Project Management

Organizing, planning and

scheduling software projects
 Objectives
• To introduce software project management
and to describe its distinctive characteristics
• To discuss project planning and the planning
process
• To show how graphical schedule
representations are used by project
management
• To discuss the notion of risks and the risk
management process
 Project
Project is a sequence of unique, complex,
and connected activities having one goal or
purpose and must be completed within time,
budget and as per specifications
 Management
“Management is the process of designing and
maintaining an environment in which
individuals, working together in groups,
efficiently [and effectively] accomplish selected
aims”
 Software Project Management
• Concerned with activities involved in ensuring
that software is delivered on time and on
schedule and in accordance with the
requirements of the organizations developing
and procuring the software
• Project management is needed because
software development is always subject to
budget and schedule constraints that are set
by the organization developing the software
Software management distinctions
• The product is intangible
• The product is uniquely flexible
• Software engineering is not recognized as an
engineering discipline with the same status as
mechanical, electrical engineering, etc.
• The software development process is not
standardized
• Many software projects are 'one-off' projects
 Management activities
• Proposal writing
• Project planning and scheduling
• Project costing
• Project monitoring and reviews
• Personnel selection and evaluation
• Report writing and presentations
 Project staffing
• May not be possible to appoint the ideal people
to work on a project
– Project budget may not allow for the use of highly-
paid staff
– Staff with the appropriate experience may not be
available
– An organisation may wish to develop employee skills
on a software project
• Managers have to work within these constraints
especially when (as is currently the case) there is
an international shortage of skilled IT staff
 Project planning
• Probably the most time-consuming project
management activity
• Continuous activity from initial concept
through to system delivery. Plans must be
regularly revised as new information
becomes available
• Various different types of plan may be
developed to support the main software
project plan that is concerned with schedule
and budget
Types of project plan
 Activity organization
• Activities in a project should be organised to
produce tangible outputs for management to
judge progress
• Milestones are the end-point of a process
activity
• Deliverables are project results delivered to
customers
• The waterfall process allows for the
straightforward definition of progress
milestones
Milestones in the RE process
 Project scheduling
• Split project into tasks and estimate time and
resources required to complete each task
• Organize tasks concurrently to make optimal
use of workforce
• Minimize task dependencies to avoid delays
caused by one task waiting for another to
complete
• Dependent on project managers intuition and
experience
The project scheduling process
 Scheduling problems
• Estimating the difficulty of problems and
hence the cost of developing a solution is hard
• Productivity is not proportional to the
number of people working on a task
• Adding people to a late project makes it later
because of communication overheads
• The unexpected always happens. Always allow
contingency in planning
 Bar charts and activity networks
• Graphical notations used to illustrate the
project schedule
• Show project breakdown into tasks. Tasks
should not be too small. They should take
about a week or two
• Activity charts show task dependencies and
the the critical path
• Bar charts show schedule against calendar
time
Task durations and dependencies
Activity network
Activity timeline
Staff allocation
 Risk management
• Risk management is concerned with
identifying risks and drawing up plans to
minimize their effect on a project.
• A risk is a probability that some adverse
circumstance will occur.
– Project risks affect schedule or resources
– Product risks affect the quality or performance of
the software being developed
– Business risks affect the organisation developing
or procuring the software
Software risks
 The risk management process
• Risk identification
– Identify project, product and business risks
• Risk analysis
– Assess the likelihood and consequences of these
risks
• Risk planning
– Draw up plans to avoid or minimise the effects of
the risk
• Risk monitoring
– Monitor the risks throughout the project
Risk Management
The risk management process
 Risk identification
• Technology risks
• People risks
• Organisational risks
• Requirements risks
• Estimation risks
 Risk analysis
• Assess probability and seriousness of each risk
• Probability may be very low, low, moderate,
high or very high
• Risk effects might be catastrophic, serious,
tolerable or insignificant
Risk analysis
 Risk planning
• Consider each risk and develop a strategy to
manage that risk
• Avoidance strategies
– The probability that the risk will arise is reduced
• Minimisation strategies
– The impact of the risk on the project or product
will be reduced
• Contingency plans
– If the risk arises, contingency plans are plans to
deal with that risk
 Risk monitoring
• Assess each identified risks regularly to decide
whether or not it is becoming less or more
probable
• Also assess whether the effects of the risk
have changed
• Each key risk should be discussed at
management progress meetings
 Work Breakdown Structure
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is visual
representation of everything the project will create.

Typically WBS includes things (deliverables,

components, etc) and not activities.
 Creating Your WBS
• Break down the scope into major bucket of things
the project will create.
For Example:
– Web Deliverables
– Database Deliverables
– Documentation Deliverables
– Project Management Deliverables

• Decompose these deliverables into smaller units or

work packages
 Why Create WBS
• Activity Definition
• Cost Estimating
• Cost Budgeting
• Resource Planning
• Risk Management Planning
WBS Construction
 Types of WBS:
• Deliverable-oriented WBS
– built around the project’s desired outcomes/ deliverables
– E.g. for example, in Kathy’s landscaping project first level
might be broken based on deliverables such as Parks,
Common areas and Walkways.
• Process-centered WBS
– Organized in phases or steps in a process rather than by
deliverables
– E.g. design, development, testing, user-acceptance and
so on for a software project
 Types of WBS (cont..)
• Hybrid WBS
– It mixes process and product
– For instance: life-cycle phases at higher levels
• Organizational WBS
– Higher levels are organizational units
– Lower levels collect the work which is under the responsibility
of a Unit
• Geographical WBS
– Higher levels are geographically distributed teams (e.g. NY
team, Trento Team)
– Lower levels collect the work under the responsibility of a
team
 What is ‘100% rule’?
• Important WBS design principles is called the
100% Rule
• Complete WBS represents all the deliverables of
the project e.g. PM Plans as well
• Rolling up would cover ALL of the work that
project team ever does
Technique ensures that team does only
requirements related work, nothing more, nothing
less
• Each lower level decomposition must
represent all of the work of the higher-level
element
• Conversely, all higher-level scope must be
reflected in one of the lower-level elements
• Ensures: All of the scope has been captured
and nothing unnecessary is included
Example:
Example:
Example:
 Example
WBS Example - Banquet

Provide
Level 1 1.0
Banquet

Level 2
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

Plan and Room and

Dinner Guests Staff Speakers
Supervise Equipment

1.3.1
1.1.1 Create 1.2.1 Make 1.4.1 Make 1.5.1 Hire
Identify Site/ 1.6.1 Invite
Plan Menu Guest List Shoppers
Room
1.2.2
1.4.2
1.1.2 Make Create 1.3.2 Set up 1.5.2 Hire 1.6.2
Receive
Budget Shopping Tables/Chairs Cooks Transport
RSVPs
List
1.1.3 Prepare 1.6.3
1.3.3 Lay out 1.4.3 Create 1.5.3 Hire
Disbursements/ 1.2.3 Shop Coordinate
Settings/Utensils Name Tags Servers
Reconciliation Topics

1.1.4
1.4.4 Review 1.5.4 Hire 1.6.4 Backup
Coordinate 1.2.4 Cook 1.3.4 Decorate
Special Needs Hosts for No-shows
Activities

Level 3 1.3.5 Prepare

1.2.5 Serve 1.5.5 Hire 1.6.5 Send
Equipment, Pots,
Dinner Cleanup Thank Yous
Etc.
Example: Process-Based WBS
Example:
Example:
 Key points
• A project milestone is a predictable state
where some formal report of progress is
presented to management.
• Risks may be project risks, product risks or
business risks
• Risk management is concerned with
identifying risks which may affect the project
and planning to ensure that these risks do not
develop into major threats