Getting Results from Software Development Teams

Chapter 8. Tracking the Software Project Plan

A well-designed strategy can overcome poor tactics, but good tactics cannot overcome a poor strategy.

—A military aphorism

Managing a software project is a lot like successfully flying an aircraft—you have to pay attention to more than one instrument, you need to file a flight plan, and you need a pilot to make needed course corrections to ensure that you arrive at your planned destination despite obstacles along the way. The software project manager is a lot like the pilot, and the software development team the crew. In software project management, we can create a project plan, but without day-to-day involvement by the software project manager and feedback from the software development team, it is unlikely ...