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CHAPTER 3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS 61

Democratic decentralized (DD). This software engineering team has no per-
manent leader. Rather, "task coordinators are appointed for short durations and
then replaced by others who may coordinate different tasks." Decisions on prob-
lems and approach are made by group consensus. Communication among team
members is horizontal.
Controlled decentralized (CD). This software engineering team has a defined
leader who coordinates specific tasks and secondary leaders that have respon-
sibility for subtasks. Problem solving remains a group activity, but implemen-
tation of solutions is partitioned among subgroups by the team leader.
Communication among subgroups and individuals is horizontal. Vertical com-
munication along the control hierarchy also occurs.
Controlled Centralized (CC). Top-level problem solving and internal team
coordination are managed by a team leader. Communication between the leader
and team members is vertical.
Mantei [MAN81] describes seven project factors that should be considered when plan-
ning the structure of software engineering teams:
• The difficulty of the problem to be solved.
? What • The size of the resultant program(s) in lines of code or function points
factors
should we (Chapter 4).
consider when • The time that the team will stay together (team lifetime).
structuring a • The degree to which the problem can be modularized.
software team?
• The required quality and reliability of the system to be built.
• The rigidity of the delivery date.
• The degree of sociability (communication) required for the project.

Because a centralized structure completes tasks faster, it is the most adept at han-
dling simple problems. Decentralized teams generate more and better solutions than
individuals. Therefore such teams have a greater probability of success when work-
ing on difficult problems. Since the CD team is centralized for problem solving, either
a CD or CC team structure can be successfully applied to simple problems. A DD struc-
ture is best for difficult problems.
Because the performance of a team is inversely proportional to the amount of com-
munication that must be conducted, very large projects are best addressed by teams
with a CC or CD structures when subgrouping can be easily accommodated.
It’s often better to
have a few small, well- The length of time that the team will "live together" affects team morale. It has
focused teams than a been found that DD team structures result in high morale and job satisfaction and
single large team. are therefore good for teams that will be together for a long time.
The DD team structure is best applied to problems with relatively low modularity,
because of the higher volume of communication needed. When high modularity is
possible (and people can do their own thing), the CC or CD structure will work well.