IT Project Management

Lecture One

Lecturer Name: George Kinyata

Email: gkinyata@yahoo.co.uk

Learning outcomes

❑ Definition of a project
❑ Characteristics of a project
❑ What is Management
❑ What is Project management
❑ SW project Vs other projects
❑ Management activities
❑ The role of the project manager

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 What is a project?
➢ A project is a set of related tasks that are co-ordinated
to achieve a specific objective in a given time limit
➢ A collection of interrelated activities with a clearly
defined start and finish point (date), carried out in an
organised manner to achieve some specified result
➢ A set of related activities with a predetermined
duration designed for a purpose which is expressed
as a set of pre-defined objectives
➢ A temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique
product or service.
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Reasons for starting a project

These may include;

1. Part of the business strategic plan i.e. develop system
to meet business needs.
2. Current system redundant due to advances in IT
3. Desire to keep up with or be ahead of the competition
4. Problems with current computer or manual system
5. The need to reduce cost & improve efficiency
6. Government Legislation

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 Characteristics of a project
➢ Has a specific objective or purpose which can be
easily defined
➢ Focused on the customer
➢ it is unique i.e. not usually routine work
➢ Made up of series of activities
➢ Has clearly defined time frame i.e. start date and finish
date.
➢ Often requires extensive planning and Co-ordination
➢ Often involve many people i.e. a team of different
specialists
➢ It is frequently large and complex
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Distinction between Project &work

tasks

Projects Process work

One-off task Varies little day-to-day

Specific deliverables Measured by quantity

produced
Time restrictions On-going work

Many tasks Tasks fit within functional

boundaries
Multi-function teams Interfaces between
functional departments well
defined

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 What is Management
◼ The Open University suggests:
❖ Planning- deciding what is to be done
❖ Organising - making arrangements
❖ Staffing -selecting the right people for the job
❖ Directing - giving instructions
❖ Monitoring - checking on progress
❖ controlling - taking actions to remedy hold-ups
❖ Innovating - coming up with new solutions
❖ Representing - liaising with users, workers, etc
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Project Management (PM)

What is PM? Various definitions:
◼ It refers to the monitoring and control mechanisms
so that a project will meet its objectives
◼ The application of knowledge, skills, tools and

techniques to project activities in order to meet

project requirements
◼ A collection of techniques which enable the goal(s)

of the project to be achieved

➢ Note: Can you have a project without project
management?
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 What is Software project management

◼ It is concerned with activities involved in ensuring

that IT or software project is delivered on time, on
schedule and in accordance with the
requirements and needs of the users.
◼ Thus Project management is needed because
software development is always subject to budget and
schedule constraints that are set by the organisation
developing the software.

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SW project Vs other Projects

(Any distinctions?)
In SW projects;
◼ Progress not always visible

◼ SW projects are more complex due to

technological changes etc.

◼ Flexibility, is an expectation of software

projects
◼ Specifications often change easily to

match external pressures.

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 SW Project
Management Activities.
1. Feasibility study (FS)
Is the project worth doing?, thus the viability of the
proposed system should consider the following
aspects
◼ Can it be done (Technical feasibility)

◼ What are the probable cost (Economical feasibility)

◼ Estimate of required time (Schedule feasibility)

◼ How will it affect day today activities of the

organisation (Operational feasibility)

◼ FS May be part of a general strategic planning exercise
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2. Planning – identifies activities necessary for project

completion, together with their sequence and
resources required
◼ Probably the most time-consuming project activity.
◼ Planning ought to be a continuous activity from initial
concept until system is delivered to the client.
◼ Plans must be regularly revised as new information
becomes available.
◼ Various different types of plans may be developed to
support the main software project plan that is
concerned with design/development.
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 Why bother with Planning?
◼ To achieve a common understanding of the task
to be achieved
◼ To obtain an overview of the work to be carried
out
◼ Facilitate the process of allocating and committing
resources (time, money etc)
◼ Facilitate monitoring and control

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3. Project control ensures that resources are utilised in a

way that is compatible with the plan, also ensures project
completion on time, to budget and specification.
Two activities occur during project control
➢ Actual performance is compared against expected
performance. Performance measures can include time, cost,
quality etc.
➢ Corrective action is taken if there are deviations; (i.e. if there
are differences between actual and expected performance)
➢ Thus continuous monitoring, feedback and reporting of
results to senior management is essential for effective project
control
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 Project Control activities
◼ They are carried out by the Project Manager and the
team
◼ The activities aim to:
◼ Prevent deviations from plan

◼ Correct deviations and errors

◼ Prevent deviations and errors occurring in the

future
◼ Implement conclusions from monitoring, review
and evaluation

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project control activities

◼ The means of control include, assessing the;
◼ Objectives set out i.e. what has to be achieved
◼ Metrics i.e. measures what has been achieved
◼ Sub-goals and key result areas (KRAs), provides
milestone on the way to achieving the
objectives

Note: A project that is not controlled will soon

become out of control
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 Reasserting Control

❑ Revise time scale

◼ e.g. move the milestone date

❑ Find new methods of working

◼ e.g. co-location with users, JAD, prototyping

❑ Request additional resources

◼ More money, more staff, new skills, overtime,

offer a bonus for completion on time

❑ Re-arrange the workload
◼ reassign tasks, streamline procedures
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4. Project execution(i.e. project life cycle)

◼ Actual method of execution will vary from
project to project
◼ There are various project life-cycles

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 A Simple Model of Project life cycle

Note:
This slide show an extremely simple model.
It should be emphasised that such simple models are generally of little use.

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A Model of Project life cycle

Note:
▪ The model on this slide is more realistic.
▪ It show the various steps through a project.
▪ However there are often feedback loop and
other iterations within real life projects.
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 The Role of the project manager

◼ Project Manager must satisfy 3 needs

◼ Team needs

◼ Task needs Task needs

◼ Individual needs
Team needs
Individual
needs

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Role of the project manager

◼ Project manager and team needs
◼ Building the team and maintaining team spirit

◼ Developing work methods

◼ Setting standards, system for communication

within team, maintaining discipline

◼ Team Training

◼ Appointing subordinate leaders

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 Role of the project manager
◼ Project Manager and tasks needs
◼ Tasks definition

◼ Planning work

◼ Allocating resources and responsibilities

◼ Monitoring progress, performance & controlling

quality
◼ Project Manager and individual needs
◼ Developing the individual

◼ Helping with personal problems

◼ Rewarding good performance

◼ Balancing with group needs and individual needs

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Key skills for Project manager

◼ Leadership – stimulate action and change
◼ Technological understanding – perception of technical
requirements; to align IS to business needs
◼ Evaluation and decision making – evaluate
alternatives & make decision
◼ People management – motivate, lead, enthuse the
team
◼ System design & maintenance – demonstrate their
competence and have knowledge of the project

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 Key skills for Project manager
◼ Financial awareness – proficient in risk management;
have broad financial knowledge
◼ Planning and control – monitor progress against plan
◼ Communication – express themselves clearly in
speaking and writing in different situations
◼ Negotiation – skillful in negotiation
◼ Contractual skills – understands the project contract;
ability to manage subcontractors
◼ Legal awareness – legal issues that could affect the
project
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Team Selection and induction

◼ In selecting people for projects, the project manager looks

for abilities, skills, knowledge and experience relevant to the
project e.g. systems design, software development
◼ Technical experience
◼ Specialised knowledge
◼ Project team experience
◼ Good inter-personal working relationships
◼ Commitment
◼ When necessary, can work alone
◼ Gains and expectation from the project
◼ Once the team is selected, @An induction is carried out
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 Team leaders and their roles
◼ Team leaders and responsibilities
◼ Planning and organising work (daily and weekly)

◼ Supervision and advice

◼ Co-ordination and overseeing intercommunication

◼ Reporting to project manager and team members

◼ Team roles
◼ Systems analysts

◼ Systems designers and developers

◼ Testing/Implementation team
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Team Members
Inclusion in a team depends on the nature of the system
being developed; members may come from
◼ Specialist IT staff (analyst, designers, programmers)

◼ User representatives

◼ Specialist functional staff (seconded from Finance to

manage the project, if it is a Finance; human

resources, marketing)
◼ Human resource development and training specialists

◼ External specialists or consultants

◼ Union and legal profession

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 Team members

◼ Team members will normally be in the organisation's

hierarchy, so will have a line manager
◼ They will also be reporting to the project manager
and team leader (Possible Conflict)
◼ Team members need to know what they should do?
◼ They need know when to do it?

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Project in flight
Once the project is underway the project manager manages the
project
◼ Managing and communicating

o Checkpoint meetings and reports

o Notice boards
o Appraisals
o newsletters
◼ Coordination and motivation

o Motivate and focus staff attention on the project

o Training course
o Social events e.g. meals. Parties
o Getting to know each team member
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 Managing Change

❑ All projects are subject to some degree of change.

This will arise from:
▪ users’ changing their requirements

▪ changes in the external environment

▪ changes in senior management, perhaps even

the project manager!

▪ new ideas about the way the project should be

developing
▪ introduction of new technology

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Coping with Change

❑ Early identification of change reduces costs incurred

❑ Before change is implemented, assess the impact on
the development of the project (time, cost, quality);
impact on users; hardware and software requirements;
risks of implementing or not implementing the change
❑ Consult the team about required changes

▪ Discuss the benefits of changes

▪ If possible phase in the changes

Note: Change control is about ensuring that changes are

only implemented if they are necessary and beneficial
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 Communication
◼ Computing professionals need to be able to
communicate technical issues clearly to non-
computing people
◼ Thus the focus is on the need to explain and give
instructions to a non-specialist audience
◼ How often have you tried to follow a technical manual
and failed?

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Effective communication
◼ For communication to be effective we need to identify:
◼ Who ? ( ... from ... to )
◼ What? ( the content )

◼ Why? ( purpose of message)

◼ How ? (the medium - written, spoken etc.)

◼ When? ( date, special occasion?)

◼ Where? (spatial relation between sender and

receiver - near? far?)

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 Project Appraisal
❑ Project appraisal involves the review and assessment of
the success or failure of a given project. The appraisal is
two dimensional i.e.
1) Product oriented, here we reviews/assess the extent to
which project meets its objectives
2) Process oriented; here we review/assess the whole
process of project selection and implementation
❑ Specific aspects reviewed/assessed involve actual against
planned performance; here the focus is mainly on
1. Time performance
❑ Review completion dates@ Kinyata,
against planned
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Project Appraisal
2. Resource performance
❑ Efficient and effective use of resources in the manner
intended; resource adequate for project? resources used to
achieve objective?
3. cost performance
❑ Actual against planned expenditure; may depend on costing
system available; identify costs attributable to project
4. Quality performance
❑ Review of Project development process and the system; using
quality plan and quality standards
5. Management processes and structures

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 Conclusion
▪ A project is a set of related tasks that are co-ordinated to achieve
a specific objective in a given time limit
▪ A collection of activities linked together with a clearly defined
start and finish point (or date) and carried out in an organised
manner to achieve some specified result
▪ A set of related activities with finite duration (i.e. it has a start and
an end) designed for a purpose which is expressed as a set of
pre-defined objectives
▪ Project management is about the application of management and
control mechanisms such that a project will meet its objectives
▪ Successful projects require effective planning and management,
communication and appraisal
▪ A useful element in project management is the project manager
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