A working group initiated by a joint initiative of German research and funding organizations developed a "helping hand" paper providing recommendations on important aspects of research software developmement and maintenance [1]. It is addressed to the different stakeholders in the hierarchy of an research organization. The talk will introduce the main points of this document. Based on the personal experience of the speaker a number of steps necessary to introduce these guidelines into the everyday practice of a research institution will be discussed. [1] Katerbow, Matthias / Feulner, Georg (2018): Handreichung zum Umgang mit Forschungssoftware. Herausgegeben von der AG Forschungssoftware im Rahmen der Schwerpunktinitiative Digitale Information der Allianz der deutschen Wissenschaftsorganisationen. Unter Mitarbeit von Mathias Bornschein, Björn Brembs, Michael Erben-Russ, Konrad Förstner, Michael Franke, Bernadette Fritzsch, Jürgen Fuhrmann, Michael Goedicke, Stephan Janosch, Uwe Konrad, Dennis Zielke.