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Project Planning

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Project Planning

What is a project plan?• defining a goal and then developing a strategy for achieving that goal.

Who is involved?• all those affected by the project:-

» student» supervisor» (company??)

When is a plan produced?• at the start of the project and then is revised at regular

intervals.

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Managing your project and yourself

Personal project management

Personal time management

Document management

Task management

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Personal project management

Project Definition• clearly specify what it is you hope to achieve with your project and how

you propose to do it

Estimation• analyse scope and duration of your proposed work

Scheduling• set sequences and dates

Monitoring• record progress and re-plan

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Project Definition I

identify the aims and objectives of your intended work• One Aim - defines projects main purpose• Several Objectives - should identify significant measurable achievements,

will assist planning

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)• a structured, top-down description of your project work• a project checklist• begin by breaking project down into its main objectives

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Project Definition II

Technical strategy• how you will organize your work, in an “engineering” sense

• depends on your project» incremental build and test, framework incremental?» evolutionary delivery?» spiral model?» waterfall, prototyping?

• experimentation» early evaluation of technical options

Useful starting points:Sommerville, Software Engineering, 6/e, Ch 3Pressman, Software Engineering 5/e, Ch 2

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Estimation

scope estimation• what are my functional requirements?• how many screens? reports? features? database tables?

fields/variables? algorithms?

time estimation• duration of major project phases• duration of critical activities

» requirements specification; design; coding; testing• duration of supporting activities

» literature searching and review; documentation.

NB: role of WBS in estimating process

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Time Estimation Strategies I

Top down• size/time of project activities is derived from time

allocated to higher level project activities.» e.g if 3 weeks allocated to lit. review., then

constituent activities will be scaled accordingly

Bottom up• size/time of low level activities is used to determine

time allocated to major project functions» e.g. if detailed design 2 weeks, coding 4 weeks,

testing 2 weeks, then implementation allocated 8 weeks

NB:

role of WBS

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Time Estimation Strategies II

Analogy• reasoning by analogy with your, or someone else’s experience, on a

completed, similar activity, to relate actual size/time to estimate for new project» e.g on a placement project, typically 2 days to fully build and test

a data input screen of moderate complexity. ‘Expert’ opinion

• ask someone knowledgeable in the area under investigation to advise an estimate

experimentation• minimize over-optimistic estimates by trying out some (high risk)

activities during semester 1

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Estimation strategies - contingency planning

time is the enemy, everything takes much longer than expected assess what can go wrong, and plan accordingly (risk management) don’t leave critical activities to the last minute, e.g

• evaluating software system• printing final report

allow time for troubleshooting keep monitoring, prioritizing and re-planning

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Scheduling

Milestones – significant steps towards project completion• module key dates• technical key dates

» e.g. req. spec complete, risks assessed, design complete, prototype ready activity sequencing

• identify order in which work can be done• look for parallel activities

» e.g. learning new language // literature review charts (e.g. Gantt charts)

• present schedule in easily readable form, for yourself and others• shows activity duration and parallel tasks

build in contingency

Project Planning

Format: listing of project activities, with start date, end date and duration explanation of each activity, if required graphical summary of plan

in form of bar chart (e.g. via MS Project)

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Project Planning

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Project Monitoring

record progress - the project diary• important to keep and maintain a tidy, clear record of everything that has

been undertaken» makes production of final report easier» frequency not amount is important» helpful for parallel or future work

watch your project milestones assess progress, prioritize, re-scope if necessary contingency?

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Personal time management

Some benefits of effective time management• achieve better results

• improved quality of work

• work faster

• improved satisfaction with our studies

• improve the quality of our non-working life

• …

• ...Treacy D, Successful Time Management, 1993

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Self-evaluation - identify timewasters

common timewasters?• losing things?• surfing? • travelling?• idle conversation?• don’t know where to start?• TV?• perfectionism?• …• ...

rank them from most significant to least significant

my timewasters?• …• …• …

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Document management

Organising your project papers, notes, documentation• use simple file headings

• subdivide large folders

• separate frequently used papers from inactive documents

• file new papers, notes, as soon as you receive them

• always keep a record of where you found something

» e.g. URL, journal reference, textbook, …

• sort out your paperwork regularly, keep it under control

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prioritize your tasks on a regular basis• project work vs coursework vs revision

take a break!• has physiological, social and other benefits !

Task management

maintain monthly, weekly and daily ‘to do’ lists based on content of your project plan

• i.e. keep your eye on the ball

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Project Management Processes

PPWhat To buildWhat To do

PMC

What To monitor

Technical developmentAnd support

Status, issues, results of evaluations;measures and analyses

Commitments

Measurement needs

Corrective actionWhat to Monitor•Schedule•Budget•Resources•Risks•Actuals Vs Predicted

What to doActivities/Tasks

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Technical Development Processes

RD PI

Val

CustomerTS

Ver

REQM Requirements

Customer needs

Product requirements

Productcomponents

Solutions

Require-ments

Product

PP

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The IDEAL Model – A Process for Investigating IS Problems and developing solutions

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Software Concept

Requirements Analysis

Architectural Design

Detailed Design

Code & Debug

System Testing

Pure Waterfall ModelPure Waterfall Model