactions ahead of time A friend reminded me in one of his emails about the book ‘Made to Stick‘ by Chip and Dan… Read More »It can be hard engaging students in lectures
More short tasks mean more frequent dopamine hits This is a busy week for me doing a week of all-day workshop sessions for students starting… Read More »Short tasks are better than long ones in student teams
Working in the open should be a default position in a team Twice a year I guide our MSc software engineering group project teams, who… Read More »Teach students to work in the open to improve collaboration
You grow when you teach others. You also grow when you ask for help when you’re stuck. We need to teach students to accept both… Read More »Teach student teams to be humble
Do what you teach and pause to reflect so that you can improve It’s time to walk the talk, and do as I tell others… Read More »Reflection on 2023
Shift left to learn more quickly about your work What follows is a story that repeats itself every academic year in our year-long software engineering… Read More »Teach student teams to shorten their feedback loops