Posts Tagged ‘roles and responsibilities’

What’s Required of our “Product Managers” – update 1

Posted in Human Resources Management, Personal Development, Software Development on February 25th, 2010 by Paul McArdle – 1 Comment

This is the 2nd post on the topic.

The first post was made almost 2 months ago, and remained incomplete whilst I focused on higher priority issues (such as the recruitment of our GM DDD WCW).  In the meantime, we have had several conversations internally with respect to the implicit responsibilities of the position.

This post is intended to be a starting point, from which further refinement can be made once our GM DDD WCW has started with the company.

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What’s required of our “Chief Software Engineer”?

Posted in Human Resources Management, Leadership, Software Development, Strategy, Vision on January 4th, 2010 by Paul McArdle – 7 Comments

Post updated on 1st February 2010 to clarify the primary KPI.

This post is designed to provide an overview of what is required.  Note that (if you are successful in your application) I would expect that you would be proactive in working with me to flesh out the details of this position, in terms of specific deliverables and dates!

I have spoken with a number of people (online and offline) over the course of the past few months, since I determined that we needed to hire you.

It seems that no job title that could encapsulate this role is universally understood.  For this reason, you will be known as our:

General Manager for Discerning, Developing and Delivering what the Customer Wants

Bit of a mouthful, I know, but all three aspects of the role are important.

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What’s Required of our “GM for Marketing & Sales”

Posted in Human Resources Management, Marketing, Strategy, Vision on January 4th, 2010 by Paul McArdle – 4 Comments

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This post is an incomplete work-in-progress (current issue posted on 4th January).  Check back later for updates! read more »

What’s required of our CEO?

Posted in Coaching, Leadership, Strategy, Vision on January 4th, 2010 by Paul McArdle – 8 Comments

This post is the 2nd draft, and is still a work-in-progress.  Check back later for updates!

As part of the Autopsy 2 process, I have been working one-on-one with the firm Shirlaws.

One facet of their engagement has been to work with me on improving my leadership.

Their approach (which I accept) is that the disappointments that have come our way have been ultimately my responsibility (whether it’s been because of the “wrong people on the bus”, or the wrong culture, or insufficient direction, or whatever).

The corollary of this is that it’s also my responsibility to fix whatever’s broken.  This I am in the process of doing (following on from the Autopsy 2 process).

Part of what they are helping me to understand is that the CEO should have 3 core enduring roles, which should continue to be my focus well into the future.

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What’s Required of our “Product Managers”

Posted in Human Resources Management, Software Development, Vision on January 4th, 2010 by Paul McArdle – 4 Comments

The post below is an early draft (and is incomplete).

It has been superseded by a more recent update, which I posted here on the blog on Thursday 25th February 2010.  The post below remains here (for now) as a historical curiosity.

The role of the Product Manager follows a similar model as that we will apply to our Chief Software Engineer and, as such, the position might be equally termed:

Manager for Discerning, Developing and Delivering what the Customer Wants

Again, all three aspects of the role are important.

1)     Summary

As Product Manager, you will accept direct responsibility for one (or more) of our Mature Products.

With this responsibility, your focus will be on maximising the value we deliver to clients through this product – whilst at the same time maximising the value we generate for ourselves, over the longer-term.

You will also accept responsibility as a Project Manager in the software development process – utilising the Agile methods promoted by the Chief Software Engineer.

If necessary, you will also play a role in coding, though this will not be your primary focus.

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What’s Required of our “Code Monkeys”

Posted in Human Resources Management, Strategy, Vision on January 4th, 2010 by Paul McArdle – 2 Comments

This post is a 2nd draft, and is still an incomplete work-in-progress.  In particular, please note that this has been posted (as a draft) in order to facilitate input from a variety of different people:
1)  As a team we will be discussing these Roles and Responsibilities at Beer O’clock on Friday 23rd January.
2)  We are also seeking input from both Shirlaws and Sound Reasoning with respect to these drafts (as they both bring a different perspective on our business).

Following from the role descriptions for our Chief Software Engineer and our Product Managers, the following could be viewed as the role descriptor for our Code Monkeys:

Developer and Deliverer of what the Customer Wants

Again, all focus on what the customer wants is important.

1)     Summary

To be added

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