Managing Software Projects

Rating:
Summary: Telling It Like It Is.
Review: After reading Frank Tsui's "Managing Software Projects" I would recommend it to anyone trying to do the impossible - manage a software project that you want to succeed.

Though at times the book is overly verbose the book is full of practical advice that enters the realm of how to monitor a project, track the progress, gauge engineer moral, and gain insights through informal conversations to get to the truth.

The book would have been deeper if it had actual case studies of actual software projects with a blow by blow on what was planned and what actually happened, but in Tsui's book he does make it clear that the software project is in constant flux and essentially it's very difficult to control the outcome. The book does focus on milestones and schedules and meetings and communication but a less wordy version of the same book can be found in the Mythical Man-Month which pound for pound is a better book.

Managing Software Projects is more modern but if there were comments from the software engineer teams in the book that would have been the cherry on top.

Through out the book the importance of team bonding, team communication, and team moral are concentrated on.

No one has yet solved the ideal way of managing software projects but this book comes closer to reality of what it's like in the trenches then most.

The book is easy to read and as I manage my projects I refer to it and The Mythical Man Month frequently for guidance.

There are no shortcuts. The book is definitely full of wisdom, but doesn't have all the answers to effectively herding the cats.

The book focuses on this methodology:
Planning
Organizing
Monitoring
Adjusting