C H A P T E R  5

Project Management

Development and project management teams need one another; they have complementary roles to play in the game of building valuable software. Unfortunately, the relationship between developers and project managers can be somewhat uncomfortable; the amount of discomfort can range from mild irritation to outright hostility and mistrust. The discomfort is often caused by bad practices on both sides; developers often hide bad news, and project managers often pester developers with too many project management overhead tasks. Agile software development techniques help tremendously to mitigate some of these problems.

This chapter outlines the relationship between developers and project managers. Clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities are necessary to make any relationship work. The roles are discussed in light of Agile software development in an APEX context. Next, we compare Agile software development with the traditional waterfall approach to project management. Developers need to be aware of the differences between Agile and the waterfall approach because many project managers have had many years of waterfall training and experience. Knowing the differences will help developers to communicate with their project managers more effectively. Finally, we will compare classical project management with Agile software development. Sur.......we have come to value responding to change over following a plan