“Keeping you up to date with everything software engineering!”

Test your Software Team

Project Management | September 28, 2004 | 5 comments

Joel Spolsky came up with a list of 12 yes or no questions used to determine the quality of a software team. Most questions the development team have control over the result but not all.

Here is “The Joel Test”:

1. Do you use source control?
2. Can you make a build in one step?
3. Do you make daily builds?
4. Do you have a bug database?
5. Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
6. Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
7. Do you have a spec?
8. Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
9. Do you use the best tools money can buy?
10. Do you have testers?
11. Do new candidates write code during their interview?
12. Do you do hallway usability testing?

I agree with all of them especially “#8 Do programmers have quiet working conditions?”. At the last company I worked at I was Head of Development and we scored a 7. Number 8 and 9 we miserably failed at and I had no control over it. The owners of the company believed that all business people needed their own offices but geeks should be put on islands and that the best tools where the free ones.

How well does your company score? Can you make a difference? Would you add any questions to the test?

Related Links:

• Original article: “The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code” (very good read)
• Joel Spolsky’s Company: Fog Creek Software

Help Support Us By Visiting Our Sponsor

10% of our revenue from these ads go towards scholarships!

Comments

September 29, 2004 10:43 AM | mcs commented:

I don’t agree with question 8. People have different working conditions. I like being able to joke out loud every now and then, or have music playing. With the absence of that, I do find I focus better, but I am also finding more disatisfaction with my job.

Maybe I got spoiled/messed up working camp jobs for the past 8 years.

September 30, 2004 01:50 PM | Chris. commented:

I think that is the point of #8 though. I’m in a cube farm, and when the guys next to me are joking out loud, or listening to music while I’m working on my stuff, my concentration is disturbed, and I don’t get anywhere. Having a quiet work environment where you can concentrate on what you are doing does not preclude being able to talk to people. It’s just that if you are doing it on the other side of a thin cubicle wall, it makes more of an impact than if you were in the next office over.

September 30, 2004 02:15 PM | John Kopanas commented:

I have to admit as a social butterfly I prefer working in islands so I can get involved in all the conversations but I know my productivity definetly goes down.

But working in your own office with a instant messenger always going off is the same thing as working in an open office… just a much bigger one :-).

So I vote for offices but with no instant messenger clients running. But I don’t know if I was a manager if I would ban them outright. I think I would get a lot of pissed off employees.

Would you guys be pissed off if instant messengers where banned at your work? Are they banned?

October 3, 2004 12:25 AM | ElvisIsGod commented:

I have worked in where all the requirements where there but the product/software sucked. A checklist is no way to properly determine how good the software team is. Software engineering is not a science as much as you would like to think… People, imagination, drive, creative solutions, a vision drives software more than a big team following a list.

I have worked with too many software engineers, programmers and managers that look upon what they are doing and try to get away with the less amount of work. Quality be dammed. They look upon a software as being a “work in progress”. There is a big difference between a “work in progress” and adding or improving features…

Source control used properly is good but too many times it is used instead of communicating with your team.

What is the best tools money can buy? Joel speak of fast computers and software. And complains that taking 10 minutes to clean up his directory a waste of productivity (a little prima donna are we?). Most programmers I know have the worst hone systems in term of performance - yes there should be minimum standard but you have to be careful here. Buying employees the latest LCD panels instead of bigger/better CRTs may not be the most productive thing. Sure dual Xeons are cool, but for code writing is it the best? Does buying the fastest computers not give a in to producing slow bloatware?

A quiet environment is a must - if you need music wear closed headphones. I don’t like hearing the latest Britney CD….

October 3, 2004 12:38 PM | John Kopanas commented:

I have to agree with Elvis that… wait a minute… isn’t Elvis dead? Ok… I digress. I admit that even if you get 12 on 12 if you don’t have a good idea as a product you will eventually fail. If you hire monkeys you will fail. If you your manager just follows the list but is still a demoralizing manager you will fail. But I think Joel was refering to creating an environment that will help good people working on a good product with a good support system succeed. I think we have to take into consideration the context of Joel’s checklist like every checklist.

The best tool is not necesarily the most expensive tool but the best tool for your team that is not necesarilly open-source and free.

Post Your Comments

Comments:

Name:

Email Address:
(note: not displayed)

URL:
(note: displayed with comment)