Introduction to Project Management Chapter 1 Applied Software

Introduction to Project Management Chapter 1 Applied Software Project Management, Stellman & Greene

Good project management principles o Make sure all decisions are based on openly shared information o Don’t second guess your team member’s expertise o Introduce software quality from the very beginning of the project o Don’t impose an artificial hierarchy on the project team o Remember that the fastest way through the project is to use good engineering practices

A good project manager needs to. . . o Understand every facet of software development o Know what programmers, testers, analysts and architects do, why they are on the team, the pitfalls they may encounter, and how to avoid those pitfalls o Read and understand the documents created by the team o Provide intelligent feedback

Tell everyone the truth all the time o The most important principle in this book is transparency o The project can succeed if: n Decisions are based on real information gathered by the team and trusted by management o Transparency happens when information is made public and rationale behind decisions is explained

When faced with unrealistic deadlines, a project manager may. . . o Pressure the team to work late and make up time o Trim the scope o Gut quality tasks o Eliminate reviews, inspections and documentation o Stop updating the schedule

Establishing transparency is about. . . o All agreeing on: n n What needs to be built How long it will take to build it What steps will be taken How to know that it has been done properly

Trust your team o Rely on the expertise of the team o No one likes to be micromanaged. . . o However, one cannot blindly trust the team n Ideas need to be evaluated using sound engineering principles

Review Everything, Test Everything o Reviews get a bad rap o A review does two things 1. It prevents defects in the software 2. It helps the project manager gain a real, informed commitment from the team o It is always faster and cheaper to hold a review than it is to skip it o Because it is easier to fix something on paper than it is to build it first and fix it later

Reviews can. . . o Catch costly errors early in the project o Foster respect among team members o Result in real team commitment to the work o Meet with much resistance!

Testing. . . o Is likely to be dismissed as unaffordable or idealistic o Must be planned from the beginning and supported through the entire project o Requires a commitment from the team to actively look for defects at every stage, in every document, and in the software

All software engineers are created equal o No single work product is more important than another n If any has errors, they will impact the final product o Treat all ideas as worthy, regardless of who suggests it

Software practices. . . o Must save more time than it costs to implement them o All of the effort that goes into reviews, testing, requirements, etc. positively affects the bottom line of the project o While it may be tempting to cut out the practices and concentrate on pumping out code, be strong!