Chapter seven. Communications Training

The cornerstone of any significantly large venture is communication. In the military, establishing lines of communication between troops is the top priority. Without communication, it is impossible to adequately allocate resources, coordinate efforts, assess progress, or, basically, to conduct war. Similarly, a software team must communicate throughout a software development effort or it simply cannot succeed. A software architect must define what level of communication is required, what form the communication takes, and how to continually assist in improving communication in order to ensure that the development tasks proceed as expected. The architect frequently has to decide which design problems require collaborative brainstorming and which are more suited to a concentrated focus by one or two individuals. Frequently, the specific artifacts of communication among team members which are shared among stakeholders are decided by the architect. Sometimes, notes are a sufficient record of discussions, while at other times formal specifications in UML, IDL, and other forms are required. Finally, every architect should establish feedback mechanisms to ensure that his own technique and approaches are improving and obtaining the desired results.