Managing Systems Project (Chapter-3)
Managing Systems Project (Chapter-3)
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OVERVIEW OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management for IT professionals includes
planning, scheduling, monitoring and controlling, and
reporting on information system development.
A successful project must be completed on
time, within budget, and deliver a quality product
Sometimes we need to compromise one for the other two
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Project Activities and Planning Steps
Each activity is part of a
larger framework, which
includes three key steps in
project planning:
Create a work breakdown
structure.
Identify task patterns.
Calculate the critical path.
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STEP 1: CREATE A WORK
BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)
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Background
What is Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?
Any tools you know?
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Background
Breaking a project down into a series of smaller tasks.
two primary chart types: Gantt charts and PERT/CPM
charts.
Gantt Chart
developed almost 100 years ago by Henry L. Gantt, a
mechanical engineer and management consultant
horizontal bar chart that represents a set of tasks
position of the bar shows the planned starting and
ending time of each task,
and the length of the bar indicates its duration
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Gantt Chart
Example of a Gantt chart.
Each task group may be composed of several sub-tasks
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PERT/CPM Chart
Gantt charts can present an overview of the project’s
status,
but they do not provide enough detailed information,
which is necessary when managing a complex project.
Most project managers find that PERT/CPM charts,
are better tools for managing large projects.
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PERT/CPM Chart
Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)
Developed by US Navy
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Developed by private industry
PERT is a bottom-up technique,
because it analyzes a large, complex project as a series of
individual tasks.
To create a PERT chart,
you first identify all the project tasks and estimate how much
time each task will take to perform.
Next, you must determine the logical order in which the tasks
must be performed.
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PERT/CPM Chart
B E F G
C H
A L M
D I J K
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Which Chart is Better?
Gantt chart
Snapshot view
PERT/CPM
More useful for scheduling, monitoring and controlling
Displays complex task patterns and relationships
Valuable for managers to manage priority
However, these two
are not exclusive, rather complements each other
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Task Identification
Whether use Gantt or PERT/CPM
We need to identify the tasks.
Identification involves
Recognizing the task
Estimating the duration
Tasks are tied with
Events or milestones
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Task Identification (2)
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Listing the Tasks
Can be challenging
because might be embedded in a document
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Estimating Task Duration
Can be hours, days, weeks, months etc.
If days, then we use person-days
A person can do in one day
Is 100 person-day
= 2 persons 50 days = 4 persons 25 days?
Doesn’t always hold
Formula for estimating duration (B: Best case, P: Most
likely Case, W: Worst case)
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Factors Affecting Duration
Project size
Human resources: Skills, turnover, training, etc.
Experience with similar projects
Small/Medium Estimates may not work for large
projects
Constraints
May need to adjust resources or change scope of
project
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STEP 2: IDENTIFY TASK PATTERNS
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What are Task Patterns?
Tasks depend on each other
Must be performed in order
Different patterns:
Independent
Dependent
Multiple successor
Multiple predecessor
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Task Box
Each task in a box
Task name
Task ID
Task duration
Start day/date
End day/date
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Illustration of Different Types
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Can You Identify the Task Pattern?
Do Task 1, then do Task 2
Pattern ……………………………………………..
When Task 2 is finished, start two tasks: Task 3 and
Task 4
Pattern ………………………………………………
When Tasks 5 and 6 are done, start Task 7
Pattern ………………………………………………
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Can You Draw the Task Patterns?
(1)
Perform Task 1.
When Task 1 is complete, perform Task 2.
When Task 2 is finished, start two tasks: Task 3 and Task 4.
When Task 3 is complete, start two more tasks: Task 5 and Task 6.
(2)
Perform Task 1. When Task 1 is complete, perform Task 2.
When Task 2 is finished, start two Tasks: Task 3 and Task 4.
When Task 3 is complete, start two more tasks: Task 5 and Task 6.
When Tasks 5 and 6 are done, start Task 7. Then, when Tasks 4 and 7
are finished, perform Task 8.
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STEP 3: IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL PATH
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What is a Critical Path
A critical path is a series of tasks which
if delayed, would affect the completion date of the
overall project.
If any task on the critical path falls behind schedule, the
entire project will be delayed.
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How to Calculate a Critical Path
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How to Calculate a Critical Path (2)
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Project Monitoring and Control
Project manager keeps track of
the tasks and progress of team members,
compare actual progress with the project plan,
verify the completion of project milestones,
and set standards and ensure that they are followed
Technique: structured walk-through
review of a project team member’s work by other members
of the team (peer review).
systems analysts review the work of other systems analysts
and programmers review the work of other programmers
Design review, code review, and test review (in different
phases of SDLC)
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Maintaining a Schedule
Challenging task
Monitoring and controlling
Anticipate problems
Avoid or minimize their impacts
Identify solutions
Clear milestones
Makes easier detection and solution of problems
Times are revised based on actual completion time
Manager
Spends most of the time tracking tasks in the critical path
But also should often check other tasks
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Reporting
Project status meeting
Project status report
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Project Management Example
Step 1: Create a Work Breakdown Structure
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Project Management Example (2)
Step 2: Enter start and finish times
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Risk Management
Every IT project involves risks
systems analysts and project managers must address
Risk management is
the process of identifying, analyzing, anticipating, and
monitoring risks
to minimize their impact on the project.
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Risk Management Steps
1. Develop a risk management plan
Review of the project’s scope, stakeholder, budge,
schedule, etc.
Define project role, risk management methods etc.
2. Identify the risks
List each risk and assess the likelihood of it affecting the
project
3. Analyze the risks
This is a two-step process: Qualitative and quantitative
analysis
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Risk Management Steps (2)
Qualitative risk analysis
Estimates the probability
that a risk will occur and
its impact
Example: risk displayed on
a XY chart
Help management focus
on most critical areas
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Risk Management Steps (3)
The purpose of quantitative risk analysis is to
understand the actual impact in terms of dirhams, time,
project scope, or quality.
can involve a modeling process called what-if analysis
4. Create a risk response plan
A risk response plan is a proactive effort
to anticipate a risk and describe an action plan to deal with it.
can reduce the overall impact by triggering timely
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Risk Management Steps (4)
5. Monitor risks
Continuous tracking process that
can identify new risks, notice changes in existing risks,
and update any other areas of the risk management
plan.
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Project Management Software
Microsoft Project
Has many features
The enterprise edition has more features (e.g. risk
management)
Not free !
Open Workbench
Free
Cost effective alternative for small and medium projects
Can export/import to/from MSP
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Concluding Remarks
Project management is challenging
Project manager must be alert, technically competent
and resourceful
When problem occurs, the manager’s ability to handle
the situation becomes critical
What can be done if the project is in trouble?
Brook’s Law
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