The document provides best practices notes from a 1998 new media conference. It recommends being wary of big IT companies and avoiding trying to radically change company culture all at once when partnering with outside organizations. It emphasizes continuing to build on ambition, delegating responsibility as the organization grows, and keeping projects, tools, and processes simple. It stresses the importance of iteration in projects, using small creative teams, and continuing professional development to build expertise.

1. Best Practices
Notes from the New Media Grand Tour 1998

2. Beware big IT-companies
Most people interviewed who had worked on co-projects
with Big IT Companies seemed to be quite upset by it.
Be careful.
2

3. Evolution of culture, not revolution
Cherish New Media Culture.
We know that not all the things we do are done the best
way they could be done. But don’t try to change
everything at once, there will be clash of cultures.
Remember that young experts, working in friendship-
culture started this industry, work with that, and don’t
try to bring in some American Consulting Company culture
at once. It means trouble.
3

4. Build on ambition
We are ambitious bunch.
Use it, work with it, and don’t throw it overboard with
company structure, weird project management and
concentration on earnings.
It is nice to make money, but most people seem to be
driven by being able to plan, produce and to be
thanked for doing such a good work.
4

5. Managing Growth
–delegate responsibility
Keep on growing, put remember to let go.
More people, bigger projects, now things have to be
delegated.
Give juniors a bit more responsibility that you thing
they can handle, and you will see that they grow to
fulfill the need.
5

6. Implement your designs
Say what you do, do what you say.
Document your work,
become better by following up.
There seems to be lot of development work done in each
company, but in too many cases it is just design work,
with no implementation and follow-ups.
6

7. Centerpiece of an office creates
spirit
Company has an identity, let it grow.
Create places where people like to hang around, keep
those places alive.
Maybe we all could have feeling of a family dinner when
having lunch?
7

8. Give stories to media
Media loves New Media.
No wonder there is such publicity for us.
But remember to tell stories, give histories, have places to
photograph, make it interesting for the journalist.
Control by giving, not by blocking.
8

9. Keep it flat
Keep the organization flat.
Yes, there can be very complex organization, but most
employees want to have flat organization with direct and
personal influence on decision making.
Cherish experience and expertise,
but don’t look down on those who have just started.
9

10. Keep it simple
Whenever designing tool, methods and templates,
keep them simple.
You probably can create perfect tool if you have enough
time, but even then don’t make them too complicated.
No one wants to have Debriefing Template 27 pages long!
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11. Forget the waterfall, build iteration
into project
If project is planned as set of steps to be performed one
after one, it will create enormous pressures into last
phases. Especially in our line of work where changes are
more rule than exception.
Workflow should be planned according to iteration,
setting small milestones so that all the phases are done
simultaneously, going further and better with each
iteration phase.
If the deadline comes too early, the project can be
released as it was in last milestone, smaller than planned,
11 put whole and tested.

12. Small creative teams
–with ambition
When the projects are getting bigger and bigger, there
seems to be more people involved in projects.
Remember that by putting in more ”Man Months” by
adding people is not the same than having small compact
steady team with reasonable timetable.
The best creative teams seem to be 2-5 people, no more.
Give them power, time, resources and honor.
12

13. Make things easy for hardworking
When the deadlines are approaching, and the working
days are getting longer, what do you do?
Make things easier for those under pressure. Have
enough food and drinks available, have places for resting,
hire someone to babysit their children, have their laundry
done for them etc. And when the pressure is off, send
them, and their families for an vacation.
Remember you’ll need them next time,
don’t burn them up.
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14. Senior experts
Build up expertise.
Don’t waste your best designers or developers to do
chores that someone else could do for them.
Use experts as coaches; keep them moving, developing,
pointing directions…
14

15. Professional Guilds
to build know-how and pride
If you are arranged into industrial or customer teams with
mixed expertise, build up ”Guilds”, parallel teams which
coordinates development inside an expertise.
15

16. Creative forums to see further
Create forums to cherish creativity.
Take some time off,
have interesting people to come to forum,
do some exercises, play around, and keep
the flame burning.
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17. Professional development is the
key to future
Keep on developing.
Have internal developing days,
meet with outside experts, go to seminars, read books.
And remember to take time to do this.
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18. Recording lessons learned
Start collecting data.
What is done, how it was done and why. What did we
learn from it?
Remember that next time it might be different people,
team or may even different company, who is working on
similar case.
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19. Keep on teaching and sharing
Spread out your knowledge,
and it will come back double!
Coach the juniors, share your information and knowledge.
Even though the companies are getting big,
and you can’t know all of them personally,
keep on sharing your knowledge.
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20. Cherish yourself
Enjoy, be proud.
This may be the most interesting, at least the fastest
growing industry in the world.
Enjoy being part of it.
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21. Get headset for the phones
Yes, free your hands
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22. Free Coke!
Yes, everyone should be allowed
free speech and free softdrinks.
Some of us do!
22

24. ”Aluksi tuli agile ja scrum, joilloin saimme vihdoin kauan kaivatun oikeuden
päivittäin raportoida tekemisiämme. Todella hienoa! varmasti jokainen, joka
joutuu työskentelemään ilman jokapäiväistä seurantaa kadehtii meitä
kehittäjiä. Eipä enää koodarit pääse notkumaan tyhjän panttina, kun
tekemisten seuranta on saatu melkein reaaliaikaiseksi.
Nyt otetaan sitten käytöön uusi hieno käytäntö. Jokainen rivi koodia, jonka
kirjoitamme, tarkistutetaan toisella kehittäjällä. Tästähän me kaikki olemme
unelmoineet. Sanotaan sitä vaikka katselmoinniksi, koska kyttääminen
kuulostaa pahemmalta, vaikka asia ei siitä miksikään muutu. Siis kulkeeko
sairaanhoitajat osastolla joku toinen olan takana tarkistamassa kaikki
työvaiheet? Miksei HKL:n kuljettajilla ole kakkoskuskia, jonka tehtävät on
tarkkailla ratissa istuvan työn laatu?
Jos joku nuori tällä palstalla pohtii tulevaa uraa, voin suositella IT-alaa
todellisena unelmatyönä. Päivittäin saat tehdä selvityksen, miksi työsi
tuottavuus ei ole yltänyt tavoitteisiin. Jos tuottavuus onkin kohdallaan, niin joku
tarkistaa kaikki tekemisesi ja kirjaa ylös virheet, jotta niistä voidaan
asianmukaisesti rapostoida eteenpäin. Onko mitään, mihin kehittäjät eivät
sopeudu?” - koodiorja

26. ”Suomalaisissa teknillisissä korkeakouluissa
tietojenkäsittelytiede ja javascript tuntuvat
olevan toisensa kokonaan poissulkevat
käsitteet (”Eikös tämä web olekin jo vähän
eilisen juttu?”), joten laaja-alaisesti front end -
puolen hallitsevia henkilöidä ei löydy kuin
kourallinen. Useimmiten uupuu
tietojenkäsittelytieteen tuntemus tai sitten
henkilö ei osaa tai ole kiinnostunut
käyttöliittymäsuunnittelusta ja
käytettävyydestä.” - Petteri Koponen

27. Mika Hämäläinen
2012