Some People Like Doing Things the Hard Way
Some clients are harder than others. We are currently working with a client that is more interested in beginning the project, than understanding what he needs. The project will span two years, and will involve the purchase of some very expensive hardware. This much has been defined. However, very little beyond this is clearly specified
Proceeding forward with a 'sense of urgency' is advocated by some texts on management and leadership. This idea, as applied practically, in every case, has meant that for a critical project, team members are expected to make it a success, poor planning, missing requirements, shoddy architecture.
'Sense of urgency' to many means 'start coding now' and decide what to make tomorrow. It puts the cart before the horse and puts the project in
At Software Corporation, we are proud of our Agile platform. Clients can make use of the best available resources and can save money in the process. Development standards are agreed upon to facilitate testing and integration of new components. But, all this is wasted, without a clear vision and direction from our clients
Common project management wisdom states that an error in the requirements and architecture of a project can cost 50 to 200 times as much to fix as a downstream error. What does this mean? Simply stated, software development doesn't have to be an all out war. It have to sap the last bit of strength from it's developers. It shouldn't require countless late nights in the development center rewriting code that is useless.
Yes, common project management is boring. Engineers will lead normal lives. Tempers will only flare a little bit. There shouldn't be any fist fights or calls to the psychotherapist. But, I guess that take the fun out of it?
Take the time to develop good requirements for all software projects. The more clearly functions can be decided up front, the easier developers have in creating the product. Do things the easy way!
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