Introduction to project management (cont.) I. Web project management

1. Introduction to project management (cont.) I. Web project management • How web projects differ • Assumptions of project management II. The process of project management • Organizing a project III. What project managers do • What they deliver

2. Introduction to project management (cont.) I. Web project management • How web projects differ Characteristics of web projects Project manager is not always the client manager They serve this function in traditional projects The project life cycle is accelerated Sometimes called "death march projects" Using new and often untested technologies May involve a steep learning curve

3. More Expect scope expansion during implementation and roll-out This will involve costs ($ and time) The pricing model is not clear Varies geographically and with complexity of the project There are no clear standards for managing web projects Standards are a sign of maturity in the profession Team roles are more fluid They are being worked out, but there are some clear distinctions

4. And more Clients to not have a good understanding of the nature of web development They are not willing to bear the costs of the project This is apparent during the pre-design phases The project manager's role is expanded compared to traditional project management Especially if the manager is also the information architect

5. • Assumptions of project management These apply to the project team Everyone is working towards the same or similar goals, whatever those might be Everyone is being honest with one another An appropriate level of skill or experience is available as needed Everyone wants the project to succeed Everyone is clear and agrees on who the customer is

6. Commitment There should be an equitable commitment between the client and the project team The team is responsible for developing appropriate strategies, plans and controls for applying the necessary skills and work to carry out the project “Equitable commitment” means that both parties understand the project They know the processes and risks involved and willingly undertake the challenge The client must understand that even with appropriate management controls in place, that risks are shared

7. Success The measure of success (process and product) must be defined at the beginning of the project This becomes a basis for project management decision making and post-project evaluation Success needs to be defined in terms of Deliverables Scope, quality, relevance, effectiveness Process Time, benchmarks, cost, efficiency The timing of the measurement of success itself should be specified

8. Trade-off There are four core variables of the project management process Product scope Quality grade Time-to-produce Total cost-at-completion These must mutually consistent and attainable They are measures of internal project management efficiency If these variables are not mutually consistent and attainable, the commitment is not equitable and key success criteria are not likely to be met

9. Strategy A strategy provides a focused set of sequential and progressive phases Project work should be planned and then executed This sequential process forms the basis of the project life cycle It can be expanded to suit the control requirements of all types of projects in every area of project management The life cycle is a series of phased milestones It determines when the project starts It sets investment or control gates through which the project passes following completion of milestones and when the project is finished

10. Control Control follows from strategy, which determines what is going to be done and when Control establishes how it is going to be done and by whom Control is established in policies and procedures These include the project’s assumptions, justification and reference baseline for each core variable It is a basis for progress measurement, comparison and course adjustment Good policies and procedures define responsibilities and roles clearly, delegate authority, and set processes for managing change in the product scope and scope of work

11. Single-point responsibility A single channel of communication exists between the client and the project manager It is used for all decisions affecting product scope Free and transparent communication is indispensable for coordination of a complex set of project activities This principle is necessary for effective and efficient administration of the project The client may be more than one person, but must speak through a primary representative with access to the client's resources The project team must also have a single representative

12. Cultural environment The ability of a project team to operate effectively and efficiently is dependent upon the cultural environment The project manager must provide an informed and supportive environment to ensure that the team is able to work to the limits of its capacity This environment encompasses both internal and external project relations and values Internally, the management style of the team leader must be suited to the type of project and its phase in the project life cycle Externally, the management of the organization in which the project takes place must be supportive and the environment free of obstacles

13. Introduction to project management (cont.) I. Web project management • How web projects differ • Assumptions of project management II. The process of project management • Organizing a project III. What project managers do • What they deliver

14. The process of project management Begins with project definition Develop a mission statement Setting objectives What will this project do? These are specific and attainable outcomes that can be achieved in a specific time frame They can be measured Important: how will you know when you have fulfilled the objective Clear objectives provide guidelines for the rest of the team

15. Identify users Who are the audiences for the site? Some research will be necessary in order to identify the range of people who will use the site Understanding who these people are is necessary in order to determine if objectives have been met Take advantage of existing market research Build some market research into the budget Conduct focus groups The process is similar for intranet audiences They may vary by department or functional unit

16. Set initial scope of the project It's worth doing the work up front to set the boundaries Scope, time, and cost are linked Change one and affect the other two Problem: clients think that making changes is a simple matter of changing markup What is the client's budget? When does it have to go live? What are the main tasks to be accomplished?

17. Stating objectives What is the scope of the assignment? The objectives What are the business and marketing objectives of the project? What are the short and long term objectives? The target audience What are the demographics, psychographics; buying and usage habits; values, attitudes and lifestyles? Personality What is the tone and manner; what are the overall personality traits the project must communicate?

18. Current mind set What is the audience’s perception of the company or organization What does the target audience think about the brand, its products and services? Selling proposition What is the company’s key value proposition? How can this be translated into features of the web site? Key target audience insight What is the most compelling thing we want the target audience to think after they experience the project?

19. Projects should be organized around a business model It specifies the financial and business process implications of a project IT project teams typically focus on underlying technology issues It is the project manager’s responsibility to predict the business outcomes of the project for the client These often have a significant impact on the success or failure of a project There are business questions that should be considered by every project manager early in a project The project work plan should address these questions or assert that they are not relevant to the project

20. Are there direct costs associated with this project ? These include hardware, software, supplies,  personnel costs, and contract services Delineate one-time costs from those that will be ongoing or permanent as an outcome of the project Are there indirect costs associated with this project ? These include added workload to existing staff, long term infrastructure changes or investment, changes to business procedures, and organizational change These costs can be difficult to define in terms of quantity or duration In these cases, try to define the lower and upper parameters of the potential cost or volume impacts

21. Does the project result in a product or service that should be cost recovered from groups or departments? These include a one-time reimbursement, a fee for service structure (i.e. monthly charges, per use charges), that are factored in to existing cost allocation/ recovery arrangements Are there any potential savings as a result of this project ? If not, err on the side of caution and don’t make representations that might mislead a decision maker A successful project may improve quality or efficiency but not reduce costs or result in added cost Calculate net savings after taking into account new costs to present an accurate picture to clients MIT Information Systems. (2002). Project business models http://web.mit.edu/pm/busmods.html

22. The “work breakdown” structure is based on the mission statement Objective# Objective# Design site Develop navigation Task Develop site architecture Content list Subtask Draw wireframe Create scheme Subtask Client approval IA approval Subtask Develop prototypes Implement scheme The team helps to break down the tasks and get idea of time involved There are also the generic tasks Information architecture, site design, navigation development, creation of content, testing

23. Developing a budget Budget categories come from the work breakdown structure Each category is a line item You estimate the cost of each line item Make the assumptions explicit Content from client must be in a specific format Client has a specified amount of time to approve benchmarks and interim deliverables Designer will deliver a specified number of proptotypes for initial approval Client will provide market research information

24. Try to account for hidden costs Getting the team together for meetings Conference calls Research while developing IA Developing supporting documentation Email and administration Setting up the development site This could be an administrative line item that builds in a 10% cushion

25. The scope document Stating objectives What is the scope of the assignment? The objectives What are the business and marketing objectives of the project? Short and long-term? The target audience What are the demographics, psychographics; buying and usage habits; values, attitudes and lifestyles?

26. Personality What is the tone and manner; what are the overall personality traits the project must communicate? Key target audience insight What is the most compelling thing we want the target to think after they experience the project?

27. Introduction to project management (cont.) I. Web project management • How web projects differ • Assumptions of project management II. The process of project management • Organizing a project III. What project managers do • What they deliver

28. III. What project managers do • Being a project manager Strong project leadership is essential This is a key ingredient in ensuring a successful project effort It is important to have the right person in charge Understanding the project subject matter Consider the focus of the project What is the goal? Develop new software, create a web site, carry out a major upgrade to the IT infrastructure? Each project might require a different set of project management skills

29. You should understand the basic goals of the project You should be invested in the subject matter and and be willing to do the homework on the subject matter on the project You should have a credible understanding of the project deliverables Focus on the ultimate customers You must understand their needs You must balance the customers’ needs against those of the client You should have a plan to facilitate outreach through the project to the customer community

30. Engaging team members You must consider the nature of the project team Will it be composed of highly technical members, non-IT practitioners, customers, vendor personnel, or some or all of these You have to understand the competencies of individual team members to match skills with project tasks You have to be able to understand and engage in the talk of team members with specific subject matter expertise

31. Prior experience and credibility Think about your experience relative to the project’s size and scope This includes budget, duration, number of team members, mission criticality) Have you handled a project of similar size and priority? Does this project represent a huge jump from previously assigned work (is it a stretch?) Availability Do you have the time to lead the project? Projects managed by individuals who are over committed take longer to complete and are more likely to fail

32. • What project managers deliver Project Charters The charter defines the scope, timeframes, budget and other resource needs for a project The size and complexity of the project charter depend on the size and complexity of the project A major project’s charter includes all of the major sections of the methodology that will be used Project Plans The plan defines the specifics for managing the project The emphasis is on deliverables, detailed work plan, project organization, and risk management

33. Project plan It contains a detailed list of deliverables: Detailed work plan (both as a Gantt chart and a work breakdown structure) Task level of effort and duration estimate Detailed expression of the formal project organization Project budget A “low end” project (<1000 person-hours) has a plan with deliverables, work plan, and organization The detail should be appropriate to relative size and complexity A “high end” (>2500 person-hours) or complex project has sections on quality management and team training

34. Risk assessments The project manager identifies, categorizes, and quantifies project risks It focuses on particular factors that could undermine the success of the project It identifies high risks specific to the individual project for staff to address formally Possible categories of risk: Project size Project structure and process Project technology This activity should involve as many project team members and customers as is practical

35. Risk assessment Over time, this becomes the basis for a risk management strategy It is important to identify risk factors early and plan to reduce the impact of the risks Issue management approach A procedure for identifying and managing issues is essential to project success Without an issue management procedure at the start of a project, unresolved issues become major risks Over time, they can be destabilizing, time consuming, and demoralizing

36. Issue management approach Issue management procedures are typically documented in two deliverables: In the charter, there is a brief description of how the team will handle issues This signals the importance of controlling issues and states the intention to use a formal control process There is a detailed procedure for issues management in the project plan It defines roles, responsibilities, specific process steps, and documents (and/or tools) that will be used The major work products used are issues report forms and an issues resolution log

37. Change management approach Requests for changes (or escalated issues) affect the scope of the project These will drive a project out of control if not managed Project managers document change management in two deliverables In the charter, the scope of the project is detailed and the approach to managing change is briefly described In the project plan, there is a description of change request initiation, logging, assessment, and disposition This establishes a mechanism for managing changes early in the project, and is convenient for all participants The major work products used for change management are change request forms and a change request log

38. Quality management approach This describes a set of actions that result in quality work and quality output A formal development methodology provides ways to put quality concepts into action It helps the project manager select the right development processes It supports standardization of development performance It reminds the project manager and project team members of essential tasks

39. Quality management approach It is documented in two deliverables: In the charter, there is a description of the general approach to quality including Peer reviews Inspections of work products Formal reviews for deliverables Comprehensive components testing The project plan has a detailed description of how and where quality management will be incorporated into the project, including How staff will conduct reviews How they will develop deliverable standards of content, completeness and correctness

40. Quality management approach In the project plan, there are also Procedures outlining how to get approval on deliverables How to plan testing, design, and delivery Knowledge coordination approach This is the management of the information generated during the project All deliverables and work products are part of a project knowledge base This information should be easily accessible to the entire project team There is also a concern for accuracy and security

41. Knowledge coordination approach Two other activities are version tracking and ensuring adequate backup This is documented in two deliverables: The charter describes the overall approach used to manage the project knowledge base It includes descriptions of the project management and development deliverables and the tools that will help document them The project plan describes in detail the entire knowledge coordination process, including How the knowledge base coordinator will organize, update, provide access to, and save the knowledge base

42. Knowledge coordination approach This is documented in the project plan and includes A description of the use of storage and naming conventions for files A description of how tools “map to” particular work products An explanation of version control A description of access rights, security and backups A listing of the staff and technical resources required to accomplish this