Project Management for Software Development
Tutorials and tools for managing, estimating, planning and tracking software development projects: PMP, Agile, Scrum, Lean, Kanban
The book “Managing the Unmanageable” starts with the observation that software development projects have always difficulties to be successful, which might explain the title of this book. The authors share in it some techniques and approaches to improve this situation, based on their long experience as software development managers in...
Risk refers to uncertain future conditions or circumstances that may adversely impact a software development project if they occur. A risk represents the possibility, not the certainty, of a future event affecting the success of a software development project.
How does a business minimize the uncertainty and risks it faces when launching a new product to market? Markets are full of uncertainties with ever changing demands. New products are entering the marketplace all the time. These products cause severe turbulence and unexpected outcomes.
Most software projects involve doing something new about which we’re ignorant, which brings uncertainty. Our brains aren’t comfortable with that, so we have to make conscious effort to stop pretending to be certain when we’re not!
Risk management and reduction is an important activity for the project manager. Accidents will always happen and corrective action is then needed to deal with issues encountered during projects. Unfortunately, actions taken to resolve a problem often only address the problem itself, not its underlying causes.
The article “Managing Schedule Flaws using Agile Methods” presents several symptoms and causes of schedule problems, describes metrics and diagrams that can be used to track your team’s progress against its schedule and proposes Agile approaches to mitigate these risks.
Interestingly, some industry thought leaders and consultants believe Agile is a development-only set of methods, neglecting the strong emphasis on project and risk management. I have read these analyses and have given careful consideration to their viewpoints.
Using the metaphor of the elephant, Kailash Awati explains the reasons why project managers don’t want to recognize known risks.