Managing Teams Congruently

Becoming an effective manager of teams is the subject of this sixth volume in Gerald M. Weinberg's highly acclaimed series, Quality Software.

To be effective, team managers must act congruently. These managers must not only understand the concepts of good software engineering and effective teamwork, but also translate them into their own practices. Effective managers need to know what to do, say what they will do, and act accordingly. Their thoughts and feelings need to match their words and behaviors.

Congruence has the sense of "fitting" —in this case, simultaneously fitting your own needs, the needs of the other people involved, and the contextual, or business, needs. Managers themselves must take responsibility for improving the quality of management and for changing their own attitudes and thinking patterns before they attempt to impose changes on everyone else.

As the author advises, "If you cannot manage yourself, you have no business trying to manage others." This book offers practical advice on how to act, and how to manage others congruently. Examples, diagrams, models, practice suggestions, and tools s fortify the author's recommendations.

Topics include: Achieving Congruent Management, Curing the Addiction to Incongruence, Ending the Placating Addiction, Ending the Blaming Addiction, Engaging the Other, Reframing the Context, Informative Feedback, Managing the Team Context, Why Teams?, Growing Teams, Managing in a Team Environment, Starting and Ending Teams, The Diagram of Effects, The Software Engineering Cultural Patterns, The Satir Interaction Model, Control Models, and The Three Observer Positions.