Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
engineering firm maintains. Regardless of the amount of capital, or the sophisti-
cation of the technology used, no software engineering project can be successfully
completed without a competent, motivated development team. To this end, both
proper staff selection skills and effective people management abilities are critical
characteristics for the ideal project manager.
A project is composed of the individuals that work on it. Thus, a project can
only be successful if the development team is also successful. To achieve this end,
a project manager must know the strengths and weaknesses of his or her team, as
well as the technical requirements of the project. Proper use of this information
will allow the employees of a software engineering firm to be efficiently allocated
according to their abilities. Furthermore, the work produced will be maximized
when a project manager is able to assign effective, and realistic workloads that do
not overburden the team.
On the other hand, if a project manager is unfamiliar with either the assets of
the development team, or the requirements of the project, the development process
is all but guaranteed to be inefficient and off schedule. This will result in the
development team to be most likely either under-challenged or overworked. These
results occur when a manger imposes unrealistic deadlines for activities,
improperly allocates resources, or misunderstands the skills of his or her team.
To avoid the problems mentioned above, an effective project manager must
take the time to get to know the development team and the project in question. The
key to reaching this goal is effective communication. Communication with the
development team will help a project manager to understand what the team is
capable of, and the time within which they can complete certain activities. It will
also help to identify any problems encountered during the development process.
Once such a problem has been brought to the forefront, continued consultation
with the employees involved can help to find the cause of the problem, and to
present possible solutions. As we have stated, a software engineering firm's most
valuable assets are its employee's, and they should be given the respect and
deference due to them. They are the ones involved with the intricacies of an
activity, and thus have the best view of the problem, which results in them being
best equipped to find a solution. Consulting the members of the development team
and acting on the information that they provide encourages a team mentality in
which all members feel they are an integral part of the project. In addition, project
managers should reward employees for effective work. These rewards can take on
many forms, such as financial bonuses or increased responsibility. The combina-
tion of respect, through communication consultation, recognition, and reward, will
foster an ideal work environment, in which every member of the development
team understands what is expected of him or her, and understands the importance
of his or her job.
In addition to communicating with the members of the development team, the
project manager is also responsible for communication with the client. It is crucial
that an effective means of exchanging ideas with the customer be established at the
onset of any software engineering project. Without this foundation, it is unlikely
that the work completed by the development team will match the ideas envisioned
