Project Management

The software engineer and the project manager provide complementary skills and work collaboratively on shared activities. The three main activities of the project manager are organizational liaison, personnel management, and project monitoring and control. The "Liaison" section discusses the project manager's role as a go-between for the technical team and agents who are not members of the technical team (such as project sponsors, users, IS management, vendors, and so on).

In the "Personnel Management" section, you will learn that this job entails working with personnel and human resources to hire, fire, and provide employees with professional development.

The "Monitor and Control" section explains that project monitoring involves tracking project progress relative to budget. Project control means implementing changes when progress is not satisfactory (such as training or revising project plans).

Liaison

IS Management

IS managers, like most managers, want to know progress, problems and their solutions, warnings of lateness, and political issues. They do not want to handle all problems for their managers, nor do they appreciate finding out a project will be late the week before it is due. Tell your manager anything that might get him or her in trouble, that they need to know, or that might impact the project negatively. Always expect to propose solutions and argue if you think your solution is better than theirs. Always accept their solution if it is mandated, unless it is unethical or illegal.