Book Image

The Successful Software Manager

By : Herman Fung
Book Image

The Successful Software Manager

By: Herman Fung

Overview of this book

The Successful Software Manager is a comprehensive and practical guide to managing software developers, software customers, and the process of deciding what software needs to be built. It explains in detail how to develop a management mindset, lead a high-performing developer team, and meet all the expectations of a good manager. The book will help you whether you’ve chosen to pursue a career in management or have been asked to "act up" as a manager. Whether you’re a Development Manager, Product Manager, Team Leader, Solution Architect, or IT Director, this is your indispensable guide to all aspects of running your team and working within an organization and dealing with colleagues, customers, potential customers, and technologists, to ensure you build the product your organization needs. This book is the must-have authoritative guide to managing projects, managing people, and preparing yourself to be an effective manager. The intuitive real-life examples will act as a desk companion for any day-to-day challenge, and beyond that, Herman will show you how to prepare for the next stages and how to achieve career success.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Title Page

Skill 5 – Negotiation

Negotiations happen every day. People negotiate pretty much anything and everything. It's often quite casual, in a form that we might not even notice, but often it's formal as well, especially in a software project context.

The number, clarity, and feasibility of requirements, bug accuracy, and severity, availability of resources, priority of features, go-live date, release schedule, overall cost, and price, are all usual negotiation points. The agreed figure at the end is rarely, if ever, the original baseline.

For our purposes, and ease of illustration, let's just say there are only two parties involved: a supplier and a customer. As a manager, you will need to understand and appreciate the art of negotiation from both angles.

As the saying goes: An old poacher makes the best gamekeeper.

Empathy is a skill often associated with negotiation...