WHAT WILL I LEARN?

The focus of Software Project Management: Measures for Improving Performance is on using measurement to improve day-to-day performance in your software projects. You will learn how measurement programs should be put together, how the measures interrelate, and how they can be used to support one another. You will learn what to measure, when to measure it, and, most important, how to interpret the data you collect so you can diagnose and correct problems in both product quality and team productivity.

The book takes you from simple run rate data through to more advanced measures such as phase containment and cost of poor quality. Along the way, you’ll find many examples of how to combine measures to solve complex problems such as defective components, schedule-slip recovery, and estimation accuracy.

Many of the chapters end with exercises to help you apply the concepts presented. Work through them; don’t skip them! If you apply what you’ve learned as you go through this book, you should be able to start setting up your measurement effort long before you turn the last page.