1. Project Monitoring Review Class 22 Project Monitoring cont
CEN 4021 Class 23 – 04/06
Project Monitoring
Review Class 22
Project Monitoring cont
Analysis and Evaluation of Information

2. Project Monitoring
The regular collection of project information that is considered relevant to the measurement of the goal attainment.
The analysis and evaluation of the collected information.
The presentation and communication of the information related to project status to the project team members, upper management, and potential customers
Making projections and recommendations based on the analysis of the data.
CEN 4021 Class /06

3. Project Monitoring cont
The major goals and measurements for s/w projects include:
Schedule integrity (Tables 9.1 and 9.2)
Completeness of function (Tables 9.3 and 9.4)
Quality (Tables 9.5 and 9.6)
Budget (Tables 9.7 and 9.8)
Both activity-based and attribute-based methods may be employed for measuring schedule goals.
CEN 4021 Class /06

4. Project Monitoring cont
Schedule Integrity:
(Fill in for homework)
Completeness of Function: An attribute of a software product that describes the number of features implemented versus the number required for the s/w product.
CEN 4021 Class /06

5. Project Monitoring cont
Monitoring Quality: An attribute of a s/w product that describes how well the product satisfies and serves the needs of the users. It offers a broader view of quality than the attribute that addresses only the defects in the product.
Monitoring the Budget: An attribute of a software project that describes the financial resources allocated and expected to be followed, by some time period such as monthly or quarterly and by areas such as tools, people, travel, or education, for that project.
CEN 4021 Class /06

6. Data Collection Schedule
Formal collection of data for the purpose of project monitoring should be performed on a regular basis.
The frequency of data collection is usually based on the size of the project.
Data collected throughout the project should be maintained for historical purposes.
Using this historical data may be used to tune the parameters used in the estimation of cost and time for future projects.
CEN 4021 Class /06

7. Status Meetings
Formally collected data should be presented by the project team members to their colleagues at regular project status meetings.
Purposes of project status meeting:
A means to collect the data, and
A way to communicate those data
Note that time spent in meetings and data collection is indeed time taken away form the direct project development.
Automation and tools may be one answer.
CEN 4021 Class /06

8. Status Meetings Data collection automation/tools
Information from various stages of the s/w development process may be collected as more automation is introduced.
Borland’s Togethersoft is used to develop a design and code for the project. The same tool can provide information on how many objects, modules, or lines of code have been developed. Any other tools?
Formal project status meeting:
Meetings should not be too long, should be less than 10% of the work week.
CEN 4021 Class /06

9. Status Meetings Formal project status meeting cont:
Key personnel (managers and project team leaders) are likely to attend meetings.
If any data require additional discussion a separate meeting should be scheduled.
Watch out for “surprise” items, i.e., items that take on a life of their own.
The spmr should be disciplined enough to log surprise items onto the list of high-risk items an immediately a separate session should be scheduled.
Key attendees should not be allowed to send substitutes.
CEN 4021 Class /06

10. Status Meetings Formal project status meeting cont:
Meetings are usually well attended at the beginning of a new software project. Attendance problem tends to appear later in the project.
The key to an effective formal status meeting is to create an agenda and stay within its bounds, scheduling any subsequent and additional meetings if necessary to cover off-agenda items.
The agenda should be circulated prior to the meeting so that all the attendees are aware of the topics to be covered and the time allotted for each topic.
CEN 4021 Class /06

11. Status Meetings Formal project status meeting cont:
Each time slot should include a small buffer to allow for extra discussion on a topic.
What is on the agenda?
Agenda items need to be correlated with the project goals, i.e., attaining those goals is mainly what is under review.
Sample s/w project status meeting may have the following parts:
Review of the project and product progress metrics: schedule, items completed, cost, defects discovered and corrected, and so on.
CEN 4021 Class /06

12. Status Meetings
Review of personnel and resources: problems, rewards, and so on
Review of risk items: number, status, and so on
Review of any other items: customer status, industry status, and so on.
Spmrs need to keep in mind that while project monitoring may be the most important item for managers, other team members are equally driven to complete their tasks, usually not related to management per se.
CEN 4021 Class /06

13. Informal data gathering and monitoring
S/w projects depend heavily on the performance of people. Human performance is based on some hard-to-get information e.g.:
A false rumor
A particular tool not working
A process that is viewed as bureaucratic may be circumvented
A key employee seeking other opportunities and getting ready to resign from the project.
Spmrs need to perform conscientious socializing.
CEN 4021 Class /06

14. Informal data gathering and monitoring
Spmr should perform the following to keep the informal line of communication open:
Keep the management offices “open”
Make daily walks and visits to the team members’ offices.
Invite team members to the spmr’s office to chat about the project.
Have scheduled “lunches” with different, small groups of team members.
All of the above requires some physical contact.
CEN 4021 Class /06

15. Informal data gathering and monitoring
Physically remote environment
Many spmrs have virtual meetings instead of person-to-person contact.
Virtual meeting are held through phone, video conferencing, or bulletin boards.
If project team members are located at remote sites then the spmr needs to make a special effort to meet them in person when they start the project.
Establishing trust
The spmr must work to gain the trust of the members on the project team.
CEN 4021 Class /06

16. Informal data gathering and monitoring
Establishing trust cont
The spmr must work to gain the trust of the members on the project team.
If a team member trust the spmr it is easier to obtain the informal information (i.e., his/her true feelings regarding the project) that can be very valuable to managing the project.
Trust must be earned and it takes time to establish.
Trust is a mutual activity and must be honored on both sides.
Note that some information must never be shared, e.g., employee’s personal information.
CEN 4021 Class /06

17. Analysis and Evaluation of Information
Any data collected must be reliable, accurate and valid.
Reliable data – Data that are collected and tabulated according to the defined rules of measurement and metric.
Accurate data – Data that are collected and tabulated according to the defined level of precision of measurement and metric.
Valid data – Data that are collected, tabulated, and applied according to the defined intention of applying the measurement.
CEN 4021 Class /06

18. Analysis and Evaluation cont
The level of data accuracy includes rounding and specifying the number of significant figures.
Validity addresses the applicability of the data to assess the particular issue or to measure the particular attribute.
Distribution of Data
One of the simplest forms of analysis is to look at the distribution of the collected data.
CEN 4021 Class /06

19. Analysis and Evaluation cont
Distribution of Data cont
Data distribution – A description of a collection of data that shows the spread of the values and the frequency of occurrences of the values of the data
Go through examples of:
Skew of the distribution
Range of data values
Data trends
CEN 4021 Class /06

20. Analysis and Evaluation cont
Centrality and Dispersion
Evaluates the central tendency of the data distribution.
Provides a way to compare groups of data.
Provides spmrs a way to characterize a set of related data, whether those data deal with product quality, project productivity, or some other attribute.
Centrality analysis – is an analysis of a data set to find the typical value of that data set.
CEN 4021 Class /06

21. Analysis and Evaluation cont
Centrality and Dispersion
Go through sections:
Average value
Median Value
Standard deviation
Sometimes it is good to know how the distribution of data is dispersed form the central value of either the average or the median.
It is more difficult to utilize the central value if there is a large dispersion from the central value – average or mean value.
CEN 4021 Class /06

22. Analysis and Evaluation cont
Standard deviation cont
A very common dispersion measurement is the standard deviation (see text book for an example).
CEN 4021 Class /06