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This is why the project manager is the driving force at the start of the project. It may not
always feel like it, but the most important project decisions are made at the project’s out-
set. This is when the broad strokes are laid down, when the major features of the software
are defined. If there is a misunderstanding at this point, the team can be sent down an
entirely wrong path, which can cause them to lose all of their momentum.

When a project team is first assembled, there is almost always a sense of anticipation and
excitement among the project team and the stakeholders. The project manager can take
advantage of this energy to drive the project in the right direction.

Talk to the Main Stakeholder
The project manager’s first task in any software project is to talk to the main stakeholder.
Unfortunately, it’s not always immediately obvious who that stakeholder is. The project
manager should find the person who will be most impacted by the project, either because
he plans on using it or because he is somehow responsible for it being developed. In other
words, the project manager needs to find the person who will be in trouble if the software
is not developed. (There are often several people who are in this situation. The project
manager should talk to each one, starting with the person who he feels will provide the
most useful information.)

When a project first starts, a project manager’s job is not unlike that of a tailor fitting
someone for a custom suit or dress. The tailor’s customers will pay a premium for tailored
clothes, rather than paying less for an outfit off the rack. But this customization also
means that they will need to spend time with the tailor choosing the patterns, going
through fabric swatches, taking measurements, and giving some of the precise instructions
necessary to customize the clothing. The customer does not see this as a chore, but rather
as a perk. By giving exact specifications, the customer can get exactly what he wants. The
project manager should try to form the same sort of relationship with each stakeholder
that the tailor does with his customers. He can do this by working to understand exactly
what it is that the stakeholder will need from the software, and then by helping the
project team to deliver software that is tailored to those needs.
Unfortunately for most project managers, the typical relationship with the stakeholder is

more like the relationship between a car mechanic and his customer. The customer does
not see that the mechanic is using specialized skills to fix a potentially difficult problem. He
just can’t use his car until the mechanic says it’s fixed. He wants the fix to be as fast and
cheap as possible, and he doesn’t fully understand why it costs so much. What’s more,
he’s always a little suspicious that the mechanic is doing more work than necessary or
ordering a part that’s too expensive. The customer never knows what’s wrong until the
mechanic examines the car, and the cost is always an unpleasant surprise. As far as the
customer is concerned, the mechanic is simply removing an annoyance, and the customer
resents having to pay any money at all for it. This is exactly how many stakeholders think
about their software projects and the teams that build them.

For this reason, it’s important for the project manager to take responsibility for the deliv-
ery of the project from its very beginning. Each stakeholder should feel like the project

18 CHAPTER TWO