Peerforce
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Introduction
In we consider that the traditional corporate formation on information technologies is very inefficient.This is mainly because int the traditional model, the instructor explains a series of theoretical concepts taht must be adapted and then applied by students to solve problems. This objective rarely is obtained, or the result is far from the effectiveness index expected in an organization who tries to train her collaborators.
What can be done to improve this situation?. What can do an organization for guarantee a return of investment on the capital spent training collaborators. After delivering thousands of hours of corporate training on various technologies and programming methodologies, we found that the transmission of knowledge is only effective when the training experience is projected directly onto the actual working environment of the people involved. That is, when knowledge is transmitted as a need to solve real problems in an organization.
Analyzing more deeply this situation we have verified that the effectiveness upon developing software does not depend only of the technical abilities of the programmers. n large measure, the performance of a development team is directly dependent on a general understanding of the processes, of the mutual knowledge of the members of the team and of the capacity of communication among them.
The proposed training plan is based on a model of active transmission of knowledge on a real work environment. That is, we intend to convert a traditional training in a real learning experience. Participants in this program will be integrated into a development team that has the specific objective of developing a complex application which should come into production; this development will follow a formal methodology, will respect delivery times and quality standards and will apply the software development best practices. That is to say, an experience of immersion to the world of the real development. The following sections describe the process we follow to achieve this goal.
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Overview of the process
Unlike traditional training programs, transfer of knowledge from this program is based on active experimentation of the concepts and tools on a real case study. There are two prerequisites to execute this program successfully: (1) to have a group of participants whit an initial homogeneus level of expertise; (2) establish a development team in which individual skills are clearly identified so that work can be distributed in a consistent and complementary way.
This objective is obtained through a plan of execution in three phases; the plan will allow to identify the profiles of the participants, to execute of controlled way the transmission of knowledge and to validate its progress of continuous form. The three phases respectively denominate (a) phase of qualification, (b) phase of construction of the knowledge on a real project and (c) phase of certification of acquired abilities. These phases are detailed in the following sections.
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A. Qualification phase
The target audience for this training program are software developers who wish to update their knowledge of new information technologies in order to be considered as a highly skilled programmers. To participate in the program of training in new information technologies is necessary to have at least basic knowledge of structured programming. By this, before initiating the program will be carried out a qualification of the candidates in three steps:
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Technical Know-How Evaluation.
A series of surveys will be applied through the Web with specific questions on basic and advanced concepts of structured programming. The result of these surveys will allow to select homogenous group of participants to the program and to adapt the contents of it. Furthermore, identification of the level of basic knowledge of the group will serve to define the most adequate rhythm to execute the training program.
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Identification of the professional/social profile of the participant.
To take full advantage of the teamwork sessions, during the transfer of knowledge and in the laboratory practices, tools for statistical analysis of job profiles will be used (ref. building effective working teams [Belbin]). The identification of the tendencies of behavior of each participant will permit to assign in a rational way the type of tasks that will carry out in the activities of collaborative work.
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Personal interview with the candidate.
This interview with selected candidates will explain in detail the program and set personal goals for professional projection.
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B. Construction phase of knowledge on a real project
In this phase of the program different types from training activities, mentoring, tests, meetings of planning, practices of programming and work in equipment will be combined that have as final objective to sit down solid bases of knowledge on the underlying technologies, as well as on the processes and methodologies of development that can be applied to develop software applications using the denominated new technologies of the information.
The participants of the program will be found with a similar environment to that of a business of development where the heads will act as the mentors, leaders of project or consultants. The difference between a traditional training program and the dynamic model of knowledge transfer is that participants will be testing the concepts in an environment that emulates the real environment of a software development company. During the pre-qualification stage will have identified the profile of each participant. This information will enable efficient work teams and distribute tasks and responsibilities with respect to those profiles.
The participants in the program will develop a real application that will enter a production phase at the end of a the program, once the strict quality criteria have been evaluated. Upon initiating the program will be explained clearly which are the objectives of the application and how they will be achieved. All the documentation referring to the case of study as well as the different use cases describing the functionality, as well as the architecture chose to satisfy the quality of service required for the application. The experience that will acquire by the participants will be similar to that of being integrated to a very efficient company in processes of development of software..
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C. Certification phase of acquired abilities
In this phase will be validated, through online tests and personal interviews, the knowledge gained during the program. The result of this phase will be individual reports that describe the participant's level of knowledge as well as recommendations on how to effectively integrate him/her into an existing team in the company. This information will be of great value to companies interested in hiring these new professionals of the information technologies.
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