Monitoring Progress PDF

Monitoring Progress Introduction Project Planning: Easier part, already completed. Project Execution: Involves day-to-day management, monitoring progress, and making necessary changes to stay on track. Triple Constraint: Manage the project in terms of time, cost, and quality. Monitoring Effort Reso...

Monitoring Progress Introduction Project Planning: Easier part, already completed. Project Execution: Involves day-to-day management, monitoring progress, and making necessary changes to stay on track. Triple Constraint: Manage the project in terms of time, cost, and quality. Monitoring Effort Resource Monitoring: Collect data on resources used, primarily staff time. Timesheets: Team members complete timesheets detailing their efforts. Information Needed on a Timesheet Identifiers: For team members, project, and reporting week. Activity Details: Code, title, time spent daily, total weekly time, and estimated effort remaining. Qualitative Data: Comments on problems or delays. Predicted End-date Project-Related Activities Which are not Directly Productive. Information Needed for Each Activity Status: Not started, in progress, completed. Estimates: Original and current for effort, cost, start-date, end-date, and remaining effort and cost. Monitoring Other Costs Labour Costs: Main component Staff Cost Using Daily Rate: Based on team member classification. It is important to distinguish between the cost and the price of something Other Project Expenses Training, Accommodation, Travel: Costs for project-specific training, lodging, meals, travel, consumables, and insurance. Monitoring Quality It is important to establish: the right climate for successful quality control timing for quality control checks The methods for monitoring quality Documenting quality control. Establishing the Climate for Quality Control Impersonal Criticism: Avoid personal judgment, comparisons, and problem-solving during reviews. Coaching Opportunity: Use reviews to coach junior staff. Do’s & Don’ts Ensure that all criticism is impersonal Use quality control reviews as an opportunity to coach junior staff Avoid comparisons with yourself Do not try to resolve problems during reviews Do not be judgmental Do not aim for perfection Timing of Quality Control Checks 2 Main Phases: Check work in progress Test the finished product. Methods for Monitoring Quality Planned Reviews: Clear criteria and definitions for pass/fail. Quality Control Checklist: Includes self-checking, team leader reviews, peer reviews, walkthroughs, Fagan inspections, and external review. Document Quality Control Documentation Standards: ISO 9001 requires traceable documentation from problem discovery to resolution. Milestone Slip Chart Visual tool illustrating and measuring project progress and slippage effects. Earned Value Analysis (EVA) Measures project value earned, cost spent, and progress achieved. EVA Formula BCWS (Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled) ACWP (Actual Cost of Work Performed) BCWP (Budgeted Cost of Work Performed) Calculations: Cost variance (BCWP-ACWP) Schedule variance (BCWP-BCWS) Cost performance index (BCWP/ACWP), Schedule performance index (BCWP/BCWS). Predicting Project Outcome Budget and Timescale Predictions: Predicted budget = Original budget / CPI Predicted timescale = Original timescale / SPI Corrective actions needed if over budget and delayed. Difficulties with EVA Theory Accurate current work completion data. Measuring intangible tasks in IT projects. Variability in delays and problems, leading to inaccurate predictions. Exercising Control Evaluating the Current Situation Evaluate the Current Situation: Determine the state of the project if it continues on its current trajectory. Start with data collected from monitoring efforts. Focus on three key aspects: time, cost, and quality. Gather information from monitoring processes: Timesheet Data: Effort booked, remaining effort & predicted end-date. Quality Reviews: Whether deliverables meet defined quality criteria. Financial Data: Costs incurred so far and projected future expenses. Consider Corrective Measures: Assess various corrective actions and weigh their pros and cons. Time/Cost/Quality Triangle: Balance between time, cost, and quality. Dominant constraint scenarios: Time-dominant: Competitive edge projects. Cost-dominant: Low-budget projects. Quality-dominant: Safety-critical projects. Select & Implement a Course of Action: Choose the most suitable corrective action. Inform all stakeholders about the changes & their impacts on the project. Link Back to Monitoring: Continuously check whether the corrective actions have achieved the desired outcomes. Possible Corrective Actions Doing nothing Adding more staff Adding different skills Using overtime Reassigning tasks Increasing or Decreasing individual supervision Finding improved methods of working Streamlining the procedures Changing resource priorities Replanning the project Changing the phasing of deliverables Increasing or Decreasing the number of inspectors Encouraging the team Introducing financial incentives Subcontracting parts of the work Negotiating changes in the specification Implementing Corrective Actions Ensure that everyone is aware of the changes and their effects. Use the existing monitoring system to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented actions. Reasons for Project Changes Changes in the business environment or new competitor offerings. New personnel with different perspectives. Revised user requirements or suggestions from the development team. Advances in technology or new legislation. Changes in user preferences. Pre-Change Discovery Assess the impact on development work (time, cost, quality). Evaluate effects on users, including training and implementation. Determine implications for hardware or communication configurations. Consider consequences of both implementing and not implementing the change. Assess the risks associated with the change. Change Control Procedures to ensure changes are considered for their impact before implementation. Configuration Management Controls and records amendments to deliverables when changes are implemented. Necessary for all projects to maintain order and accountability. Reporting Progress Reporting Purpose: To provide updates on project progress to various stakeholders. Stakeholders: Includes the project manager's superior, the board, the customer, and the project team. Recipients of Progress Reports Who Wants Reports: Immediate superior of the project manager. Customer. Users. Quality assurance department. Frequency of Reporting Balancing Frequency: Too frequent: Can become a full-time task, hindering other project management activities. Too infrequent: Misses opportunities to address issues & make necessary decisions. Common Practice: Monthly reporting, often aligned with the end of accounting periods. Reports at the end of project phases or keyed to significant milestones. Report Content & Format Establishing Requirements: Define at the start of the project during contract agreement or project planning. Include report preparation effort in project plans. Structure & Agreement: Agree upon and document the format & structure of reports. Written reports are preferred for ease of circulation & thorough review. Typical Report Content Elements Description Period Covered Time frame the report addresses. Descriptive Summary Overview of progress. Milestones & Deliverables Achievements completed. Problems & Solutions Issues encountered and how they were resolved. Projected Completion Date Estimated timeline for project completion. Costs Expenditures to date and predicted future costs. Changes Identified and implemented changes in the project. Report Presentation Written reports are often followed up by presentations. Presentations may be to the project sponsor, project steering committee, user group, senior IT management, or for team briefings. Quality Importance Quality as a Differentiator: Companies use 'quality' to distinguish their products from competitors, implying excellence, value for money, and superiority. Customer Perception: Quality signifies an acceptable level of performance recognized by customers. Concepts Oxford English Reference Dictionary: "The degree of excellence of a thing." Conformance to Requirement: The product meets customer specifications. Fitness for Purpose: The product suits the customer's needs. ISO 8402:1991: The total features and characteristics that satisfy stated or implied needs. Total Quality Management (TQM) A well-controlled process is crucial but not sufficient for delivering quality products. Total Quality Approaches Baldrige Award (USA) Measures progress and motivates companies to improve overall quality. European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Provides a model for quantitative evaluation of total quality criteria in businesses EFQM Model Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Another approach to TQM is represented by the CMM for software. Developed by Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute, CMM describes five stages of software process maturity. Software Process Maturity Levels Quality Management Systems (QMS) ISO 9000 Standards: Represent international consensus on best practices across all industry sectors. QMS Components: Integrates functions, objectives, and activities for consistent quality, demonstrating policy interactions that ensure system success in efficiency, performance, and cost-effectiveness. Typical Structure of QMS Quality Plan Operational Indicator: A quality plan signifies that the QMS is operational for a project, product, or service. Benefits: Defines work processes formally. Serves as a reference for project team members. Bridges customer and supplier relationships. Provides a framework for project management. Quality Plan Topics Project overview Glossary of terms Product requirements Project organization and responsibilities Availability, reliability, and maintainability Quality management responsibilities Quality control methods Testing, technical methods, and standards Change control Documentation and filing Quality Control Methods Range of Methods: From informal self-checking to rigorous processes like walkthroughs and Fagan inspections. Cost of Poor Quality Non-Conformance Costs: Prevention Costs to ensure correct work, including risk reduction and error prevention. Appraisal Costs associated with inspecting and testing products. Internal Failure Costs to fix defects before delivery to customers. External Failure Costs incurred from defects found after delivery to customers. Inspection Purpose: Identifies defects (requirements not met) & prevents issues from escalating through the product lifecycle. Document-based and labor-intensive, inspections must be cost-effective. Network Diagram Dependencies in Project Planning: Dependencies are critical for planning projects and understanding the effects of problems encountered during the project lifecycle. Analyzing Dependencies: Dependencies can be analyzed using network diagrams which visually represent the relationships between different project activities. Network Diagram with Durations & Critical Path Added Activity-on-Node (AON) Method: Each activity is placed in a box with start and end times (Earliest Start Time - EST, Earliest Finish Time - EFT, Latest Start Time - LST, Latest Finish Time - LFT) clearly indicated to help manage the project schedule effectively.