Project management

As explained in Think Like a Software Engineering Manager

Project management is the planning, coordination, and control of work needed to deliver a defined project.

An engineering manager may have a launch date, a team, and a wish list—but no shared route from one to the other. Project management turns that wish list into coordinated work: plan the milestones, clarify responsibilities and dependencies, track progress, and adapt when circumstances change. The plan matters even when the team cannot follow it exactly. section 10.0 section 10.1.3

Keep the work moving through three practical responsibilities:

• Plan and align: work backward from the desired outcome, divide the work into tasks and milestones, set timelines and owners, and agree on communication channels at kickoff. section 10.1.3
• Execute and adjust: support implementation and testing, check progress, discuss technical issues, and manage risks, dependencies, and changing resource needs. section 10.3 section 14.2.6
• Reflect afterward: measure success, address maintenance and technical debt, recognize contributions, and hold a retrospective. section 10.3

When the plan changes

Suppose a tracker shows that little time remains but several tasks are unfinished. Rather than waiting for the deadline, check whether the team needs more resources or whether priorities and plans should change. A tracker makes that conversation possible while there is still time to act. section 14.2.6

Table 10.1 A sample template for a working-backward plan

Timeline	Tasks and description	Owners	Status
T-3 months	Perform technical spikes. Create a technical-design document. Signoff by senior engineer/architect.	Engineering team
T-2 months	Coding is implemented. QA testing is initiated.	Engineering team QA
T-1 month	When implementation finishes, end-to-end testing is performed. Security testing is performed. User acceptance testing (UAT) is complete. Bug fixes are done. Code freeze occurs. Launch readiness is achieved.	Engineering team Security engineer
T	Launch Postlaunch production support	.
T+1 month	Project retrospective Measurement against success metrics	.

The working-backward template shows how a launch goal becomes dated tasks, owners, and status checks, followed by production support and a retrospective. section 10.1.3

Figure 10.3 A sample project tracker for Project Accessible to track a list of project items along with the priority, status, and other critical items

A sample project tracker shows the priority and status information used to make progress visible. section 10.1.3

Start with the outcome, then ask: What must happen before it, who owns each part, and how will the team notice trouble early? Revisit those answers as the project progresses. section 10.1.3 section 14.2.6

How Think Like a Software Engineering Manager covers it

How deep it goes

Works through planning and kickoff activities, execution responsibilities, and postexecution review, with templates for timelines and tracking rather than technical implementation detail.

Examples

Uses a working-backward timeline, a RACI matrix, a project tracker, and a dependency visualization to make coordination concrete.

What it assumes

Introduces working-backward planning for new engineering managers and defines Work Breakdown Structure without requiring prior project-management experience.

What you can do after

Apply it via a project tracker such as Jira or Asana to monitor commitments, spot resource problems, and adjust priorities.

How it connects

Links project management to dependency management, risk management, resource allocation, retrospectives, and time management.

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Also explained in

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  AI for Everyday ITProject management is the practice of planning, coordinating, and controlling work to achieve defined objectives.
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  Lead Developer Career GuideThe discipline and process of planning, organizing, and controlling work to achieve defined project objectives.
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  Think Like a CTOProject management is the discipline of planning, coordinating, and controlling work to achieve defined project objectives.

Compare how 4 books explain project management →

Related concepts

• machine learning system designused by · Machine-learning system design is the practice of architecting, building, and evaluating production software systems whose behavior depends on models, data, and operational components.
• project planuses · A project plan is a documented specification of a project’s scope, activities, responsibilities, resources, schedule, dependencies, milestones, and intended outcomes.
• technical leadused by · A technical lead is a software engineer who provides technical ownership, direction, coordination, and guidance for a team or project.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Think Like a Software Engineering Manager. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.