Traditional management approaches don't work well for software development (and other fields composed of highly professional knowledge workers with their own cultures and mindsets). Open source successes show us that one approach that does work is to have a manager who is, technically, at least a peer of the employees, and also experienced, enthusiastic, and flexible enough to "use himself as an available technical resource" to fill in the gaps that always appear in the inevitable emergencies. In this approach, classic "command and control" is ditched in favor of trust-building, teamwork. and solid consensus.

To put this great idea in practice, there are many details to be hammered out, and traps and pitfalls to be avoided. This tutorial covers these issues in helpful detail, with practical tips on: planning and scheduling, time management, software development methodologies, building mutual trust, learning to delegate, when to back off, helping your developers grow, appropriate tools.

The tutorial is oriented to an audience of experienced developers, and managers (including both inexperienced and experienced ones) with highly technical backgrounds.