Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11495 in Books
• Published on: 1999-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 245 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Peopleware asserts that most software development projects fail because of failures within the team running them. This strikingly clear, direct book is written for software development team leaders and managers, but it's filled with enough common-sense wisdom to appeal to anyone working in technology. Authors Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister include plenty of illustrative, often amusing anecdotes; their writing is light, conversational, and filled with equal portions of humour and wisdom, and there is a refreshing absence of "new age" terms and multi-step programmes. The advice is presented straightforwardly and ranges from simple issues of prioritisation to complex ways of engendering harmony and productivity in your team. Peopleware is a short read that delivers more than many books on the subject twice its size. --Jake Bond

Synopsis
Highlights ways in which managers fail to motivate members of teams to produce their best work, and demonstrates methods for improvement. Advocates such changes as elimination of the "police mentality" in management and investment by bosses in superior workspace for employees. Dismisses many of management's favorite canards, including the one that

Customer Reviews

Classic text for software manager
This is a must read for anyone wishing to understand why software development is not always as successful as it should be. The list of references is also a useful source of further reading.

You should, however, be prepared to be rather depressed when you realise how little of the book's advice you are currently following and how unlikely it is that your employer will agree to implement anything from the book.

A classic that is worth of more than this one costs
This book truly should belong to every computer professionals shelf. After all all problems are at the end people problems and people doing computer stuff has at least reputation of not being good with people.

If you are team leader or boss of any kind buying this book really can help you see what could done to make your team or organization better place to work. If you are just ordinary worker after reading this one you might understand why it sucks to go work at morning.

I wish that all managers would read this book
Fantastic book about the people side of software development. The ideas in this book, and the typical corporate environment, are worlds apart.

My experience has been that managers either don't know this stuff, or if they do know it, then they feel that they would just have to go out on too much of a limb to implement these ideas. This is a shame because most for the concepts in this book are the very things that enable software developers to thrive.

One of the main ideas that resonated with me was the idea of giving developers enough private space. I have never been a fan of open plan office space. I think that it works well for some professions, but not all, and certainly not for software developers. Legend has it that Microsoft lets each developer have their own office which they can furnish as they please. One programmer is supposed to have brought in bucket-loads of sand to make his office into a beach !

If you are a Manager then read this book and implement as much as you can. Otherwise buy a copy and leave it on your Managers desk.