Chapter Two

Initiating a Software Project

Identifying the Project Purpose
Successful projects, and, by default, successful project
managers, have to start by ironing out a few details.
Make sure these questions are asked and successfully
answered:
 Why is the project being initiated? You
first have to know the project purpose.
 Does everyone agree on this purpose and
goals? There must be consensus on what the
project will create.
Cont…
The project purpose is just a fancy way of
understanding the background of why the project is
being initiated.
Talking to the stakeholders
When a project is being initiated, you want to capture
as much information as possible about the project
goals. Without a clear picture of what the project is to
capture, it’s going to be challenging to plan and
prepare for your software project.
Cont…
Here are five questions every project manager should
ask stakeholders:
What are the factors for completion? You should ask
this key question far in advance of starting the project
work. As a project manager you need to know what the
project will accomplish and be able to plan how to get
there. If the qualifications for completion are unknown
or fuzzy at best, you’re not ready to get to work. Starting
a project without knowing what the end result should
be is like building a house without blueprints.
Cont…
What is the goal of this project? Knowing the project’s
goal helps you and the team plan. For some projects
the goal will be to win new customers, or to make
internal processes more efficient, or to solve a
problem. Other projects may be financially based.
Cont…
What are the areas of the organization that this
project will affect?
The answer to this question tells you who you need to
communicate with. It also brings to attention that
there may be stakeholders who aren’t attending
meetings and should be. Although it’s easy to identify
the end-users of your software, there may be “hidden
stakeholders” to consider: accounting, security
personnel, government agencies, a training team, and
so on.
Cont…
What is the project priority? Chances are good you’ll be
managing more than one project at a time, and there are
equal chances that your project team members will be on
multiple projects as well. When you consider these odds it’s
best to know your priorities so you know where to spend your
energy.
What is the accepted range of variance? The range of
variance is the +/– value associated with the budget and the
schedule. For example, a project may have a budget of
$450,000, +45,000 to –$25,000. This means the project could
actually cost as much as $495,000 or as little as $425,000. You
can actually apply the same methods to the project schedule.
Cont…
Reaching project consensus
Understanding the project purpose during initiation is
essential to guiding project consensus.
There are several approaches to accomplishing this
goal:
Conduct interviews
Do root cause analysis
Do business analysis
Cont…
Dealing with Politics
Imagine an environment where everyone works together
to make the organization better. Greed, ambition, and
self-serving opportunists screw that up for most
entities. Politics also know as political capital, can
wreck a project’s objectives.
Initiating the project
Initiation is the time to build a firm foundation for
your project.
Purpose: to formally launch and authorize a new
project or to authorize an existing project to continue
into its next phase.
Project initiation(Cont…)
Projects get initiated to fulfill many different needs,
some of which we’re sure you’ve experienced, and most
of which can be addressed with software:
 A problem needs to be solved.
 An opportunity needs to be captured.
 A profit needs to be made.
 An existing environment needs to be
improved.
A process needs to be speeded up and/or
made more efficient.
1. Select a Project
Matching the project to the goals and capabilities of the
organization is critical to the success of the project.
Guidelines
Determine the business need, opportunity, or threat the
project is intended to address.
 Inputs to be analyzed include:
Description of the product or service of the project.
Organization's strategic plan.
Any relevant historical information
Organization's project selection criteria.
Conduct a feasibility analysis
Feasibility analysis
Feasibility analysis is an analysis and evaluation of
proposed project to determine technical, operational
and economic feasibility.
1. Technical feasibility: consider the technical feasibility
of the proposed project.
Important questions
 Is the project feasible within limits of current
technology?
 Software and hardware?
 Can the upgraded to new system?
Cont…
2. Operational feasibility
Is dependent on human resource available for the project and
involves projection whether the system will be used if it is
developed and implemented.
Reviews the willingness of the organization to support the
proposed system.
Important questions
 Is the system developed, will it be used?
 Are the services flexible and expandable?
 Will the end users and or management adopt to the change?
Cont…
3. Economic feasibility
Is referred to as cost/benefit analysis
Important questions
 Is the system cost effective?
 The cost of doing full system study.
2. Project Stakeholders Selection
A stakeholder is a person who has a business interest in the
outcome of a project, or who is actively involved on a project.
Stakeholders take on various roles and responsibilities on projects.
Sponsor
 Signs and publishes the Project Charter.
 Has ultimate responsibility for project success.
 Signs off on all planning documents and change requests.
 Authorizes team to use resources.
 Champions and mentors the project manager and team.
 Reviews progress and quality.
 Cuts through red tape and expedites activities.
Cont…
Customer
Takes delivery of the project output.
Pays for the project output
Defines needs for the project output.
Functional Managers
 Contribute and control functional resources to
project (people, equipment, and so on).
 
Cont…
 Project Manager
 Works with stakeholders to define the project.
 Plans, schedules, and budgets project activities with team
input.
Works with the team to carry out project plans.
Monitors performance and takes corrective action.
Keeps the sponsor and the stakeholders informed.
Requests and documents scope changes.
Acts as a liaison between the project team and other
stakeholders.
 Project Team Members
Work with the project manager to carry out plans.
Interface with sponsor and other stakeholders through the
project manager.
 
3. Project Manager Selection Criteria
Project manager selection criteria are the standards and
measurements used to identify the candidate with the
right mix of skills, knowledge, attitudes, and
experience to fit a particular project. Common
categories for project manager selection include:
 Skills and knowledge.
 Project management experience.
 Organizational experience.
 Personal leadership style.
 Problem solving skills.
4. Create a Project Charter

The project charter is a document that makes the

project official and authorizes the project manager to
lead the project and draw on organizational resources
as needed.
An effective project charter clearly communicates the
project's importance to the organization and includes
the following elements:
Cont…
The project and authority identification information.
1. Title of the project and the date of authorization.
2. Name and contact information of the project manager.
3. Name, title, and contact information of the initiating
authority (usually the customer or sponsor).
A clear, concise description of the business need, opportunity,
or threat that the project is intended to address.
1. What are the circumstances that generated the need for
the project?
Cont…
A summary description of the product or service of the project
(refer to the product description which is an input to
initiation).
1. What is the required outcome of the project?
2. What are the critical characteristics of the product or
service?
A description of the project's relationship to the business
need it is intended to address.
1. Why is it important to do the project now?
2. How will this project address the business need,
opportunity, or threat for which it intended?
Cont…
Any known constraints and/or assumptions.
1. Are there any known time, cost, scope, quality, or
resource issues or factors that will limit the way you
and your project team can approach the project?
2. Are there any factors or issues that you and your
project team will presume to be true, real, or certain in
order to begin planning your project?
Project charter example
Sample Project Charter