Software Project Management: Essential Skills and Team Structures

Effective Software Project Management: Skills and Team Structures

Qualities of an Effective Software Project Manager

• Problem Resolution: An efficient software project manager can diagnose the most relevant technical and organizational aspects to structure a systematic resolution or properly motivate other professionals to develop the solution. This involves applying lessons learned from past projects to new situations, while remaining flexible enough to adapt management if initial attempts to solve the problem are unsuccessful.
• Leadership and Management Skills: A good project manager must take the lead. They must have the confidence to take control when needed and the security to allow technicians to follow their good instincts.
• Incentivizing Achievement: To optimize the productivity of a project team, a manager should reward initiative and achievement. They must also demonstrate through their actions that controlled risks will not be penalized.
• Influence and Team Building: An effective project manager must be able to read people, understanding both verbal and nonverbal signals, and responding to the needs of those who send these signals. The manager must maintain control in situations of great stress.

Software Team Structures

There are almost as many staff organizational structures as there are software development organizations dedicated to them. For better or worse, the organization is not easily changed.

Democratic Decentralization (DD)

This software engineering team does not have a permanent head. Rather, task managers are appointed for the short term and replaced by others for different tasks. Decisions on issues and approaches are made by consensus of the group. Communication between team members is horizontal.

Decentralized Controlled (DC)

This software engineering team has a leader who coordinates specific tasks and responsibilities, with secondary heads who have responsibility for subtasks. The resolution of problems remains a group activity, but the implementation of solutions is divided among subgroups by the team leader. Communication between sub-groups and individuals is horizontal. There is also vertical communication throughout the hierarchy of control.

Controlled Centralized (CC)

The team leader is responsible for problem-solving and high-level coordination within the team. Communication between the leader and team members is vertical.