The People vs. Process Debate

People or Processes?

Having done software development, people management and process improvement all these years, I have participated in number of debates related to people vs. processes. I have even faced conflicting situation in past working with two seniors who had totally different views on processes and people. One was extremely process oriented whilst other focused on people – and when they explained their viewpoints – it seemed both were correct in their own right.

I have come to believe that organizations need good people to deliver quality – process acts as a catalyst to drive the success and manage risks. People are always the strongest or weakest link in success of failure of the software projects.

For example, having a set of coding guidelines or unit testing guidelines does not stop a developer from writing a bad code or create duplicate functions. Ability to write good and optimized code for accomplishing a feature is just an art – an intrinsic ability. Focus has to be on people because they develop software (with the help of a process, whether a formal one or a personal process). No CMM or ISO would be able to save a project that has poor team members

Similarly we need processes to create a right management framework, manage risks, measure outcomes and take right decisions. Processes have to be flexible since each project is unique, each client is unique and hence process requirements are unique too. Processes should act as a tool and help people perform better. Knowing the priorities, business model and having insight on what has really worked for us is crucial to see that processes drive growth and not just be a hindrance/overhead. Processes should help people be effective.

Right processes and good people tied with confidence in product being built works wonders, exactly as Matt describes on 37Signals.com

So what’s your take – people or processes?