Microsoft Solution Framework (Score 2, Interesting)

Microsoft Solution Framework is a Best Practice Hand Book from Microsoft that describes which roles ought to present in any development team and their respective responsibilities.

I work in a company that has modified the MSF to our needs and I really like it. Some points:

1. There is a Program Manger (PgrM) who has the responsibility for the plans. HTis is usaully a former developer or tester
2. The PgrM is not anybody's boss. He cannnot lay off or in other ways threaten any of the other roles
3. The consultants are part of the team. My team has one of 5 modules for at large system. We have got our own Product marketing person who is focused on collecting customer data on what features are needed within our module.
4. Each role defines their own schedule, but the PgrM owns the schedule. The developers say: This feature will take 2 days. The tester says: It will take 3 days to test, The USerEd defines how long it will take to document and the Usability person estimates how long it will take to test. That way everybody decides up front and together how much time they need to spend on a given feature. The PgrM then calculates it and prioritize the features with the Product Manager. Then we stick with this plan. (of course changes occour, but then we go back and re-estimate)
5. MSF is just that, a framework. This does not prevent bad management, but it does make it less likely.

Well, mentioning MSF makes it easy to flame me, but if you sincerely want advice on how to become a good middle manger, I think you should read up on it.
-christian