1. Project Planning: Resources Assignment José Onofre Montesa Andrés Universidad Politécnica de Valencia Escuela Superior de Informática Aplicada 2003-2004

2. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment1 Resources Assignment It’s the process in which we associate to each one of the project tasks the necessary people and materials so that tasks can be accomplished Human resources are the most important economic issues in software projects. More important than the material resources (Hardware and installations).

3. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment2 Human Resources? People are not human resources. They are human beings, with they right to be different. In future enterprises –They will have the knowledge as their main resource, –The organizations will be mainly made of specialists that work accordingly to the information they receive.

4. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment3 Other important resources: HARDWARE Hw costs are decrease continuously. The hardware resources use depends on the quantity of people assign to the project.

5. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment4 Other important resources: CONSULTANTS They are outside professionals. They support tasks were the enterprise has no experience. In complex projects they can reach a cost similar to the developers cost.

6. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment5 Other important resources: Clients and users The user are present in every stage of the project, mainly in analysis and test. Usually they aren’t taken into account when planning, this fault is noticed when: –Users complain: “We have wasted so much time and...” –When a user excuses himself for not attending a meeting due to work problems.

7. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment6 In addition to the project assignment tasks. In other to a team accomplish their work it’s necessary: –tasks themselves. –the team maintenance tasks: –cohesion maintenance, motivation and general willing to achieve the task. –To satisfy individuals needs: –which helps the member to feel part of the team and empowers him to do his best.

8. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment7 Don´t force the plans below what is foreseeable. The plans condemn the project to failure, whatever the personnel quality or the used tools and processes. If the elapsed time or budget are shortened... –the staff won´t be efficient, –they won’t try harder if the goal is impossible to reach. Even worse, when the delays start, –The moral will suffer and the project will probably take more time than if it had been made in a reasonable way.

9. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment8 Determining project elapsed time. Points of view: –from software developer: Software is the creation goal. Project is the way. –from user and client Software: “Is what I need to reach my business goals” Project: “It’s the hard time”

10. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment9 Determining project elapsed time. Balance: –How much this project will cost, –When it will be available for the user.

11. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment10 Project temporal limits vs. resources assignment A project effort of 165 person/month One person in 15 Years –It won’t be necessary –Opportunity costs –Out of date when delivered –It can require specialists 3.300 Persons in one day –Tasks sequence

12. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment11 The elapsed time must be adjusted to: Business aspects, Development technical aspects – maximum quantity of resources in each tasks, Management aspects –development team as smallest as possible, –avoid communication and coordination problems

13. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment12 Determining the delivery time. Negotiation. Selecting an alternative Empirical method (Putnam and Norden).

14. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment13 Negotiation. It’s right, commercial spirit, but dangerous if... –We start to negotiate without a clear specification from the client. –The user knows but little about present development techniques. –The user needs the software as soon as possible. –The DPC director or the project chief negotiates with a higher hierarchical level user. –The users work is to contract services to outside enterprises and they know that the offer can always be decreased.

15. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment14 negotiation (only) can lead to: Strong personal commitment from the project manager. The developer take little participation when fixing the timetable. This is an ideal situation for failure: Unknowing the user’s needs leads to underestimating them. The manager own commitment will hardly be supported by his subordinates.

16. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment15 Selecting an alternative. I want to have a funny evening... … Each one has his own taste...

17. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment16 We can offer: Different designs… Different plans for a given design. Different points of view to development: –In house development, –Outsourcing, –Software of the shelf.

18. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment17 Putnam y Norden empirical method. The amount of people needed in a project depends on the moment where we are.

19. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment18 Curve for a 165 man-month project

20. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment19 Wasted effort Effort not available when needed Effort applied too late Extra effort needed for compensating the incorrect asssignement

21. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment20 We can adapted to: Maximum quantity of people available.

22. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment21 Boehm, defines the impossible region,... Regarding the project duration, he indicates that, from the specification to the delivery, of a software project, it can’t be less than And 99% of projects comply with it.

23. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment22 Usual types of resources. Work Place of work Equipment Basic material for the development office material

24. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment23 Usual types of resources: work Development team Development support Clients y users

25. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment24 Usual types of resources: Place of work Meeting rooms Development environment: Silent quiet Data withdrawal areas

26. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment25 Usual types of resources: Equipment Office furniture Computers Presentations material

27. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment26 Usual types of resources: Basic development material O.S., development languages, development tools (case). Software manuals: initiation, user’s manual, libraries, etc.. Books regarding development techniques

28. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment27 Usual types of resources: office material Desk materials: pens, clips, staples... Needed material for the equipment: printer’s ink, toner...

29. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment28 Lasting of tasks Resources effort Lasting Effort and lasting of tasks Assigning people to tasks Task type and lasting according to de number of people assigned.

30. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment29 Effort and lasting of tasks

31. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment30 Difference between work effort and elapsed duration... Re-work or defect repair on previously completed dependent tasks. Holidays, weekends and public holidays. Consulting or coaching other teams members. Rostered days off. Non project administration. Non project education and team coaching.

32. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment31 Difference between work effort and elapsed duration... Non project meetings. Interruptions including phone calls. Non project paperwork. Wait time for meetings, results. Switch time, e.g., the time required to “switch” between tasks. It is not unusual for this factors to account for 30% to 50% of the elapsed day.

33. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment32 the more experienced people the more affected They must train and teach the project personnel in unforeseen subjects; They are consulted by others projects, and they are usually asked to attend meetings, presentations... which had no relation with the present project.

34. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment33 Assigning people to tasks

35. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment34 Assigning people to tasks It’s better to have a small team with good professionals. With the right people, even if tools, languages and processes are not enough, it can be successful. Otherwise it seems impossible. But: –If we entrust everything to few people. –What happen if they leave the company? We need to balance the personnel.

36. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment35 We evaluate employee-task according to this aspects: The KAS, technical capability: –Knowledge to carry out the task, –Ability to have the task done, and –Skills necessaries in the subject. The MAC, cognitive, willpower: –Motivation, –Assurance, and –Commitment.

37. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment36 Assigning people to tasks. Either the person: Can do the job and wants to do it. Can do the job and is prepared to do it. Can do the job and isn’t prepared to do it. Can be trained/instructed into doing the job. Cannot do the job.

38. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment37 Can do the job and wants to do it. it is the ideal one –If as part of your project, you can get a person doing what he or she wants to do, you have harnessed the greatest power on the earth.

39. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment38 Can do the job and is prepared to do it. It’s still OK. –If what people are asked to do doesn’t fit in with their own personal plans then in the long term, I believe that you are swimming against the tide.

40. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment39 Can do the job and isn’t prepared to do it. You’ve got a problem. The person can do the job but won't.... revert to either situation 1 or 5.

41. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment40 Can be trained/instructed into doing the job. Then provided: –You are prepared to put in the training time and money. –and you allow for training time in the project schedule. –and you allow for the extra management overhead. –and you’re prepared to run with the risk that if it might not work out.

42. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment41 Cannot do the job. You have a major problem. you need to find jobs within your project that the person can do.

43. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment42 Task type and lasting according to de number of people assigned We can assign a certain number of people to one task. The proportion between number of people assigned to a task and effort has no lineal relation. Assigning more people to a project when it is in it’s half way doesn’t necessary reduce its duration.

44. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment43 Task type and lasting according to de number of people assigned 1) Task can be partitioned perfectly. 2) Task cannot be partitioned. 3) Task can be partitioned but require communication among the subtasks. 4) the task is complex adding more workers lengthen the schedule.

45. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment44 1) Task can be partitioned among many workers with no communication among them.

46. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment45 2) Task cannot be partitioned because of sequential constraints. the bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned.

47. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment46 3) Task can be partitioned but require communication among the subtasks.

48. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment47 4) If the task is complex the communication increases in a way that adding more workers lengthen the schedule.

49. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment48 Once the task assigned, we’ll have PROJECT TASKS Human resources Assigning

50. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment49 Tasks consistent assigning. Manager’s vision of the job differs from employee vision. Assign the people the tasks they want. Work assignments with employees. Have a list of goals per employee. Meet till the assigning is clear.

51. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment50 Some Conclusions Minimum development cost –Time: Use specialists in each work area. (As much as you can). –Money Use the necessary workers to carry the tasks and with some knowledge about the work areas.

52. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment51 Some Conclusions. Long term minimum cost (future maintenance and other projects) –Less experienced workers work in the development, with same guidance by expert people. –Promote each person. Identify people objectives and made each project a step toward their own objectives.

53. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment52 It’s interesting to remember that: The programmers productivity have a high variation, it’s usual the relation 1:5. In one study, they find variability between 1 a 26 in the productivity level. This want to said... –In the critical tasks put people with experience, reputation and motivation. –It´s expected that they are the more productive ones.

54. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment53 TASK CARD Task specification Number: 3.1. Name: Data Base Design. Description:Designing the data base as.... Estimated Effort : 2 weeks/person Personnel:1 Designer … Resources:Meeting room … Elapsed time:2 weeks Deliverables: D.B. implementation structure …:……:…

55. GPI-2E Project Planning: Resources Assignment54 Bibliography Blanchard, K., Johnson, S. “El ejecutivo al minuto”. Grijalbo Mandadori, S.A. 1983. Brooks, Frederick P. The mythical man-month: essays on software engineering. Addison-Wesley, 1995. DeMarco, Tom. Controlling Software Projects. Prentice Hall, 1982. Fergus O'Connell. "How to run successful projects". Prentice Hall, 1994. Metzger, P. Boddie, J. “Managing a programming project: people and processes” 3 ed. Prentice Hall, 1996. Thomsett, R. “Third Wave Project Management”. Prentice Hall, 1993. Yourdon, Edward. Análisis Estructurado Moderno. Prentice Hall, 1993.