Organizational Paradigms for Teams of Software Engineers

The best team structure depends on the management style of the organization. Constantine suggests four “organizational paradigms” for software engineering teams. Here are some differences between the paradigms.

No.	Open Paradigm	Synchronous Paradigm
1.	The open paradigm attempts to structure a team in a manner that achieves some of the controls but also much of the innovation.	The synchronous paradigm relies on the natural compartmentalization of a problem
2.	This paradigm is like the mixer of closed and random paradigm.	This paradigm is exceptional. Its type is different from the others.
3.	Work is performed collaboratively, with heavy communication under open paradigm.	Little active communication among the team members is the characteristic of this paradigm.
4.	Open paradigm team structures are well suited to the solution of complex problems.	Synchronous Paradigm organizes team members to work on pieces of the problem.
5.	This paradigm interests through negotiation and discussion.	It has alignment with a common vision or direction

No.	Closed Paradigm	Random Paradigm
1.	A closed paradigm structures a team along a traditional hierarchy of authority.	The random paradigm structures a team loosely and depends on individual initiative of the team members.
2.	This paradigm is similar to a Controlled Centralized (CC) team.	This paradigm is similar to a Democratic decentralized (DD) team.
3.	This team can work well when producing software which is quite similar to past efforts.	This team does not deal with the work what is similar to past efforts.
4.	The works done by this paradigm are less likely to be innovative.	When innovation or technological breakthrough is required, teams following the random paradigm will excel.
5.	This team works easily with orderly performance.	Such team may struggle when “orderly performance” is required.