Introduction & Fundamentals

Goals of Project management >>

Software Project Management (CS615)

LECTURE # 1

1. Introduction & Fundamentals

1.1 What is Management?

Basically, the management involves the following activities:

Planning- deciding what is to be done

Organizing- making arrangements

Staffing- selecting the right people for the job

Directing- giving instructions

Monitoring- checking on progress

Controlling- taking action to remedy hold-ups

Innovating- coming up with new solutions

Representing- liaising with users, etc.

1.2 What is Project Management?

Project Management is the art of maximizing the probability that a project

delivers its goals on Time, to Budget and at the required Quality.

The art of planning for the future has always been a human trait. In essence a

project can be captured on paper with a few simple elements: a start date, an end

date, the tasks that have to be carried out and when they should be finished, and

some idea of the resources (people, machines etc) that will be needed during the

course of the project.

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and

techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management

is accomplished through the use of the processes such as: initiating, planning,

executing, controlling, and closing. It is important to note that many of the

processes within project management are iterative in nature. This is in part due to

the existence of and the necessity for progressive elaboration in a project

throughout the project life cycle; i.e., the more you know about your project, the

better you are able to manage it.

Project management is also defined as a strategic competency that has successfully been

applied in such high profile projects as the construction of silk root, organizing and managing the

Olympics Games, and the construction of Islamabad-Lahore motorway, just to name a few. If

project management can play a major role in these success stories, just imagine what it might be

able to do for your own organization.

The term project management is sometimes used to describe an organizational

approach to the management of ongoing operations. This approach, more properly

called management by projects, treats many aspects of ongoing operations as

projects to apply project management techniques to them.

Software Project Management (CS615)

Almost any human activity that involves carrying out a non- repetitive task

can be a project. So we are all project managers! We all practice project

management (PM). But there is a big difference between carrying out a very

simple project involving one or two people and one involving a complex mix of

people, organizations and tasks.

1.3 What is Software Project Management?

When the plan starts to involve different things happening at different times, some

of which are dependent on each other, plus resources required at different times

and in different quantities and perhaps working at different rates, the paper plan

could start to cover a vast area and be unreadable.

Nevertheless, the idea that complex plans could be analyzed by a computer to

allow someone to control a project is the basis of much of the development in

technology that now allows projects of any size and complexity, not only to be

planned, but also modeled to answer 'what if?' questions.

The original programs and computers tended to produce answers long after an

event had taken place. Now, there are many project planning and scheduling

programs that can provide real time information, as well as linking to risk

analysis, time recording, and costing, estimating and other aspects of project

control.

But computer programs are not project management: they are tools for

project managers to use. Project management is all that mix of components of

control, leadership, teamwork, resource management etc that goes into a

successful project.

Project managers can be found in all industries. Their numbers have grown

rapidly as industry and commerce has realized that much of what it does is project

work. And as project-based organizations have started to emerge, project

management is becoming established as both a professional career path and a way

of controlling business.

So opportunities in project management now exist not only in being a project

manager, but also as part of the support team in a project or program office or as a

team leader for part of a project. There are also qualifications that can be attained

through the professional associations.

Software Project Management (CS615)

1.4

What is a Project?

A project is an activity with specific goals which takes place over a finite

period of time.

"A temporary organization that is needed to produce a unique and pre-defined

outcome or result at a pre-specified time using pre-determined resources"

Projects are often implemented as a means of achieving an organization's

strategic plan. Operations and projects differ primarily in that operations are

ongoing and repetitive while projects are temporary and unique. A project can

thus be defined in terms of its distinctive characteristics--a project is a temporary

endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means

that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end. Unique means that

the product or service is different in some distinguishing way from all other

products or services. For many organizations, projects are a means to respond to

those requests that cannot be addressed within the organization's normal

operational limits.

Projects are undertaken at all levels of the organization. They may involve a

single person or many thousands. Their duration ranges from a few weeks to more

than five years. Projects may involve a single unit of one organization or may

cross organizational boundaries, as in joint ventures and partnering.

Examples of projects include:

Developing a new product or service.

Effecting a change in structure, staffing, or style of an organization.

Designing a new transportation vehicle.

Developing or acquiring a new or modified information system.

Constructing a building or facility.

Building a water system for a community in a developing country.

Running a campaign for political office.

Implementing a new business procedure or process.

1. Temporary

Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end.

The end is reached when the project's objectives have been achieved, or it

becomes clear that the project objectives will not or cannot be met, or the need for

the project no longer exists and the project is terminated. Temporary does not

necessarily mean short in duration; many projects last for several years. In every

case, however, the duration of a project is finite; projects are not ongoing efforts.

2. Unique, Product Service or Result

Projects involve creating something that has not been done in exactly the same

way before and which is, therefore, unique and distinct. Projects create:

Software Project Management (CS615)

A product or artifact that is produced, is quantifiable and can be either an

end item in itself or a component item

A capability to perform a service, such as business functions supporting

production or distribution

A result, such as new knowledge. For example, a research and

development project develops knowledge that can be used to determine

whether or not a trend is present or a new process will benefit society.

The presence of repetitive elements does not change the fundamental uniqueness

of the project work. For example:

A project to develop a new commercial airliner may require multiple

proto-types.

A project to bring a new drug to market may require thousands of doses of

the drug to support clinical trials.

A real estate development project may include hundreds of individual

units.

A development project (e.g., water and sanitation) may be implemented in

five geographic areas.

Aims/Tasks/Purpose

The projects are designed to achieve specific targets defined in terms of aims,

tasks or a purpose. The nature and size of the project depends upon

complexity of the task, realization of the aims and scope of the purpose any

organization wants to achieve. In short project has to be aimed for achieving

certain tasks in a given time frame.

Limited Time Scale

The projects are always designed considering time constraints. Extension to

the project completion dead lines are always discouraged as time overrun,

costs extra and in some cases opportunity cost for not completing a project is

too high.

Progressive, Elaboration

Progressive elaboration is a characteristic of projects that accompanies the

concepts of temporary and unique. "Progressively" means developing thoroughly

in steps, and continuing steadily by increments while elaborated means "worked

out with care and detail; developed thoroughly"

For example, the project scope will be broadly described early in the project, and

made more explicit and detailed as the project team develops a better and more

complete understanding of the objectives and deliverables.

Progressive elaboration of project specifications must be carefully coordinated

with proper project scope definition, particularly if the project is performed under

contract. When properly defined, the scope of the project--the work to be done--

Software Project Management (CS615)

should be controlled as the project and product specifications are progressively

elaborated.

The following examples illustrate progressive elaboration in two different

application areas.

Example 1. Development of a chemical processing plant begins with process

engineering to define the characteristics of the process. These characteristics are

used to design the major processing units. This information becomes the basis for

engineering design, which defines both the detail plant layout and the mechanical

characteristics of the process units and ancillary facilities. All of this results in

design drawings that are elaborated to produce fabrication and construction

drawings. During construction, interpretations and adaptations are made as

needed and subject to proper approval. This further elaboration of the deliverables

is captured in as-built drawings, and final operating adjustments are made during

testing and turnover.

Example 2. The product of an economic development project may initially be

defined as: "Improve the quality of life of the lowest income residents of

community X." As the project proceeds, the products may be described more

specifically as, for example: "Provide access to food and water to 500 low income

residents in community X." The next round of progressive elaboration might

focus exclusively on increasing agriculture production and marketing, with

provision of water deemed to be a secondary priority to be initiated once the

agricultural component is well under way.

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