Week 10 Project Management PDF

Chapter 22 – Project Management 1 Topics covered Risk management  Managing people  Teamwork  2 Software project management   Concerned with activities involved in ensuring that software is delivered on time and on schedule and in accordance with the requirements of the organisations dev...

Chapter 22 – Project Management 1 Topics covered Risk management  Managing people  Teamwork  2 Software project management   Concerned with activities involved in ensuring that software is delivered on time and on schedule and in accordance with the requirements of the organisations developing and procuring the software. Project management is needed because software development is always subject to budget and schedule constraints that are set by the organisation developing the software. 3 Success criteria Deliver the software to the customer at the agreed time.  Keep overall costs within budget.  Deliver software that meets the customer’s expectations.  Maintain a coherent and well-functioning development team.  4 Software management distinctions  The product is intangible. ◦ Software cannot be seen or touched. Software project managers cannot see progress by simply looking at the artefact that is being constructed.  Many software projects are 'one-off' projects. ◦ Large software projects are usually different in some ways from previous projects. Even managers who have lots of previous experience may find it difficult to anticipate problems.  Software processes are variable and organization specific. ◦ We still cannot reliably predict when a particular software process is likely to lead to development problems. 5 Factors influencing project management Company size  Software customers  Software size  Software type  Organizational culture  Software development processes  These factors mean that project managers in different organizations may work in quite different ways.  6 Universal management activities  Project planning ◦ Covered in Chapter 23.  Risk management  People management 7 Management activities  Reporting  Proposal writing 8 Risk management factors 9 Risk management Risk management is concerned with identifying risks and drawing up plans to minimise their effect on a project.  Software risk management is important because of the inherent uncertainties in software development.  ◦ These uncertainties stem from loosely defined requirements, requirements changes due to changes in customer needs, difficulties in estimating the time and resources required for software development, and differences in individual skills.  You have to anticipate risks, understand the impact of these risks on the project, the product and the business, and take steps to avoid these risks. 10 Risk classification  There are two dimensions of risk classification ◦ The type of risk (technical, organizational, ..) ◦ what is affected by the risk: Project risks affect schedule or resources;  Product risks affect the quality or performance of the software being developed;  Business risks affect the organisation developing or procuring the software.  11 Examples of project, product, and business risks Risk Affects Description Staff turnover Project Experienced staff will leave the project before it is finished. Management change Project There will be a change of organizational management with different priorities. Hardware unavailability Project Hardware that is essential for the project will not be delivered on schedule. Requirements change Project and product There will be a larger number of changes to the requirements than anticipated. Specification delays Project and product Specifications of essential interfaces are not available on schedule. Size underestimate Project and product The size of the underestimated. CASE tool underperformance Product CASE tools, which support the project, do not perform as anticipated. Technology change Business The underlying technology on which the system is built is superseded by new technology. Product competition Business A competitive product is marketed before the system is completed. system has been 12 The risk management process  Risk identification ◦ Identify project, product and business risks;  Risk analysis ◦ Assess the likelihood and consequences of these risks;  Risk planning ◦ Draw up plans to avoid or minimise the effects of the risk;  Risk monitoring ◦ Monitor the risks throughout the project; 13 Risk identification May be a team activities or based on the individual project manager’s experience.  A checklist of common risks may be used to identify risks in a project  ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Technology risks. Organizational risks. People risks. Requirements risks. Estimation risks. 14 Examples of different risk types Risk type Possible risks Estimation The time required to develop the software is underestimated. (1) The rate of defect repair is underestimated. (2) The size of the software is underestimated. (3) Organizational The organization is restructured so that different management are responsible for the project. (4) Organizational financial problems force reductions in the project budget. (5) People It is impossible to recruit staff with the skills required. (6) Key staff are ill and unavailable at critical times. (7) Required training for staff is not available. (8) Requirements Changes to requirements that require major design rework are proposed. (9) Customers fail to understand the impact of requirements changes. (9) Technology The database used in the system cannot process as many transactions per second as expected. (11) Reusable software components contain defects that mean they cannot be reused as planned. (12) Tools The code generated by software code generation tools is inefficient. (13) Software tools cannot work together in an integrated way. (14) 15 Risk analysis Assess probability and seriousness of each risk.  Probability may be very low, low, moderate, high or very high.  Risk consequences might be catastrophic, serious, tolerable or insignificant.  16 Risk types and examples 1 Risk Organizational financial problems reductions in the project budget (5). Probability Effects force Low Catastrophic It is impossible to recruit staff with the skills High required for the project (6). Catastrophic Key staff are ill at critical times in the project (7). Moderate Serious Faults in reusable software components have to Moderate be repaired before these components are reused. (12). Serious Changes to requirements that require major Moderate design rework are proposed (9). Serious The organization is restructured so that different High management are responsible for the project (4). Serious The database used in the system cannot process Moderate as many transactions per second as expected (11). Serious 17 Risk types and examples 2 Risk Probability Effects The time required to develop the software is High underestimated (1). Serious Software tools cannot be integrated (14). Tolerable High Customers fail to understand the impact of Moderate requirements changes (10). Tolerable Required training for staff is not available (8). Moderate Tolerable The rate of defect repair is underestimated (2). Moderate Tolerable The size of the software is underestimated (3). High Tolerable Code generated by code generation tools is Moderate inefficient (13). Insignificant 18 Risk planning Consider each risk and develop a strategy to manage that risk.  Avoidance strategies  ◦ The probability that the risk will arise is reduced;  Minimization strategies ◦ The impact of the risk on the project or product will be reduced;  Contingency plans ◦ If the risk arises, contingency plans are plans to deal with that risk; 19 What-if questions What if several engineers are ill at the same time?  What if an economic downturn leads to budget cuts of 20% for the project?  What if the performance of open-source software is inadequate and the only expert on that open source software leaves?  What if the company that supplies and maintains software components goes out of business?  What if the customer fails to deliver the revised requirements as predicted?  20 Strategies to help manage risk 1 Risk Strategy Organizational financial problems Prepare a briefing document for senior management showing how the project is making a very important contribution to the goals of the business and presenting reasons why cuts to the project budget would not be cost-effective. Recruitment problems Alert customer to potential difficulties and the possibility of delays; investigate buying-in components. Staff illness Reorganize team so that there is more overlap of work and people therefore understand each other’s jobs. Defective components Replace potentially defective components bought-in components of known reliability. Requirements changes Derive traceability information to assess requirements change impact; maximize information hiding in the design. with 21 Strategies to help manage risk 2 Risk Strategy Organizational restructuring Prepare a briefing document for senior management showing how the project is making a very important contribution to the goals of the business. Database performance Investigate the possibility of buying a higherperformance database. Underestimated Investigate buying-in components; investigate use of development a program generator. time 22 Risk monitoring Assess each identified risks regularly to decide whether or not it is becoming less or more probable.  Also assess whether the effects of the risk have changed.  Each key risk should be discussed at management progress meetings.  23 Risk indicators Risk type Potential indicators Estimation Failure to meet agreed schedule; failure to clear reported defects. Organizational Organizational gossip; lack of action by senior management. People Poor staff morale; poor relationships amongst team members; high staff turnover. Requirements Many requirements change requests; customer complaints. Technology Late delivery of hardware or support software; many reported technology problems. Tools Reluctance by team members to use tools; complaints about CASE tools; demands for higher-powered workstations. 24 Questions Any Questions? 25