PROJECT PLANNING AND
MANAGEMENT
PROGRESS TRACKING
• Customer’s Concerns – Confidence in a developers skill, and that they are able
to meet the requirements to complete desired deliverables.
• Project Schedule – A description of the expected development cycle for a
project. Consisting of phases, steps, and activities. In the Agile methodology steps
are referred to as sprints. A collection of tasks to be completed in a small
predetermined time such as a week.
PROJECT PHASES, STEPS, AND ACTIVITIES
• Phases are smaller analytical breakdowns of an entire project that consist of
major features from a higher level. Typically related features will be completed
in a phase.
• Steps a more detailed systematic breakdown of how to realize a phase in n
steps. Think divide and conquer.
• Activities are the smallest most intimate breakdown of a phase. They are the
way in which a step is actually put into code. Once completed they become a
milestone.
PROGRESS TRACKING WITH
AN ACTIVITY GRAPH
An Activity Graph is a visual and organized way
to track progress on a project. Using table 3.2
provided in the textbook as an example. An
equivalent non visual representation for Agile
would be a Kanban board.
ESTIMATING
COMPLETION W/ A CPM
A chart represented with estimated
completion times of project components, and
the earliest they can begin and end without
impacting progress on other phases or steps
for each activity is known as a Critical Path
Method (CPM).
ESTIMATING COMPLETION
WITH AN ACTIVITY GRAPH
+ DURATION
Similar to a CPM Activity Graphs with Duration
make use of duration time in their
representation. Otherwise are nearly identical
to an activity graph.
TOOLS TO TRACK
PROGRESS
• Resource Histogram represents the current
load of resources. In the case of
development this means the utilization of
developers. A resource histogram tracks
three variables: load, under-load, and
overload where load is the ideal point
between overload and under-load of
developers.
• Expenditure Graph is concerned with
planned and actual expenditures for project.
Two line graphs for each variable.
TOOLS TO TRACK
PROGRESS – GANTT
CHART
A Gantt chart is a way of showing the
activities in parallel with completion shown in
color. This shows which activities can be
completed in parallel and which cannot.
PROJECT PERSONNEL
Deciding on the correct personnel for a project is often the most challenging
aspect of a project. A team must be able to act like one and compliment each
other or else a project will never be completed. Project managers are left with a
decision of who is the best fit based on the following criteria: (but not limited to)
• Project size, personnel experience, and expertise
• Creating an environment in which personnel freely converse. Each additional person
to a team adds n(n-1)/2 lines of communication. Since a team will consist of multiple
people working on the same task communication is crucial to success.
PROJECT PERSONNEL
CONT.
Last but not least for choosing personnel
work styles have a huge factor. Each person
on a team should be able to contribute
something that another may not be able to or
at least offer a different perspective to a
solution. For example one may be an Intuitive
Introvert where they might be creative, but
only after they have collected enough data to
be so. To their compliment is the rational
extrovert.Who may run by gut feelings.
PROJECT ORGANIZATION
• Chief Programmer Team is where one person is responsible for project
development, and all other team members report to them.
• Another way to organize a team is through the Egoless Approach where unlike a
chief programmer team all are equal.
• Sometimes a combination of the two is better. For example a team where the
programmers are free to do as they need and work together egolessly, but still
report to a higher up.
EFFORT ESTIMATION
• One of the most important factors of a
project is cost. Will it even be worth to
complete? Is it feasible as a business model?
There are many costs that a project
manager must be aware of before starting a
project such as:
• Facilities
• Staff
• Methods
• Tools (Software included)
• Effort (Often the most expensive)
EFFORT ESTIMATION
Effort is the staff-days estimated for a given project, and it’s estimation can be
tricky at times, but there are several methods for estimating it’s cost.
• Expert Judgement based on a managers experience with similar projects.
• Delphi Technique makes use of several experts estimations and takes average.
• Wolverton Technique uses a chart that categorizes type of software and difficulty.
EFFORT ESTIMATION CONT.
• Algorithmic Methods express the relationship between effort and it’s influences.
Described by equations.
• Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO) makes use of historical and current project
characteristics to form a linear equations for effort applied, development time, and
people required.Which is based on importance of a project factor.
• Machine Learning use of a network consisting of neurons to predict cost and
effort of future projects. Often used as a representation of various activities
involved in producing inputs and outputs, and then computing a weighted sum.
RISK MANAGEMENT
• Sources of risks are from one of two major categories: Generic Risks which are
common, such as misunderstanding the project requirements, loss of
personnel. Project Risks are from vulnerabilities in the project. Such as
purchasing software to use for your project that is not yet complete and not
guaranteed.
• Risk exposure the quantification of the effects of a risk by multiplying the risk
impact by it’s probability of occurring.
RISK MANAGEMENT
CONT.
•
Risks occurring is not always the end of the road. There are steps in
which one can take to avoid, and recover from them.
•
Top ten risk items
1.
Personnel shortfalls
2.
Unrealistic schedules and budgets
3.
Developing the wrong features
4.
Developing the wrong user interface
5.
Continuing a stream of requirement changes
6.
Shortfalls in externally performed risks
7.
Shortfalls in externally furnished tasks
8.
Shortfalls in externally furnished components
9.
Real-Time performance shortfalls
10.
Straining computer science capabilities
PROJECT PLAN
A project plan should contain the following items
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
configuration management plan
documentation plan
data management plan
resource management plan
test plan
training plan
security plan
risk management plan
maintenance plan
•
•
•
•
•
•
project scope
project schedule
project team organization
technical description of the
proposed system
project standards, procedures,
and proposed techniques and
tools
quality assurance plan
PROJECT PLAN CONT.
• Technical Items focus on issues anticipated on how development will proceed.
Including the following:
• Algorithms
• Tools
• Review or inspection techniques
• Coding languages
• Design languages or representations
• Testing techniques
PROCESS MODELS AND MANAGEMENT
• Enrollment Management is the strategic enrollment of similar programs as they
share common goals, and delegation of tasks and accountability to task
managers.
• Enrollment Management Model
• Establishing an appropriately large shared vision
• Delegating completely and eliciting specific commitments from participants
• Inspecting vigorously and providing supportive feedback
• Acknowledging every advance and learning as program regressed
PROCESS MODELS AND MANAGEMENT
CONT.
• Accountability Modelling is the combining of individuals from different functional
groups into one group with different channels of accountability.
• Stakeholders are anyone affected by the result of the project. Bad or good.
• Team a collection of people responsible for producing a product.
ACCOUNTABILITY MODEL
• The accountability model shows
the exchanging of accountings, and
consequences between
shareholders, and the team. While
working towards a result.
ACTIVITY ROADMAP
• In the following activity roadmap each line
represents an activity, and each line is
assigned a method for reporting progress.
The pointy side of the bar shows when
detailed planning should be done. The today
line is self explanatory, but shows current
status.
EARNED-VALUE CHART
• An earned value chart shows the relationship
between actual results versus planned results, and
shows data at a current day.
PROCESS MODELS AND MANAGEMENT
• Life-Cycle Objectives make sure that stakeholders agree with the systems goals.
• Life-Cycle Architecture defines both the system and software architectures, and
components.
• Life-Cycle Capability measures the readiness of the software itself on the
systems it will be used.
WIN-WIN SPIRAL
MODEL
Innermost part of the spiral is the beginning. It
starts with identifying next level stakeholders,
then goes to category two, three, etc.