Project Management and Information Technology Context PDF

Chapter 2: The Project Management and Information Technology Context Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition  Projects Cannot Be Run in Isolation  Projects must operate in a broad organizational environment.  Project managers need to use...

Chapter 2: The Project Management and Information Technology Context Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition  Projects Cannot Be Run in Isolation  Projects must operate in a broad organizational environment.  Project managers need to use systems thinking:  Taking a holistic view of a project and understanding how it relates to the larger organization.  Senior managers must make sure projects continue to support current business needs. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 2  Figure 2-1. Three Sphere Model for Systems Management Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 3  Many Organizations Focus on the Structural Frame  Most people understand what organizational charts are.  Many new managers try to change organizational structure when other changes are needed.  Three basic organizational structures:  Functional: Functional managers report to the CEO.  Project: Program managers report to the CEO.  Matrix: Middle ground between functional and project structures; personnel often report to two or more bosses; structure can be a weak, balanced, or strong matrix. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 4  Figure 2-2. Functional, Project, and Matrix Organizational Structures Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 5  Table 2-1. Organizational Structure Influences on Projects Project Organizational Structure Type Characteristics Functional Matrix Project Weak Matrix Balanced Strong Matrix Matrix Project manager’s Little or none Limited Low to Moderate High to authority Moderate to high almost total Percent of Virtually none 0-25% 15-60% 50-95% 85-100% performing organization’s personnel assigned full-time to project work Who controls the Functional Functional Mixed Project Project project budget manager manager manager manager Project manager’s Part-time Part-time Full-time Full-time Full-time role Common title for Project Project Project Project Project project manager’s Coordinator/ Coordinator/ Manager/ Manager/ Manager/ role Project Leader Project Project Program Program Leader Officer Manager Manager Project Part-time Part-time Part-time Full-time Full-time management administrative staff PMBOK Guide, 2000, 19, and PMBOK Guide 2004, 28. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 6  Need for Organizational Commitment to Information Technology (IT)  If the organization has a negative attitude toward IT, it will be difficult for an IT project to succeed.  Having a Chief Information Officer (CIO) at a high level in the organization helps IT projects.  Assigning non-IT people to IT projects also encourages more commitment. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 7  Importance of Top Management Commitment  Several studies cite top management commitment as one of the key factors associated with project success.  Top management can help project managers:  Secure adequate resources.  Get approval for unique project needs in a timely manner.  Receive cooperation from people throughout the organization.  Learn how to be better leaders. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 8  Project Phases  Project Feasibility  Concept  Develop a very high level or summary plan for the project- describes the need for the project and basic underlying concepts.  Rough cost estimation  Overview of the work  Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)  Development  Explain the concept  Create more detailed project plans  More accurate cost estimate  More through WBS Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 9  Project Phases  Project Acquisition  Implementation  Creates a definitive or very accurate cost estimate  Deliver the required work  Provide performance reports to stakeholders  Close-out  All of the work is completed  Customer accept the entire project  Document experiences on the project Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 10  Figure 2-3. Phases of the Traditional Project Life Cycle Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 11  Product Life Cycles  Products also have life cycles.  A systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a framework for describing the phases involved in developing information systems.  Systems development projects can follow:  Predictive life cycle: The scope of the project can be clearly articulated and the schedule and cost can be predicted.  Adaptive Software Development (ASD) life cycle: Projects are mission driven and component based, and use time-based cycles to meet target dates. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 12  Predictive Life Cycle Models  Waterfall model: Has well-defined, linear stages of systems development and support.  Spiral model: Shows that software is developed using an iterative or spiral approach rather than a linear approach.  Incremental build model: Provides for progressive development of operational software.  Prototyping model: Used for developing prototypes to clarify user requirements.  Rapid Application Development (RAD) model: Used to produce systems quickly without sacrificing quality. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 13  Adaptive Life Cycle Models  Extreme programming (XP): Developers program in pairs and must write the tests for their own code. XP teams include developers, managers, and users.  Scrum: Iterative development in which repetitions are referred to as sprints, which normally last thirty days. Teams often meet each day for a short meeting, called a scrum, to decide what to accomplish that day. Works best for object-oriented technology projects and require strong leadership to coordinate the work. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 14  The Importance of Project Phases and Management Reviews  A project should successfully pass through each of the project phases in order to continue on to the next.  Management reviews, also called phase exits or kill points, should occur after each phase to evaluate the project’s progress, likely success, and continued compatibility with organizational goals. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 15  The PLC vs the SDLC Project Life Cycle Develop Implement Concept Close-Out ment ation Implementa Planning Analysis Design Maintenance tion System Development Life Cycle Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 16  The Context of IT Projects  IT projects can be very diverse in terms of size, complexity, products produced, application area, and resource requirements.  IT project team members often have diverse backgrounds and skill sets.  IT projects use diverse technologies that change rapidly. Even within one technology area, people must be highly specialized. Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 17  Work Breakdown Structure: WBS  Hierarchical list of project’s work activities  2 Formats  Outline (indented format)  Graphical Tree (Organizational Chart)  Uses a decimal numbering system  Ex: 3.1.5  0 is typically top level  Includes  Development, Mgmt., and project support tasks  Shows “is contained in” relationships  Does not show dependencies or durations 18  WBS  Contract WBS (CWBS)  First 2 or 3 levels  High-level tracking  Project WBS (PWBS)  Defined by PM and team members  Tasks tied to deliverables  Lowest level tracking 19 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  A Full WBS Structure  Up to six levels (3-6 usually) such as  Upper 3 can be used by customer for reporting  Different level can be applied to different uses  Ex: Level 1: authorizations; 2: budgets; 3: schedules 20  WBS Chart Example 21 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Outline Example 0.0 Retail Web Site 1.0 Project Management 2.0 Requirements Gathering 3.0 Analysis & Design 4.0 Site Software Development 4.1 HTML Design and Creation 4.2 Backend Software 4.2.1 Database Implementation 4.2.2 Middleware Development 4.2.3 Security Subsystems 4.2.4 Catalog Engine 4.2.5 Transaction Processing 4.3 Graphics and Interface 4.4 Content Creation 5.0 Testing and Production 22 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Types  Process WBS  a.k.a Activity-oriented  Ex: Requirements, Analysis, Design, Testing  Typically used by PM  Product WBS  a.k.a. Entity-oriented  Ex: Financial engine, Interface system, DB  Typically used by engineering manager  Hybrid WBS: both above  This is not unusual  Ex: Lifecycle phases at high level with component or feature- specifics within phases  Rationale: processes produce products 23 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  Product WBS 24 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  Process WBS 25 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Types  Less frequently used alternatives  Organizational WBS  Research, Product Design, Engineering, Operations  Can be useful for highly cross-functional projects  Geographical WBS  Can be useful with distributed teams 26 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  Work Packages  Generic term for discrete tasks with definable end results  Typically the “leaves” on the tree  The “one-to-two” rule  Often at: 1 or 2 persons for 1 or 2 weeks  Basis for monitoring and reporting progress  Can be tied to budget items (charge numbers)  Resources (personnel) assigned  Ideally shorter rather than longer  Longer makes in-progress estimates needed  These are more subjective than “done”  2-3 weeks maximum for software projects  1 day minimum (occasionally a half day)  Not so small as to micro-manage 27 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS  List of Activities, not Things  List of items can come from many sources  Proposal, brainstorming, stakeholders, team  Describe activities using “bullet language”  Meaningful but terse labels  All WBS paths do not have to go to the same level  Do not plan more detail than you can manage 28 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS & Methodology  PM must map activities to chosen lifecycle  Each lifecycle has different sets of activities  Integral process activities occur for all  Planning, configuration, testing  Operations and maintenance phases are not normally in plan (considered post-project)  Some models are “straightened” for WBS  Spiral and other iterative models  Linear sequence several times  Deliverables of tasks vary by methodology 29 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Techniques  Top-Down  Bottom-Up  Analogy  Rolling Wave  1st pass: go 1-3 levels deep  Gather more requirements or data  Add more detail later  Post-its on a wall 30 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Techniques  Top-down  Start at highest level  Systematically develop increasing level of detail  Best if  The problem is well understood  Technology and methodology are not new  This is similar to an earlier project or problem  But is also applied in majority of situations 31 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Techniques  Bottom-up  Start at lowest level tasks  Aggregate into summaries and higher levels  Cons  Time consuming  Needs more requirements complete  Pros  Detailed 32 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Techniques  Analogy  Base WBS upon that of a “similar” project  Use a template  Analogy also can be estimation basis  Pros  Based on past actual experience  Cons  Needs comparable project 33 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Techniques  Brainstorming  Generate all activities you can think of that need to be done  Group them into categories  Both Top-down and Brainstorming can be used on the same WBS  Remember to get the people who will be doing the work involved (buy-in matters!) 34 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS – Basis of Many Things  Network scheduling  Costing  Risk analysis  Organizational structure  Control  Measurement 35 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Guidelines Part 1  Should be easy to understand  Some companies have corporate standards for these schemes  Some top-level items, like Project Mgmt. are in WBS for each project  Others vary by project  What often hurts most is what’s missing  Break down until you can generate accurate time & cost estimates  Ensure each element corresponds to a deliverable 36 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  WBS Guidelines Part 2  How detailed should it be?  Not as detailed as the final MS-Project plan  Each level should have no more than 7 items  It can evolve over time  What tool should you use?  Excel, Word, Project  Org chart diagramming tool (Visio, etc)  Specialized commercial apps  Re-use a “template” if you have one 37 Q7503, Principles of Project Management, Fall 2002  Home work Considering the project that you are already chosen: Write a report that contains deliverable for concept phase. These deliverables are: Management plan (2.5 mark), preliminary cost estimation (2.5mark), and 3 levels WBS (5 marks). Management Plan = Project Structure (Organizational Chart) with job descriptions Cost Estimation with justification and feasibility study Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition 38