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Politics in Software Development: Navigating Stakeholder Power and Conflict in Organizations
Equip yourself to navigate organizational politics in the world of software development. This book will help you understand the power dynamics at work between competing stakeholders with conflicting goals in projects and organizations.
Politics in Software Development consists of three main parts. Author Peter Wendorff begins by defining key concepts in organizational politics. He then moves on to software development processes and investigates how their design reflects stakeholder interests. In the final part, he highlights the role of political skill in software development and provides an overview of tactics that stakeholders frequently use.
There is widespread competition within organizations for rewards, recognition, status, and power. It gives rise to political behavior of stakeholders, which is generally seen as a problem. This negative view of organizational politics tends to overlook its positive functions. For example, it can also be thought of as an arena where stakeholders with conflicting goals can argue, persuade, negotiate, bargain, and cooperate to address conflicts.
Political conflict resolution regularly happens in organizations in an entirely civilized manner. It helps find agreements that reconcile differences in a constructive way, and it is needed because stakeholder conflicts are simply a natural aspect of organizations. While there is much literature about organizational politics, very few authors consider the specifics of software development. This book addresses both subjects and is written for an audience interested in a political perspective on software development.
What You'll Learn
- Recognize and understand political activities in organizations
- Understand what software processes have to do with stakeholder power and interests
- Acquire fundamental political skills for dealing with politics in software development
Who This Book Is For
Project managers, lead developers, team leaders, team coaches, product owners, business analysts, developers, and other software professionals. This book is also suitable for students in software engineering.
Politics in Software Development consists of three main parts. Author Peter Wendorff begins by defining key concepts in organizational politics. He then moves on to software development processes and investigates how their design reflects stakeholder interests. In the final part, he highlights the role of political skill in software development and provides an overview of tactics that stakeholders frequently use.
There is widespread competition within organizations for rewards, recognition, status, and power. It gives rise to political behavior of stakeholders, which is generally seen as a problem. This negative view of organizational politics tends to overlook its positive functions. For example, it can also be thought of as an arena where stakeholders with conflicting goals can argue, persuade, negotiate, bargain, and cooperate to address conflicts.
Political conflict resolution regularly happens in organizations in an entirely civilized manner. It helps find agreements that reconcile differences in a constructive way, and it is needed because stakeholder conflicts are simply a natural aspect of organizations. While there is much literature about organizational politics, very few authors consider the specifics of software development. This book addresses both subjects and is written for an audience interested in a political perspective on software development.
What You'll Learn
- Recognize and understand political activities in organizations
- Understand what software processes have to do with stakeholder power and interests
- Acquire fundamental political skills for dealing with politics in software development
Who This Book Is For
Project managers, lead developers, team leaders, team coaches, product owners, business analysts, developers, and other software professionals. This book is also suitable for students in software engineering.
136 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 27, 2022
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 22, 2022
Wendorff's book is an excellent introductory text for software developers, team leaeders, e.a. to office politics. I wish I had had this knowledge when I started in an enterprise software development team environment.
April 5, 2022
This books serves two goals: [1] To help understand or recognise the politics around us. [2] By clearly explaining the impact of certain political process - both positive and negative impacts, it will help readers to approach politics constructively.
Moreover, it is a nice introduction to “organisational politics”.
Looking software process through the lens of politics and power, will give you new perspectives on these process and how it helps. Processes are not the end ; they are mean to the end.
As author says , don’t look for hidden political move in everything, discretion is advisable.
Moreover, it is a nice introduction to “organisational politics”.
Looking software process through the lens of politics and power, will give you new perspectives on these process and how it helps. Processes are not the end ; they are mean to the end.
As author says , don’t look for hidden political move in everything, discretion is advisable.
April 29, 2022
There's a lot of political game in software development. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. A must-read for every software developer. A very well written and structured book, giving an excellent overview of this important subject.
March 6, 2025
The book offers unique insight, combining different perspectives and cases to show what actual politics are at play in the software development scene. However, I must admit that the writing style felt very academic and hard to read.
March 22, 2022
Wendorff's book is an excellent introductory text for software developers, team leaeders, e.a. to office politics. I wish I had had this knowledge when I started in an enterprise software development team environment.
April 29, 2022
There's a lot of political game in software development. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. A must-read for every software developer. A very well written and structured book, giving an excellent overview of this important subject.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews