Successful Software Management Style: Steering and Balance

  • Authors:
  • Walker Royce

  • Affiliations:
  • IBM

  • Venue:
  • IEEE Software
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

Managing software projects successfully has proven to be very failure prone when using the traditional engineering management discipline. Comparing the challenge of software management to that of producing a major motion picture exposes some interesting perspectives. Both management problems are concerned with developing a complex piece of integrated intellectual property with constraints that are predominantly economic. This article introduces some comparisons between managing a software production and managing a movie production, then elaborates four software management practices observed from successful projects. The overall recommendation is to use a steering leadership style rather than the detailed plan-and-track leadership style encouraged by conventional wisdom.