Programmer Musings

Review of Peopleware

Peopleware
Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
Dorset House Publishing Co., 1987

If you are a manager trying to get better work out of your programming staff, you need to read this book. If you are a project lead trying to be determine how to make your team more effective, you need to read this book. If you are a programmer trying to decide if there are any good managers out there, you need to read this book.

Peopleware is the best book I've ever read on the subject of managing programmers. The advice may actually apply to managing other kinds of workers, I'm not qualified to say. DeMarco and Lister really hit the nail on the head when dealing with programmers though.

All of the best managers I've ever had followed at least some of the advice in this book. Some just naturally managed that way, some changed their style after reading this book. On of my best managers once explained the relationship between the manager and team by saying Your job is to make me look good. My job is to give you everything you need to do your job. DeMarco and Lister are much more explicit about their advice, but it basically boils down to that.

As a manager or project lead, you should be focused on removing obstacles and getting your people what they need to do their jobs. This can mean information, or access to people who can give them what they need, or training. What many of the best managers I've had find is that good people will do almost anything if they've got what they need. As a side effect, the manager looks good, because his people are always productive.

This book is also describes the jelled team. Anybody who has ever worked with a team in this state will recognize it. This is the state where the team truly is more than the sum of it's parts. Almost everyone I've know who has been part of a jelled team would be willing to work on almost any project to be part of such a team again.

This book cannot be too highly recommended.