Communication Patterns: A Guide for Developers and Architects
by: Jacqui Read (Author)
Publisher finelybook 出版社: O’Reilly Media; (November 14, 2023)
Language 语言: English
Print Length 页数: 303 pages
ISBN-10: 1098140540
ISBN-13: 9781098140540
Book Description
Having a great idea or design is not enough to make your software project succeed. If you want stakeholders to buy into your design and teams to collaborate and contribute to the vision, you also need to communicate effectively. In this practical book, author Jacqui Read shows you how to successfully present your architecture and get stakeholders to jump on board.
Misunderstanding and lack of buy-in leads to increasing costs, unmet requirements, and an architecture that is not what you intended. Through constructive examples and patterns, this book shows you how to create documentation and diagrams that actually get the message across to the different audiences you’ll face.
This book shows you how to:
Design diagrams and documentation appropriate to your expected audience, intended message, and project stage
Create documentation and diagrams that are accessible to those with varying roles, needs, or disabilities
Master written, verbal, and nonverbal communication to succeed in technical settings
Apply the communication patterns presented in this book in real-world projects and software designs
Communicate and collaborate with distributed teams to successfully design and document software and technical projects
From the Preface
Who Should Read This Book
This book is intended for developers, engineers, and all types of architects (solution, software, data, enterprise, and so forth) at any point in their careers. Because the skills this book presents are not formally or traditionally taught, even the most seasoned technologist can benefit.
Applying this book’s patterns to your communication will set you apart as someone who not only has the technical skills but also the soft skills to get things done and be understood by technical and nontechnical audiences alike. For those aspiring to move from development to architecture, or into a senior or tech-lead role, improving your communication will remove at least some of the hurdles between you and the role you desire.
Although principally tailored to developers and architects, the patterns in this book can be applied by, and provide benefits to, anyone in the software and technology industries (and other industries besides). The relevancy of each pattern and antipattern will depend on your role.
For example, Part I will be useful to business analysts (BAs), and Part IV will be useful to anyone working in a remote or hybrid environment, or with customers in another time zone. Managers and leaders will greatly benefit from Parts II, III, and IV, with the added benefit of being able to disseminate the techniques and principles to their reports and teams.
Many patterns and principles in this book come from domains very different from software, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they can be applied in still more domains.
Why I Wrote This Book
Throughout my career in software development and software architecture, I have frequently discovered that the principles and techniques I apply naturally do not come naturally to others. In some cases, I have applied knowledge I learned from somewhere else to the technology domain, and in others, my approach just seemed to me the right way to do it.
I realized that I had built up many patterns and antipatterns in my toolbox, and not all were the type that can be applied to code or architecture. Some were applicable to what many would describe as soft skills, like creating diagrams and documentation. Even some that were designed to be used in code or architecture, I was applying outside of their intended use.
It turned out that these soft patterns and antipatterns could all be categorized as communication patterns and, recognizing that my tool kit was not widely accessible to others, I determined to make it available. The result is this book and the training courses that I provide through O’Reilly and privately (along with other architectural courses and consulting).
My intention in writing this book is to improve communication of teams and organizations within the technology sector so that individuals can increase their productivity and general happiness, and organizations see an improvement in their return on investment (ROI) and even their bottom line.
Investing in your soft skills will enhance your technical skills and make you a stand-out technical star.
I consider myself to be a lifelong learner and would love to hear your experiences of applying the patterns and antipatterns in this book, and of any other methods you use to optimize the way you and your colleagues communicate. You can contact me via O’Reilly, my website, or social media.
From the Back Cover
Having a great idea or design is not enough to achieve success. You must communicate your vision effectively to gain stakeholder support for your design and secure collaboration and contribution from your teams. In this practical book, author Jacqui Read shows you how to successfully present your architecture and gain the commitment and understanding you need from stakeholders.
Discover how to effectively communicate to avoid misunderstandings that can lead to increasing costs, unmet requirements, and an architecture that is not what you intended. Through constructive examples and patterns, this book teaches you soft skills you can use to express your message clearly to the different audiences you’ll face.
This book shows you how to:
– Design diagrams and documentation suitable for your expected audience, intended message, and project stage
– Create artifacts that are accessible to those with varying roles, needs, or disabilities
– Master written, verbal, and nonverbal communication to succeed in technical settings
– Communicate and collaborate with distributed teams to successfully design and document software and technical projects
– Apply the communication patterns presented in this book in real-world projects and software designs
“Communication Patterns is a masterful guide that unlocks the complexity behind the language of human interaction. A must-read!”
— Mark Richards, Software Architect, Founder of DeveloperToArchitect
“They might be called soft skills, but they’re not easy to learn since they are so infrequently taught. This book remedies that gap.”
— Rebecca Parsons, Chief Technology Officer Emerita, Thoughtworks
About the Author
Jacqui Read is an internationally-recognised solution and enterprise architect, with hands-on experience and expertise architecting and coding software systems. She specialises in assisting businesses to create and enhance architecture practices, construct evolutionary architectures, and untangle and extract value from data and knowledge.
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