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CHAPTER

3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CONCEPTS

KEY n the preface to his book on software project management, Meiler Page-
CONCEPTS
Jones [PAG85] makes a statement that can be echoed by many software
critical practices . . 74
Iengineering consultants:
common process
framework . . . . . . 70 I've visited dozens of commercial shops, both good and bad, and I've observed scores
coordination . . . . . 65 of data processing managers, again, both good and bad. Too often, I've watched in
horror as these managers futilely struggled through nightmarish projects, squirmed
problem
decomposition . . . 67 under impossible deadlines, or delivered systems that outraged their users and went
process on to devour huge chunks of maintenance time.
decomposition . . . 70
What Page-Jones describes are symptoms that result from an array of man-
scope. . . . . . . . . . . 67 agement and technical problems. However, if a post mortem were to be con-
software team . . 60 ducted for every project, it is very likely that a consistent theme would be
team leader . . . . . 59 encountered: project management was weak.
team structure. . . 60 In this chapter and the six that follow, we consider the key concepts that
lead to effective software project management. This chapter considers basic
team toxicity. . . . 63
software project management concepts and principles. Chapter 4 presents
5
W HH principle . . 73
process and project metrics, the basis for effective management decision mak-
ing. The techniques that are used to estimate cost and resource requirements
and establish an effective project plan are discussed in Chapter 5. The man-

QUICK What is it? Although many of us coordinate the interface between the business and
LOOK (in our darker moments) take Dil- the software professionals.
bert’s view of “management,” it Why is it important? Building computer software is
remains a very necessary activity when computer- a complex undertaking, particularly if it involves
based systems and products are built. Project many people working over a relatively long time.
management involves the planning, monitoring, That’s why software projects need to be managed.
and control of the people, process, and events that What are the steps? Understand the four P’s—peo-
occur as software evolves from a preliminary con- ple, product, process, and project. People must be
cept to an operational implementation. organized to perform software work effectively.
Who does it? Everyone “manages” to some extent, Communication with the customer must occur so
but the scope of management activities varies that product scope and requirements are under-
with the person doing it. A software engineer man- stood. A process must be selected that is appro-
ages her day-to-day activities, planning, moni- priate for the people and the product. The project
toring, and controlling technical tasks. Project must be planned by estimating effort and calen-
managers plan, monitor, and control the work of dar time to accomplish work tasks: defining work
a team of software engineers. Senior managers products, establishing quality checkpoints, and

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