Software Project Management

Lecture Chapter 6 Activity Planning

Effort estimation

For whole project For individual activity Starting of each activity End of each activity risks
2

Detailed plan

Software Project Management

Project Vs Activity

A project is composed of a number of related activities A project may start when at least one of its activities is ready to start A project will be completed when all of its activities have been completed

Software Project Management

Project Vs Activity (contd)

An activity must have a clear start and a clear stop An activity should have a duration that can be forecasted Some activities may require that other activities are completed before they can begin
4

Software Project Management

Activity Planning

A project plan is a schedule of activities indicating the start and stop for each activity

Also provide the project and resource schedules

The start and stop of each activity should be visible and easy to measure Each activity should have some deliverables for ease of monitoring

Software Project Management

Activity Planning (contd)

During planning, managers consider:

Resource availability Resource allocation Staff responsibility Project Monitoring Cash flow forecasting Re-planning of the project towards the predefined goal
6

Software Project Management

Other Objectives of Activity Planning

Feasibility assessment Resource allocation Detailed costing Motivation Co-ordination

Software Project Management

Different Levels of Plans

Project Schedule: a plan that shows

1. the dates when each activity should start and stop 2. when and how much of the resources will be required how each activity will be undertaken

Activity Plan: a plan that describes

Software Project Management

Project Schedule in 4 Stages

Ideal Activity Plan

An activity plan without any constraints

Risk consideration for each activity Resource consideration for whole project Schedule production and publication

Software Project Management

ACTIVITY NETWORKS

Software Project Management

10

Planning and Scheduling the Activities

Once we have a project plan (or, project schedule), we need to schedule the activities in a project taking into account the resource constraints

Software Project Management

11

Scheduling Techniques

Simple sequencing

Suitable for small projects

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Suitable for large software projects The most commonly used networking technique

Software Project Management

12

Simple sequencing

A simple sequencing of the tasks and the responsible personnel taken into account of the resources Easily presented in a simple bar chart Suitable for allocating individuals to particular tasks at an early stage

Software Project Management

13

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Primary objectives:

Planning the project so that it can be completed as quickly as possible Identifying those activities where their delays is likely to affect the overall project completion date

Developed by Du Pont Chemical Company and published in 1958

14

Software Project Management

Network Planning Models

Two Techniques- CPM and PERT use activity on arrow or activity on node approach Models projects activities and their relationships as a network. Time flows from left to right Modern Networks- Precedence Networks- use activity on arrow approach
15

Software Project Management

Critical Path Method (contd)

Capture the activities and their interrelationships using a graph

Lines are used to represent the activities Nodes are used to represent the start and stop of activities

Software Project Management

16

Rules for Constructing Precedence Networks

A Project network should have only one start node A Project network should have only one end node A node has duration Links normally have no duration Precedents are the immediate preceding activities Time moves from left to right A network may not contain loops A network should not contain dangles

Software Project Management

17

Code Program Test Data Take-on Fragment of a precedence network Install

Software Project Management

18

Code Program

Test Program

Release Program

Correct Error

Diagnose Errors

A loop represents an impossible sequence

Software Project Management 19

Design Program

Code Program

Test Program

Install Program

Write User Manual A dangle

Software Project Management 20

Design Program

Code Program

Test Program

Install Program

Write User Manual Resolving a dangle

Software Project Management 21

Critical Path Method (contd)

Adding time dimension

The forward pass

calculate the earliest start dates of the activities To calculate the project completion date calculate the latest start dates for activities identify the critical path from the graph

The backward pass

Software Project Management

22

Critical Path Method (contd)

Identifying critical path and critical event

Critical event: an event that has zero

slack

Critical path: a path joining those critical events

Software Project Management

23

Example to construct a CPM

Id. A B C D E F G H Activity Name Hardware selection Software design Hardware Installation Coding Data Preparation User Documentation User Training System Installation Duration (weeks) 7 4 6 4 5 9 5 3 E,F C,D
24

Precedents

A B B

Software Project Management

Activity On-Node

Software Project Management

25

Example to construct a CPM

Id. A B C D E F G H Activity Name Hardware selection Software design Hardware Installation Coding Data Preparation User Documentation User Training System Installation Duration (weeks) 7 4 6 4 5 9 5 3 E,F C,D
26

Precedents

A B B

Software Project Management

Example to construct a CPM (contd)

Event Number

3 Earliest start date

1
6

Latest start date Slack

Software Project Management

27

Example to construct a CPM (contd)

2
7 A=7 0 B=4 7 C=6 D=4 E=5 F=9 9 2
Software Project Management 28

1
0 0 0

3
4 2 6

4
13 13 0

H=3

6
16 0 16

5 11

G=5

Activity Float

Time allowed for an activity to delay 3 different types:

Total float (without affecting the completion of the project) = latest start date earliest start date Free float (without affecting the next activity) = earliest start date of next activity latest end date of previous activity Interfering float (= total float - free float)

Software Project Management

29

Significance of critical path

During planning stage

Shortening the critical path will reduce the overall project duration Pay more attention to those activities which fall in the critical path

During management stage

Software Project Management

30

References

Hughes, B., and Cotterell, M. (1999) Software Project Management, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill. Pfleeger, S.L. (1998) Software Engineering: Theory and Practice, Prentice Hall.

Software Project Management

31