An OO project management strategy

Large OO projects pose coordination, logistical, and communication problems for managers. We have developed a strategy designed to help solve these problems. Our strategy calls for an iterative development process. In addition, we call for specialized work teams and the division of projects into strategic and tactical areas. Strategic processes address issues that have systemwide ramifications, such as system architecture. The strategic work is divided into setup, architecture definition, and development phases. Tactical processes address day-to-day activities, such as software design and testing. Dividing a project this way for organization and management purposes allows strategic and tactical issues to be addressed in a more focused and effective manner. Companies can determine how they will conduct tactical planning according to the basic principles of our management strategy and their standard operating procedures. Project staff is divided into systems engineering, architecture, development, environment/support and software process teams. The use of specialized, cohesive teams, each working on its own set of strategic and tactical activities, divides and thereby reduces problems caused by project complexity. This also creates teams that are self-sufficient and that can work in parallel.