Getting Results from Software Development Teams

by Lawrence J. Peters

Learn best practices for software development project management—and lead your teams and projects to success. Dr. Lawrence Peters is an industry-recognized expert with decades of experience conducting research and leading real-world software projects. Beyond getting the best developers, equipment, budget, and timeline possible—Peters concludes that no factor is more critical to project success than the manager’s role. Drawing on proven practices from allied industries such as business, psychology, accounting, and law, he describes a broader project-management methodology—with principles that software managers can readily adapt to help increase their own effectiveness and the productivity of their teams. Unlike other books on the topic, this book focuses squarely on the manager—and shows how to get results without adopting philosophies from Genghis Khan or Machiavelli. (There is mention of Godzilla, however.) Packed with real-world examples and pragmatic advice, this book shows any software development manager—new or experienced—how to lead teams in delivering the right results for their business.

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Michael Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this book was pretty standard, but the last two chapters were gold.

Chapter 9 has results of a widespread survey on motivational factors, and the difference in rankings between engineers' motivations and those of managers.

Chapter 10 advances the 'Strategic Evaluation Model' for performance appraisal of engineers. One of the claims made is that it has 'vertical support throughout the organization.'

It would certainly be good to see a place where the standout performers in software development are recognized at the top level, and not lumped in with the ones who spend a lot of time drinking tea.

[Steve Whiting]

Perhaps a little superficial, in that it's a broad sweep over the field rather than a particularly deep one - if you're an experienced project manager there's probably nothing that's going to be a revelation to you.

However, if you're making your first step into project management from being a developer, or if you're looking to make that step, this is a pretty good introduction - broad coverage of most of the things you most need to know, with enough depth in formal estimating methods and progress tracking to keep you from digging yourself into a hole.

[Alex Ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good source of information on managing of software projects. This book describes many topics - from project initiation, cost estimation, project tracking, people motivation, etc.