1. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 1
Software Project Management
Lecture 3Lecture 3
Activities & Time PlanningActivities & Time Planning
Instructor: Inam Ul Haq
Dated: Sept 4th
, 2006
2. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 2
Motivation for Studying Project Management
IT Projects have terrible track record
A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found
that only 16.2% of IT projects were successful and
over 31% were canceled before completion,
costing over 81B$ in US alone
The need for IT Projects keeps increasing
In 1998, corporate America issued 200,000 new
application development projects
In 2001, there were 300,000 new IT projects
In 2003, over 500,000 new IT projects were
started
3. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 3
Project – Definition
In the broadest sense, a project is a specific,
finite task to be accomplished. Any activity
that results in a deliverable or a product.
Projects always begin with a problem. The
project is to provide the solution to this
problem.
When the project is finished it must be
evaluated to determine whether it satisfies
the objectives and goals.
4. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 4
Attributes of projects
unique purpose
temporary
require resources, often from various areas
should have a primary sponsor and/or customer
involve uncertainty
5. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 5
Example of IT Projects
Northwest Airlines developed a new
reservation system called ResNet
Many Organizations upgrade hardware,
software and networks via projects
Organizations develop new software or
enhance existing systems to perform many
business functions
Note: “IT projects” refers to projects involving
hardware, software and networks
6. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 6
Software Project Management
Concerned with activities involved in ensuring
that software is delivered:
on time
on schedule
in accordance with the requirements of the
organization developing and procuring the
software
7. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 7
Laws of Project Management
No major project is ever installed on time, within budget, with the same
staff that started it. Yours will not be the first.
Projects progress quickly until they become 90% complete, then they
remain at 90% complete forever.
One advantage of fuzzy project objectives is that they let you avoid the
embarrassment of estimating the corresponding costs.
When things are going well, something will go wrong.
When things just can’t get any worse, they will
When things appear to be going better you have overlooked something
If project content is allowed to change freely, the rate of change will
exceed the rate of progress.
No system is ever completely debugged: attempts to debug a system
inevitably introduce new bugs that are even harder to find
A carelessly planned project will take three times longer to complete
than expected, a planned project will take only twice as long.
8. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 8
Project Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people involved in or
affected by the project actives
Stakeholders include
The project sponsor and project team
Support staff
Customers
Users
Suppliers
Opponents to the project
9. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 9
Project Characteristics
One clear objective
A well defined set of end results
Goal oriented
End product or service must result
Finite
Fixed timeline, start date, end date, milestone dates
Limited
Budget, Resources, Time
Life Cycle
Recognizable sequence of phases
10. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 10
Project Characteristics (cont..)
Divisible into subtasks (called activities)
often numerous, essentially unique and non-
repetitive
sequenced by precedence relationship
require careful co-ordination and monitoring
Change (source of Conflict)
A single point of responsibility (the Project
Manager)
11. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 11
Negotiation & Conflict resolution
Two different types of negotiations
win-lose
your savings are other party’s losses
win-win
both parties try to understand the other party
needs
The win-win approach is a set of principles and
practices which enable a set of Interdependent
stakeholders to work out a mutually satisfactory
(win-win) set of shared commitments.
12. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 12
9 Project Management Knowledge Areas
Knowledge areas describes the key
competencies that project manager must
develop
4 - core knowledge areas lead to specific project
objectives (scope, time, cost and quality)
4 - facilitating areas are the means through which
the project objectives are achieved (human
resource, communication, risk and procurement
management)
1- knowledge area (project integration
management) affects and is affected by all of the
other knowledge areas
13. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 13
9 PM Knowledge Areas (cont..)
Project Integration Management
Describes the processes required to ensure that various
elements of the project are properly coordinated. It consist
of project plan development, project execution and
integrated change control.
Project Scope Management
Describes the processes required to ensure that the project
includes all the work required and integrated change
control.
Project Time Management
Describes the processes required to ensure the timely
completion of the project. It consist of initiation, scope
planning, scope definition, scope verification and scope
change control.
14. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 14
9 PM Knowledge Areas (cont..)
Project Cost Management
Describes the processes required to ensure that the project
is completed within the approved budget. It consist of
resource planning, cost estimating, schedule development
and schedule control.
Project Quality Management
Describes the processes required to ensure that the project
will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It
consists of quality planning, quality assurance and quality
control.
Project Human Resource Management
Describes the processes required to make the most
effective use of the people involved with the project. It
consist of organizational planning, staff acquisition and
team development.
15. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 15
9 PM Knowledge Areas (cont..)
Project Communication Management
Describes the processes required to ensure timely and
appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage and
ultimate disposition of project information. It consist of
communications planning, information distribution, performance
reporting and administrative closure,
Project Risk Management
Describes the processes concerned with identifying, analyzing
and responding to project risk. It consist of risk management
planning, risk identification, qualitative risk analysis, quantitative
risk analysis, risk response planning and risk monitoring and
control.
Project Procurement Management
Describes the processes required to acquire goods and services
from the outside the performing organization. It consist of
procurement planning, solicitation planning, solicitation, source
selection, contract administration and contract closeout
16. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 16
A Hierarchy of Activities
WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
The backbone of any project is WBS. It describes the steps
necessary to carry out the project and their relationship to each
other, Not easy and straight forward.
Program > Project > Work Package > Task > Work Unit
Program
A Group of Related Projects that is managed together, Programs
usually include an Element of Ongoing activity
An exceptionally large, long range objective that can be broken
into projects
E.g. Govt. of Pakistan Poverty reduction program
17. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 17
A Hierarchy of Activities (cont..)
Program > Project > Work Package > Task > Work Unit
Projects
A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique
product or service
E.g. online shopping website
Work Package
Project major set of activities / Modules (e.g. Sales/Orders)
Each WP has clear set of Objectives, Task and deliverables
Each WP must have WP leader
One continuous set of work units with a clearly defined and
observable beginning and end
18. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 18
A Hierarchy of Activities (cont..)
Program > Project > Work Package > Task > Work Unit
Activity
An element of work performed during the course of a project. An
activity has an expected duration, cost and resource requirement
Any Task, Job or Operation that must be completed to finish a
project
Synonym for Task
Must Result in a Tangible deliverable
Task
A subdivision of an activity
Synonym for activity
Task must have one or more responsible person
Work Unit
Subdivision of a work package
Not recognized as a term
19. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 19
Project Management - Advantages
Responsiveness to Clients and the Environment
Ability to make Timely Trade-off Decisions
Central Locus of Decisions to insure overall
Project Optimality
Better control, better customer relations, Shorter
development time, lower costs, Higher quality
and reliability, higher profit margins, better co-
ordination, higher morale
21. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 21
The Project Management Profession
A 1996 Fortune article called project management
the “number one career choice”
Other authors and IT Gurus stress that Project
managers are who add value to organizations
Professional societies like the Project Management
Institute (PMI) have grown tremendously
Average Salaries for Project managers are over 81K
US$ per year
22. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 22
Project Management Certification
PMI provides certification as a Project Management
Professional (PMP)
A PMP has documented sufficient project
experience, agreed to follow a code of ethics, and
passed the PMP exam
The number of people earning PMP certification is
increasing quickly, and the certification program
department received ISO approval in 1999
Other groups, like the Singapore Computer Society,
have their own IT PM Certification programs
23. Copyright Aatif Kamal, NIIT (2006-07) 23
Assignment 03
Define Project, Project Management and
Process
Write a note on W5HH Principle
An ill-structured will result in?
What threats will you predict in SPM?
What is fuzzy project?
No project is 100% complete, why?
What are top 10 reasons of projects failure ?
What SPM ensures?
What are disadvantages of Project Management