Project Management

veryard projects - innovation for demanding change

project management

controlling the software process
for software evolution and growth

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project management notions

related topics

> risk management
> quality management
> people management
> supplier / contract management
> programme management

Are the days of the traditional project numbered?

At least within software engineering, a traditional project involves a largely self-contained team, performing a finite task with a definite end-date. The team is relatively homogeneous - different skills and experience marking different rungs on the same career ladder. People are usually allocated full-time for the duration of the project, and report to the project leader or manager - although they may also retain a reporting line to another manager.

Challenges to the traditional approach include:

maintenance - the new software paradigm - from incremental development - via rapid application development (RAD) and prototyping - to permanent system evolution

increasing task complexity - diversity of relevant specialist areas - need for projects to call in an ever-wider range specialist services

development coordination - getting economies of scale through reuse - harmonizing interfaces and platform requirements, synchonizing releases

Please contact us for help with these challenges.

project management

principles

	Maximizing the satisfaction of customer and other stakeholder needs is paramount.
	All work in a project is carried out as a set of planned and interlinked tasks.
	Quality has to be built into both product and process.
	Management is responsible for creating an environment for quality.
	Management is responsible for continuous improvement.

[source: ISO 10006]

project management

services

Assessment / Audit

Planning / Requirements / Design

Process / System / Method / Metrics

Improvement / Coaching / Mentoring

project management

white papers and other materials

title	keywords	version
Notes on Measurement and Control	Business metrics and software metrics	October 2001
Project Estimation	Estimation skills, confidence and overconfidence, project risk, contingency	June 1999
Project Types	Construction, Research, Reengineering, Procurement, Business Implementation	May 1999
Programme Management	Programme	May 2001
Effective Management of CBD Projects (pdf)	Component-Based Development	November 1998

project management

internet links

links	comment
Project Management Forum: "Managing the Deadline"	by the folk who brought you SCIMITAR Risk Management
Prince2	PRINCE is the official project management methodology of many large Government and commercial organizations.
APM	The Association for Project Management.
The Programme Management Special Interest Group	offers five definitions of Programme

Project Management Books

veryard projects > project management > books

Robert Block	The Politics of Projects	One of my favourite books on project management, sadly out of print.
Fred Brooks jr	The Mythical Man-Month	The classic book on software project management.
Tom DeMarco	The Deadline	A novel about project management, from one of the best-known software gurus.
Gerald Weinberg	Becoming a Technical Leader	Top recommendation - brilliantly written and packed with insight.

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