Audience


This book is not only for software development managers but also for their managers, who often know little about software. This can be a dangerous thing if the senior manager (unknowingly) makes unreasonable demands and the software development manager (all too willingly) accedes when he shouldn't. A year later, a flaky product ships. A year after that, everyone is pointing fingers, and the programmers get blamed for doing a poor job. Wrong answer!

So let me state my position simply. To be a good software development manager, you first must be a good manager. Most of the general principles of managing teams apply to software development teams. In a similar vein, most of the normal, standard, project management principles apply as well. If you know a lot about software but are a terrible manager or violate basic project management principles, you will fail. That is why a lot of what you will find in this book is suspiciously close to "general management." You need these basic ideas as a foundation.

Then you need to know what is different about software engineering. If the last paragraph is addressed to the new software development manager, this paragraph is addressed to his boss. Yes, boss, you are a good general manager; that is how you got to be the boss. But what you need to know is that some things are different in software. These differences have to do with a variety of things, some of which are connected to the relative immaturity of the discipline. The more you know about these legitimate differences, the more you can have intelligent conversations with the software development manager who is reporting to you. And that means together you can make more well-informed decisions for the team. So your reading this book will help you learn what is different about software development. Without snowing you with a lot of technical jargon, we seek to make you a more understanding collaborator in the process. If you will invest the time and the energy, it will pay big dividends.




The Software Development Edge(c) Essays on Managing Successful Projects
The Software Development Edge(c) Essays on Managing Successful Projects
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 269

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