Risk Management in Software Development

There is a risk that software might exceed the original specification and that a project will be completed early and under budget. That is not a risk that need concern us. Every project involves risk of some form. When assessing and planning a project, we are concerned with the risk of the project's not meeting its objectives. We shall discuss ways of analysing and minimizing risk during the development of a software system. In this chapter, we are concerned with taking risk into...

PERT analysis views

PERT analysis is sometimes called what-if analysis, and many project managers use this approach to estimate a probable outcome. The probable outcome that you estimate may be the duration of a task, its start date, or its end date. As a function of the estimating process, you specify the optimistic, pessimistic, and expected durations of tasks in your project. Then Microsoft Project calculates a weighted average of the three durations. Note PERT stands for Program Evaluation and Review...

Monitor and Control Risk

Monitor and Control Risk is the process of executing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, monitoring residual risks, identifying new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the project (see Table 11-7 and Figure 11-13). Planned risk responses that are included in the project management plan are executed during the life cycle of the project, but the project work should be continuously monitored for new and changing risks. The Monitor and Control Risk process...

Costbenefit Evaluation Techniques

We would consider proceeding with a project only where the benefits outweigh the costs. However, in order to choose among projects, we need to take into account the timing of the costs and benefits as well as the benefits relative to the size of the investment. In the following sections we will take a brief look at some common methods for comparing projects on the basis of their cash flow forecasts.

Types of Buffers

Although there are others, in this chapter we focus on the following three types of buffers Project buffers Feeding buffers Resource buffers The project buffer is a time buffer placed at the end of the critical chain to protect the overall project schedule. Its size can be calculated as the square root of the sum of the squared differences between the original task duration estimate and the reduced task duration estimate. The feeding buffer is a time buffer placed at the end of a sequence of...

Change Thresholds and Change Boards

While everyone admits the value of change management, we also want to avoid any drag it might add to decision making. Including all stakeholders in every decision just isn't necessary. Therefore, to balance the need for change management against the desire for flexibility and quick decisions, the project manager needs to separate changes into different categories, depending on how deeply they affect the project. These categories, called change thresholds, are as follows The lowest threshold is...

Cost Buffer Sizing

Use a cost buffer if your business is project-cost sensitive. Organizations using throughput accounting and internal projects (e.g., internally funded R& D) may not require a cost buffer. Sizing the cost buffer requires considering a number of factors. First, you should budget for the use of the schedule buffers. While start delays will not directly translate to cost, additional activity-duration times used by people working to complete the activity will increase cost. You should include at...

The basis for software estimating

Nearly all estimating methods need information about how projects have been implemented in the past. However, care needs to be taken in judging the applicability of data to the estimator's own circumstances because of possible differences in environmental factors such as the programming languages used, the software tools available, the standards enforced and the experience of the staff. SLOC has already been used in Table 5.1. R. E. Park has devised a standard for counting source statements...

Toyota Production System and Lean Commerce

In the years since the publication of the first edition of this book, an IT-enabled lean commerce component of the Toyota Production System (TPS) has been developed by Toyota in North America. According to information provided to suppliers, the IT component of the TPS books customer orders and establishes the sequencing of models and all option configurations to produce a leveled schedule for manufacturing. The system algorithms take the current process operation times for each process (every...

Perform Integrated Change Control

Perform Integrated Change Control is the process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes and managing changes to the deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents and the project management plan. The Perform Integrated Change Control process is conducted from project inception through completion. The project management plan, the project scope statement, and other deliverables are maintained by carefully and continuously managing changes, either by rejecting changes...

Conventional Software Management Performance

Barry Boehm's one-page Industrial Software Metrics Top 10 List Boehm, 1987 is a good, objective characterization of the state of software development. There is very little evidence of significant changes in the past decade. Although many of the metrics are gross generalizations, they accurately describe some of the fundamental economic relationships that resulted from the conventional software process practiced over the past 30 years. In the following paragraphs, quotations from Boehm's top 10...

Criteria For Project Selection Models

We live in the midst of what has been called the knowledge explosion. We frequently hear such comments as 90 percent of all we know about physics has been discovered since Albert Einstein published his original work on special relativity and 80 percent of what we know about the human body has been discovered in the past 50 years. In addition, evidence is cited to show that knowledge is growing exponentially. Such statements emphasize the importance of the management of change. To survive, firms...

Pragmatic Artifacts

Conventional document-driven approaches squandered incredible amounts of engineering time on developing, polishing, formatting, reviewing, updating, and distributing documents. Why There are several reasons that documents became so important to the process. First, there were no rigorous engineering methods or languages for requirements specification or design. Consequently, paper documents with ad hoc text and graphical representations were the default format. Second, conventional languages of...

Pragmatic Software Cost Estimation

One critical problem in software cost estimation is a lack of well-documented case studies of projects that used an iterative development approach. Although cost model vendors claim that their tools are suitable for estimating iterative development projects, few are based on empirical project databases with modern iterative development success stories. Furthermore, because the software industry has inconsistently defined metrics or atomic units of measure, the data from actual projects are...

Core Team Members

Core team members are with the project from cradle to grave. They typically have a major role to play in the project and bring a skill set that has broad applicability across the range of work undertaken in the project. They might also have responsibility for key activities or sets of activities in the project. Similar to the project manager's assignment, this assignment is usually not full-time. In matrix organizations, professional staff can be assigned to more than one project at a time....

Turnover And Acceptance Of Equipment

As the project is completed, the CM GC must turnover the spaces and MEPS equipment to the owner. Sometimes this is done is phases, as the owner wants to occupy and begin utilizing portions of the overall project for their beneficial use. This is a milestone in the project, and usually represents the start of the warranty and guarantee period, 1. Obtain a certificate of substantial completion from the owner upon completion of the project 2. Obtain letters of partial acceptance of areas or...

Work Breakdown Structure WBS: Deliverables or a “To Do” List?

The work breakdown structure (WBS) provides the foundation on which a project manager works. The project manager uses the Work Breakdown Structure to control the project and the work of the team. The WBS also provides the checkpoints against which the project manager, the sponsor and the organization measure progress. In the project management world, there are two ways to build the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The first way is to develop the WBS as if it were a To Do list.

Functional Competencies of the Project Manager

The term functional competencies refers to your ability to synthesize the various skills described above and properly apply them as a project manager. Even if you've very proficient in many of the skill areas, your capability as a project manager will be limited if you can't apply those skills in your day-to-day activities effectively. Figure 3-3 contains a partial list of functional competencies. Project Management Process Functions Coordinates development of comprehensive, realistic, and...

Determine Budget Tools and Techniques

The Determine Budget process has five tools and techniques, including two you haven't seen before Funding limit reconciliation I've covered expert judgment previously. Let's look at the remaining tools and techniques. Cost aggregation Cost aggregation is the process of tallying the schedule activity cost estimates at the work package level and then totaling the work package levels to higherlevel WBS component levels (such as the control accounts). Then all of the costs can be aggregated to...

Developing Conditions of Satisfaction

If we had to pick one area where a project runs into trouble, we would pick the very beginning. For some reason, people have a difficult time understanding what they are saying to one another. How often do you find yourself thinking about what you are going to say while the other party is talking If you are going to be a successful project manager, you must stop that kind of behavior. An essential skill that project managers need to cultivate is good listening skills. Good listening skills are...

Project Bidders Conference

Project bidders conferences are part of the process of selecting vendors sellers who provide goods or services to the project. That process begins during planning when the project manager and team formulate the request for proposal (RFP). At the same time, they create the vendor seller selection and evaluation criteria they'll use to rank the proposals. During procurement planning, the project manager should also secure or draft the contract he she will use with the winning vendor seller.

Calculations For Early Start Es

In analyzing a network, the first item to be evaluated is the Early Start (ES) of each activity. This is accomplished by taking what is called a Forward Pass through the diagram. A Forward Pass is exactly what is implied. Starting with the first event or at day 0, then following the direction of the arrows and adding the durations of each activity defines the ES of the following activity. In network analysis, this number can be enclosed in a square above the Event (Node). Figure 3-9. Network...

Stages in contract placement

We are now going to discuss the typical stages in awarding a contract. This discussion assumes that a feasibility study has already provisionally identified the need for the intended software. Before potential supplier can be approached, you need to have a clear set of requirements. Two points need to be emphasized here. The first is that it is easy for this step to be skimped where the user has many day-to-day pressures and not much time to think about future developments. In this situation,...

Pragmatic Software Metrics

Measuring is useful, but it doesn't do any thinking for the decision makers. It only provides data to help them ask-tne right questions, understand the context, and make objective decisions. Because of the highly dynamic nature of software projects, these measures must be available at any time, tailorable to various subsets of the evolving product (release, version, component, class), and maintained so that trends can be assessed (first and second derivatives with respect to time). This...

Lifecycle Expectations

There is no mathematical or formal derivation for using the seven core metrics. However, there were specific reasons for selecting them The quality indicators are derived from the evolving product rather than They provide insight into the waste generated by the process. Scrap and rework metrics are a standard measurement perspective of most manufacturing processes. They recognize the inherently dynamic nature of an iterative development process. Rather than focus on the value, they explicitly...

The Seven Core Metrics

Many different metrics may be of value in managing a modern process. I have settled on seven core metrics that should be used on all software projects. Three are management indicators and four are quality indicators. Work and progress work performed over time Budgeted cost and expenditures cost incurred over time Staffing and team dynamics personnel changes over time Change traffic and stability change traffic over time Breakage and modularity average breakage per change over time Rework and...

List of Tables

TABLE 1-1 Expenditures by activity for a conventional software TABLE 1-2 Results of conventional software project design TABLE 3-1 Important trends in improving software TABLE 3-2 Language expressiveness of some of today's popular languages 34 TABLE 3-3 Advantages and disadvantages of commercial components versus custom TABLE 3-4 Three levels of process and their TABLE 3-5 General quality improvements with a modern TABLE 4-1 Modern process approaches for solving conventional problems 66 TABLE...

Stepwise Project In Software Project Management1

1 Introduction to software project management 1 1.3 Software projects versus other types of project 3 1.4 Activities covered by software project management 3 1.5 Some ways of categorizing software projects 6 1.6 The project as a system 7 1.8 Problems with software projects 9 1.11 Requirement specification 14 1.12 Information and control in organizations 15 2 Step Wise an overview of project planning 19 2.1 Introduction to Step Wise project planning 19 2.2 Step 0 Select project 20 2.3 Step 1...

Software Subcontract Management Level

While subcontracting is not specifically addressed by the process framework, all the techniques, tools, and mechanisms are assumed to be flowed down to subcontractors so that the process remains homogeneous. If this cannot be done, or if the prime contractor cannot define a well-partitioned piece of work to be performed by a mature subcontractor, subcontracting should be avoided. To manage risks effectively, the number and complexity of organizational interfaces must be managed. All...

Checkpoints of the Process

It is always important to have visible milestones in the life cycle where various stakeholders meet, face to face, to discuss progress and plans. The purpose of these events is not only to demonstrate how well a project is performing but also to achieve the following Synchronize stakeholder expectations and achieve concurrence on three evolving perspectives the requirements, the design, and the plan Synchronize related artifacts into a consistent and balanced state Identify the important risks,...

Airlie Software Council

Ada COCOMO, 26, 269-274 Ada 83, 34-36 Ada 95, 34-36 Adaptability metric, 197-198, 286-287, 292,296, 344-345 Adversarial stakeholder relationships, 15-16, 225 nine best practices, 233-235 Architectural risk, 217 Architecture baseline, 110,114-115 management perspective, 110-111 team, 161-162 technical perspective, 111-115 Architecture-first approach, 63, 64, 68, 118, 119, 231,233,234 Artifacts, 83-107 artifact sets, 84-95 associated with each workflow, 120 deployment set, 88-92 design set, 87...

Assessment Test

How many ways can a project be declared final 2. Select all the PMI-recognized standard project management phases. In what ways would not having thorough requirements identification, documentation, and metrics adversely impact your project (Select all that apply.) A. Scope may arbitrarily enlarge B. Can't tell who the customer is C. Don t know what deliverable to develop D. Can t tell when the project is complete E. Can t tell when the project is successful component that authorizes the project...

Information and control in organizations

Hierarchical information and control systems With small projects, the project leaders are likely to be working very closely with the other team members and might even be carrying out many non-managerial tasks themselves. Therefore they should have a pretty good idea of what is going on. When projects are larger, many separate teams will be working on different aspects of the project and the overall managers of the project are not going to have day-to-day direct contact with all aspects of the...

Iteration Workflows

Grille Valuation Software

An iteration consists of a loosely sequential set of activities in various proportions, depending on where the iteration is located in the development cycle. Each iteration is defined in terms of a set of allocated usage scenarios. The components needed to implement all selected scenarios are developed and integrated with the results of previous iterations. An individual iteration's workflow, illustrated in Figure 8-2, generally includes the following sequence Management iteration planning to...

Communications Management Plan

There are two outputs to the Plan Communications process. They are communications management plan and product document updates. The updates that may be required as a result of performing this process are the project schedule, the stakeholder register, and the stakeholder management strategy. Let's take a closer look at the details of the communications management plan. All projects require sound communication plans, but not all projects will have the same types of communication or the same...

All About the PMP Exam

Project Integration Management

In order to become a PMP, you need the following (check out Figure 1-1 it's pretty) PMP Candidate Choose the appropriate path Figure 1-1 The PMP candidate must qualify to take the examination. Bachelor's degree or global equivalent and 36 non-overlapping months of project management experience totaling 4,500 hours of project management activities within the last eight years. Or a high school diploma, associate's degree, or the global equivalent and 60 non-overlapping months of project...

How to Become CAPM Certified

If you find you don't have quite enough experience or education to sit for the PMP exam, you should consider sitting for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam. The CAPM exam is structured like the PMP exam only the requirements are not as strict as they are for the PMP. CAPM candidates typically work in a supporting role with a project manager or as a subproject manager.

Activity Budgeting vs Program Budgeting

Thus far we have discussed one facet of an organization's philosophy of budgeting. Another facet has to do with the degree to which a budget is activity-oriented or program-oriented, a distinction we have mentioned before. The traditional organizational budget is activity-oriented. Individual expenses are classified and assigned to basic budget lines such as phone, materials, personnel-clerical, utilities, direct la- bor, etc. These expense lines are gathered into more inclusive categories, and...

Shortening the project duration

If we wish to shorten the overall duration of a project we would normally consider attempting to rcducc activity durations. In many cases this can he done by applying more resources to the task - working overtime or procuring additional staff, for example. The critical path indicates where we must look to save time -if we are trying to bring forward the end date of the project, there is clearly no point in attempting to shorten non-critical activities. Referring to Figure 6.20 it can be seen...

Apportioning

Apportioning Requirements Example

Also known as top-down estimating, apportioning begins with a total project estimate, then assigns a percentage of that total to each of the phases and tasks of the project. The work breakdown structure provides the framework for top-down estimating (as shown in Figure 8.2). Making useful top-down estimates relies on some big assumptions, among them Since apportioning is based on a formula derived from historical data of other, similar projects, the historic projects must be very similar to the...

Prioritizing the Scope Triangle

You are probably wondering why we would want to do this or even what it means to prioritize the scope triangle. First, let's define the scope triangle, and then we can talk intelligently about what it means to prioritize it and why we want to do that. Figure 14.4 is the scope triangle that is used in APF. It's the same one that was introduced in Chapter 1 and is reproduced here for your convenience. Figure 14.3 An example of the Q-Sort. Figure 14.3 An example of the Q-Sort. Recall that the...

Payment for materials on site

The ICE conditions and similar permit payment to be made to cover part of the cost to the contractor of materials delivered to site but not yet built into the works. This can ease the contractor's cash flow situation and is of advantage to the employer in encouraging early supply of materials so that unexpected shortages or late deliveries are less likely to hold up progress. In contracts that contain such a provision, tenderers can be expected to reduce their prices in anticipation of the...

Variation in Activity Duration

Activity duration is a random variable. Because we cannot know what factors will be operative when work is underway on an activity, we cannot know exactly how long it will take. There will, of course, be varying estimates with varying precision for each activity. One of your goals in estimating activity duration is to define the activity to a level of granularity so that your estimates have a narrow variance that is, the estimate is as good as you can get it at the planning stages of the...

The Bathtub Period

The award of the Scott contract on January 3, 1987, left Park Industries elated. The Scott Project, if managed correctly, offered tremendous opportunities for follow-on work over the next several years. Park's management considered the Scott Project as strategic in nature. The Scott Project was a ten-month endeavor to develop a new product for Scott Corporation. Scott informed Park Industries that sole-source production contracts would follow, for at least five years, assuming that the initial...

Low Bidder Dilemma In Project Management

1.1 Understanding Project Management 2 1.2 Defining Project Success 5 1.3 The Project Manager-Line Manager Interface 6 1.4 Defining the Project Manager's Role 9 1.5 Defining the Functional Manager's Role 12 1.6 Defining the Functional Employee's Role 15 1.7 Defining the Executive's Role 16 1.8 Working with Executives 16 1.9 The Project Manager As the Planning Agent 17 1.11 The Downside Risk of Project Management 20 1.12 Project-Driven Versus Non-Project-Driven Organizations 24 1.13 Marketing in...

Benefit Cost Ratio and Payback Methods Benefit Cost Ratio

Engineering Economics Payback Method

Another method of assessing the viability of a system or comparing several systems is to calculate the net present value of the costs and the benefits and obtain the benefit-cost ratio (B C). If this ratio is greater than one, then the project is profitable. A car leasing company buys a car from a wholesaler for 24,000 and leases it to a customer for four years at 5,000 per year. Since the maintenance is not included in the lease, the leasing company has to spend 400 per year in servicing the...

Technical Approach

The technical approach is a task-by-task description of how the project team intends to execute the tasks and subtasks in the SOW, from a technical perspective. The technical approach is usually formulated, in detail, in response to a request for proposal (RFP) if such an RFP is a precursor to the project. In such a situation, this technical approach can be abstracted and used in this section of the project plan. The technical approach changes, of course, for each project and the domain of the...

Completing a Decision Tree

As the project manager of the new GFB Project, you have to decide whether to create a new Web application in-house or send the project out to a developer. The developer you would use (if you were to outsource the work) quotes the project cost at 175,000. Based on previous work with this company, you are 85 percent certain they will finish the work on time. Your in-house development team quotes the cost of the work as 165,000. Again, based on previous experience with your in-house developers,...

Using decision trees

The approaches to risk analysis discussed previously rather assume that we are passive bystanders allowing nature to take its own course - the best we can do is to reject over-risky projects or choose those with the best risk profile. There are many situations, however, where we can evaluate whether a risk is important and. if it is. indicate a suitable course of action. Many such decisions will limit or affect future options and. at any point, it is important to be able to see into the future...

List Of Tables And Figures

Portfolio, Program, and Project Management Table 1 -1. Comparative Overview of Project, Program, and Portfolio Figure 2-1. Typical Cost and Staffing Levels Across the Project Life Figure 2-2. Impact of Variable Based on Project Figure 2-3. Example of a Single-Phase Figure 2-4. Example of a Three-Phase Figure 2-5. Example of a Project with Overlapping Figure 2-6. The Relationship Between Stakeholders and the Table 2-1. Organizational Influences on Figure 2-7. Functional Figure 2-8....

What Risk Management Decisions Affect Stakeholders

Project Integration Management j Project Integration Management j The dashed circular arrow ind cales that the process is part of the Project integration Management Knowledge Area, This Knowledge Area coordinates and unities the processes rom the other Knowledge Areas. The projcct management plan and project documents developed as an output of the Planning Process Group wili have an emphasis on exploring all aspects of the scope, time, costs, quality, communication, resources, risks, and...

Table Of Contents

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH SECTION I - THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CHAPTER 1 - 1.1 Purpose of the PMBOK9 1.2 What is a 1.3 What is Project 1.4 Relationships Among Project Management, Program Management, and Portfolio 1.4.1 Portfolio 1.4.2 Program 1.4.3 Projects and Strategic 1.4.4 Project Management 1.5 Project Management and Operations 1.6 Role of a Project 1.7 Project Management Body of 1.8 Enterprise Environmental CHAPTER 2 - PROJECT LIFE CYCLE AND 2.1 The Project Life 2.1.

The backward pass

The second stage is to carry out a backward pass to calculate the latest date at which each event may be achieved, and each activity started and finished, without delaying the end dale of the project. The latest date for an event is the latest date by w hich all immediately following activities must be started for the project to be completed on time. In calculating the latest dates, we assume that the latest finish date for the project is the same as the earliest finish date - that is. we wish...

Project Phaseout

As in the main program stage, schedule is the major source of conflict during project phaseout. If schedule slippage has occurred in the main program stage and it most certainly will have , the consequences will surely be felt in this final stage. During phaseout, projects with firm deadlines develop an environment best described as hectic. The PM, project team, and functional groups often band together to do what is necessary to complete the project on time and to specification. Cost overruns,...

The Artifact Sets

To make the development of a complete software system manageable, distinct collections of information are organized into artifact sets. Each set comprises related artifacts that are persistent and in a uniform representation format (such as English text, C++, Visual Basic, Java, a standard document template, a standard spreadsheet template, or a UML model). While a set represents a complete aspect of the system, an artifact represents cohesive information that typically is developed and...

Organizational Influences on Project Management

Classical Organizational Theory

Projects are typically associated in some way with an enterprise. Examples of enterprises include corporations, government agencies, non-government organizations, healthcare institutions, international bodies, professional associations, and others. When a project involves external entities as part of a joint venture or partnering, the project will be influenced by more than one enterprise. The maturity of the enterprise with respect to its project management system, culture, style,...

How to review a specification

The review of a specification should be a team process. While the center of attention is the document and the people who wrote it, the goal should be to confirm that everyone who has to do the work agrees with what's in the document. The easiest and fastest way to do this is by getting them all together in a room so that they will all know the answers to any questions that are asked. I've seen spec reviews done via email or conference call, and I can't say I was happy with the results. As soon...

Critical Success Factors

Here are the critical success factors according to HP MAY96 Clear vision Project planning Fill key organizational roles Manage the developers Select and manage users Shift management focus Manage builds Focus on key objectives Microsoftpeople manage the evolution of products, projects and the overall organization with a remarkable minimum of politics and bureaucracy MS, page 401 Some detail about the critical factors (based partly on MAY96) Clear vision The requirements need to be clearly...

Avoiding the pitfall of backing in to your schedule

Beware of developing a schedule by backing in, that is, starting at the end of a project and working your way back toward the start to identify activities and estimate durations that allow you to meet your client's desired end date. Using this approach substantially decreases the chances that you'll meet the schedule for the following reasons i You may miss activities because your focus is on meeting a time constraint, not ensuring that you've identified all required work. i You base your...

Planning for Nonpersonnel Resources

In addition to personnel, your project may require a variety of other resources (such as furniture, fixtures, equipment, raw materials, and information) that are important to your project's success. Plan for these nonpersonnel resources the same way you plan to meet your personnel requirements. (Check out Chapter 6 for more on meeting your personnel needs.) Develop the following 1 A resources matrix for all nonpersonnel resources 1 Individual usage charts for each nonpersonnel resource 1 A...

The Business Case

Although organizations have increasingly turned to information technology to improve effectiveness and levels of efficiency, many projects have been undertaken without a thorough understanding of their full costs and risks. As a result, numerous IT projects have failed to return benefits that compensate adequately for the time and resources invested. A business case provides the first deliverable in the IT project life cycle. It provides an analysis of the organizational value, feasibility,...

Phaseto Phase Relationships

When projects are multi-phased, the phases are part of a generally sequential process designed to ensure proper control of the project and attain the desired product, service, or result. However, there are situations when a project might benefit from overlapping or concurrent phases. There are three basic types of phase-to-phase relationships A sequential relationship, where a phase can only start once the previous phase is complete. Figure 2-4 shows an example of a project with entirely...

Peer Inspections A Pragmatic View

Peer inspections are frequently overhyped as the key aspect of a quality system. In my experience, peer reviews are valuable as secondary mechanisms, but they are rarely significant contributors to quality compared with the following primary quality mechanisms and indicators, which should be emphasized in the management process Transitioning engineering information from one artifact set to another, thereby assessing the consistency, feasibility, understandability, and technology constraints...

Working with Multiple Currencies

Currencies For Project

You can set up your project to work with a different currency, and now even to work with multiple currencies in a single plan. These capabilities facilitate cost planning and management for projects that span multiple countries and their currencies. The currency used in Microsoft Project is the one you have set in your computer system's Regional And Language Options. To set up a different currency 1 On the Windows taskbar, click Start, Control Panel and then double-click Regional And Language...

The Process Capability Baseline

Whereas the PDB contains data for each project, the process capability baseline represents a snapshot of the capability of the process at some point in time in quantitative terms. The capability of a process is essentially the range of outcomes that can be expected by a project if the process is followed.5 The capability of a stable process can be determined from past performance of the process. If baselines are regularly established, trends in the process capability can easily be obtained a...

Functions Of Project Management

Function Diagram Web Project

The project management discipline covers a broad spectrum of concepts, tools, and techniques designed to enable the best possible project selection and execution. Exhibit 1.2 breaks down the discipline of project management into the major functions an organization must perform to take a project from concept to delivery. EXHIBIT 1.2 Project management functions EXHIBIT 1.2 Project management functions Pursuing the correct projects is easily as important as the effectiveness with which the...

Lower Technical Complexity

More emphasis on existing assets Shorter inception and elaboration phases More-predictable costs and schedules Figure 14-2. Priorities for tailoring the process framework My project experience has demonstrated that five people is an optimal size for an engineering team. Many studies indicate that most people can best manage four to seven things at a time. A simple extrapolation of these results suggests that there are fundamentally different management approaches needed to manage a team of 1...

Disciplines

Chapter 10 ITERATIVE PROCESS PLANNING chapter u PROJECT ORGANIZATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES chapter 12 PROCESS AUTOMATION chapter is PROJECT CONTROL AND PROCESS INSTRUMENTATION chapter i4 TAILORING THE PROCESS Software management efforts span a broad range of domains. The chapters in Part III discuss the major disciplines necessary for an effective management workflow planning, organization, automation, and project control. These disciplines of software project management are not easy to define...

Strategic Business Unit SBU Project management

Strategic Business Unit Structure

During the past ten years, large companies have restructured into strategic business units (SBUs). An grouping of functional units that have the responsibility for profit (or loss) of part of the organization' businesses. Figure 3-18 shows how one of the automotive suppliers restructured into three SBUs one Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. Each strategic business unit is large enough to maintain its own program managers. The executive in charge of the strategic business unit may act as the...

General Guidelines for Effective Communication

Choosing the right approach and the best medium are critical decisions. But how do you actually go about the process of communicating This may seem like overkill to some, but not taking the time to plan and failing to follow some basic guidelines can lead to disastrous results. Whenever you're communicating with others face to face, in writing, by phone, or through memos keep in mind these guidelines for effective communication Consider the function of the communication. Think about the purpose...

Integrating the Outlook calendar with PWA

Tipos Angina

Using Outlook 2003, you also can import assignments from PWA to your Outlook calendar. You can choose to import assignments automatically at regular intervals, or you can import them when you choose. And, you can work on tasks, record the information in Outlook, and then upload the information to PWA. New Both importing assignments into the Outlook calendar and reporting on work perFeature formed via Outlook are new features in Project 2003. Note You cannot exchange information between PWA and...

What Is Lean Commerce

Lean Commerce is the closed-loop IT-based business process model that supports manufacturing and service companies striving to reduce cycle time, flatten organizational layers, and lean processes. Lean Commerce is the business systems model that enables the Virtual Lean Enterprise by providing an overall design for the construction and use of the IT architectures for supply-chain management interchange of rapid communication of material requirements. Lean Commerce drives quick recognition and...

Finding your cost and schedule performance indexes

You can do several calculations to determine whether your software project is progressing as efficiently as you and your stakeholders expected. Use these performance indexes to trend your project's performance and predict how efficient your project will be for the duration. An index indicates how efficiently your project is progressing and may be used to predict your project's future performance. Table 14-4 summarizes the index formulas we describe in the following sections. Calculating your...

Closing Processes [Process Group Those processes performed to finalize all activities across all Project Management

Any numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the work breakdown structure. Collect Requirements Process . Collect Requirements is the process of defining and documenting stakeholders' needs to meet the project objectives. Co-location Technique . An organizational placement strategy where the project team members are physically located close to one another in order to improve communication, working relationships, and productivity. Common Cause. A...

Time Remaining

AOA Activity Information Representation Figure 15-9. AOA Activity Information Representation An AOA network is illustrated in Figure 15-10, and two AON networks are represented irFigure 15-11. AOA representations are seldom used today. Whichever network representation is used, the principles remain the same. For our purposes of network analysis, we will use the AON representation. In an AON network, there is a start node, usually placed on the left, and anendnode, placed to the...

Strategic vs Tactical Planning

Most of the focus in project management is on tactical planning. Yet if used with the wrong strategy, tactics are of little help. It is similar to using the right approach to solve the wrong problem. What is strategy Simply speaking, strategy is the approach used to do the job. As an example, for thousands of years boats were built with the keel down, that is, in its normal, upright position. That way, when the boat was finished, it could be immediately pushed into the water and floated. This...

User acceptance testing

The PACE methodology consists of the planning, activating, controlling and ending phases. Planning includes the elements of developing the project formulation documents, such as the concept, scope, charter, and project plan. The activating phase kicks in when you' re actually engaged in formulating the project ' s deliverables. Variance analysis is good to perform because it illustrates to you how close you are to your task estimates. The controlling phase involves things such as teambuilding,...

Saving and Opening with Different File Formats

A file format is an arrangement of data in a file that specifies the file type and defines the file in a way that allows any application that can open the file to open it correctly. When you cre ate and save a regular project file, it's saved as an MPP file with the .mpp extension. The .mpp extension indicates that this is indeed a regular project file. However, you can save project files in other file formats. You can also open files with other file formats in Microsoft Project. Table 29-1...

Bringing Excel workbook information into Project

Tela Project

Want to start your project in Excel You can use the Excel template and then easily transfer the information from Microsoft Excel workbooks to Microsoft Project files. The Excel template automatically installs to the Office template folder (drive Program Files Microsoft 0ffice Templates 1033) and is available in the Templates dialog box in Excel. Note The Excel template made its appearance in Project 2002. Note You can use any of the existing import export maps to either import to or export from...

Project Kick Start

Installation instructions On the main screen of the Microsoft Project 2003 Bible CD, click Project KickStart. Follow the prompts onscreen to complete the installation. Running the program This trial version of Project KickStart is compatible with Project 2003. Double-click the icon placed on your desktop during installation or click Start O Program Files O Project KickStart 3 O Project KickStart 3. The first screen of this 20-day trial version gives you the option of purchasing the full program...

Portfolio Management

See Figure 11.1 for the overall flow. This is a process to collect data, assess and report on how progress of the projects and programs within the portfolio are performing compared to the strategic plan. This process is managed by the PMO on a day-to-day or week-to-week frequency, receiving status reports and updated delivery schedules to use for publishing portfolio reports. All initiatives that are deemed Mission Critical are normally included in the project portfolio. The project portfolio...

Cost Management In Project Management Advantages

Both the cost and accuracy of parametric models vary widely. They are most likely to be reliable when the historical information used to develop the model was accurate, the parameters used in the model are readily quantifiable, and the model is scalable (i.e., it works as well for a very large project as for a very small one). An analogous estimate is one that is arrived at by taking a project or part of a project that is already completed and adjusting the cost on the basis of size. A...

Review Questions Oyk

All of the following are true regarding the Project Cost Management Knowledge Area processes except for which one (Choose the least correct answer.) A. The primary concern of the Project Cost Management Knowledge Area is determining the amount of resources needed to complete project activities. B. The Estimate Costs and Determine Budget processes can be combined into one process for small projects. C. The Estimate Cost process is closely linked with the Estimate Activity Resources process. D....

Project Estimation Techniques

Project estimation techniques are critical survival tools for predicting when a project will finish and how much it will cost. Estimating duration and cost accurately can make the difference between consistent success and frequent failure. Project managers need to use different techniques during the project phases to provide good information to the decision-makers. Let's look at some estimating situations and how to handle them properly.

Definition Of Realistic Expection

SYMBOL A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S I U V W project planning rational unified processing quality managment RBS (Resource Breakdown Structure) realistic expectation project schedules realistic expectations expectation management project schedules resource allocation 2nd 3rd 4th 5th realistic expections pro ject success tips realistic goals perception and, expectation management 2nd recognition project management as personal value points team performance principles 2nd recommended...

Process Control Index In Project Management

SYMBOL A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S I U V W scheduling software benefits calendar alignment realistic project schedules 2nd calm natured approach leadership styles calm natured techniques variance responses, project control cancellations expenses versus budget development career goals marketability experiences team performance principles career paths project management as personal value points 2nd 3rd 4th 5th cash flow budget development importance category data points logging systems...

Earned Value Analysis EVA

Eva New Costs Complition

Earned value analysis (EVA) is a formal procedure for estimating cost and schedule variances during a project and extrapolating these variances to the end of the project. The word variance is interpreted as a deviation or difference in distinction to a mean square error as in the field of statistics. An overview of the EVA concept can be gleaned from Figure 4.2. Three cumulative cost curves are depicted, each flowing from the project initiation time to the current reporting...

Review Questions

Which organization has set the de facto standards for project management techniques 2. The VP of marketing approaches you and requests that you change the visitor logon screen on the company's website to include a username with at least six characters. This is considered which of the following 3. Your company manufactures small kitchen appliances. It is introducing a new product line of appliances in designer colors with distinctive features for kitchens in small spaces. These new products will...

Resourcebased method See resource leveling

Resource breakdown structure (RBS) This is a hierarchical chart of resources that breaks down the work of the project according to the types of resources needed. resource calendars Calendars are an input to the Develop Schedule process. Resource calendars refer to specific resources or categories of resources and their individual (or group) availability. resource leveling Resource leveling is used when resources are overallocated. It attempts to smooth out the resource assignments so that tasks...

Chapter Project Time Management

Project Time Management includes the processes required to accomplish timely completion of the project. Table 6-1 provides an overview of the Project Time Management processes, which are as follows 6.1 Define Activities The process of identifying the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables. 6.2 Sequence Activities The process of identifying and documenting relationships among activities. 6.3 Estimate Activity Resources The process of estimating the type and...

Order of Magnitude Estimates How to Calculate & Present

Order of Magnitude Estimates are rough guesses made at the very beginning of the project even though little is known and everything can change as planning progresses. They use historical project data with analogous mathematics and the numbers are calculated for the whole project not for tasks or major deliverables. They are usually expressed as a range, like 150,000- 200,00 cost 125-160 days of duration. Executives hate those ranges and immediately use only he lower number.

Order of Magnitude Estimates

We use order of magnitude (OOM) estimates at the beginning of a project. During the initiation phase, executives need information about how much the project will cost and how long it will take. They must decide if the project should go forward. They may also need to integrate this project with other projects the organization is considering. The data is vital for decision-making purposes and cost-benefit decisions.

Project Cost Management

Project Cost Management includes the processes involved in estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget. Figure 7-1 provides an overview of the Project Cost Management processes which include the following 7.1 Estimate Costs The process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities. 7.2 Determine Budget The process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work...

Planning Processes

Table A.2 lists the inputs, tools and techniques, outputs, and Knowledge Areas for the processes in the Planning process group. Process Name Develop Project charter Expert judgment Project manage- Integration TABLE A.2 Planning Processes continued Define Scope Project charter Expert judgment Project scope Scope Requirements Product analysis Project document Enterprise environ- Rolling wave Activity attributes Project schedule Time network diagrams Estimate Activity Activity list Resources...

Chapter Project Cost Management

Project Cost Management includes the processes involved in estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget. Table 7-1 provides an overview of the Project Cost Management processes which include the following 7.1 Estimate Costs the process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities. 7.2 Determine Budget- -the process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work...

Tools and Techniques to Estimate Costs

Estimate Costs has nine tools and techniques used to derive estimates Project management estimating software I covered analogous estimating, parametric estimating, three-point estimate, and reserve analysis techniques in Chapter 4. These are also tools and techniques of the Estimate Activity Durations process to help determine schedule estimates. All of the information we discussed in Chapter 4 applies here as well, except you're using the tools and techniques to derive cost estimates....

Estimate Costs

Strategic Estimate Example

Estimate Costs is the process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities. See Figures 7-2 and 7-3. Cost estimates are a prediction that is based on the information known at a given point in time. It includes the identification and consideration of costing alternatives to initiate and complete the project. Cost trade-offs and risks must be considered, such as make versus buy, buy versus lease, and the sharing of resources in order to achieve...

Analogous Estimating

In many organizations, project estimates are grossly inaccurate and useless to decision-makers. The project managers estimate cost and duration by plucking numbers out of the sky or just providing estimates that have no factual basis, beyond being what the executives want to hear. For the project managers, it is hard to change a can't estimate worth a lick reputation.

Review Questions Gjh

You are the project manager for Changing Tides video games. You have gathered the inputs for the Estimate Activity Durations process. Which of the following tools and techniques will you employ to produce the outputs for this process A. Activity list, expert judgment, alternatives analysis, analogous estimating, parametric estimating, three-point estimates, and reserve analysis B. Activity list, expert judgment, analogous estimating, parametric estimating, and three-point estimates C. Expert...

Risk Management Plan

Java Exception Diagram

The risk management plan describes how risk management will be structured and performed on the project. It becomes a subset of the project management plan (Section 4.2.3.1). The risk management plan includes the following Methodology. Defines the approaches, tools, and data sourccs that may be used to perform risk management on the project. Roles and responsibilities. Defines the lead, support, and risk management team membership for cach type of activity in the risk management plan. Assigns...

Program Management Processes

Or they may see Project Management as a subset of Program Management. In addition, some organizations may not have any such programs, only projects. It is essential to be clear how the word program is being defined. In the context of OPM3, a program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. Programs may include elements of related work outside of the scope of the discrete projects in the program....

Agile Project Management Methodology

What is Agile Project Management Methodology There is lots of talk about an emerging approach to project management called Agile Project Management Methodology. Understandably, some may confuse this with managing an AGILE software development effort as part of an organization's SDLC (Systems Development LifeCycle). All caps will be used to identify the software development methodology ).

Single Project CCPM

Concerto Ccpm

CCPM develops a critical chain, rather than a critical path, as the primary focus of the project. The critical chain includes both logical and resource dependence. CCPM establishes the critical chain after removing resource contentions rather than before considering the resource limitations. The critical chain remains unchanged for the entire duration of the project and is the primary focus of the project manager. Consider the little project illustrated by Figure 8.1-4. Assuming each task is...

Planning Step Four Calculate An Initial Schedule

Calculating a schedule may be one of the most well known, but unappreciated, of all project management techniques. It can be particularly tedious and time-consuming when done by hand for large projects. Yet it is the key to establishing realistic schedules and meeting them. (The tedium involved is a compelling reason to use project management software.) Step one Forward pass Work forward from the sfarf to calculate all early start and early finish dates. Step one Forward pass Work forward from...

Precedence networks

Activity boxes allow substantial detail to be recorded on a precedence network. Where CPM networks use links to represent activities and nodes to represent events, precedence networks use boxes (nodes) to represent activities (sometimes known as work items) and links to represent dependencies. The boxes may carry task descriptions and duration estimates and the links may contain a duration denoting a lag between the completion of one task and the start of the next. In the notation we use here,...

Critical Path Method

The critical path method calculates the theoretical early start and finish dates, and late start and finish dates, for all activities without regard for any resource limitations, by performing a forward pass analysis and a backward pass analysis through the project schedule network paths. The resulting early and late start and finish dates are not necessarily the project schedule rather, they indicate the time periods within which the schedule activity should be scheduled, given activity...

Critical Path Evaluation

The critical path or the duration of a project is determined by calculating the longest logical path through the network. This path is determined by going through the following stages 1) Calculating the forward pass. 2) Calculating the backward pass. 3) Calculating the activity float and determining the critical path of the project. Each of the above stages will be examined in detail and the calculations applied to the network illustrated in Figure 3-20. Forward Pass Calculation of early start...

Project Scheduling

The earlier generation of development management produced some new project- scheduling techniques. The most notable of these was the Gantt chart created by Henry Gantt, an industrial engineer with the U.S. Army during World War I. Gantt charting was used to divide a project into phases, with each phase depicted as bars or lines that showed the status of that phase as compared to the other project phases. The late 1950s saw an increased emphasis on project scheduling, and particularly on the use...

Identifying critical activities

The critical path identifies those activities w hich are critical to the end date of the project however, activities that arc not on the critical path may become critical. As the project proceeds, activities w ill invariably use up some of their float and this will require a periodic recalculation of the network. As soon as the activities along a particular path use up their total float then that path will become a critical path and a number of hitherto non-critical activities will suddenly...