CS616 Software Engineering School of CSIS, Pace University

1. CS616 Software Engineering School of CSIS, Pace University Software Project Management Practical Approach By the Current Industry QA Team Presentation 03/30/2006

2. Presentation Overview • Introduction • Project Management Basic Terminology • Why Project Management? • Project Life Cycle • Project Risk Management • Communication • Project Closure • PM Fun!! • Conclusions

3. Introduction Team 1 : Team Members Srinivas Vittal Raghu Basavaraju Hanting Lin Ancey Varghese Team Website : http://utopia.csis.pace.edu/cs615/2005-2006/team1/

4. Why Project Management? To avoid this…

5. What is a Project? What is Project Management?

6. What is a Project? • Definition: • A project is a temporary effort, undertaken with a defined start and end date, to create a unique product, service, or result. Source : Project Management Institute http://www.pmi.org

7. What is Project Management? • Definition: • The art of balancing competing demands among scope, time, cost and quality. • Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed the Sponsors needs and expectations.

8. Project Characteristics • What are the 3 characteristics which define a project? • Scope/Objectives (products, deliverables) • Time (project schedule) • Cost (budget) Implemented against: • Resource constraints / availability • Risks & issues • Other competing priorities

9. Value of Project Management • Why Undertake Projects? • To deliver a benefit to the organization • To support the business strategy • To identify and resolve major problems / issues • To establish a solid foundation for a new product • To provides guidance in organizing and staffing deliverables In summary: • To enhance the value of the organization through the timely delivery of objectives, in the most cost effective way possible with the right resources providing subject matter expertise.

10. Benefits of Project Management • What are the benefits? • Less wasted effort • Less hassles due to clear objectives • Projects delivered on-time and within budget • Projects meet the needs of the business and deliver business benefits. • Improved resource and budget control • Better coordination of efforts and activities • Increased customer satisfaction • Recognition of success

11. How to get from a Concept to a Product? • Coordinate requirements definition, architecture definition, system implementation and testing efforts – Project Management • Use process models to guide you through these activities • What activity needs to be done next • How much of the it needs to be done • Project plan = Instance of process model

12. Why? What? When? Who? Where? How? How Much? Whereas Objectives Milestones & Products Responsibilities Approach Resources & Effort Assumptions Project Plan – What does it provide

13. Project Planning - How to Begin?

14. 1st Step • Sit with the Project Sponsor to discuss and document what he/she is looking to achieve by this project. • understand their passion for the end result • clarify the real scope and objectives of the project • determine constraints (time, $, dependencies) • answer the question “What do I have to do?” • be able to successfully create a Project Charter and get it approved / signed-off by the Project Sponsor

15. 2nd Step • Break down the scope into manageable pieces - “Work Breakdown Structure” (WBS). A planning exercise designed to: • break down the project by componentof work, not by department • ensure that you have captured and identified all of the tasks and activities involved to successfully deliver the project • allow you to easily quantify and estimate each deliverable with more confidence • involve the Team in the planning process to create ownership

16. Sample WBS

17. Sample : Utopia Project Schedule

18. Risk Management

19. Issues vs. Risks An issue is a problem that is currently impacting on a project…….. A risk is a problem which may impact the project and jeopardize its success.

20. Risk Management • Definitions: • What is Risk? • The chance of exposure to the adverse consequences of future events - i.e. threats to the management of the project. • What is Risk Analysis? • The identification and definition of risks, plus the evaluation of impact and resulting action. • What is Risk Management? • The activities involved in the planning, monitoring and controlling of actions that will address the threats and problems identified, so as to improve the likelihood of the project achieving its stated objectives.

21. Types of Risks • Typical Project Risks: • Project timescales, deliverables, milestones • Requirements definitions, spec’s • Project management and control • Resource limitations, constraints • Technical complexity • Contractual obligations with consultants / external suppliers • Internal organizational constraints, policy, priorities

22. Risk Management Process • Risk Assessment: High ADDRESS & ACTION !!! CONSIDER PROBABILITY WATCH !!! CONSIDER Low Low High IMPACT

23. Communication & Reporting

24. Communication & Reporting • Why is Communication & Reporting important in the conduct of a project? • Keeps everyone up-to-date • Promotes confidence • Builds understanding throughout Team, projects culture • Builds good working relationships • Creates discipline • Removes immediacy -I need this information now !! • Eliminates surprises !!

25. Communication & Reporting • What ways can the Sponsor and Project Manager communicate? • Progress Reports (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) • Checkpoint Meetings (at the end of each Phase of Work) • Review progress since last meeting • Agree to proceed to next phase • Steering Committee Meetings • Team Meetings • Chat in the hallway - How’s it going? Don’t wait for problems to occur to start communicating !!

26. Communication & Reporting • What is reported on? • Good News • Bad News • Issues & Risks • Achievements for the period

27. Communication – An In Depth Look…

28. What is Communication anyway? • Communication is defined as the interchange of thoughts or opinions through shared symbols; e.g. language, words, phrases • Some synonyms of the word communication:message,directive, word, contact, commerce, communion, intercommunication; converse, exchange, interchange, conversing, discussing, talking;

29. The facets of Communication • Sender the person trying to communicate a message • Receiver the person at whom the message is directed • Information that a message is sent to convey • Behavior that the Information is meant to change (Value added)

30. Barriers to Communication • Human nature: Peoples’ egos, prejudices, and traditions can get in the way • Conflicting feelings, goals, opinions: If people feel on opposite sides of an issue they may not share • Power: The idea that knowledge is power can lead to information hoarding

31. Barriers to Communication • Unclear process: The receiver and sender may not share the same language, slang, jargon, vocabulary, symbols • Chain of command: There may be too many layers that a message passes through between sender and receiver • Large size of an organization, geographic distance: Large numbers of receivers require good message sending methods • Personal limitations: Physical and mental disabilities, and differences in intelligence and education

32. Its time for some PM Fun !!!

33. Managed the resources $$$ ?

34. Managed the resources ?

36. Buck passer • The wise project manager maintains a list of people to whom the buck can be passed when this becomes necessary and allocates priorities (proportionate with the degree of aggravation casued to the project manager). • line managers who failed to give up their claim to resources... • controllers of corporate purse strings who failed to cough up the necessary readies.. • project board members, who questioned the validity of the project, or started raising awkward bloody questions about status reports, ……self righteous, megalomaniac, meddling gits....er you get the message.

37. The wise project manager maintains a list of people to whom the buck can be passed.

39. Project Closure • What is it? (continued) • Formalizing acceptance • By the Project Sponsor • Customer confirms all requirements for the product have been delivered • Noting open items • Analyzing project success and effectiveness • Studying what went right and what went wrong • Archiving project records

40. Project Closure • Lessons Learned • A forum to discuss and document positive and negative attributes of a completed project • Dissect the project process, NOT the people • No finger pointing • Don’t gloss over specifics – ideas for improvement grow out of the specifics • The Project Manager can get the session rolling, but the information should come from the Team • Conclude by translating recommendations into action items

41. Conclusions Team 1 : Quality Assurance Q&A with QA Team