Project & Change Management

What is Project
Management?
Project management is the application of
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to
project activities in order to meet or exceed
stakeholder needs and expectations from a
project.
Project Manager Skills
Management
Leadership
Customer Relations
Technical
Conflict Management
Team Management
Risk and Change Management
Management activities
Proposal writing
Project planning and scheduling
Project costing
Project monitoring and reviews
Personnel selection and evaluation
Report writing and presentations
Project staffing
May not be possible to appoint the ideal people to
work on a project
Project budget may not allow for the use of highly-paid
staf
Staf with the appropriate experience may not be
available
An organization may wish to develop employee skills
on a new project
Heres Bob. Hes a sophomore. Hell be a member of your
HazMat Rover team. He doesnt know much yet, but he can
brew a mean cup of cofee and has a great personality.
Managers have to work within these constraints
especially when there is a shortage of skilled personnel
Project planning
Probably the most time-consuming project
management activity
Continuous activity from initial concept
through
to system delivery
Plans must be regularly revised as new
information becomes available
 Activity organization
Activities in a project should be
organised to produce tangible
outputs for management to judge
progress
Milestones are the end-point of a

process activity
Deliverables are project results
ACTIVITIES
delivered to customers
Feasibility Requir ements Prototype Design Requir ements
study analysis development study specification

Feasibility Requir ements Evaluation Architectural Requir ements

report definition report design specification

MILESTONES
 Project scheduling
Split project into tasks and estimate time and
resources required to complete each task
Organize tasks concurrently to make optimal

use of workforce
Minimize task dependencies to avoid delays

caused by one task waiting for another to

complete
Dependent on project managers intuition

and experience
 Work Breakdown - level 1
Analysis Information Gathering
Data, Logic, and Process Modeling
Systems Proposal Preparation

Design Data Entry Design

Screen and Report Design
Data Organization
Process Design

Implementation Integration
Testing
Work Breakdown - Analysis
Information Gathering Conduct Interviews
Administer Questionnaires
Introduce Prototype
Observe Reactions to Prototype

Data, Logic, and Data Modeling

Process Modeling Logic Modeling
Process Modeling
Systems Proposal Perform Cost/Benefit Analysis
Preparation Prepare Proposal
Present Proposal
 Work Breakdown
Information Gathering
Detailed Activity Days
Required
Conduct Interviews Choose interviewees 1
Develop interview guide 2
Schedule interviews 3
Conduct interviews 10
Transcribe notes 5
Administer Questionnaires Design questionnaire 5
Review questionnaire 5
Distribute questionnaire 1
Wait for responses 10
Compile responses 5

Introduce Prototype Build prototype 5

Install prototype 2
Observe prototype use 5
Observe Reactions to Prototype
Summarize recommendations 2
Scheduling problems
Estimating the difficulty of problems
and hence the cost of developing a
solution is hard
Productivity is not proportional to the
number of people working on a task
Adding people to a late project makes it
later because of communication overheads
The unexpected always happens
Always allow contingency in planning
 Task durations and
dependencies
Task Duration(days) Dependencies
T1 8
T2 15
T3 15 T1(M1)
T4 10
T5 10 T2,T4(M2)
T6 5 T1,T2(M3)
T7 20 T1(M1)
T8 25 T4(M5)
T9 15 T3,T6(M4)
T10 15 T5,T7(M7)
T11 7 T9(M6)
T12 10 T11(M8)
Gantt charts & activity
networks
Graphical notations used to illustrate the
project schedule
Show project breakdown into tasks
Tasks should not be too small
They should take about a week or two
Activity charts (PERT) show task
dependencies and the the critical path
Gantt charts show schedule against
calendar time
PERT Chart
Activity timeline Gantt
chart
Staff allocation
4/7 11/7 18/7 25/ 1/8 8/8 15/8 22/8 29/8 5/9 12/9 19/9

Fred T4
T8 T11
T12
Jane T1
T3
T9
Anne T2
T6 T10

Jim T7

Mary T5
 PERT vs. Gantt
Gantt visually shows the duration of
activities whereas PERT visually shows
the sequence dependencies of a project
Gantt visually shows the time overlap of

activities whereas PERT shows which

activities should be done in parallel
Some Gantt charts visually show slack

and earliest start and latest finish times,

PERT provides exact data
Gantt: record progress of project and

identify tasks that fall behind

PERT: easy to calculate critical path
Risk management
Risk management is concerned with
identifying risks and drawing up plans to
minimise their efect on a project.
A risk is a probability that some adverse
circumstance will occur.
Project risks afect schedule or resources
Product risks afect the quality or performance of
the software being developed
Business risks afect the organisation developing
or procuring the software
 The risk management process
Risk identification Identify project, product and
business risks
Risk analysis Assess the likelihood and

consequences of risks
Risk planning Draw up plans to avoid/minimise

risk efects
Risk monitoring Monitor the risks throughout

the project

Risk Riskanalysis Riskplanning Risk

identification monitoring

Listofpotential Riskavoidance Risk

Prioritisedrisk andcontingency
risks list assessment
plans
Risk planning
Consider each risk and develop a strategy
to manage that risk
Avoidance strategies

The probability that the risk will arise is reduced

Minimisation 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
 Quantifying Risk Reduction
Example
Suppose:
The major benefit of the new system is that it
reduces the risk from some event (e.g. a
lawsuit) occurring
If this event happens, it will cost the
organization about $2,000,000 (this is an
estimate)
The probability that this event will occur is
currently 5%, reduced to 1% with the new
system (another estimate)
Compare utility losses:
Currently: (.05)*($2,000,000) = $100,000
New system: (.01)*($2,000,000) = $20,000
Savings: $80,000
Controlling Activities
Select a project progress reporting scheme
Conduct regular reviews
Revise project schedule when necessary
Reallocate resources when necessary
Monitor
Continuously monitor the project
Is it on time?
Is it on budget?
Is it achieving major milestones?
Use a project management dashboard
Kill projects that are not succeeding
Post Implementation Audit
Were the benefits of the system achieved
Consider both hard and soft benefits
Evaluate the process
What worked well and what did not?
Was the project on time and on budget?
What should we change for next time?
Key points
Good project management is essential for project success
The intangible nature of software causes problems for
management
Managers have diverse roles but their most significant
activities are planning, estimating and scheduling
Planning and estimating are iterative processes that
continue throughout the course of a project
Risks may be project risks, product risks or business risks
Risk management is concerned with identifying risks that
may afect the project and planning to ensure that these
risks do not develop into major threats