Software Project Team Goals

“The reason that most software developers don’t seem to get excited about meeting cost and schedule commitments is that these usually are not team goals. Although management may think that cost and schedule are important, typically no one ever tells the team why these goals are important, and the team isn’t involved in making the commitments.

As far as typical software teams are concerned, management makes the cost and schedule commitments, and the team meet them if the can. In fact, the team often think that management’s requested commitments are totally unreasonable, but because they are paid to do what management asks, they give it the old school try.

Typical software teams get excited about delivering great products and having a cohesive team experience because these are the tacit goals of every member, and the team doesn’t even have to discuss them. In fact, teams rarely discuss goals at all; most knowledge-working teams just start working. There is no team-building effort, no discussion of team goals, and in fact no real discussion of management goals.”

Source: “Leadership, Teamwork, and Trust”, Watts S. Humphrey and James W. Over, Addison-Wesley, 309 pages, IBSN 978-0-321-62450-5