life cycle models for high-technology projects

Life Cycle Models for High-Technology Projects

Applying Systems Thinking to Managing Projects

Russ Archibald, PMP, FPMI

Russ Archibald PMI-Central Iowa Chapter PDD Oct. 17 2003

2

Purpose of My Presentation To enhance your ability to:

Develop the best life cycle model for your projects

Document your Project Life Cycle Management System/PLCMS

Improve your PLCMS through systems thinking


3

Presentation Outline

1. Categorizing Projects2. Project Life Cycle Models &

PLCMS3. Hi-Tech Project Categories &

Their Life Cycles4. Improving the PLCMS5. Conclusions


4

1. Categorizing Projects Projects:

Are the common denominator for all aspects of project management

Exist in many sizes & types Produce many different products &

results Can be classified in many different

ways


5

Project Categories Why bother? Because:

“One size does not fit all” Life cycle models and processes good

for one category are not good for others

Recommended categories are based on project end results


6

Recommended Major Categories1. Aerospace/

Defense2. Business &

Organizational Change Projects

3. Communication Systems Projects

4. Event Projects5. Facilities Projects

6. Information Systems

7. International Development

8. Media & Entertainment

9. Product/Service Development

10. Research & Dev.


7

Other Major Categories May Be Required

See Table 1 in the paper for detail Where to download: see later slide

Further breakdown is obviously required

A few examples follow

2. Business & Organization Change Projects2.1 Acquisition/Merger 2.2 Management process improvement 2.3 New business venture 2.4 Organization re-structuring 2.5 Legal proceeding

Acquire and integrate competing company.Major improvement in project management.Form and launch new company.Consolidate divisions and downsize company.Major litigation case.

3. Communication Systems Projects 3.1 Network communications systems 3.2 Switching communications systems

Microwave communications network.3rd generation wireless communication system.

4. Event Projects 4.1 International events 4.2 National events

2004 Summer Olympics; 2006 World Cup Match.2005 U. S. Super Bowl; 2004 Political Conventions.

5. Facilities Projects 5.1 Facility decommissioning 5.2 Facility demolition 5.3 Facility maintenance and modification 5.4 Facility design/procurement/construction Civil, Energy, Environmental, High rise, Industrial, Commercial, Residential, Ships

Closure of nuclear power station.Demolition of high rise building.Process plant maintenance turnaround.Flood control dam; highway interchange.New gas-fired power generation plant; pipeline.Chemical waste cleanup. 40 story office building.New manufacturing plant. New shopping centerNew housing sub-division. New tanker, container, or passenger ship

6. Information Systems (Software) Projects New project management information system. (Information system hardware is considered to be in the product development category.)

7. International Development Projects 7.1 Agriculture/rural development, 7.2 Education, 7.3 Health, 7.4 Nutrition, 7.5 Population, 7.6 Small-scale enterprise 7.7 Infrastructure: energy, industrial, telecomm., transportation, urbanization, water supply and sewage, irrigation

People and process intensive projectsin developing countries funded by The World Bank, regional development banks, US AID, UNIDO, other UN, and government agencies; and Capital/civil works intensive projects—often somewhat different from 5. Facility Projects as they may include creating an organizational entity to operate the facility,

8. Media & Entertainment Projects 8.1 Motion picture 8.2 TV segment 8.2 Live play or music event

New motion picture (film or digital).New TV episode.New opera premiere.


9

Sub-Categories Are Required

One example:2. Business & Organization Change

Projects:1. Acquisition/merger2. Management process improvement3. New business venture4. Organization re-structuring5. Legal proceeding6. Other: ?


10

Example:Category 5. Facilities Projects

Subcategories:1. Facility decommissioning2. Facility demolition3. Facility maintenance & modification4. Facility design/procure/construct

1.Civil 2.Energy 3.Environmental 4.Industrial 5.Commercial 6.Residential 7.Ships 8.Other:

5. Other: ?


11

Categories AreNot Mutually Exclusive Programs and large projects

usually involve more than one category or sub-category

These projects are placed in their predominate category

Must “Mega” projects be treated separately? Probably: yes


12

Classifying Within Categories & Sub-Categories Project size Project complexity External or internal customer Degree of customer involvement Levels of risk


13

Classifying Within Categories (Cont’d)

Major & minor projects Mega projects: not categorizable? Stand-alone versus create

supporting infrastructure Standard versus transitional Other: ?


14

Current Global Survey Will Test This Approach Global survey of project categories &

life cycles in progress Please go to:

http://ipmaglobalsurvey.com Download 11 page paper and complete

the online survey prior to Nov. 15 Results will be reported to respondents

http://ipmaglobalsurvey.com/


15

2. Project Life Cycle Models & PLC Management Systems Many life cycle models are in use They portray a project as an overall

process or system Their purposes include:

To enable all to understand overall process To capture best experience, enable

improvement To relate roles, responsibilities, systems and

tools to all elements of the project


16

Generic Life Cycle: 4 Phases Concept

Initiation, identification, selection Definition

Feasibility, development, demonstration, design prototype, quantification

Execution Implementation, realization, production &

deployment, design/construct/commission, installation and test

Closeout


17

Generic Life Cycles Apply to any project Too broad to be very useful,

practical Need to be tailored to the project

category…

… And key environmental factors


18

3 Parameters to Work With:

1. Number & definition of phases & sub-phases

2. Their inter-relationships: sequential, overlapping, repeated

3. Number, definition and placement of key decision points


19

Identify Deliverables: Each Phase and Sub-Phase Documents related to the project:

Objectives, scope, plans, schedules, reports, authorizations, work orders, etc.

Documents related to the product: Specs, drawings, product cost, reports, etc.

Physical products or results: Mock-ups, models, prototypes, test articles,

tooling, equipment, software, facilities, materials, etc.


20

Defining Decision Points Key events/milestones – ‘gates’ – at

start & end of a phase or sub-phase Decisions typically authorize project

manager & team to: Complete current phase, start next Revise objectives, scope, schedule Re-plan, re-start, repeat previous work Terminate or put project on hold


21

Deliverables & Decision Points Decisions are often made based on

contents or results of key deliverables

Therefore these two elements are closely linked

You can’t make good decisions without adequate information


22

Documenting a Project Life Cycle Management Process Define the life cycle:

Select the life cycle model to be used Name phases, sub-phases decision points Establish inter-relationships among them Portray the result: flow chart, narrative

Specify authorizing documents: Purpose & levels of approval authority For initiation & major changes


23

Documenting PLCMS (Cont’d) Identify key roles & define

responsibilities Identify major deliverables by phase Specify issue escalation procedures Specify differences for:

Major vs minor projects, or Other project classes within a sub-

category


24

3. Hi-Tech Project Categories & Their Life Cycles

4 (of 10) basic hi-tech categories: Communication Systems Information Systems Product & Service Development Research & Development


25

Hi-Tech in Other Categories Defense/Aerospace:

Very advanced, specialized life cycles prescribed by DOD & NASA

Facilities: Very mature, specialized life cycle models

Hi-tech projects within programs in these and other categories can be placed in one of the preceding 4 hi-tech categories


26

Two Types of Hi-Tech Life Cycle Models Predictive:

Waterfall, Prototyping, Rapid Application Development/RAD, Incremental Build, Spiral

Adaptive: Adaptive Software Development/ASD,

Extreme Programming/XP, SCRUM


27

Predictive Life Cycle Models Waterfall

Linear ordering phases, sequential or overlapping, no phase repeated

Prototyping Functional requirements and physical

design specs are generated simultaneously Rapid Application Development/RAD

Based on an evolving prototype that is not thrown away


28

Predictive LC Models (Cont’d) Incremental Build

Decomposition of large development effort into a succession of smaller components

Spiral Repetition of the same set of life-cycle

phases such as plan, develop, build, and evaluate until development is complete


29

Adaptive Life Cycle Models Adaptive Software Development/ASD:

Mission driven, component based, iterative cycles, time boxed cycles, risk drive, change tolerant

Extreme Programming/XP Teams of developers, managers, and

users; programming done in pairs; iterative process; collective code ownership


30

Adaptive LC Models (Cont’d) SCRUM (as in rugby)

Similar to above adaptive models with iterations called “sprints” that typically last 30 days

Defined functionality to be met in each sprint

Active management role throughout


31

XP Resources

www.extremeprogramming.org/index/html

www.industriallogic.com www.xprogramming.com www.objectmentor.com/home http://c2.com/cg/wiki?ExtremeProgrammingRoadmap

http://www.extremeprogramming.org/index/html

http://www.extremeprogramming.org/index/html

http://www.industriallogic.com/

http://www.xprogramming.com/

http://www.objectmentor.com/home

http://c2.com/cg/wiki?ExtremeProgrammingRoadmap

http://c2.com/cg/wiki?ExtremeProgrammingRoadmap


32

Impact of Environment on Life Cycle Model Selection Project environment is of primary

importance in selecting a LC model for a given project category: Organizational characteristics Familiarity with involved technology Competitive demands (schedule,

other) Other


33

4. Improving the PLCMS

1. Document the integrated project life cycle model

2. Document & describe the PLCMS3. Re-engineer the integrated process

Apply systems thinking: TOC

4. Implement the improvements5. Repeat these steps as required


34

Re-Engineer the PLCMS Identify system constraints, gaps &

weaknesses Relate poor results to constraints &

benefits to their removal Look for speed bumps, accelerators Redesign the PLCMS to remove

constraints


35

Implement Improvements Obtain approval to conduct tests

and analyses Plan, approve & execute the

improvement project to implement the revised PLCMS


36

Seven Goals of the New Product Life Cycle Process1. Quality of execution2. Sharper focus, better project prioritization3. Strong market orientation4. Sharp, early product identification5. True cross-functional team approach6. Products with competitive advantage7. Fast-paved & flexible process

Source: Cooper et al 2001 see www.prod-dev.com

http://www.prod-dev.com/

Stage-GateTM Life Cycle ProcessSource: Cooper et al 2001 see www.prod-dev.com

http://www.prod-dev.com/


38

Apply Theory of Constraints/TOC (Source: Leach 2000)

1. Identify system constraints2. Decide how to exploit system

constraints3. Subordinate all else to above decision4. Elevate the system constraints5. Does the new constraint limit output?Yes: Back to step 1 No: Beware inertia


39

5. Conclusions

1. Project categories are important: Based on end results best way (?) Sub-categories also needed Further classification within

categories and sub-categories needed


40

5. Conclusions (Cont’d)

2. Project life cycle models must be designed for each category/sub-category

Define and inter-relate phases & sub-phases

Identify deliverables for each of these

Define & relate decision points


41


3. Project Life Cycle Management System PLCMS must be well defined:

For each project category/sub-category

Enables application of systems thinking to improve the process


42


4. Two types of life cycle models are used for high-technology projects:

Predictive AdaptiveWith several variations within each of these

Selection depends on the key environmental factors affecting the project


43


5. Systematic improvement of PLCMS is achieved through:

Re-engineering the total system Application of TOC to total PLCMS or

to a given phase

6. Such improvement must be a major project management goal in every organization


44

Further Reading Archibald: Managing High-

Technology Programs and Projects, 3rd ed 2003 Chapters 2 and 3

Download this paper 18 additional references given in

the paper


45

Thanks for Listening!! Questions? Rebuttals? Download this paper and/or slides at

www.russarchibald.comgo to ‘Author:Recent Papers’ &select title of paper

Contact me: [email protected]

life cycle models for high-technology projects

Documents

projects projects

projectsruss archibald

categories arenot

othersrecommended categories

large projects

life cyclesimproving

project categorieswhy

best life cycle model