Software Project Management

1. Software Project Management “What is happening in the project?” TCS2411 Software Engineering

2. Lecture Objectives • To discuss the various aspects of project management • To understand the tasks in software project management • To describe the project titles in the course • To describe the requirements of a project plan TCS2411 Software Engineering

3. Project • Definition: A group of tasks performed in a definable time period in order to meet a specific set of objectives • Project Features: • likely to be unique (one-time program) • have specific start and end time (life cycle) • have work scope that can be categorised into definable tasks • has a budget, require use of resources TCS2411 Software Engineering

4. What is involved • People — the most important element of a successful project • Product — the software to be built • Process — the set of framework activities and software engineering tasks to get the job done • Project — all work required to make the product a reality TCS2411 Software Engineering

5. A Simple Project “Going to the movies with friends” TCS2411 Software Engineering

6. Management • The planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling of a company’s resources to meet the company’s objectives TCS2411 Software Engineering

7. Definition of Project Management • The planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of resources for a specific time period to meet a specific set of one-time objectives TCS2411 Software Engineering

8. Primary Objectives of Project Management • To meet specified performance • ... within cost • ... and on schedule TCS2411 Software Engineering

9. Project Management Activities • Establish project objectives • Defining work requirement • Determining work timing • Establishing resource availability and requirements • Establishing a cost baseline • Evaluating and optimising the baseline plan TCS2411 Software Engineering

10. Project Management Activities (Continued) • Freezing the baseline plan • Tracking the actual costs • Comparing the progress and cost to the baseline plan • Evaluating performance • Forecasting, analysing and recommending corrective action TCS2411 Software Engineering

11. Benefits of Project Management • Identification of function responsibilities to ensure that all activities are accounted for, regardless of personnel turnover • Minimizing the need for continuous reporting • Identification of time limits for scheduling • Identification of a methodology for tradeoff analysis TCS2411 Software Engineering

12. Benefits of Project Management (Continued) • Measurement of accomplishment against plans • Early identification of problems • Improved estimating capabilities for future planning • Knowing when objectives cannot be met or will be exceeded TCS2411 Software Engineering

13. Software Projects Factors that influence the end result ... Factors that influence the end result ... • size • delivery deadline • budgets and costs • application domain • technology to be implemented • system constraints • user requirements • available resources TCS2411 Software Engineering

14. Project Management Concerns TCS2411 Software Engineering

15. Project Management Problems • Resources inadequate • Meeting (“unrealistic”) deadlines • Unclear goals/direction • Team members uncommitted • Insufficient planning • Breakdowns in communications • Changes in goals and resources • Conflicts between departments or functions TCS2411 Software Engineering

16. Resources of A Company • Money • Manpower • Equipment • Facilities • Materials • Information/technology TCS2411 Software Engineering

17. Obstacles in Project Management • Project complexity • Customer’s special requirement • Organizational restructuring • Project risks • Changes in technology • Forward planning and pricing TCS2411 Software Engineering

18. Project Management Skills • Communication Skills • Organizational Skills • Team Building Skills • Leadership Skills • Coping Skills • Technological Skills TCS2411 Software Engineering

19. Project Titles • Select one of the following project titles: TCS2411 Software Engineering

20. Project Plan “What are you going to do in the project?” TCS2411 Software Engineering

21. Project Plan Elements • Project Objective & Scope • Schedule • Team Organization • Project Standards and Procedures • Documentation Plan • Quality Assurance Plan • Resource Management Plan • Configuration Management Plan TCS2411 Software Engineering

22. Organizational Paradigms closed paradigm—structures a team along a traditional hierarchy of authority. Hierarchical Organization TCS2411 Software Engineering

23. Organizational Paradigms continue random paradigm—structures a team loosely and depends on individual initiative of the team members Democratic Organization TCS2411 Software Engineering

24. Other organizational structure • open paradigm—attempts to structure a team in a manner that achieves some of the controls associated with the closed paradigm but also much of the innovation that occurs when using the random paradigm • synchronous paradigm—relies on the natural compartment-alization of a problem and organizes team members to work on pieces of the problem with little active communication among themselves TCS2411 Software Engineering

25. Team Leader • Communications with Lecturer • Coordination of Project Activities • Final say in decisions if the team is unable to reach a decision TCS2411 Software Engineering

26. Programming Leader • Responsible for programming activities • Coordination of software development tasks • Knowledge of programming language and tools TCS2411 Software Engineering

27. Quality Manager • Responsible for quality in project work • Coordination of testing and review activities • Ensure that quality standards are adhered e.g. version control and document formats TCS2411 Software Engineering

28. Document Manager • Responsible for documentation activities • Coordination of document preparation tasks • Keeps ‘master copy’ of all project documents TCS2411 Software Engineering

29. Resource Manager • Responsible for project resources • Treasurer - manages the costs of the project • Ensures that resources are obtained for project tasks e.g. computer resources TCS2411 Software Engineering

30. Project Standards Example • All documents must have a version number • All documents must be prepared using MS Word • All meetings must have minutes • Project file name extensions, suffixes, prefixes TCS2411 Software Engineering

31. Software Configuration • Computer programs • Source code • Executable code • Documents that describe the computer programs • For technical staff • For users • Data • Within the program and external to it TCS2411 Software Engineering

32. Software Configuration Item • A document or an artifact that is explicitly placed under configuration control and that can be regarded as a basic unit for modification • Examples: • requirement documents • design document • code of a module • test plan TCS2411 Software Engineering

33. References • “Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach” 5th Ed. by Roger S. Pressman, Mc-Graw-Hill, 2001 • “Project Management: A Managerial Approach” by Jack R. Meredith & Samuel J. Mantel, Jr. , John Wiley, 1989 • “Project Management: Principles and Practices” by M. Pete Spinner, Prentice-Hall, 1997 • “Goal Directed Project Management”, 2nd Edition, by Erling S. Andersen, Kristoffer V. Grude & Tor Haug, Kogan Page, 1995 TCS2411 Software Engineering