What I Learnt

Managing Software
Projects…
Ramanan Jagannathan
http://mysticmundane.blogspot.com
lalgudi@yahoo.com
About the Lessons…
๏ Are not specific to Software.
๏ Are inter related.
๏ Are not in any particular order.
๏ Also apply to ‘Real’ Life.
Here we go…
System
Rules Plans

Emotions Humanoids?

Lessons Possibility
Fear
Panic…
๏ Panic is a sudden fear which dominates
or replaces thinking.
๏ Humans are vulnerable to panic and Panic
is infectious.
๏ You can’t have a plan B for everything that
happens in a project.
๏ A clear state of mind helps us to be better
prepared.
Don’t Panic…
Possibility…
๏ People ask for Heaven and Earth and
some time even more…
๏ Never say ‘No’.Always say ‘yes,provided
we get…’.
๏ We can’t run projects on simple promises.
๏ Project Estimates are not targets.
 Projects,
In

everything is
possible – provided we have
enough time and money.
Humanoids?
๏ You may be managing a cutting edge
Technology Project.
๏ But your team is made up of people
๏ And Your stake holders are human beings,
in vast majority of the cases.
๏ Projects are the ideas of a few people,
implemented by a few more, for the
benefit of a vast majority.
Projects are about People.
Plans …
๏ Plans are outcome of the Planning activity
๏ When properly done, Planning helps us know
all the variables that need to be considered.
๏ Plans assume a certain external environment.
๏ The external environment keeps changing.
๏ Rarely does the plan get executed as it was
originally meant to be.
 Plans are less important. 

Planning is always
more
Important
and

indispensable.
Understand the system
๏ Projects are complex activities
๏ Relationship between various artefacts
are non linear in nature.
๏ Predicting and controlling behaviour
accurately is not possible.
๏ Decisions are subject to external and
internal pressures.
๏ Traditional project management views
don’t help.
 projects as
Treat

complex systems
to manage better.
Rules
๏ Not all projects are the same (they may be
similar).
๏ There is nothing sacrosanct about
processes/rules that worked for one
project.
๏ Ask if an existing rule fits your project. If
not, be ready to discard or modify.
๏ Be open to new way of doing things.
Know when to follow,
when to break and

when to rewrite the rules.

Emotion
๏ The impact of any desirable or
undesirable event can be divided into two.
๏ The first obvious one is the impact caused
by the actual event.
๏ The second and less obvious one is the
emotions that accompany the event.
๏ Smart Managers also know how to handle
the emotional impact of an event.
 Important to
It is

manage emotions.
 Lessons
๏ Success or Failure of a Project depends on
many factors that are not in our control.
๏ Even if a project is executed successfully,
within budget and as per the requirement, it
may still not be used.
๏ Whether a project is a success or a failure,
every project has something to teach us.
๏ Always look for the lesson.
Every

Project
has something
to teach.

Learn the
Lesson Move on.
and
Questions?