Comments on: Software Development and Project Management http://blog.brodzinski.com/2007/08/software-development-and-project.html Dealing with software projects in real life Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:07:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Pawel Brodzinski http://blog.brodzinski.com/2007/08/software-development-and-project.html#comment-1890 Pawel Brodzinski Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:25:00 +0000 http://blog.brodzinski.com/2007/08/software-development-and-project-management.html#comment-1890 Yes, when you develop software using agile methods it definitely has impact on a way you manage projects. And yes, that part of project management which covers software development must be adjusted to suit agile model (managing iterations as you point). However, the whole rest of project doesn't change much. It depends on project how big is the software development part within the project.<br/><br/>Generalizing a bit - project management always has to deal with different processes which are parts of the bigger whole (no matter if it is software development, hardware delivery or acceptance tests) and project manager has always adjust the his practices to to achieve a success. It really doesn't matter if you talk about agile or any other kind of practices. Yes, when you develop software using agile methods it definitely has impact on a way you manage projects. And yes, that part of project management which covers software development must be adjusted to suit agile model (managing iterations as you point). However, the whole rest of project doesn’t change much. It depends on project how big is the software development part within the project.

Generalizing a bit – project management always has to deal with different processes which are parts of the bigger whole (no matter if it is software development, hardware delivery or acceptance tests) and project manager has always adjust the his practices to to achieve a success. It really doesn’t matter if you talk about agile or any other kind of practices.

]]> By: Rajeev Singh http://blog.brodzinski.com/2007/08/software-development-and-project.html#comment-1889 Rajeev Singh Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:11:00 +0000 http://blog.brodzinski.com/2007/08/software-development-and-project-management.html#comment-1889 I agree, that project management already exists regardless of the methodology.<br/><br/>Agile practices, however, introduce the need of managing these short cycles of development called iterations - Iteration Management. <br/><br/>On smaller projects, often a Project Manager is an Iteration Manager as well. Even on the outward looking side (towards the client) where a PM concentrates her/his attention to, the frequency at which the iterations play themselves may change a few practices around communication and the payload of the communication. Progress of the team is reflected using a bit more sophisticated yet meaningful concepts like velocity, load factor, etc.<br/><br/>So, I guess, what I am trying to say is that Agile requires to manage iterations and forces a PM to change their pace and nature of communication in a certain fashion. That's all there's to Agile Project Management. I agree, that project management already exists regardless of the methodology.

Agile practices, however, introduce the need of managing these short cycles of development called iterations – Iteration Management.

On smaller projects, often a Project Manager is an Iteration Manager as well. Even on the outward looking side (towards the client) where a PM concentrates her/his attention to, the frequency at which the iterations play themselves may change a few practices around communication and the payload of the communication. Progress of the team is reflected using a bit more sophisticated yet meaningful concepts like velocity, load factor, etc.

So, I guess, what I am trying to say is that Agile requires to manage iterations and forces a PM to change their pace and nature of communication in a certain fashion. That’s all there’s to Agile Project Management.

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