Applied Software Project Management

Chapter 9. Understanding Change

It may seem like the tools and techniques in the first part of this book are enough to help you build better software. You've diagnosed problems that affect your organization, you have tools that will help you fix those problems, and you have plenty of tips and examples to help you put them in place. Isn't that enough?

Unfortunately, it's not. Building better software is also about changing the way things are done in your organization, and change makes many people very uncomfortable. Project managers around the world have tried to implement straightforward improvements to the way they build software, only to find that they can't convince the other people in their organizations to agree to discuss those changes, much less to actually alter the way their projects are carried out.

It's very frustrating to see a problem, feel like you have the solution, and not be able to do anything about it. Luckily, there are some straightforward techniques that make it easier to get an organization to change how the software is built. By understanding the most common ways that people respond to change and learning how to convince or reassure the ones who are resistant to change, it is possible to overcome these obstacles and successfully make the changes that your organization needs.

Why Change Fails

A project manager who is trying to get an organization to build better software must make changes to the way the work is performed. This is easier said than done. Most project ...