Responsibility without authority is meaningless - a technical solution?

Question

My dad always says, "Responsibility without authority is meaningless."

However, I believe that as developers we are stuck in situations all the time when we are:

• Responsibility for ensuring that the software is “error free” but does not have the authority to implement an error tracking system.
• Responsible for the loss of project deadlines, but cannot influence requirements, quality or team resources (three parts of project management).
• and etc.

Of course, there are a lot of things that you could say to get around this - to find a new job, fight the boss, etc.

But what about a technical solution to this problem? That is, what kind of coding things you can do on your own without convincing the team to fix some of these problems - or what tools you can use to demonstrate why unprepared errors harm you, these deadlines are missed due to quality problems, and how can you use these tools to gain more “power” without having to be a boss?

---

*** Example: the boss comes to you and says: "Why are there so many mistakes!?!?" - Most of us would say: “We do not have a good system to track them!”, But this is usually regarded as an excuse in my experience. So, what if you could point to some kind of report (executives love reports) and say, “Look, that's why”?

Answer 1

All that you can do is your best, do not feel that the key to successful software is only in your hands, your part of the team, and should not be responsible for everyone.

Obviously, you are in an environment that negatively affects your software, but cannot change all its behavior, so I recommend that you start with you, start working as a team of one with your mistakes, deadlines, requirements, quality and resources do not worry about the rest of the mess, but try to be the best at your job.

Work as an independent team from one showing your boss your plans and reports on your progress, asking for more resources when you need it and showing him how your plans will be affected when he gives them to you or not.

For more information, see the PSP and TSP Wikipedia articles.

Once your boss has done a good job and completed your own deadlines, he will undoubtedly trust you more and let some of your ideas be shared with the whole team.

Answer 2

You do not need a bug tracking system, you need automatic tests: unit tests or others. You can configure automatic tests using the Makefile. You can always find paths that are blocked by the administrator, but this does not mean that you cannot do any actions within the limits of your work. Of course, the answer may be "find another job." If you cannot find another job now, learn some skills so you can.

Answer 3

The simple answer: you can start using the tools yourself.

Improve your work. If people want you to fix the code, tell them to write the error. Show them how to do it. Make sure they can do this without installing anything. Do they want to update status? Tell them to check the error. They ask how you changed the code? show them how to query version control history. or just show them on your box. Start showing that this stuff works.

And when you need the same results, demand that they do the work. If you cannot find the changes in the original control, ask them to start manually changing their versions from backup tapes. Do not do their job or source control and bug tracking work for them.

And most importantly, when applying this peer pressure, be nice to it . Flies and honey and all.

If they do not, you can remain the only professional developer in your company or group. Or, at least, it will help fill out your resume: "experience setting up and instructing others in CVS and FogBugs to improve product quality", etc.

Answer 4

Regarding specific tools that show that raw errors infringe the team’s ability to produce high-quality code, you have catch-22 here, since you need to track errors for something before you can show their effect. You cannot measure what you cannot track. So what to do?

As a similar example, we recently joined our team, which felt like we were doing code reviews via email, was ridiculous. So, he found an open source tool, installed it on his box, made some of our unbiased team members try it for a while, and then showed it to the team. For several weeks he had the opportunity to demonstrate it to all our teams. The new guy influenced the whole company. I have heard many stories about this guerrilla-style reception.

The trick is to determine who has the right to make a decision, to find out what he values, and to gather enough evidence that what you want to implement will give them what they value.

For a broader view of how to lead from the center or bottom of the organization, check out John Maxwell, a 360-degree leader.

Answer 5

If you want to get a quality report and affect performance, the best is here: http://itprojectguide.blogspot.com/2008/11/caper-jones-2008-software-quality.html Caper Jones has several books and still appears at conferences. Outside of a good IDE, the development / IT team needs source code management (VSS, SubVersion, etc.) and problem tracking

Answer 6

If an accountant is asked to create a set of accounts without using double entry and not maintain a balance, no one would expect the accountant to do this.

However, double-entry has been standard use by accountants since the 13th century.

It will take a long time before we, as a profession, have a standard practice that is so rooted that it will work without them.

So sorry, I expect that we will have to face this type of problem for many .

Answer 7

Sorry for not answering your question directly, but ...

I feel that the failure you are talking about is one of the communications, and we must be professionals to develop our communication skills to the extent that we are sufficiently respected and trusted to use the powers necessary to improve our work environments and processes, as you suggest.

In short, I do not think that there is a technical solution that can solve all the problems that arose due to poor communication in the workplace.

In any case, the technology caused a loss of direct personal connection.

Sorry, I am again on the tangent - do not be shy.

Answer 8

For coding only, you can save only your own source files, well-commented so that the number of errors is counted using tests. But you will need external tools to track progress and errors (bugzilla, yoxel, trac, gantt diagram tools, Mylyn for Eclipse, blog, whatever). In these cases, people and discipline, good habits and leadership are overwhelming forces, no software and no offer from a person can win alone.