Section 12.3. Moving Forward

12.3. Moving Forward

There is no single process, framework, or methodology that works all the time. Every organization is different. What's more, organizations are made up of people who need to be convinced that the change really is necessary. While these practices can be very useful as guidelines, the most important part of improving the software process is helping people in your organization understand their role in the development of software.

One reason these process improvement tools have a good chance of successful implementation is that each of them takes into account the basic project management principles introduced in Chapter 1. Whether the process is adopted all at once or good practices are adopted individually, if these principles are followed, then the team will build better software.

This book has been all about specific tools and techniques that, if applied individually, will help a project manager improve the way her organization builds software. Most software organizations will see substantial benefits from a piecemeal approach to building better software. Specific problems can be diagnosed, and individual tools and techniques can be applied to help alleviate those problems. In this way, a project manager can introduce changes directed specifically at the most troublesome problems. But whether you select a piecemeal, diagnose-and-fix approach or have the clout to initiate a full software process improvement effort, solving the problems that affect your projects is within your reach.