The Consultant's
Survival Guide

Better Software Project Management
by Marsha D. Lewin

This book provides novice software project managers, software developers, and anyone delivering reusable software with strategies for mastering the basics of directing a software project. Well known management consultant Marsha Lewin uses a "been there, done that" approach designed to solve on-the-job problems quickly and efficiently.

Learn how to get a project in motion immediately in the first chapter's "quick start" tutorial. This comprehensive overview outlines the ins and outs of software project management, including the expectations for a project manager, defining the project, satisfying critical needs, and leading and monitoring your team. These aspects of managing small-to medium-sized project types are detailed in a lively, colloquial style that demystifies the complexities of the discipline. The author equips you with the tools to concurrently satisfy the triple constraints of schedule, budget, and quality within the context of risk management, and highlights potential pitfalls and their solutions to assure your repeated success.

To help you get under way and stay ahead, supplemental, ready-to-use forms, formats, and checklists are included, along with information on:

• Use of resources, including people and budget, the quality of software developed, and the costs and risk

• Political and technical issues affecting project success

• Risk management methodology

• Shaping yourself as a leader

• Software development methodologies, from traditional life cycle to prototyping, and how they relate to software project management

• Testing and its role in project management

Dozens of real-world examples and diagrams, together with a comprehensive bibliography and glossary, render Better Software Project Management a crucial resource for anyone responsible for keeping software projects within budget and on schedule.