Thorough Design
In teaching an undergraduate course that touches a broad array of topics in software development (from estimation to design to QA to CM to test), I find the greatest challenges to be that few in the class have ever experienced software development in industry, where these topics evolve from theoretical to critical. In an environment where many projects can be accomplished within the confines of the development environment, it can be difficult to appreciate the need for all these ‘overhead’ elements. Read more
Pick a Number
More than once in discussion or during a training session, someone has asked me for a number. What is the right number of testers for a development group of this size? What is the right number of levels of management in our organization? What productivity number should I use for this estimate? For each of these questions (and most others of this type), it is possible to quote industry statistics as a response, but the result would usually be worse than to not provide any answer at all. With the diversity of software development organizations, projects and products, it is a rare question that would fit any average number the industry could cough up. In all these cases it is important to dig deeper to find the real questions, and then look internally for the answers. Read more
Governance
As a project manager, one of the critical success factors to check for is that you have sufficient control over all the project variables to a point that you have a reasonable likelihood of success. There can usually be an assumption made that you are being handed a project that has the appropriate level of governance – that senior management recognizes the value of this project in the context of all that projects in the organization, that you will be given the resources required to get the job done, that there will be an effort to avoid changing the project context from under your feet. There needs to be a real stake in the project at the senior management level. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Read more
