IS5540 Project Management & Quality IS5540 Project Management & Quality AssuranceAssurance

Week 13 – Course ReviewWeek 13 – Course Review

Schwalbe: Managing Information Technology Projects, Chapter 1Schwalbe: Managing Information Technology Projects, Chapter 1

Adapted by Janet Yu, Frank LoAdapted by Janet Yu, Frank Lo

Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILO)

No CILOs Weighting

1. Understand the basics of what project management is, the organization and technology context of information systems projects

Moderately focused

2. Understand the tools and techniques used in various aspects of project management including management of project scope, time, cost, quality, risk and human resources

More focused

3. Apply the project management knowledge, skills, tools and techniques learnt to project activities of an IT/IS-related project to meet project requirements

More focused

4. Utilize a project management software (E.g. MS Project) to help plan and manage a small IT/IS project.

Moderately focused

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What Is a Project?A project is “a temporary endeavor

undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result” (PMBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition)

Other attributes: Is developed using progressive elaborationRequires resources, often from various areas Involves uncertainty

Operations is work done to sustain the business

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Figure 1-1: The Triple Constraint of Project Management

•Scope•Time•Cost•What else?

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What is Project Management?

Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements” (PMBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition)

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Figure 1-2: Project Management Framework

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Project Management Tools and Techniques

Project management tools and techniques assist project managers and their teams in various aspects of project management

Some specific ones include:Project charter, scope statement, and WBS (scope)Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis,

and critical chain scheduling (time)Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)

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Project SuccessThere are several ways to define project success

The project met scope, time, and cost goalsThe project meets or exceeds stakeholders’

expectationsThe results of the project met its main objective, e.g.,

making or saving a certain amount of moneyproviding a good return on investment, or simply delivering the product/services

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Success Factors

Key ones:– Executive support– User involvement– Experienced project manager– Well defined scope and requirements

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Ten Most Important Skills and Competencies for Project Managers

1. People skills2. Leadership3. Listening4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent5. Strong at building trust6. Verbal communication7. Strong at building teams8. Conflict resolution, conflict management9. Critical thinking, problem solving10. Understands, balances priorities

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Initial strategy

Feasibility study

Requirements analysis

Systems analysis & Specification

Systems DesignDevelopment

Testing

Implementation

Maintenance

Review

Systems Development Life Cycle

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Project Management Process GroupsA process is a series of actions directed toward

a particular resultProject management can be viewed as a number

of interlinked processesThe project management process groups include:

– Initiating processes– Planning processes– Executing processes– Monitoring and controlling processes– Closing processes

Figure 3-1: Level of Activity and Overlap of Process Groups Over Time

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Relationships Among Process Groups and Knowledge Areas (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition)

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Relationships Among Process Groups and Knowledge Areas (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition) (Cont’d)

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Before We Have a Project….Project Selection Methods….

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Strategic Planning and Project Selection

Strategic planning involves determining long-term objectives, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services

As part of strategic planning, organizations:1. Identify potential projects2. Use realistic methods to select which projects to work

on3. Formalize project initiation by issuing a project

charter

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Methods for Selecting Projects There are usually more projects than available

time and resources to implement them Methods for selecting projects include:

1. Performing net present value (NPV) or other financial analyses

2. Using a weighted scoring model3. Implementing a balanced scorecard

But for some projects, they may be selected because of a directive from management or Government

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Project Management PlansA project management plan is your plan on how to

manage the project, e.g.– How do you define the scope?– How to deal with changes?– How to do estimation?– How to identify risks?– How to communicate with stakeholders?

Plans created in the other knowledge areas are subsidiary parts of the overall project management plan, like

– Scope Management Plan– Staffing Management Plan– Etc.

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Figure 5-4: Intranet WBS and Gantt Chart in Microsoft Project

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Figure 6-4: Sample PDM Network Diagram

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Figure 6-8: Determining the Critical Path for Project X

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Network Diagram using PDM

A=5

0 5

5 10

B=10

0 10

0 10

C=7

10 17

10 17

D=2

17 19

18 20

E=3

17 20

17 20

Free Float

Total

Float

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Earned Value Management (EVM)

Planned Value (PV) How much work should have been done?

Earned Value (EV) How much work has been done?

Actual Cost (AC) How much has been spent?

Budget At Completion (BAC)

What was the entire project supposed to cost?

Estimate At Completion (EAC)

What is the project expected to cost now?

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Earned Value Management (EVM)

Cost Variance (CV) Deviation from the original budget (in monetary terms)?

Schedule Variance (SV) Deviation from the original schedule (in monetary terms)?

Cost Performance Index (CPI)

How well is the WBS component doing in terms of cost?

Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

How well is the WBS component doing in terms of schedule?

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More on EVM

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earned_value_management26

Relationships Among Process Groups and Knowledge Areas (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition) (Cont’d)

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Quality Planning

Quality is planned, designed, and built-in.

Quality is not inspected in.

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The Cost of QualityTotal cost to produce the product or service of the

project according to the quality standardsThe cost of quality is the cost of conformance

plus the cost of nonconformance– Conformance means delivering products that meet

requirements and fitness for use– Cost of nonconformance means taking responsibility

for failures or not meeting quality expectationsThere is no free lunch!

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Plan Quality

What quality standard?How to achieve that?

– Training

– Walkthroughs

– Reviews

– Quality audits

How to make things better – process improvement?Who is responsible for what?Project managers are ultimately responsible for quality

management on their projects

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How Do you Measure Quality of IT Systems?

No. of bugsPerformance

– Response time– Volume of data and transactions system should be capable

of handlingUsabilityReliability

– The ability of a product or service to perform as expected under normal conditions

Availability– Mean time between failure (MTBF), mean time to recover

(MTTR)

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Basic Tools of Quality1. Cause & Effect Diagram2. Control Chart3. Run Chart4. Scatter Diagram5. Histogram6. Pareto Diagram7. Flowchart

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Figure 11-4: Sample Risk Breakdown Structure

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Risk RegisterThe main output of various risk management processesCan contain:

– Risk events refer to specific, uncertain events that may occur to the detriment

or enhancement of the project. E.g. project delay, increase in costs, shortage in supply

– Description– Rank

Usually a number, with 1 being the highest– Category– Root cause– Triggers

Indicators or symptoms, e.g. defective products, schedule overrun– Responses– Probability and impact– Owner

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Figure 11-6: Chart Showing High-, Medium-, and Low-Risk Technologies

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Figure 11-7: Expected Monetary Value (EMV) Example

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Responsibility Assignment MatricesA responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is a

matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the WBS to the people responsible for performing the work as described in the Organization Breakdown Structure, OBS (the organization chart.

Can be created in different ways to meet unique project needs

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Table 9-2: Sample RACI Chart

R = responsibility, the performerA = accountabilityC = consultationI = informed

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Develop the Project TeamThe main goal of team development is to help

people work together more effectively to improve project performance

Some tools and techniques– Team-building activities– Training– Ground Rules– Co-Location– Recognition and Rewards

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Managing the Project Team

This involves– Measuring team members’ performance –

performance appraisals– Resolving conflicts– Coordinating changes to enhance project

performanceSome advices

– Have a team size of 3-7– Plan some team-building activities– Stress team identity– Mind virtual team members

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Keys to Managing PeopleImportant areas related to project management

include:– Motivation theories– Influence and power

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Plan Communications Communications Management Plan is a document that

guides project communications. Possible contents: Stakeholder communications requirements What information to be communicated, including format,

content, and level of detail When do they need the information The people who will receive the information and who will

produce it Suggested methods or technologies for conveying the

information Glossary

Creating a stakeholder analysis for project communications also aids in communications planning

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Performance Reporting Performance reporting keeps stakeholders

informed about how resources are being used to achieve project objectives

Status reports describe where the project stands at a specific point in time

Progress reports describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period of time

Forecasts predict future project status and progress based on past information and trends

Hold status review meetings43

About the Exam Date: 14 December, 2009 (Mon) Time: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Room: MPSH Chan Tai Ho Multi-purpose Hall

This is an open-book exam. You may bring any printed materials.

You are suggested to read through the entire examination paper before answering the questions.

In general, spend no more than one minute for each mark allocated (e.g. spend no more than ten minutes on a question that is worth ten marks).

To obtain a good mark, you should demonstrate your critical thinking ability and your analytical skills.

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