Soft Skills

for SW Engineers
Fokhruz Zaman
Sep 03, 2008
 Why learn soft skills ?

 Google Search Engine found

189,000 matches for “Soft Skills
for a Software Engineer”
 Employers often get biased
towards “Attitude” rather than
“Aptitude”
 SW Engg is essentially “SOFT”

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 Soft Topics
 TEAM Collaboration Skills
 Thinking Skills
 Creative Skills (6 THT)
 Time Management Skills
 Meeting Management Skills
 Write Everything !

 Communication Skills
 Interpersonal Skills
 Self-Reflection / Introspection
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 6 soft skills for every hard-
nosed professional
 Interpersonal skills
 Team Spirit
 Social Grace
 Business Etiquette
 Negotiation Skills
 Behavioral Traits, such as:
1. Attitude,
2. Motivation, and
3. Time management
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 Soft skills “hard-wired” ?

 Like you learned brushing your

teeth at childhood …
 40-days continuous practice
makes it a habit 
 Write ! Write !! Write !!!
 Use Hard-bound fat “ruler”
Notebooks 
 Hear WIIFM Radio … 
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 Presenter Intro
 Born in 1965, Bangladesh.
 Working in the Global Software Development Industry
since late 1988.
 2001–Present Millennium Information Solution Dhaka
 CTO & Co-Founder
 1999, Sep–2001 Horizon Software Dhaka
 CTO & Co-Founder
 1997–July,99 Bell Atlantic (Nynex) S&T Asia
Bangkok
 Manager, Software & Network
 1995–97 Experty Technical Equipment Co.
Bangkok
 R&D Manager
 1993–94 International Centre for Population Dhaka
 Software Developer & Network Administrator
 1988–92 Machine Dialogue Dhaka
 Software Developer & Manager

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 Software ? SW Engg ??

 Software
A Thought Product
 A TEAM Sport

 SW Engg (partial view)

 TheV-Model
 TDD – the philosophy

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 TEAM Collaboration Skills
 TEAM :
 Together
 Everyone

 Achieves

 More

 “Lone Super-Hero” days are gone

 With proper TEAM-spirit, and
discipline; ordinary individuals can
make extra-ordinary TEAMs
 Pair Programming …
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 Thinking Skills

 The 6 Thinking Hats

 White

 Red

 Yellow

 Black

 Green

 Blue

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 Thinking Skills: Benefits Of The

Six Thinking Hat Framework

Parallel Adversarial
Saves Time
Improves Creativity & Innovation
Fosters Collaborative Thinking

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 Thinking Skills: The Originator

Dr. Edward de Bono

• M.D., Ph.D., (philosophy, medicine
& psychology), Rhodes scholar
• World-renowned consultant to
business, governments, schools
and industry
• Author of 62 books in 40
languages
• Originator of Six Thinking Hats,
Lateral Thinking and Direct
Attention Thinking Tools

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 Thinking Skills: 6 THT:
The Basics
• There are six different imaginary hats that
you can put on or take off.
• Think of the “hats” as thinking icons.
• Each hat is a different color and
represents a different type or mode of
thinking.
• We all wear the same hat (do the same
type of thinking) at the same time.
• When we change hats - we change our
thinking.
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 Blue Hat
Managing The Thinking
Setting The Focus
Making Summaries
Overviews • Conclusions
White Hat Action Plans Black Hat
Information & Data Why It May Not Work
Neutral & Objective Cautions • Dangers
Checked & Believed Facts Problems • Faults
Missing Information & Logical Reasons
Where To Source It Must Be Given

FOCUS

Yellow Hat Red Hat

Why It May Work Feelings & Intuition
Values & Benefits Emotions Or Hunches
(Both Known & Potential) “At This Point”
The Good In It No Reasons or Justification
Logical Reasons Keep It Short
Must Be Given Green Hat
Creative Thinking
Possibilities • Alternatives
New Ideas • New Concepts
Overcome Black Hat
Problems & Reinforce Yellow
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 Blue Hat
Managing The Thinking
Setting The Focus
Making Summaries
Overviews • Conclusions
White Hat Action Plans Black Hat
Information & Data Why It May Not Work
Neutral & Objective Cautions • Dangers
Checked & Believed Facts Problems • Faults
Missing Information & Logical Reasons
Where To Source It Must Be Given

FOCUS

Yellow Hat Red Hat

Why It May Work Feelings & Intuition
Values & Benefits Emotions Or Hunches
(Both Known & Potential) “At This Point”
The Good In It No Reasons or Justification
Logical Reasons Keep It Short
Must Be Given Green Hat
Creative Thinking
Possibilities • Alternatives
New Ideas • New Concepts
Overcome Black Hat
Problems & Reinforce Yellow
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 Thinking Skills:
Faci lita to r’ s Rol e
• Define the focus of your thinking
• Plan the sequence and timing of the
thinking
• Ask for changes in the thinking if needed
• Handle requests from the group for
changes in the thinking
• Form periodic or final summaries of the
thinking for consideration by the team

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x
 Thinking Skills:
Par tici pant’ s
Role
• Follow the lead of trained Six
Thinking Hats facilitator
• Stick to the hat (type of thinking)
that is in current use
• Try to work within the time limits
• Contribute honestly & fully under
each of the hats
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 Time Management Skills

 Meeting Management Skills

 Write Everything !
1. Plan in the Morning – 15 mins
2. Make a Laundry List of Tasks
3. Set a Time Range for each Task
4. Set Task Priority Levels
5. Review Plan in the Evening – 15
mins

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 Time Management Skills

Sl Task Description Time Priority

1 Check Mails 9:00 AM Top

to 9:30
AM

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 Communication Skills

 Interpersonal Skills
 Self-Reflection / Introspection
 Pair Programming .. ?
 Clarity in Presenting …
 Well-thought-out arguments
 Conclusions …

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 Social Grace

 Friendly ?
 Handsome or Beautiful ??
 Well-groomed ?
 Soft-spoken ?
 A skill for dealing with people and society;
The ability to fit into polite society and
behave properly and with etiquette

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 Business Etiquette

 Learning the skills of proper

etiquette….
 Manners …
 Intercultural communication …
 Respect Others…
 YVP .. NOT .. IVP …

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 Negotiation Skills - 1
 Goals: what do you want to get out of the negotiation? What do you
think the other person wants?
 Trades: What do you and the other person have that you can trade?
What do you each have that the other wants? What are you each
comfortable giving away?
 Alternatives: if you don’t reach agreement with the other person, what
alternatives do you have? Are these good or bad? How much does it
matter if you do not reach agreement? Does failure to reach an
agreement cut you out of future opportunities? And what alternatives
might the other person have?
 Relationships: what is the history of the relationship? Could or should
this history impact the negotiation? Will there be any hidden issues
that may influence the negotiation? How will you handle these?
 Expected outcomes: what outcome will people be expecting from this
negotiation? What has the outcome been in the past, and what
precedents have been set?
 The consequences: what are the consequences for you of winning or
losing this negotiation? What are the consequences for the other
person?
 Power: who has what power in the relationship? Who controls
resources? Who stands to lose the most if agreement isn’t reached?
What power does the other person have to deliver what you hope for?
 Possible solutions: based on all of the considerations, what possible
compromises might there be?

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 Negotiation Skills – 9 Tips
1. Remember you're the expert
2. Negotiation is a two-way street
3. Hold firm to your principles
4. Know when to walk away
5. Don't be intimidated
6. Keep your ear to the ground
7. Stay consistent
8. Don't celebrate until the contract
is signed
9. Respect the process

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 Behavioral Traits

 Attitude,
 Motivation, and
 Time management

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 Be your own trainer !
 Be a part of TEAM activities
 Get your SWOT from close Peers
 Manage yourself to manage your
TIME !
 Introspect on how you react to
feedback
 How good are you at critiquing ?
 Live consciously

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 Software Development LifeCycle
(SDLC)
Establish the business case for the Requirements keep coming
software. throughout the lifecycle and
- Target audience have to be managed.
- What problem it will solve - Project contract
- How it will solve it – high level - Acceptance criteria

Software configuration
management Avg projects spend
- Version control Gather
10% effort on req gathering
Concept Requirements
- Release management and modeling. Successful
projects spend 28%.
Model - Detailed SRS
Maintenance Requirements
- Use case modeling
- Screen UI mockups
One study found that 54%
of all the errors were High Level
Launch
discovered after unit Design
Must decide baseline
testing was complete, and architecture
that 45% of these were
requirements or design Testing
Impl.
Design
errors. Development
Test-driven
development
Test planning, execution and
defect correction.
- Test cases
- Test against expected results
- Bug tracking software
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Test automation 27
 References /
Acknowledgements
 Six Thinking Hats®
A Framework For Parallel Thinking In Teams
Resources Unlimited
800.278.1292 or 515.278.1292
info@ResourcesUnlimited.com
www.ResourcesUnlimited.com

 Internet
 http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/sep06/pollice/index.html
 http://ia.rediff.com/getahead/2005/jun/30soft.htm
 And other references .. URLS …

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