copyright irwin/mcgraw-hill 1998 1 project and process management techniques prepared by kevin c....

Prepared by Kevin C. Dittman for

Systems Analysis & Design Methods 4ed

by J. L. Whitten & L. D. BentleyCopyright Irwin/McGraw-Hill 19981

Project and Process Management Techniques

Introduction

The chapter will address the following questions: What is a project and why do you need project management? What is project management and what are the consequences of

mismanagement? What is the difference between project and process management? How do you develop or modify a work breakdown structure for a

project? How do you read Gantt charts as a model of project activities,

schedules, and progress? How do you read PERT charts as a model of project activities,

schedules, and progress? What is a typical software approach to project modeling and

management?





What is Project Management?

Introduction A definition for project:

“A project is a sequence of unique, complex, and connected activities having one goal or purpose and that must be completed by specific time, within budget, and according to specification.” Wysocki, Beck, and Crane

For any systems development project, effective project management is necessary to ensure that the project meets the deadline, is developed within an acceptable budget, and fulfills expectations and specifications. Project management is the process of defining, planning,

directing, monitoring, and controlling the development of an acceptable system at a minimum cost within a specified time frame.






Introduction Different organizations take different approaches to project

management. One approach is to appoint a project manager from the ranks of

the team (once it has been formed). • This approach is a result of the self-directed team paradigm.

But many organizations have found that successful project managers apply a unique body of knowledge and skills that must be learned.

• These organizations tend to hire and/or develop professional project managers who are assigned to one or more projects at any given time.






The Basic Functions of the Project Manager These functions include planning, staffing, organizing, scheduling,

directing, and controlling. Scoping the Project:

At a minimum, a complete project definition should include the following:• A project champion and executive sponsor.

• A brief statement the problem or opportunity to be addressed by the project.

• The project goal.

• The project objectives.

• Project assumptions and constraints. Failure to achieve consensus on the above dooms a project before

it starts.






The Basic Functions of the Project Manager Planning Project Tasks and Staffing the Project Team:

A good manager always has a plan. • Each task required to complete the project must be planned.

• The following are other planning issues.

– How much time will be required?

– How many people will be needed?

– How much will the task cost?

– What tasks must be completed before other tasks are started?

– Can some of the tasks overlap?





Process Management

Total Quality Management A development process (methodology) does not ensure quality. Quality must be managed and quality management begins with establishing

quality standards (SEI’s Capability Maturity Model): Standards for project deliverables such as reports and documentation. Modeling techniques and standards. Naming standards for models, objects, programs, databases, etc. Quality checkpoints, deliverables, and signoffs at various stages of the

projects. Technology standards such as approved graphical user interface

components and placement. Testing procedures and tolerances. Acceptance criteria for system implementation.





Process Management

Metrics and Measurement This is a relatively new dimension of process management. According to the SEI Capability Maturity Model sophisticated

development organizations measure their productivity and quality with formal metrics, and adjust the development process to affect continuous improvement.

System and software metrics is a relatively new, and rapidly changing discipline. Metrics could include: The number of faults per line of code The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of the system Ease of use Number of hours of training required to learn to use the system





Project Management Tools and Techniques

Gantt Charts The Gantt chart was first conceived by Henry L. Gantt in 1917. It is the most commonly used project scheduling and progress

evaluation tool in use. A Gantt chart is a simple horizontal bar chart that depicts

project tasks against a calendar. Each bar represents a named project task. The tasks are listed vertically in the left-hand column. On a Gantt chart, the horizontal axis is a calendar timeline.






Gantt Charts Forward and Reverse Scheduling:

Initially, you must determine the scheduling strategy to be used.

There are two basic scheduling approaches supported by most project management software tools.

• Forward scheduling establishes a project start-date and then schedules forward from that date. Based on the planned duration of required tasks, and the allocation of resources to complete those tasks, a projected project completion date is calculated.

• Reverse scheduling establishes a project deadline and then schedules backward from that date. Essentially, tasks, their duration, and resources must be chosen to ensure that the project can be completed by the deadline.






Gantt Charts Let’s look at a Gantt Chart






Gantt Charts Work Breakdown Structures:

Most projects can be defined by a hierarchical breakdown of the required work.

• A work breakdown structure is a hierarchical decomposition of the project into phases, activities, and tasks.

Summary tasks are work units which are broken down into more detailed work units called primitive tasks.

• The duration of summary tasks will be automatically be calculated based on the duration of primitive tasks that will not be broken down into more granular work units.

Milestones are events that signify major accomplishments or events during a project.






Gantt Charts Effort and Duration:

For each primitive task, the duration needs to be estimated.• This will determine the length of the bars in the Gantt Chart.

Sample estimating technique:• Estimate the minimum amount of time it would take to perform

the task - called the optimistic time (OT).

– The optimistic time estimate assumes that even the most likely interruptions or delays — such as occasional employee illnesses — will not happen.

• Estimate the maximum amount of time it would take to perform the task - called the pessimistic time (PT).

– The pessimistic time estimate assumes that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.






Gantt Charts Effort and Duration:

Sample estimating technique: (continued)• Calculate the most likely time (MLT) that will be needed to

perform the task.

– Don't take the median of the optimistic and pessimistic times.

– Attempt to identify interruptions or delays that are likely to occur, such as occasional employee illnesses, inexperienced personnel, and occasional training.

• Calculate the expected duration (ED) as follows:ED = OT + (4 x MLT) + PT

6

– This formula provides a weighted average of the various estimates.






Gantt Charts Predecessors and Constraints:

The start of any given task may be dependent on the start or completion of another previous task.

Additionally, the completion of a task is frequently dependent on the completion of a prior task.

Milestones almost always have several predecessors that signify those tasks that must be completed before you can say that the milestone has been achieved.






Gantt Charts Critical Path and Slack Resources:

The critical path is a sequence of dependent project tasks that have the largest sum of estimated durations.

• It is the path that has no slack time built in. • If any of these tasks fall behind schedule, the project’s completion

date will be delayed. The slack time available for any task is equal to the difference

between the earliest and latest completion times. • Tasks that have slack time can get behind schedule by an amount

less than or equal to that slack time without having any impact on the project’s final completion date.

Understanding the critical path and slack resources in a project are indispensable to the project manager.






Gantt Charts Resource Assignment and Management:

Resources are people, material, and tools that you assign to the completion of a task.

Resources may be constrained by the following:• Resources available to the project manager.

• Competition with other managers and project for a resource’s time.

• Calendars of resources. Costs can be assigned to resources to assist in budgeting the

project. • If actual time spent on tasks is also recorded, budgets can be

compared to actual expenses.






Gantt Charts Using Gantt Charts to Evaluate Progress:

One of the project manager's frequent responsibilities is to report project progress to superiors.

Gantt charts frequently find their way into progress reports because they can conveniently compare the original schedule with actual performance.

• This requires timely progress updates, usually via status reports






PERT Charts PERT stands for Project Evaluation and Review Technique. Was developed in the late 1950s to plan and control large weapons

development projects for the U.S. Navy. It was developed to make clear the interdependence of project

tasks when projects are being scheduled. PERT is a graphic networking technique.






PERT Charts The Critical Path in a PERT Network:

Critical path example:Path 1: A(3) B(2) C(2) D(7) H(5)

Path 2: A(3) B(2) C(2) E(6) H(5)

Path 3: A(3) B(2) C(2) F(3) H(5)

Path 4: A(3) B(2) C(2) G(2) H(5)

• The total expected duration time for a path is equivalent to the sum of the expected duration times for each task in the path.

Path 1: 3 + 2 + 2 + 7 + 0 + 5 = 19

Path 2: 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 0 + 5 = 18

Path 3: 3 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 0 + 5 = 15

Path 4: 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 5 = 14

• Path 1 is the critical path. It indicates that the expected time for completing the programming project is 19 days.






PERT Charts PERT versus Gantt Charting:

PERT is usually recommended for larger projects with high intertask dependency.

Gantt is recommended for simpler projects. PERT and Gantt charts can be used in a complementary

manner to plan, schedule, evaluate, and control systems development projects.

Most information systems project managers seem to prefer Gantt charts because of their simplicity and ability to show the schedule of a project.





Expectations Management

The Expectations Management Matrix Every project has goals and constraints when it comes to cost,

schedule, scope, and quality. Often you must strike a balance that is both feasible and

acceptable to management. That is the purpose of the expectations management matrix.

• An expectations management matrix is a rule-driven tool for helping management appreciate the dynamics of changing project parameters. The parameters include cost, schedule, scope, and quality.





Expectations Management

The Expectations Management Matrix The basic matrix consists of three rows and three columns (plus

headings). The rows correspond to the measures of success in any project:

cost, schedule, and scope and/or quality. The columns correspond to priorities: first, second, and third.

• For purposes of establishing expectations, we assign names to the priorities as follows:

– Maximize or minimize -- The most important of the three measures in a given project.

– Constrain -- The second most important of the three measures in a project.

– Accept -- The least important of the three measures in a project.





Priorities Measures of Success

Max or Min Constraint Accept

CostScheduleScope and/or Quality

Priorities

#1 #2 #3





People Management

The Subtle Art of Delegation and Accountability In The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, Kenneth

Blanchard teams with William Oncken and Hal Burrows to help managers overcome this problem. The solution is based on Oncken's classic principle of ``the

care and feeding of monkeys.'' • Monkeys refer to problems that managers delegate to their

subordinates who, in turn, attempt to reverse-delegate back to the manager.

• This book the authors teach managers how to keep the monkeys on the subordinates' backs.

• Doing so increases the manager's available work time, accelerates task accomplishment by subordinates, and teaches subordinates how to solve their own problems.





Summary

Introduction What is Project Management? Process Management Expectations Management People Management

copyright irwin/mcgraw-hill 1998 1 project and process management techniques prepared by kevin c....

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