1. Software Project Management
Lecture 4
Software Project Planning

2. Overview Step Wise project planning framework
Preparation of a software project plan
Planning and scheduling the activities in software project management
Various approaches towards activity plan
Various scheduling techniques such as sequencing and CPM
Software Project Management

3. Step Wise – An Overview Select project 1 Identify project scope
Select
project
1 Identify
project scope
and objectives
2 Identify
infrastructure 3
Analyse project
characteristics
to next slide
Software Project Management

4. Step Wise – An Overview (cont’d)4
Identify the
products and activities 5
Estimate efforts
for activity 6
identify
activity risks
For each activity
from previous slide
to next slide
Review
Lower level detail
from next slide
Software Project Management

5. Step Wise – An Overview (cont’d)7
Allocate
resources 8
Review/
publicize plan 9
Execute
plan 10
Lower level
planning
to previous slides
from previous slide
Software Project Management

6. Step Wise – An Overview (cont’d)
Step 0: Select project
Step 1: Identify project scope and objectives
Step 2: Identify project infrastructure
Step 3: Analyze project characteristics
Step 4: Identify project products and activities
There are many different approaches for project planning. For example, PRINCE2 is the set of project management standards for use on British government IT projects. It is published by the Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA).
Step 0: Aim is to decide whether a project is worth undertaking.
A project is initiated somehow. This is not a planning activity.
It may need to decide whether the project is worth undertaking
It may need to evaluate the project. Project evaluation has been studied in Lecture 3.
Step 1: Aim is to have a well defined project scope and objectives.
Managers need to ensure that all members are clear about the project and its objectives; and are committed to the success of the project.
Step 2: Aim is to know the precise nature of the project infrastructure
Step 3: Aim is to ensure the use of appropriate methods for the project
Step 4: Aim is to have a more detailed planning of the individual activities that will be needed
Software Project Management

7. Step Wise - An Overview (cont’d)
Step 5: Estimate effort for each activity
Step 6: Identify activity risks
Step 7: Allocate resources
Step 8: Review/publicize plan
Step 9: Execute plan
Step 10: Execute lower levels of planning
Both steps 9 and 10 need detailed planning of each activity as the project is executed.
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8. Step 1: Identify Project Scope and Objectives
Step 1.1 Identify objectives and practical measures of the effectiveness in meeting those objectives
Step 1.2 Establish a project authority
To ensure the unity of purpose among all persons concerned
Further activities in each step.
Software Project Management

9. Step 1: Identify Project Scope Objectives (cont’d)
Step 1.3 Identify all stakeholders in the project and their interests
Step 1.4 Modify objectives in the light of stakeholder analysis
Step 1.5 Establish methods of communication between all parties
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10. Step 2: Identify Project Infrastructure
Step 2.1 Identify relationship between the project and strategic planning
To determine the order of related projects (in the organization) being carried out
To establish a framework within which the system fits
To ensure the hardware and software standards are followed
Step 2.1 The organization needs to
decide the order of the projects being carried out
Should give examples to emphasis the importance of the order.
2. establish a framework within which the proposed system fits
3. ensure the hardware and software standards are followed so that various systems can communicate with each other
All these should be documented.
Software Project Management

11. Step 2: Identify Project Infrastructure (cont’d)
Step 2.2 Identify installation standards and procedures
more appropriate name: “Identify standards and procedures related to the software project”
Step 2.3 Identify project team organization
Step 2.2 Elaborate the following standards
1. software development procedures and standards
2. quality procedures and standards
3. change control and configuration management standards
4. project planning and control standards
Step 2.3 It is quite often that the organisation has some control over the "overall structure" of the project team.
However, if project manager does have some control, this would be considered at a later stage in resource allocation, which will be discussed in Lecture 8.
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12. Step 3: Analyse Project Characteristics
Step 3.1 Distinguish the project as either objective-driven or product-driven
Step 3.2 Analyse other project characteristics (including quality-based ones)
Step 3.3 Identify high level project risks
Step 3.4 Take into account user requirements concerning implementation
Step 3.1 As system development advances, it tends to become more product-driven, although the underlying objectives always remain and must be respected.
Step 3.2 The nature of the system
An information system or a process control system? or both?
A safety-critical system or not?
Step 3.3 Consider those risks that affect the successful outcome of the project
Where? Possibly the following:
the operational or development environment,
the technical nature of the project
the type of product being developed
Step 3.4 Sometimes, the client's organisation may have their own stadnards and procedures.
An example may be that departments in government may require the use of SSADM (Structured System Analysis and Design Methodology).
Another example may be that DoD (Department of Defense) has their own standards and procedures.
Software Project Management

13. Step 3: Analyse Project Characteristics (cont’d)
Step 3.5 Select general lifecycle approach in the light of the above
Step 3.6 Review overall resource estimates
Up to this stage,
the major risks of the project are identified
the overall approach of the project is decided
So, it is a good place to re-estimate the required effort and other resources for the project
Step 3.5
If user requirements are unclear, a prototyping approach might be used.
Step 3.6
A benefit is to give you a better understanding on the current situation.
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14. Step 4: Identify Project Products and Activities
Step 4.1 Identify and describe project products
Identify all the products related to the project
Account for the required activities
Step 4.2 Document generic product flows
To document the relative order of the products
Step 4.3 Recognize product instances
Step 4.1
The products to be identified include a large number of technical products including training material and operating instructions, as well as those related to the management and quality of the project.
Software Project Management

15. Step 4: Identify Project Products and Activities(cont’d)
Step 4.4 Produce an ideal activity network
Activity network shows the tasks that have to be carried out as well as their sequence of execution for the creation of a product from another
Step 4.5 Modify the ideal to take into account need for stages and checkpoints
To check compatibility of products of previous activities
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16. Step 5: Estimate Effort for Each Activity
Step 5.1 Carry out bottom-up estimates
need to estimate staff effort, time for each activity, and other resources
Step 5.2 Revise plan to create controllable activities
need to break a task into a series of manageable sub-tasks
Step 5.1
Different estimation methods may be used depending on the type of activity.
Calculate the overall duration of project based on the estimated time for each activity in the activity network.
Step 5.2
If an activity involving system testing requires 12 weeks, it is better to break the activity into a series of sub-tasks.
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17. Step 6: Identify Activity Risks
Step 6.1 Identify and quantify the risks of each activity
Step 6.2 Plan risk reduction and contingency measures where appropriate
Step 6.3 Adjust overall plans and estimates to take account of risks
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18. Step 7: Allocate Resources (Staffing)
Step 7.1 Identify and allocate resources
type of staff needed for each activity
staff availabilities are identified
staff are provisionally allocated to task
Step 7.2 Revise plans and estimates to take into account resource constraints
staffing constraints
staffing issues
Step 7.1 Staff expertise should be considered.
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19. Step 8: Review/publicize Plan
Step 8.1 Review quality aspects of the project plan
To ensure each activity is completed with a quality product
Each activity should have ‘exit requirements’.
This ensures the quality of the product on each activity.
Software Project Management

20. Step 8: Review/publicize Plan (cont’d)
Step 8.2 Document plans and obtain agreement
all parties understand and agree to the commitments in the plan
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21. Aside – When to plan Planning is an on-going process of refinement
Planning at different stages of the project has different emphases and purposes
Refinement:
It is because we have better understandings on the whole project as we go along.
Thus, we need to keep revising our plan so as to bring the project on the right track.
Throughout the whole project, we need to monitor the project and revise our plan if there is any drift that prevents the project being completed on time and within budget.
‘drift’ means anything that is floating around.
Feasibility study and project start-up:
Estimate time and the risks of not achieving the target nor keeping within budget
After the feasibility study:
Produce activity plans for ensuring resource availability and cash flow control
Software Project Management

22. Project Vs Activity
A project is composed of a number of related activities
A project may start when at least one of its activities is ready to start
A project will be completed when all of its activities have been completed
Software Project Management

23. Project Vs Activity (cont’d)
An activity must have a clear start and a clear stop
An activity should have a duration that can be forecasted
Some activities may require that other activities are completed before they can begin
Software Project Management

24. Activity Planning
A project plan is a schedule of activities indicating the start and stop for each activity
Also provide the project and resource schedules
The start and stop of each activity should be visible and easy to measure
Each activity should have some ‘deliverables’ for ease of monitoring
Software Project Management

25. Activity Planning (cont’d)
During planning, managers consider:
Resource availability
Resource allocation
Staff responsibility
Project Monitoring
Cash flow forecasting
Re-planning of the project towards the pre-defined goal
Resource available: Make sure the resources are there when needed
Resource allocation: Make sure there are no competing resources.
Staff responsibility: Schedule showing which staff carry out each activity
Project Monitoring: Measure the actual achievement
Cash flow forecasting:Produce a timed cash flow forecast
Re-planning of the project towards the pre-defined goal:re-plan the project so that it will correct drift from the target.
Software Project Management

26. Other Objectives of Activity Planning
Feasibility assessment
Resource allocation
Detailed costing
Motivation
Co-ordination
Once a detailed activity plan is finished, it can be used to achieve the following:
Feasibility assessment: Can the project be delivered on time and within budget (constraints)?
Resources allocation:
How to allocate the resources with best results?
When should those resources be ready?
Detailed costing:
A detailed estimates on the project cost and the timings.
A detailed forecast on when the expenditure is likely to take place.
Motivation:
Providing targets and being able to monitor the achievement of the targets at the end of the activity can be a good strategy to motivate staff.
Co-ordination:
Help to set the time and requirements of staff from different departments to work together in the project, if necessary
Provide a good way for the project teams to communicate, cooperate and collaborate among themselves
Software Project Management

27. Different Levels of Plans
Project Schedule: a plan that shows
1. the dates when each activity should start and stop
2. when and how much of the resources will be required
Activity Plan: a plan that describes
how each activity will be undertaken
The activity plan is done in Steps 4 and 5 of Step Wise framework.
Software Project Management

28. Project Schedule in 4 Stages
Ideal Activity Plan
An activity plan without any constraints
Risk consideration for each activity
Resource consideration for whole project
Schedule production and publication
The word ‘public’ here means those people that are involved in the project.
Risk and Resource consideration will be discussed in Lectures 5 and 6, respectively.
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29. Various Approaches Towards Identifying Activity
Activity-based approach
Product-based approach
Hybrid approach
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30. Activity-based Approach
Use Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to generate a task list
WBS involves
identifying the main tasks
break each main task down into subtasks
The subtasks can further be broken down into lower level tasks.
Creating a list of activities that the project is thought to involve. This includes brainstorming from team members and analysis of past projects.
For a large software project, it is good to subdivide the project into the main life cycle phases and list the activities accordingly.
Issues in WBS:
If there are too many levels, there will be a large number of small tasks. This will be difficult to manage.
If there are too little levels (the WBS is too shadow), the details for project control would be insufficient.
Ideally, each leaf (the lowest level task) of a WBS may be assigned to an individual or a responsible section.
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31. Activity-based Approach (cont’d)
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32. Activity-based Approach (cont’d)
Advantages
More likely to obtain a task catalogue that is complete and is composed of non-overlapping tasks
WBS represents a structure that can be refined as the project proceeds
The structure already suggests the dependencies among the activities
Early WBS may use some high level tasks, which can be detailed later.
Software Project Management

33. Activity-based Approach (cont’d)
Disadvantage
Very likely to miss some activities if an unstructured activity list is used
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34. Product-based Approach
Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)
To show how a system can be broken down into different products for development
Product Flow Diagram (PFD)
To indicate, for each product, which products are required as ‘inputs’
PRINCE2 and Step Wise use this approach.
See Figure 6.3 in Hughes book (p.113) for an example of product breakdown.
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35. Product-based Approach (cont’d)
Advantages
Less likely to miss a product unexpectedly from a PBS
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36. Product-based Approach – An example
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37. Hybrid Approach
A mix of the activity-based approach and the product-based approach
More commonly used approach
The WBS consists of
a list of the products of the project; and
a list of activities for each product
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38. Hybrid Approach (cont’d)
Figure 6.5 of the Hughes book.
The degree to which the structuring is based on the product or the activity largely depends on the nature of the project and the particular development method.
Software Project Management

39. Hybrid Approach (cont’d)
IBM in its MITP methodology suggests 5 levels
Level 1: Project
Level 2: Deliverables (software, manuals etc)
Level 3: Components
Level 4: Work-packages
Level 5: Tasks (individual responsibility)
MITP: Managing the Implementation of Total Project
Components: key work items lead to the production of the deliverables
Work-packages: major work items or collection of related tasks to produce a component
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40. Planning and Scheduling the Activities
Once we have a project plan (or, project schedule), we need to schedule the activities in a project taking into account the resource constraints
We need to put the activities in a project and arrange them in their order taking into account of the resource.
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41. Scheduling Techniques
Simple sequencing
Suitable for small projects
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Suitable for large software projects
The most commonly used “networking” technique
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42. Simple sequencing
A simple sequencing of the tasks and the responsible personnel taken into account of the resources
Easily presented in a simple bar chart
see figure 6.6 in Hughes book
Suitable for allocating individuals to particular tasks at an early stage
Software Project Management

43. Critical Path Method (CPM)
Primary objectives:
Planning the project so that it can be completed as quickly as possible
Identifying those activities where their delays is likely to affect the overall project completion date
Developed by Du Pont Chemical Company and published in 1958
Besides the simple sequencing technique, various networking techniques are proposed.
Other networking techniques are very similar to CPM.
It is claimed by Du Pont Chemical Company that CPM saves $1,000,000 in its first year of use.
Software Project Management

44. Critical Path Method (cont’d)
Capture the activities and their inter-relationships using a graph
Lines are used to represent the activities
Nodes are used to represent the start and stop of activities
Dummy activities (dotted lines) can be used to:
Avoid logical errors to paths
Document related activities that can be done in parallel and have a time lag
Software Project Management

45. Critical Path Method (cont’d)
Adding time dimension
The forward pass
calculate the earliest start dates of the activities
To calculate the project completion date
The backward pass
calculate the latest start dates for activities
identify the critical path from the graph
In CPM, each activity has a time estimate.
Software Project Management

46. Critical Path Method (cont’d)
Identifying critical path and critical event
Critical event: an event that has zero slack
Critical path: a path joining those critical events
Slack: measures how late an event may be without affecting the overall target date of the project
slack = latest start date – earliest start date (for an event)
Any delay of the critical events will delay the project
There is always at least one critical path in the CPM network.
Software Project Management

47. Example to construct a CPM
Id.
Activity Name
Duration (weeks)
Precedents A
Hardware selection 7 B
Software design 4 C
Hardware Installation 6 D
Coding E
Data Preparation 5 F
User Documentation 9 G
User Training
E,F H
System Installation 3
C,D
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48. Example to construct a CPM (cont’d)
Event Number 3 6 7 1
Earliest start date
Latest start date
Slack
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49. Example to construct a CPM (cont’d)1 2 7 3 6 4 13 5 11 9 16
A=7
B=4
D=4
C=6
H=3
F=9
G=5
E=5
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50. = latest start date – earliest start date
Activity Float
Time allowed for an activity to delay
3 different types:
Total float (without affecting the completion of the project)
= latest start date – earliest start date
Free float (without affecting the next activity)
= earliest start date of next activity – latest end date of previous activity
Interfering float (= total float - free float)
Total float can be used up once.
Free float can be used up separately.
However, whenever any float is used, the overall timing of the project is changed.
Teachers should distinguish between overall timing of the project and overall duration of the project.
The overall timing of a project should includes the activities and the duration of each activities.
A recalculation of the CPM is need.
Software Project Management

51. Significance of critical path
During planning stage
Shortening the critical path will reduce the overall project duration
During management stage
Pay more attention to those activities which fall in the critical path
Actually, it is the shortening of the critical activity by putting more resources in it.
The CPM allows you to identify what to shorten. However, it does not tell you how to.
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52. References
Hughes, B., and Cotterell, M. (1999) Software Project Management, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill.
Pfleeger, S.L. (1998) Software Engineering: Theory and Practice, Prentice Hall.
Software Project Management