Steve Sawyer - Project Management

Steve Sawyer presented a session on how as Developers we might have the skills and strengths to make good project managers.

Steve explained how there are so many opportunities for Project Management - internal software systems, shrink wrap software development, reselling and customizing 3rd party systems like SAP, Great Plains, etc, companies outsourcing development, any project with multiple stake holders.

Steve mentioned that there can be good "politics" in business organizations which is something I had never thought of. We so often talk about the politics being a problem within an organization.

Project mangers are not, by formal definition, an active participant in the software development process. Steve says that in the real world it doesn't always work out that way. In any case, he says Project Managers must be engaged with an element of the process to influence that process.

While Steve was talking about various stakeholders her reminded me of something that we've discussed before: Often the client tries to specify a solution rather than describing the problem.

When talking about the creative and technical staff, Steve talked about another thing that really rings true and of which I'm often guilty: We base our estimates on "ideal programming days" which never happen. It is so hard to remember this when talking with customer s or even internally regarding timelines and budgets.

Good Project managers should:

• Keep the client focused on the need and away from the solution
• Don't make commitments to deadlines while in front of the client
• Identify factors driving the deadlines
• Insist on frequent milestones (very much in line with the Agile way of thinking)
• State and Restate project scope issues

Tamar Granor mentioned a recent article by Phillip G. Armour in the Communications of the ACM where he talks about how we often assume perfect case scenarios to shorten timelines (in order to please the customer, or perhaps driven by the customer.) It looks like he has several articles relating to project management, estimating and agile development.

Steve talked about the differences between Developers and Programmers, where Developers are responsible for every aspect of a project - including project management - and Programmers are more like "order takers"

Steve mentioned that a good project manager has to have the ability to form alliances with all the stakeholders and the ability to do this with Diplomacy.

You can learn more about project management and certification here: http://www.pmi.org/

Overall Steve presented a great session about the possibility of a developer leveraging existing strenghts and skills for a new career as a Project Manager.