Authors
Affiliations

Gesellschaft für Informatik

deRSE

Julian Dehne

Gesellschaft für Informatik

deRSE

Florian Goth

Jan Phillip Thiele

Jan Linxweiler

Anna-Lena Lamprecht

Maja Toebs

RSEng Management and Communication

Introduction

This module comprises the communication and management skills that are relevant for working in the interdisciplinary setting of RSE-professionals.

This includes but is not limited to:

The lecture covers project and team management techniques an RSE needs in everyday life and the taught methods are applied and practiced with case-studys, role-plays etc. in the exercise.

Contents

  • research management
    • research cycle
    • open science, FAIR, FAIR4RS
    • publication workflow: obstacles and embargoes
    • legal aspects of research data, e.g. GDPR
    • pseudonymization/anonymization methods for data privacy
    • public databases
  • quality control
    • requirements engineering
    • trying goals with quality: test-driven development
    • behavior-driven development, Gherkin-Style acceptance testing
    • project folder organization
    • code review principles
  • communication and collaboration
    • communication frameworks, e.g. AIDA, RACE, 7 C’s
    • personality traits and their impact on cooperation
    • collaboration frameworks for remote work
    • realisation and benefits of pair programming and mob/ensemble programming
    • technical English writing skills: writing in issues and merge requests, code review…
    • conflict management, e.g. dealing with researchers that do not listen
    • how to address relevant stakeholders (i.e. users and SEs) with different background knowledge, experience and expectations
    • equity, diversity and inclusion principles
  • team management
    • challenges of transient teams (that only exist for 5-15 hours)
    • effects of varying team sizes
    • management depending on project size/type
    • specialised roles in a software team
    • intercultural and interdisciplinary differences
    • team management methodologies
    • importance of shared values in a RSE team
    • dual goals: project vs. personal goal
  • time and project management
    • goal-setting
    • project management methods, their strengths and weaknesses
    • agile (not necessarily Scrum)
    • Lean & Kanban (Small-Batch Philosophies)
    • division of tasks into sub-tasks and task-dependencies
    • iterative workflows
    • continuous delivery
    • communication with a manager/supervisor

Lecture: RSEng Management Lecture

SWS: 2 ECTS: 3

Exercise: RSEng Management Exercise

SWS: 2 ECTS: 3

Module Competences

ID Description Disciplines Prerequisites Evidence Author Source
rse_practices_8 Build and manage sustainable research software communities Research Software Engineering, Community Engagement rse_tooling_13 Document strategies used for user engagement, feedback, and community growth in a real project RSE Curriculum Draft Link
rse_practices_9 Work in an agile software development process, including requirement gathering and iteration Research Software Engineering Submit a project that uses agile planning (e.g., user stories, sprints, stand-ups) and reflects on iteration outcomes RSE Curriculum Draft Link
rse_practices_10 Define project scope, gather requirements, and manage stakeholder expectations Research Software Engineering Provide a requirements document and stakeholder communication log for a software project RSE Curriculum Draft Link
rse_practices_11 Plan for software maintenance and long-term sustainability, including archiving strategies Research Software Engineering rse_practices_6 Submit a sustainability or exit plan describing how the software will be maintained or archived RSE Curriculum Draft Link
rse_management_01 Explain particular implementation choices in a convincing manner Research Software Engineering Deliver a defense of chosen implementation decisions in a discussion with a domain expert who has limited technical knowledge (ideally oral examination or project presentation with potential ‘customer/user’ questions) RSE Community Link
rse_management_02 Exemplify and articulate shared team values and their impact on work Research Software Engineering Identify core team values and demonstrate how they influence key implementation decisions (e.g., design, communication, and collaboration) RSE Community Link
rse_management_03 Plan and manage projects using standard methods effectively and efficiently Research Software Engineering Develop a comprehensive project plan for a given project, including scope, milestones, risks, resources, and success criteria RSE Community Link
rse_management_04 Discuss methods to set up a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) framework in an RSE team Research Software Engineering Analyse and evaluate a DEI framework for a given project RSE Community Link

Sources & Implementations:

Courses

Programs

Goth, F, R Alves, M Braun, LJ Castro, G Chourdakis, S Christ, J Cohen, et al. 2024. “Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer [Version 1; Peer Review: Awaiting Peer Review].” F1000Research 13 (1429). https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.157778.1.