1. INFO 638Lecture #51 Software Project Management Joint project planning & controlling project INFO 638 Glenn Booker

2. INFO 638Lecture #52 Joint Project Planning  Joint Project Planning (JPP) uses a goldfish-bowl approach to conducting early analysis of a project  Its scope is typically to define the POS and/or PDS For software, this might include defining the system scope and key requirements, and/or developing high level system design

3. INFO 638Lecture #53 JPP vs. JAD  JPP is similar to Joint Application Design (or Joint Application Development) (JAD)  JPP is more general than JAD JPP could be used for planning any kind of project JAD is software-specific

4. INFO 638Lecture #54 Planning JPP  JPP needs to create an environment in which key decisions can be made about the project Planning JPP is crucial to its success  It is critical that key people be required to attend a JPP session Notice “required,” not “invited” JPP doesn’t work unless the players are all present

5. INFO 638Lecture #55 JPP Attendees  All significant stakeholders in a project need to attend JPP The tough part is identifying what ‘significant’ means  Attendees typically include: Facilitator – an outsider whose role it to lead the JPP session  Typically have training in JPP, and are excellent negotiators

6. INFO 638Lecture #56 JPP Attendees Project manager – whoever will lead the project is an obvious choice to attend Technographer – a scribe who will record the results of the session  Might be proficient in tools for recording brainstorming sessions, prototyping a system, or other appropriate skills Other key project people – such as a system architect, managers who will report to the project manager, etc.

7. INFO 638Lecture #57 JPP Attendees Customer rep is often included Resource managers, such as IT staff, HR, or other relevant support personnel Project champion (aka sponsor) – whoever has been pushing to make the project happen, other than the manager Process experts – to help make sure the project will follow sound processes Anyone else you deem necessary!

8. INFO 638Lecture #58 JPP Logistics & Facilities  JPP needs to take place in an isolated environment, to help everyone focus on the same thing Generally held offsite, such as a hotel or conference center Typically allow a few days for the JPP, depending on the scope of the project and the goals of the session

9. INFO 638Lecture #59 JPP Equipment  JPP might use various tools to capture the results MS Visio for process flowcharts Axon or Mind Mapper for capture of brainstorming Axon Mind Mapper brainstorming  These are in addition to the usual conference equipment – computer & projector, sticky notes, etc.

10. INFO 638Lecture #510 JPP Agenda  JPP needs to have a specific agenda defined before the session starts  The agenda must define what is expected to come out of the session A completed POS, and/or A completed PDS, and/or A project plan, etc.

11. INFO 638Lecture #511 JPP Deliverables  More specific deliverables could include WBS Activity duration estimates Resource requirements Project network schedule (Pert) Activity schedule (start/end dates) Resource assignments

12. INFO 638Lecture #512 Project Proposal  The JPP might result in a project proposal, including Background Objective Approach Statement of work Time & cost summary Appendices

13. INFO 638Lecture #513 Monitoring Progress

14. INFO 638Lecture #514 Monitoring Progress  By now you have been able to create a detailed project plan, including task definitions, estimates of duration, & assignment and leveling of resources  Then the project actually starts  Now you need to monitor what really happens, and control the future of the project

15. INFO 638Lecture #515 An Aside  This is great stuff for control freaks  You get to define what people will do, when they’ll do it, and even tell them who is their boss  Now you get to decide if they are doing their job right, and what you’ll do if they aren’t  Isn’t this a great world?

16. INFO 638Lecture #516 Control and Risk  Controlling a project is closely linked to risk management  You want to minimize the risk that the project won’t finish successfully Successfully generally means “on time and within budget”on time and within budget  To do so, you need measurements to help decide if the project is on track

17. INFO 638Lecture #517 Use Pictures  Graphics are key to presenting information well Most senior managers don’t have time to read tons of words A well thought out graphic will convey critical information quickly and with minimal explanation If something’s wrong, need to address what corrective action will be taken

18. INFO 638Lecture #518 Controls  Without good controls, a project will wander like a 6-year-old on summer vacation  Controls allow us to Track progress – what has been accomplished? Detect variance – have we departed from the plan? Take corrective action – fix it!

19. INFO 638Lecture #519 Balance Control and Risk  More controls on a project Costs more for planning and tracking Reduces risks and creativity  So a critical question for every project is “how many controls do I need?” Need enough to know what’s going on, without micromanaging the project The answer might change during the project

20. INFO 638Lecture #520 Balance Control and Risk  Too little control will increase project cost, because effort will be wasted  In theory there’s an ideal balance possible between control and risk Also need to consider that the product quality will also be affected by the amount of control over its development process

21. INFO 638Lecture #521 Progress Reporting System  Some form of progress reporting system needs to be established Want timely, complete, clear, and accurate status reported Avoid adding too much to overhead to create the status reports Results are readily available Warns of problems with time to fix them

22. INFO 638Lecture #522 Types of Status Reports  Typically there are five kinds of status reports Current period reports – report status during the current reporting period, e.g. this week’s status Cumulative reports – report history of project from start to the present, or at least a significant amount of time  Good for finding trends

23. INFO 638Lecture #523 Types of Status Reports Exception reports – are generated only when something is amiss  Summarizes what’s wrong, and what action is desired to fix it Stoplight reports – aren’t really a separate kind of report  They add a simple red/yellow/green indicator of status – green is all happy, yellow is a problem that needs fixing, and red means project is out of control

24. INFO 638Lecture #524 Types of Status Reports Variance reports – tell how far the project is ahead of, or behind the plan  Variances generally pertain to the schedule and/or costs, showing planned and actual values, and the difference between them  Present results from the current reporting period, and maybe one previous period  May be tabular data, or graphic

25. INFO 638Lecture #525 How & When Collect Data?  Status reports are critical to understanding a project, yet can also be a waste of time and/or interfere with getting the project done  Need to decide how often reporting is done Academia tends to be monthly, most of industry is weekly or biweekly

26. INFO 638Lecture #526 How & When Collect Data?  Need to determine reporting period (what day is the start of the week?) This often feeds a repeating process, e.g.  Reports are due Friday to your manager,  They report to their boss by Monday noon,  A collected report is issued on Tuesdays  Reports contain actual status to date, start and finish dates for tasks

27. INFO 638Lecture #527 How & When Collect Data?  Reports might also include Projections of work remaining, Percent completion of tasks, and The amount of resources spent on each task (e.g. 12 hours on WBS task 1.3.2)

28. INFO 638Lecture #528 Variances  Variances are the difference between actual events and the project plan  Positive variances are often good They mean you are ahead of schedule or under budget But could mean the schedule has slipped, and little has been accomplished

29. INFO 638Lecture #529 Variances  Conversely, negative variances are generally bad Behind schedule and/or over planned cost Rarely, can mean more work has been done than planned

30. INFO 638Lecture #530 Displaying Status  There are three major ways to display the status of a project graphically Gantt chart Milestone trend chart Cost schedule control chart

31. INFO 638Lecture #531 Gantt chart  We covered the Gantt chart in week 3  It is probably the most commonly used tool to plan and track projects  To show progress, dark thinner bars are used to show how much work has been accomplished  This example is 30% complete

32. INFO 638Lecture #532 Milestone Trend Chart  The Milestone trend chart is a plot of how well specific events and decisions (milestones) were accomplished The horizontal lines represent 1-3 standard deviations above and below the expected completion date of each milestone Presumably you have historic data to determine the standard deviations

33. INFO 638Lecture #533 Milestone Trend Chart  Like monitoring a control chart, poor trends (especially downward) or odd leaps in the data are keys to identifying problems

34. INFO 638Lecture #534 Milestone Trend Chart 1 2 3 4 5 6 Project month 3 1 2 On Schedule -2 -3

35. INFO 638Lecture #535 Cost Schedule Control  Cost schedule control refers to the system used by the many agencies called earned value or C/SCSCearned value  We have already defined a project plan with tasks and resources  Each task therefore has some defined dollar value (its resources times their hourly rate)

36. INFO 638Lecture #536 Cost Schedule Control  To use Cost Schedule Control, we need to define when we get ‘credit’ for accomplishing each task Only when the task is done Half at the task start, and half at finish Etc.  The total planned value of work done on the project typically forms a long S curve over time

37. INFO 638Lecture #537 Cost Schedule Control  The planned amount of work, in terms of its value, over time form a curve called Planned Value (PV) (formerly BCWS)  As the project happens, we record the actual costs incurred (AC) and how much work we really got done (EV) (formerly ACWP and BCWP)

38. INFO 638Lecture #538 Cost Schedule Control  We can find variances in terms of cost (related to whether we finish within budget) and schedule (will we finish on time)  At any time during the project: Cost variance = AC - PV Schedule variance = EV – PV Recall that negative variances are bad

39. INFO 638Lecture #539 Cost Schedule Control  We can also define indices to tell us if we have a good trend in getting work done Schedule performance index SPI = EV/PV Cost performance index CPI = EV/AC  Indices >1 are good (got more work done than planned or budgeted)

40. INFO 638Lecture #540 Cost Schedule Control  So monitoring a project with cost schedule control generally means using A plot of PV, AC, and EV versus time Plots of cost and schedule variances Cost and schedule performance indices  Based on these, look for negative variances and/or indices < one

41. INFO 638Lecture #541 Status Detail  The amount of detail in status reporting depends on the management level of its audience First line managers generally want lots of detail Project managers generally want to focus on problems they must resolve Senior managers need a very brief synopsis of status

42. INFO 638Lecture #542 Status Meetings  Some form of meeting is often desired to Share the current status of each part of the project Look for collaboration opportunities Make decisions about problems

43. INFO 638Lecture #543 Meeting Minutes  Record the actions and decisions in a meeting with minutes Identify who was there Identify what happened  Review previous action requests  Review old issues  Review new issues Identify what new actions need to be followed up on, by whom, and when

44. INFO 638Lecture #544 Change Control  A change control process is needed to manage changes to the scope of a project See this example from the FAAthis example The example cited was used for managing problems reported with an air traffic control system, but the basic principles are universal

45. INFO 638Lecture #545 Change Control It describes the activities needed to analyze a problem, estimate how much work it is to resolve, determine its priority, fix it, and incorporate it into a system change with other problem fixes The names of the organizations which perform each of the steps may vary wildly, but some sort of review board or change control board is typically used

46. INFO 638Lecture #546 Escalation  Escalation here means how a problem can be resolved Little problems might be resolved by the project manager Bigger problems might be resolved by getting additional resources from your organization Huge problems might need cooperation from your customer to resolve