| 'Agile Project
Management' by Jim Highsmith |
 |
| 'Agile Project
Management' by Jim Highsmith |
|
After reading the first couple of chapters I was starting to get a little leery of this book, but then suddenly it changed completely, to become one of the best I've read on the subject of project management. The problem was that the book tries to mix advocacy for agile development with hard headed, well written, how-to-do-it material. The advocacy stuff is in the first few chapters, and lays it on with a trowel, but once you get through that section of the book, there follows an excellent exposition of agile project management strategies and techniques. However, this book isn't just for agile practitioners, it also has valuable insights for those who are managing non-agile projects. The book's particular strengths are in its discussion of leadership, and the decision making process. I don't think I've ever seen a decent discussion on decision making before. A chapter of the book does deal with the management of large teams, but not in enough detail for my liking, which is unfortunate, because that seems to be where I hear the most criticisms of agile development strategies. You won't find details like how to create Gantt charts or do critical path analysis in this book, that is not the level at which it is pitched. What you will find is such useful things as how to obtain a consensus, what consensus means and useful suggestions about how to manage executives and customers. Obviously the book is mainly aimed at those practising, or starting to learn, Agile Development, and as such it is excellent and will give the reader a thorough grounding in both the principles and practice of project management as they apply to agile development. I would emphasise, however, that the insights are useful in all types of project management, although they will obviously be tempered by the structure of the company you are working for. Agile development has been making a lot of headway since the late 1990s, and there have been plenty of books written about the different aspects of it, but this is the first time I've come across a book written about agile project management. The standard it sets is a high one for others to follow. All in all, a useful book, both for project managers and for programmers who have project managers they need to train! Definitely recommended.
Agile Project Management by Jim Highsmith (Book provided by ACCU) |
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