Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams

Peopleware — Productive Projects and Teams (ISBN 0-932633-43-9) is a 1987 book on the social side of software development, specifically managing project teams. It was written by software consultants Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister, from their experience in the world of software development.

Overview

Peopleware is a popular book about project management. The first chapter of the book claims, “The major problems of our work are not so much technological as sociological in nature”. The book approaches sociological or ‘political’ problems such as group chemistry and team jelling, "flow time" and quiet in the work environment, and the high cost of turnover. Other topics include the conflicts between individual work perspective and corporate ideology, corporate entropy, “teamicide” and workspace theory.

The authors presented most subjects as principles backed up by some concrete story or other information. As an example, the chapter “Spaghetti Dinner” presents a fictional example of a manager inviting a new team over for dinner, then having them buy and prepare the meal as a group, in order to produce a first team success. Other chapters use real-life stories or cite various studies to illustrate the principles being presented.

See also

• Peopleware as a more general concept.
• The Mythical Man-Month – a book widely known as the bible of software engineering and software project management

References

• Zec, Joe (March 2002). "Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams". Software Quality Professional (American Society for Quality) 4 (2). ISSN 074321580X. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-277809041.html. Retrieved 16 January 2009. 
• Ashbacher, Charles (Winter 2000). "Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Second Edition)". Mathematics and Computer Education (New York: MATYC Journal, Inc.) 34 (1). ISSN 0730-8639. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3950/is_200001/ai_n8897804/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1. Retrieved 16 January 2009.