The Software Project Manager's Handbook

Software project managers and their team members work individually towards a common goal. This book guides both, emphasizing basic principles that work at work. Software at work should be pleasant and productive, not just one or the other.

This book emphasizes software project management at work. The author's unique approach concentrates on the concept that success on software projects has more to do with how people think individually and in groups than with programming. He summarizes past successful projects and why others failed. Visibility and communication are more important than SQL and C. The book discusses the technical and people aspects of software and how they relate to one another.

The first part of the text discusses four themes: (1) people, process, product, (2) visibility, (3) configuration management, and (4) IEEE Standards. These themes stress thinking, organization, using what others have built, and people. The second part describes the software management principles of process, planning, and risk management. Part three discusses software engineering principles, the technical aspects of software projects. The fourth part examines software practices giving practical meaning to the individual topics covered in the preceding chapters. The final part of this book continues these practical aspects by illustrating a sample project through seven distinctive documents. Preface.

Part 1.

1 What Makes a Good Software Manager?

1.1 People Perspective.

1.2 Business Perspective.

1.3 Process Perspective.

1.4 Key Thoughts in This Chapter.

References.

2 Four Basics That Work.

2.1 People, Process, and Product.

2.2 Visibility.

2.3 Configuration Management.

2.4 Standards.

2.5 Key Thoughts in This Chapter.

References.

3 What Doesn’t Work and Why.

3.1 When the 3Ps Are Out of Balance.

3.2 When There’s Not Enough Visibility.

3.3 When Configuration Management is Missing or Abused.

3.4 When Standards are Dismissed.

3.5 Key Thoughts in This Chapter.

Reference.

4 Managing a Project Day by Day.

4.1 Balancing the 3Ps to Create a Good Environment.

4.2 Visibility: Project Control in a Simple Equation.

4.3 CM: Managing Baselines with Milestones.

4.4 Looking to Standards for Help.

4.5 Key Thoughts in This Chapter.

References.

Part 2.

5 Requirements.

5.1 Balancing the 3Ps: Requirements Analysis, Documentation, and Management.

5.2 Visibility: Making Requirements Known.

5.3 Using CM.

5.4 Using Standards.

5.5 Key Thoughts in this Chapter.

References.

6 Planning.

6.1 Elements of a Good Plan.

6.2 Balancing the 3Ps: Selecting the Process.

6.3 Making the Project Visible: Planning Techniques.

6.4 Making the Project Visible: Estimating Techniques.

6.5 Configuration Management.

6.6 Standards.

6.7 Key Thoughts in this Chapter.

References.

7 Risk Management.

7.1 A Task Overview.

7.2 Balancing The 3Ps: Uncertainty and Choice.

7.3 Making Risk Visible.

7.4 Other Ways to Manage Risk.

7.5 Configuration Management.

7.6 Using Standards.

7.7 Key Thoughts in this Chapter.

References.

Part 3.

8 Design.

8.1 The Challenge of the 3Ps.

8.2 Visibility—Expressing the Design.

8.3 Design in the Code.

8.4 Design and Process.

8.5 Designing with COTS.

8.6 Configuration Management.

8.7 Standards: Writing the SDD.

8.8 Key Thoughts in this Chapter.

References.

9 Integration and Testing.

9.1 Some I&T Myths.

9.2 Managing the 3Ps: People.

9.3 Managing the 3Ps: Process.

9.4 Visibility: Testing Techniques and Details.

9.5 Configuration Management.

9.6 Standards: Documenting the Test Plan.

9.7 Key Thoughts in this Chapter.

References.

10 Software Maintenance.

10.1 What is Maintenance.

10.2 Balancing the 3Ps: Managing the Maintainers.

10.3 Balancing the 3Ps: Managing the Process.

10.4 Balancing the 3Ps: Making the Most of the Product.

10.5 Visibility: Understanding the Maintenance Stages.

10.6 Configuration Management.

10.7 Using Standards.

10.8 Key Thoughts in this Chapter.

References.

Part 4.

11 Cookbook.

11.1 Essentials.

11.2 Opt: A Waterfall Project.

11.3 System Upgrade: An Evolutionary Project.

11.4 CTRAN: A Spiral Project.

11.5 Other Software Projects.

11.6 Key Thoughts in this Chapter.

References.

Appendix A Documents for the OPT Project.

A.1 OPT Executive Sponsor Memorandum.

A.2 OPT Project Context Document.

A.3 OPT Configuration Management Plan.

A.4 OPT Concept of Operations.

A.5 OPT Software Requirements Specification.

A.6 OPT Software Project Management Plan.

A.7 OPT Software Design Description.

Appendix B Configuration Management.

B.1 Will The Real CM Please Stand Up?

B.2 The Main Ingredients.

B.3 Baselines.

B.4 CM Activities.

B.5 CM People.

B.6 CM Plan.

B.7 A CM Sketch.

B.8 Summary.

References.

Appendix C Structured Analysis and Design.

C.1 Structured Analysis.

C.2 Structured Design.

References.

Appendix D Annotated Bibliography.

D.1 Process.

D.2 Visibility.

D.3 People.

D.4 Journals.

Index.

About the Author.

"…clearly explains what it takes to be a good software project manager...a first-rate information source for novice project managers." (IEEE Software Magazine, November/December 2005)

"...a useful book for the classroom or the workplace...I advise purchasing this book and applying the author's ideas." (Software Quality Professional, September 2005)

"...a good reference for individuals just starting off as IT project managers...For those preparing for the CSQE exam, this book can be a good reference..." (Software Quality Professional, June-August 2005)

"…helps guide software project managers and their team members in working towards common goals." (IEEE Computer Magazine, October 2004)

DWAYNE PHILLIPS has worked as a software and systems engineer with the U.S. government since 1980. He has a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Louisiana State University. Phillips is the coauthor, with Roy O’Bryan, of It Sounded Good When We Started (published by Wiley-IEEE Computer Society) and author of Image Processing in C as well as several dozen articles for computer magazines. Bring a new level of effectiveness to your software projects

Remember when creating software was fun? It could be again, if you use the methods in this book to help you plan and manage your project. In this new edition of The Software Project Manager’s Handbook, expert Dwayne Phillips outlines the fundamental principles that project managers and software practitioners can use to help them succeed on any project.

Success on software projects has more to do with how people think individually and in groups than with programming, asserts Phillips. In clear and concise steps, he shows software project managers and their team members how to manage projects effectively by paying attention to four basic principles:

• Balancing people, process, and product
• Making ideas visible
• Applying configuration management properly
• Using standards

The book describes the requirements, planning, and risk management stages of the development cycle and examines the middle and late stages of development including design, test and integration, and maintenance. Phillips shares proven methods for dealing with common stumbling blocks for managers such as customers who want a voice in the design and endless test-fix cycles, and for planning maintenance so the customer is not left out of the process.

Finally, the author examines past projects in detail–demonstrating why some projects were successful and why others failed. Phillips helps you apply these lessons with a "cookbook" formula that walks you step-by-step through a Waterfall, an Evolutionary, and a Spiral project.

New material added to each chapter covers current issues including the role of process in software projects and the Agile Methods. The Software Project Manager’s Handbook, Second Edition is the most innovative and up-to-date guide to making every software project a complete and painless success.