Software Engineering Tips (Part 2)

Work Ethics
Working ethics is extremely important part in Software Engineering. Let me enlist few
points on this:

Respect: Respect teammates as well as everyone of the organization from top to

bottom.
Stick to Jamat: Practice regular brainstorming and never get away from Jamat or
team.

Theory of Three: Taqwa + Amanah + Ikhlas: These three things are some
mandatory parts that a human being must live with. Firstly, in Islam, Taqwa means fear
of Allah. According to Hadrat Ka’ab (Peace be upon him), Taqwa means to protect
oneself from sin through life’s dangerous journey so that one can successfully complete
the journey unhurt by sin. Secondly, everything we have are Amanah and we must fulfill
our trust to the true Owner of the resources. Thirdly, we must be sincere to our Creator
and His creations. Anything that is not purely for the pleasure of our Sustainer (opposite
to Ikhlas) will not be accepted.
Learning Ethics: The complete source of ethics is our holy Quran and our only role
model is our beloved prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).
Advice: Advice each other to truth and advice each other to patience.
Leading: Always avoid leading, but if is rewarded then seek Almighty Allah’s help.
Focus on Life: Be focused to true objective of life. Study and do Aml aggressively in
leisure. And concentrate properly while working in office.
Stress Management: Follow stress management rules. One of the rules is to always
remember that we would be asked for each of our deeds.
Truthful to promises: Be truthful to promises and deadlines. Always remember that
a person truthful to our Creator must be truthful to His creations. Avoid to make
promises as much as possible. It is better to say that we will try or we hope to deliver,
etc.
No Movie, No music: No movie watching and listening to music. Concentrate on
work and learning in office premise.
Using Phone: Try to keep phone in vibration mode. In case it is not put to
vibration/silence mode, do not use any song as ringtone.
Limited Gaming: Computer gaming should not be acceptable. Rather little walking
and meaningful gossiping could be more refreshing. People may also play games where
some physical exercise is involved.
Awareness to Environment: Keep environment clean and quite. And do not misuse
office resources.
Smoking: Never smoke in front of colleagues. Wash mouth properly after smoking.

Communication
Tips and tricks regarding communication with client and management:

Greetings: Firstly say hello and greetings in verbal communication.

Meeting Minutes: Always provide meeting minutes after conference.
Avoid Interference: Do not interfere while talking. Listen first and then talk.
Listen carefully: Listen very carefully first. Do not hesitate to request to repeat if
anything is not properly understood.
Do not argue: Do not argue with client but always present all alternative solutions.
Provide introduction in mail: Make at least one introductory sentence with proper
greetings when writing emails. Do not jump to topic instantly.
Provide Conclusion: Give a conclusion to email in a positive manner.
Avoid Negative words: Avoid negative words in writings. Consider this example:
We cannot submit this tomorrow. (Wrong)
We are working on this. We would give an update tomorrow but we are afraid that we
may not be able to submit this tomorrow. (Better alternative)
Represent Team: Always represent team in your email. Use “We” instead of “I”.
Questions: Ask questions in affirmative and positive manner. Example:
What is the purpose of sending this hardware? (Wrong)
It will be very helpful if you please explain the purpose of sending this hardware (Better)
No Grammatical and Spelling mistake: Be aware of grammatical and spelling
mistakes in writing.
Be responsive: Be responsive as much as possible and reply to mails as early as
possible. Keep informing clients.
Concise mail: Write clear and concise mails, neither too descriptive nor short. We can
attach separate documents if detail description is required.
Archive mails: Do not delete client mails. Archive mails based on client/project.

Process of Submitting Build

Few notes on providing builds in an organized manner:

Release Notes: Provide Release Notes with each build specifying list of additions,
modifications, bug fixings, test status, risk factors, release history, etc.
Versioning: Maintain versioning of all deliverables. And keep history.
Testing: No build should be submitted without testing.
Mention Risk Factors: Always mention risk factors and risk mitigation plans.
Test Reports: Provide detail test reports and inform about known issues.
Documentation: Submit all relevant documentation with each build.

Dress Code
Dress code is an important part of posture and gesture. One may follow these rules
regarding physical appearance:
 Wear clean cloth.
 Avoid cheap sandals.
 Avoid too bright colors.
 Do not use strong fragrance in office.
 Avoid skinny and too formal dress.