Project Management for Software Development
Tutorials and tools for managing, estimating, planning and tracking software development projects: PMP, Agile, Scrum, Lean, Kanban
Successful Agile businesses such as Spotify and Netflix have become the example for those on a business agility journey. The secret ingredient they all share… people… more specifically, a mission built around people.
The book “Reflections on Management: How to Manage Your Software Projects, Your Teams, Your Boss, and Yourself” is composed of papers previously written by Watts Humphrey about people and management aspects of software project management.
Feedback in software development projects sucks. It is horrible to give, it can be painful to receive – even when a project manager gives praise, we are still uncomfortable.
User stories are a technique taken from the agile development playbook that can easily be applied in traditional systems development and maintenance. User stories help you document needs in a structured way, from the users’ perspective.
We have all heard of phrases such as “Let’s walk and talk”, “Give me your elevator pitch” or “Let’s get a coffee”. When someone comes up to you and says “let’s get a coffee”, you instinctively know that you are about to have a conversation with this person.
In a period where the trend is to follow agile approaches with condensed guidance (see the 12 principles of the Agile Manifesto for instance), it could seem strange to publish a book on software development with more than 500 dense pages. You should however not be frightened by the book...
Stakeholder interviews drive successful stakeholder engagement and give us an understanding of our software development project’s landscape. This understanding can help us navigate obstacles before they arise and keep everyone engaged and supportive.
Many software developers promoted to project managers take time to build skills in people management and are given little in the way of guidelines. There is no tech best-practice for how to hire, review performance, grow careers or promote.