This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
1.4 Project Management Process
The process a project manager uses to do his or her job will depend greatly on the software development process of the larger organization. It is not my intent to describe a rigorous procedure that every project manager should follow. Rather, to more easily introduce the book's concepts, I identify many of the steps the project manager is likely to follow when using an architecture-centric approach. This will help set the context for the practices described in the book and introduce what the project manager does and how that relates to architecture design activities.
Typically, a development process or work flow is set up as a sequence of steps with well-defined inputs and outputs along with roles and responsibilities. Project management is to a large extent an iterative process. Plans are formulated and an attempt made to follow them. But unexpected events arise, and plans must frequently be modified. These plan modifications are called mid-course corrections. Also, project managers sometimes make decisions based on partial information. Often, a straw-man plan will be made only to be refined or replaced as more information becomes available. Thus, I will not attempt to define precise processes or work flows for project managers. But I will attempt to list many of the steps the project manager should consider, in a rough sequence, as he or she attempts to plan, organize, implement, and measure a project working closely with the chief architect.