Successful IT
Projects
By Darren Dalcher
& Lindsey Brodie
Chapter 5
www.thomsonlearning.co.uk/fasttrack
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Lecture 5
Project planning I:
activities and schedules
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Learning outcomes
• Produce a work breakdown structure (wbs)
• Construct a project activity network diagram
• Analyse a project’s critical path
• Discuss the use of project management
applications
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Structure of the lecture
• PMI’s project time management processes
• Project planning process
– Provide a statement of work (SOW)
– Create a WBS
– Develop a project schedule
Activity network diagrams
– Activity on node (AoN)
– Activity on arrow (AoA)
• Gantt charts
• Use of project management applications
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Project time management processes
(PMBOK Guide 2004)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Activity definition
Activity sequencing
Activity resource estimation
Activity duration estimation
Schedule development
Schedule control
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
The project planning process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Develop a statement of work (SOW)
Identify the project tasks
Create a work breakdown structure (WBS)
Identify the milestones
Estimate effort/duration of each task
Identify the resources required for each task
Create the project schedule
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Identify the project tasks
• Produce an initial task list by using one or more
of the following:
– Project lifecycles
– Functional specialisation
• Organisational roles
• Knowledge areas
– Project objectives
– Project deliverables
– Information from past projects
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Create a work breakdown
structure (WBS)
A breakdown of the project tasks in a hierarchical
tree structure
A typical six-level WBS would have the following
levels:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Total programme
Project
Task
Sub-task
Work package
Effort
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Work package
Each work package described with the following
information:
–
–
–
–
–
–
What work needs to be done
Who is responsible for carrying out the work
What deliverables and milestones will result
Dependencies on other tasks
Effort/duration (or start and completion dates)
How the work is to be carried out (methods to be
used)
– The hardware, software and tools required
– Any special skills required
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Example of a WBS
Project Tasks
Requirements
Specification
1000
Requirements
Capture
1100
System
Design
2000
Requirements
Analysis
1200
Coding
3000
Unit & Integration
Testing
Testing
4000
Function & System
Testing
4100
Interviews 1110
Observation 1120
Documentation 1130
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
4200
Delivery to
Operations
5000
User Acceptance
Testing
4300
Example of a WBS
Project box,
node or root node
Project Tasks
Nodes or
tasks
Requirements
Specification
1000
Requirements
Capture
1100
System
Design
2000
Requirements
Analysis
1200
Interviews 1110
Observation 1120
Documentation 1130
Coding
3000
Unit & Integration
Testing
Testing
4000
Function & System
Testing
4100
Delivery to
Operations
5000
User Acceptance
Testing
4200
Sub-tasks
Terminal node (no further
decomposition to be carried out)
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
4300
Numeric format for a WBS
1000 Requirements specification
1100 Requirements capture
1110 Interviews
1120 Observation
1130 Documentation
1200 Requirements analysis
2000 System design
3000 Coding
4000 Testing
4100 Unit & integration testing
4200 Function & system testing
4300 User acceptance testing
5000 Delivery to operations
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Identify the milestones
A milestone occurs on the completion of a
task that produces a deliverable that
significantly contributes to the project’s
progress (for example the system design)
Milestones are events, not tasks
Project funding can be linked to milestones
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Estimate effort/duration of each
task
• A bottom-up approach by adding together
the effort for all the tasks
• Measured typically in person-days or
person-hours
• Measures the time needed to complete a
task, not the elapsed time (which
measures the time that elapses from
starting a task to completing it)
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Effort estimation table (EET)
An Effort Esti
ma tion Table
Ta sk
Effort/Dura tion
Accumula ted Effort
(Day s)
Project ABC
9+2+3+5+1=20
Requirements specification
2+7=9
Requirementscapture
3+2+2=7
Interviews_
3
3
Observation_
2
2
Documentation_
2
2
Requirementsanalysis_
2
2
System design_
2
2
C oding_
3
3
Testing
2+2+1= 5
Unit & integratio n testing_
2
2
Function & system testing_
2
2
User acceptancetesting_
1
1
Delivery to operations_
1
Note trailing ‘_’ for lowest level tasks with no sub-tasks.
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
1
Identify the resources required
for each task
Resources include:
–
–
–
–
–
People
Equipment
Facilities
Services
Materials
For example software, hardware, office space and
staff
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Create the project schedule
Tasks to create the project schedule:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Establish the task dependencies
Identify the critical path
Examine the task scheduling
Allocate resources
Set project time data
Establish project completion date
Establish cost schedule
Get customer approval and project team
member’s agreement to the schedule
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Activity network diagrams
• Show the sequencing relationship among
tasks
• Two types:
– Activity-on-Node (AoN)
– Activity-on-Arrow (AoA)
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Activity-on-Node (AoN) diagrams
An AoA node:
A
B
A Earliest start date
B Duration
Task name
C
C Latest start date
D
D Slack
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Linked nodes
1 + 40 = 41
1
40
41
Literature
search
C
20
Literature
review
D
C
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
D
Multiple dependencies
60
10
70
System
design
30
Coding
C
D
60
C
5
Interface
design
C
D
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
D
Depicting milestones in an AoN diagram
2
16
From page x of
AoN diagram
1
User acceptance
testing
M1
18
15
Produce
user training
manual
milestones
M2
2
User training
M3
3
15
20
Field testing
M4
5
35
Software rollout
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Calculating the latest start date
75 - 10 = 65
60
10
70
System
design
Coding
65
D
60
75
5
75 - 5 = 70
Interface
design
70
30
D
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
D
Calculating the ‘slack’
60
10
70
System
design
30
Coding
65
5
60
75
5
75 - 70 = 5
Interface
design
70
5
10
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Activity-on-Arrow (AoA) diagrams
An AoA node:
N Node Id
E
E Earliest time
(optimistic, shortest time)
L
L Latest time (pessimistic,
longest time)
N
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Simple AoA diagram
5
Observation
1
10
4
8
5 days
13
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
An example of an AoA chain
Requirements
analysis
1
Systems
design
2
10 days
3
15 days
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Branching
3
B
3
C
A
1
12
2
5
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
4
Merging
1
D
F
3
E
2
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
4
Dummy node
Dummy node
3
B
1
A
12
2
3
C
5
4
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
D
3
5
Single start and end nodes
Start node
C
2
4
D
A
5
1
B
4
5
G
4
6
E
5
1
F
5
9
H
3
I
2
7
10
J
0
2
8
L
3
End node
3
K
8
4
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Representing the critical path in AoN diagrams
Use of
double arrows to
mark critical path
From page z of
AoN diagram
2
1
Establish
field testing
plan
15
20
Field testing
18
M4
0
5
35
Software rollout
0
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Critical path calculation
C
2
2
5
1
4
D
A
B
4
3
G
4
E
5
1
F
5
5
7
H
I
2
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
0
3
6
Calculating the critical path
C
2
2
5
1
4
D
A
B
4
E
5
1
F
5
3
Path
G
4
7
H
0
3
I
2
5
Duration
A, C, G
B, D, G
B, E
B, F, H
B, F, I, (Dummy)
11
9
9
12
11
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
6
Critical path identified
C
2
2
5
1
4
D
A
B
4
3
G
4
E
5
1
F
5
7
H
I
2
5
0
3
6
Use of bold arrows
to mark critical path
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Task precedence table
TASK
TASK
ID.
RESOURCE
REQUIRED
TASK
DURATION
TASK
PRECEDENCE
EARLIEST
START
DAY
LATEST
START
DAY
SLACK
REQUIREMENT S
R
5
-
1
1
0
3
AFTER R
6
6
0
1
AFTER SD
9
9
0
2
AFTER SD
9
13
4
2
AFTER SD
9
13
4
5
AFTER ID
10
10
0
TEST DESIGN
TD
SQL
SQL
APPLICATION
C
SYSTEMS
ANALYST
SYSTEM
DESIGNER
INTERFACE
DESIGNER
TEST
DESIGNER
SQL
PROGRAMMER
PROGRAMMER
T1
T2
TESTER
TESTER
1
1
AFTER C
AFTER T1
15
16
15
16
0
0
T3
TESTER &
USER
1
AFTER T2
17
17
0
M
D
WRITER
PROGRAMMER
& SYSTEMS
SUP PORT
4
2
AFTER ID
AFTER T3
10
18 *
14
18
4
0
SPECIFICATION
SYSTEM DESIGN
SD
INTERFACE
ID
DESIGN
CODING
UNIT T ESTING
SYSTEM
TESTING
USER
ACCEPTANCE
TESTING
USER MANUAL
DELIVERY
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Tasks against project timescales
M
TD
Using earliest
start dates
R
Day 1
SD
SQL
M
ID
C
5
T1T2T3 D
10
15
TD
SQL
Using latest
start dates
R
M
SD
ID
C
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
T1T2T3 D
20
Initial resource allocation
Omar
R
Day 1
M
5
10
T2T3
15
20
Over allocation
of resources
TD
Jane
SQL
SD
Day 1
5
ID
C
10
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
T1
15
D
20
Floated resource allocation
Omar
R
Day 1
M SQL TD
5
10
M
T2T3
15
Jane
SD
Day 1
5
ID
C
10
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
T1
15
D
Resource smoothing
The APM defines resource smoothing as
the “scheduling of activities, within the
limits of their float, so that flucuations in
individual resource requirements are
minimised.
…the project completion date may not be
delayed.”
www.apm.org.uk/RtoT.asp/
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Resource levelling
The APM defines resource levelling as the
“scheduling of activities so that predetermined
resource levels are never exceeded.
Note: this may cause the minimum overall or
specified project duration to be exceeded.”
www.apm.org.uk/RtoT.asp/
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Mapping the project schedule
onto time
•
•
•
•
Set project start date
Set project weekly hours for resources
Establish project completion date
If necessary, adjust project completion date (for
example by using extra resources, more
experienced staff and better technology)
• Establish cost schedule
• Get customer approval
• Get project team members’ agreement to the
schedule
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Gantt charts
• Excellent way to present your project
plans
• Plot the activities/tasks against calendar
dates
• Can show parallel activities
• Can show resource allocation
• Can also show project progress
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Example of a Gantt chart
Jan 22 2007
Duration Jan 1 2007 Jan 8 2007 Jan 15 2007
SMTWTFS
Task Name
1
2
-
SMTWTFSSMTWTFS SMTWTFS SMTWTFS
Project ABC
20 days
Requirements specification
Requirements capture
3
4
Interviews
3 days
5
Observation
2 days
6
Documentation
2 days
7
Requirements analysis
2 days
8
Requirements completed
0 days
9
System design
2 days
10
Coding
3 days
11
Coding completed
0 days
12
-
Testing
13
Unit & integration testing
2 days
14
Function & system testing
2 days
15
User acceptance testing
1 day
16
Testing completed
0 days
17
Delivery to operations
1 day
18
Project completed
0 days
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Adjusted Gantt chart
Jan 22 2007
Duration Jan 1 2007 Jan 8 2007 Jan 15 2007
SMTWTFS
Task Name
1
2
-
SMTWTFSSMTWTFS SMTWTFS SMTWTFS
Project ABC
20 days
Requirements specification
Requirements capture
3
4
Interviews
3 days
5
Observation
2 days
6
Documentation
2 days
7
Requirements analysis
2 days
8
Requirements completed
0 days
9
System design
2 days
10
Coding
3 days
11
Coding completed
0 days
12
-
Jane
Jane
Jane
Jane
Jane
Testing
13
Unit & integration testing
2 days
14
Function & system testing
2 days
15
User acceptance testing
1 day
16
Testing completed
0 days
17
Delivery to operations
1 day
18
Jane
Project completed
0 days
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Jane
Jane
Jane
Jane
Use of planning tools
Planning Tool
Project Scheduling Information
Gantt Chart
Task Breakdowns; Duration; Start Date; Finish Date;
Dependencies between Tasks; Milestones
Activity Networks
Dependencies between tasks; Earliest Possible Start Date, Latest
Possible Start Date; Duration; Slack; Critical Path
Cost Estimation
Number of Days Effort and Cost required for each Task
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Uses and Advantages of AoN and AoA diagrams
AoN Network Diagrams
AoA Network Diagrams
Uses:
- Is used more typically in computing
- Is utilised in project management
software applications
Uses:
- Is used in engineering and
construction
Advantages:
- All the required information about an
activity appears in one box
- Allows a greater variety of links and
various types of dependencies (for
example finish-to-start lag)
- Does not require dummy activities
(and so keeps the number of activities
to the real number)
Advantages:
- There’s a logical resemblance to a
bar chart
- Events are explicitly shown
- Easier to check calculations manually
- Easier to find critical path
- Can be adjusted to show passage of
time
- Better at representing relationships
with multiple precedents
- Dummy activities can be used to
simplify complex project interactions
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie
Summary
• The project planning process:
– Identifying tasks
– Creating a WBS
– Scheduling the tasks
• AoN diagrams
• AoA diagrams
– Identifying a project’s critical path
– Establishing a project completion date
• Gantt charts
Successful IT Projects
slides © 2007 Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie