Collective Wisdom from the Experts 87
challenges, and bugs/defects. By reflecting these development “discoveries”
through a shared, globally accessible tool, developers gain a greater level of
feedback precision. Often, unseen connections between features and tasks can
be discovered early.
One typical misconception is that synchronous* communications are always
more effective than asynchronous† communications. Adding development
tools and short, asynchronous communication loops can effectively supple-
ment face‐to‐face communications.
At a more general level of feedback, a wiki system can easily keep the vision
of the project adjusted to the reality of the development progress. Such a sys-
tem can also make information available in a timely manner and provide a
higher‐level channel to communicate to stakeholders-at-large, who might not
be interested in the deep, technical details impeding a particular feature’s prog-
ress. By contrast, a software developer’s vision of the overall project can be
blurred over time by the minutiae of his daily technical work. A wiki is an effec-
tive way to keep a clear, shared vision of the project among all the participants.
By attacking the problem of keeping information loops tight and noise-free,
software project managers can help avoid the breakdown in communications
typically blamed for project failures. A project manager’s responsibility and
challenge is to streamline the feedback loops at every level of a project.
- Synchronous communication: Participants all participate at the same time, whether in person or by
virtual means.
† Asynchronous communication: Participants have access to information, but do not have to be physi-
cally present and available in real time. Examples include email, discussion boards, and shared folders.