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Advice for a New Software Project Manager?

Posted by Cliff on from the pass-along-thy-wisdom dept.

Tom O'Neill asks: "I have recently been promoted to 'Manager of Software Development' at the small business I work for. I have been developing web-based software professionally for about 6 years. I have seen the software development cycle work and I have seen it fail. Are there any project managers out there with some advice for a green horn like myself? Are there any books or other reading material that I could read in order to manage a software project effectively?"

1 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Know your people by Reemi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My personal tips, based on that projects are executed by people:

    - Know the people you work with, understand the way they communicate progress/problems. Everyone is different

    - Create an atmosphere where delays are acceptable, but only when pre-announced. This avoids surprices just before a deadline and allows you to take actions in time.

    - When assigning a task, let the receiver make a time plan and commit to it. You'll find out they are in general too optimistic but highly motivated to make it because they made this promise towards you. Never push a deadline on them if you can avoid it.

    - Don't ask for too many progress reports, talk with your people and ask once in a while a snapshot of the current task. Non-performers can be identified in an early stage this way.

    All items I mentioned are human related. Why? Because my experience is that in most cases that is the only area where one can (is allowed to) make a difference.