Chapter 3 - Managing the IS Project (Hoffer textbook) – The role of systems analyst as project manager.
Focus on these sections in chapter 3:
Pine Valley Furniture
Managing the Information Systems Project (most of the chapter is in this section)

The _____________________ is responsible for i________, p________, e________, and c________ down
a project.

The focus of project management is to meet __________________ within ____________ and __________
constraints.

Project = A planned undertaking of _____________________ to reach an objective that has a beginning
and an end.

A _____________ is an end product produced by an activity.

Companies often have a standard form for requesting systems development, such as a _________
________ _________ (SSR).

To determine if a project makes sense from an ___________ and operational standpoint, a
_______________ study is done before the project work begins.

IS projects are usually undertaken to (1) take _____________ of a business ___________ or (2) to
__________ business problems.
Project Management
1.
2.
3.
4.
Project Manager’s Skills – Match the activity heading on the left with the skill set on the right.
Leadership
Problem solving, goal setting, smoothing out differences
Liaison between stakeholders (users, management,
etc.), communicating expectations, assigning tasks and
Management
monitoring progress.
Interpreting requests and specifications. Serving as
Customer relations
point of contact.
Conducting peer evaluations, resolving conflict and
Technical
facilitating communication within the project team.
Sequencing tasks, assigning resources to activities, and
Conflict management
monitoring outcomes.
Monitoring environment, identifying and assessing
Team management
opportunities and problems.
Interpreting requests and specifications, assessing
Risk and change management
alternatives, working with others to design solutions.
Project Initiation
o
Establish the project ___________.
o
Establish a relationship with the ______________ because understanding and strong partnership help
ensure the success of the project.
o
Establish the project ________________ plan to organize the initiation team while the ___________ of
the project is __________________.
o
Establish management _______________ that support team communication, specify reporting
procedures, specify assignments and roles, describe how changes in the project will be handled, and
how project funding will be handled.
o
Establish a project __________-- a repository of all project documents and deliverables. This can be an
online or hardcopy form.
o
Develop the project _____________ -- a concise document for the customer describing the project.
(FYI, this has also been referred to as the “statement of work” in previous editions of the textbook. I will
sometimes call it that in class and in my notes.)
Planning the project -- The tasks of project planning listed below become the “Baseline Project Plan” document.
o
Describe project __________, alternatives and the _______________ of the project. ______________
looks at several factors, including cost/benfit (economic), technical, operational, etc. (See chapter. 5).
o
Divide the project into _________________________.
o
Estimate _________________ needed for the project (people, time, software, hardware, …)
o
Develop a preliminary _________________. Assign time estimates. ____________________ results
in a diagram of activity sequences and associated time estimates. A _________ chart is useful for
showing the project timeline. This results in the project __________________ time being set.
o
Develop a _____________________ plan. See the example matrix.
o
Set project _______________________ and procedures. How will deliverables be produced. How
changes to the project plan will be handled.
o
Identify project ______________. Things such as new technology and user resistance can affect the
viability of a project.
o
Create a project ______________. What are the estimated expenses?
o
#9 and #10. Combine these two from the textbook into a single document: _____________
____________ ____________ Report (BPPR)
Execute the project – Manage and monitor.
Close down the project.
o
Post-project _________. What went well? What didn’t? What should change in future projects?
o
Close the customer __________. Ensure the deliverables of the project have been met.
Project scheduling (NOTE: Some of the terms listed below are not in the textbook.)
o
A _________________ shows a timeline of project activities. It can depict summary activities as well as
sub-activities.
o
A ________________ shows the interdependence of some activities. Some activities must be
completed before other start. This diagram is used to identify the _________________ for which any
increase in activity time will delay the completion of the project.
PERT = _______________________________ Technique
CPM = ________________________ Method
____________ or task = Something that must be accomplished in order to complete the project.
PERT used 3 times estimates for each activity: optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic
OT = Optimistic time (O for “optimistic” in the textbook)
MLT = Most likely time (R for “realistic” in the textbook)
PT = Pessimistic time (P for “pessimistic” in the textbook)
ECT = The expected completion time for an activity. The textbook refers to this as ____ (expected time).
ECT = (OT + (4 * MLT) + PT) / 6
Path = a ___________of activities
CPM stressed the importance of the critical path in completing a project on time. Why?
critical path: The ________ path in the PERT/CPM diagram is the ________ possible project completion time.
A delay in the critical path will delay __________________of the project.
Calculating slack time
earliest start (ES) = The largest (latest) EF time of any immediate predecessor activity.
earliest finish (EF) = ES + activity time
latest finish (LF) = The smallest (earliest) of the LS times of any immediate successor activity.
latest start (LS) = LF - activity time
slack time: The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying a subsequent activity.
Slack =
LS - ES
or
LF - EF
Estimating completion time variability
Estimate for project completion time – The project ECT is the sum of the ECTs of the activities in the critical
path.
However, the project expected completion time is the midpoint in a range of possible project completion times.
Based on the normal distribution curve, there’s a 50% probability the project will take longer and a 50%
probability the project will be shorter.
Calculate the project’s standard deviation to estimate a completion time with an 84% or 98% probability or that
time or less.
activity standard deviation: (PT-OT)/6
activity variance: (activity standard deviation)2
project variance: sum of activity variances
project standard deviation: square root of project variance
Project ECT + project standard deviation = time estimate with 84% probability ...
Project ECT + 2 * project standard deviation = time est. with 98% probability...