Better Software - May 2008 - (Page 40)

"To assume that another person is being recalcitrant because he wants to do something his way is not a useful step toward communicating." gile development employs more oral communication, feedback, and interaction than traditional development. Instead of creating written requirements specifications, a customer simply tells the developer what the requirements are. A customer and a developer may sit together to create a graphical user interface. A customer and a tester may sketch the acceptance tests for a user story on a whiteboard, rather than create a formal test document. Developers and testers who have worked in a traditional environment may struggle to adapt to these more interactive relationships. To help with the transition, this article presents a few important topics regarding communication including personality types, communication styles, active listening, the Satir interaction model, exchange of tokens, and communication modes. A Personality Types and Communication Styles The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an instrument that describes individual preferences for using energy, processing information, making decisions, and relating to the external world. These preferences result in a four-letter “type” that can be helpful in understanding different personalities. The personality types exhibit different ways in which people communicate and how you might best communicate with those types (see the StickyNotes for a list of communication strategies for each type and a test to determine your own type). You may have taken an MBTI test in the past. For those who haven’t, here is a basic outline of the MBTI’s four preferences. Each preference has two endpoints. As an introduction (or a review) let’s see how each of these prefer40 BETTER SOFTWARE MAY 2008 ences might be reflected when a person is going to lunch. The first preference describes the source of your energy—introvert or extrovert. An introvert draws energy internally, from his own thoughts and ideas. An extrovert draws energy from interactions with others. The extrovert might ask everybody if they want to go to lunch. The introvert may prefer having lunch by himself. How one processes information is the next preference—sensing or intuitive. A sensing person is visual and fact oriented, while an intuitive person is open and instinctual. When an intuitive person looks at a menu, he tries to get a general idea of the type of food and the price range. The sensing person might read every line of the menu before deciding if he wants to eat there. Decision making is the third preference—thinking or feeling. The thinking person uses logic and standards in making decisions. A feeling person is more concerned with feelings and personal relationships when making a decision. The thinking person might figure out which restaurant is the closest or which one has the cheapest food. The feeling person might suggest not going to a particular restaurant because someone in the group recently ended a relationship there. The fourth preference—judging or perceiving—deals with how an individual relates to the external world. The judging individual is organized and structured. The perceiving person is spontaneous and flexible. The judging person has the lunch date in his Outlook calendar. The group will be leaving precisely at 12:00. The perceiving individual may make the lunch date on the spur of the moment. If it is around noon sometime, he’s OK with that. www.StickyMinds.com When you’re communicating with another person, you will have an easier time if you know his MBTI type. But since most people do not wear their MBTI classification on their lapels (except for some particular groups), it’s important to appreciate that each of us looks at the world differently. So how do you communicate when you are a different type from the other person? The first thing to do is acknowledge those different types. To assume that another person is being recalcitrant because he wants to do something his way is not a useful step toward communicating. Adapting your communication processes to appeal to both styles would acknowledge the legitimacy of the other person’s style. Often group decision-making processes assume everyone will speak out. The extrovert asks, “So what does everybody think about this? Let’s hear from you.” The introvert may not give immediate answers. He may be pondering the ramifications of his answer before contributing it. You could try procedures that may appeal to introverts. For example, instead of asking for oral responses, you could have everyone write down ideas on index cards or postit notes. Place the cards up on a board in clusters of related ideas. Now each person’s voice has been heard. As a side note to individual brainstorming, I’d like to interject the notion of “throwing the cards on the table.” In communicating ideas, we often get hung up on our own ideas. We may feel that we need to promote or protect the ideas that we have suggested. One way to avoid this is to adopt the concept of “throwing the cards on the table.” After ideas are generated in the individual brainstorming, the index cards are literally thrown on the table. The originator’s http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - May 2008

Better Software - May 2008 Contents Mark Your Calendar Contributors eLightenment Technically Speaking Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles Cover Story: It's A Bug! The Chivalrous Team Member Let's Talk Agile Product Announcements 10 Things You Might Not Know About... The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - May 2008

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