Introduction to Project

Management
Project?

A project is a unique, transient endeavour, undertaken to achieve planned

objectives, which could be defined in terms of outputs, outcomes or benefits.
A project is a unique, transient endeavour, undertaken to achieve planned
objectives, which could be defined in terms of outputs, outcomes or benefits.
Project?

A project is usually deemed to

be a success if it achieves the
objectives according to their
acceptance criteria, within an
agreed timescale and budget.
Project Management

Project management is the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills

and experience to achieve the project objectives.
Project Management Processes
Project management processes fall into five groups:
1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitoring and Controlling
5. Closing
Core Components of Project
Management
The core components of project management are:
 defining the reason why a project is necessary;
 capturing project requirements, specifying quality of the deliverables,
estimating resources and timescales;
 preparing a business case to justify the investment;
 securing corporate agreement and funding;
 developing and implementing a management plan for the project;
 leading and motivating the project delivery team;
Core Components of Project
Management
The core components of project management are:
 managing the risks, issues and changes on the project;
 monitoring progress against plan;
 managing the project budget;
 maintaining communications with stakeholders and the project
organisation;
 provider management;
 closing the project in a controlled fashion when appropriate.
Project Management Knowledge Areas
1. Integration 7. Human resources
2. Scope 8. Communications
3. Time 9. Risk management
4. Cost 10.Stakeholder
5. Quality management
6. Procurement
Software Projects
Software Projects

A project whose goal is the development of a software product

Unique properties of Software Projects
Software projects have several properties that make them very different to other kinds of
engineering project.
1. The product is intangible. Its hard to claim a bridge is 90% complete if there is not 90% of
the bridge there. It is easy to claim that a software project is 90% complete, even if there
are no visible outcomes.
2. We don’t have much experience. Software engineering is a new discipline, and so we do
not have much poven approaches to managing software projects.
3. Large software projects are often “bespoke”. Most large software systems are one-off,
with experience gained in one project being of little help in another.
4. Technology changes very quickly. Most large software projects employ new technology;
for many projects, this is the reason we have much understanding of how to engineer
large scale software projects.
Software Project Management

Software project management is the art and science of planning and

leading software projects.
It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software
projects are planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.
Software Project Management Activities
Activities in software project management:
1. Project planning;
2. Project scheduling;
3. Risk management;
4. Managing people.
Project Planning

 The biggest single problem that afflicts software development is

that of underestimating resources required for a project.
 Developing a realistic project plan is essential to gain an
understanding of the resources required, and how these should
be applied.
Project Planning
Types of plans:
 Software development plan. The central plan, which describes
how the system will be developed.
 Quality assurance plan. Specifies the quality procedures &
standards to be used.
 Validation plan. Defines how a client will validate the system that
has been developed.
Project Planning

 Configuration management plan. Defines how the system will be

configured and installed.
 Maintenance plan. Defines how the system will be maintained.
 Staff development plan. Describes how the skills of the
participants will be developed.
Project Planning – Software Development
Plan
 This is usually what is meant by a project plan.
 Specifies the order of work to be carried out, resources, responsibilities, and
so on.
 Varies from small and relatively informal to large and very formal.
 Developing a project plan is as important as properly designing code:
 On the basis of a project plan, contracts will be signed and careers made or
broken. . .
Project Planning – Software Development
Plan

Important not to:

– overestimate your team’s ability;
– simply tell clients what they want to hear;
– be pressured by developers (“we can do that in an afternoon!”)
Structure of a Software Development Plan
1. Introduction: Brief intro to project—references to requirements
spec
2. Project organisation: intro to organisations, people, and their
roles
3. Risk Analysis: what are the key risks to the project?
4. Hardware and software resources: what h/ware and s/ware
resources will be required for the project and when?
Structure of a Software Development Plan

5. Work breakdown: the project divided into activities, milestones,

deliverables; dependencies between tasks etc
6. Project schedule: actual time required —allocation of dates
7. Reporting and progress measurement: mechanisms to monitor
progress.
Work Breakdown
There are many ways of breaking down the activities in a project, but
the most usual is into:
 Work packages;
 Tasks;
 Deliverables;
 Milestones.
Work Breakdown - Work package
A work package is a large, logically distinct section of work:
 typically at least 12 months duration;
 may include multiple concurrent activities;
 independent of other activities;
 but may depend on, or feed into other activities;
 typically allocated to a single team.
Work Breakdown - Task
A task is typically a much smaller piece of work:
A part of a work package.

 Typically 3–6 person months effort;

 May be dependent on other concurrent activities;
 Typically allocated to a single person.
Work Breakdown - Deliverable
A deliverable is an output of the project that can meaningfully be
assessed.
Examples:
 A report (e.g., requirements spec);
 Code (e.g., alpha tested product).
Deliverables are indicators (but only indicators) of progress.
Work Breakdown - Milestone
A milestone is a point at which progress on the project may be
assessed.
Typically a major turning point in the project.

EXAMPLES:
 Delivery of requirements spec;
 Delivery of alpha tested code.
Work Breakdown
For each work package & task, it is usual to document:
1. Brief description;
2. Earliest start date;
3. Earliest end date;
4. Total person months effort;
5. Pre-requisite WPs or tasks;
6. Dependent WPs or tasks;
7. Who is responsible.
Critical paths
 The pre-requisites and dependencies of WPs and tasks determine
a critical path: the sequence of dependencies in the project.
 The critical path is the sequence of activities that takes the longest
time to complete.
 Any delay to an activity in the critical path will cause delays to the
overall project.
 Delays to activities not on the critical path need not necessarily
cause overall delays.
Risks
When planning a project, it is critically important to know what the
key risks are, and is possible plan for them:

 Staff turnover;  Specification delays;

 Management change;  Size underestimate;
 Hardware unavailability;  Technology change;
 Requirements change;  Product competition.
A Sample Project!
Assignment 1
Develop a software project description to specify the following details;
1. The activities in the project
2. The duration of each activity
3. The persons tasked with each activity
4. The resources (equipment, licenses etc ) required for each activity
5. Pre requisites and dependencies for each activity
Online Discussions

Topic: Project Management

Reading: Ian Sommerville SE 9 Chapter 22.
Discussion Question: Discuss a specific case study of how project
risks resulted in the failure of a software project in Kenya.
Next Class

Project Management Software – MS Project 2013 – Trial Version

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-project-
professional-2013
Class After Next!

Online Project Management Software

https://basecamp.com/