Software Project Management

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Software Project Management

Week 5: Work Breakdown Structures and a Case Study

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COMP3711 Software Project Management 2

Project Planning: A 12 Step Program

1) Set goal and scope 2) Select lifecycle

3) Set org./team form 4) Start team selection 5) Determine risks 6) Create WBS 7) Identify tasks 8) Estimate size 9) Estimate effort 10) Identify task dependencies 11) Assign resources 12) Schedule work

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Partitioning Your Project

• You need to decompose your project into manageable chunks

• ALL projects need this step • Divide and Conquer

• Two main causes of project failure

– Forgetting something critical

– Ballpark estimates become targets

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Project Elements

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WBS Outline Example

0.0 Retail Web Site

1.0 Project Management 2.0 Requirements Gathering 3.0 Analysis & Design

4.0 Site Software Development

4.1 HTML Design and Creation 4.2 Backend Software 4.2.1 Database Implementation 4.2.2 Middleware Development 4.2.3 Security Subsystems 4.2.4 Catalog Engine 4.2.5 Transaction Processing 4.3 Graphics and Interface

4.4 Content Creation 5.0 Testing and Production

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WBS Types

• Process WBS

• a.k.a Activity-oriented

• Ex: Requirements, Analysis, Design, Testing • Typically used by PM

• Product WBS

• a.k.a. Entity-oriented

• Ex: Financial engine, Interface system, DB • Typically used by engineering manager

• Hybrid WBS: both above

• This is not unusual

• Ex: Lifecycle phases at high level with component or feature-specifics within phases

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WBS

• List of Activities, not Things

• List of items can come from many sources

– SOW, Proposal, brainstorming, stakeholders, team

• Describe activities using “bullet language”

– Meaningful but terse labels

• All WBS paths do not have to go to the same level • Do not plan more detail than you can manage

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WBS & Methodology

• PM must map activities to chosen lifecycle • Each lifecycle has different sets of activities • Integral process activities occur for all

– Planning, configuration, testing

• Operations and maintenance phases are not normally in plan (considered post-project) • Some models are “straightened” for WBS

– Spiral and other iterative models – Linear sequence several times

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WBS Techniques

• Top-Down

• Bottom-Up

• Analogy

• Rolling Wave

– 1st pass: go 1-3 levels deep

– Gather more requirements or data – Add more detail later

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WBS Techniques

• Top-down

– Start at highest level

– Systematically develop increasing level of detail

– Best if

• The problem is well understood

• Technology and methodology are not new

• This is similar to an earlier project or problem

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WBS Techniques

• Bottom-up

– Start at lowest level tasks

– Aggregate into summaries and higher levels – Cons

• Time consuming

• Needs more requirements complete

– Pros

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WBS Techniques

• Analogy

– Base WBS upon that of a “similar” project – Use a template

– Analogy also can be estimation basis – Pros

• Based on past actual experience

– Cons

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WBS Techniques

• Brainstorming

– Generate all activities you can think of that need to be done

– Group them into categories

• Both Top-down and Brainstorming can be

used on the same WBS

• Remember to get the people who will be

doing the work involved (buy-in matters!)

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WBS – Basis of Many Things

• Network scheduling

• Costing

• Risk analysis

• Organizational structure

• Control

• Measurement

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WBS Guidelines Part 1

• Should be easy to understand

• Some companies have corporate standards for these schemes

• Some top-level items, like Project Mgmt. are in WBS for each project

– Others vary by project

• Break down until you can generate accurate time & cost estimates

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WBS Guidelines Part 2

• How detailed should it be?

– Not as detailed as the final MS-Project plan – Each level should have no more than 7 items – It can evolve over time

• What tool should you use?

– Excel, Word, Project

– Org chart diagramming tool (Visio, etc) – Specialized commercial apps

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Recreation and Wellness Intranet Project

(A running casestudy) …

• Project Objectives: By providing this application on our current Intranet, we can help employees

improve their health, resulting in lower health care costs and improved productivity. The system will allow employees to register for

company-sponsored recreational programs and wellness classes, track data on involvement in these

programs, and offer incentives for people to join the programs and do well in them.

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• Project Justification: Senior management

at MYH, Inc. suggested this project to help

improve employee health and reduce health

care premiums, which are 20 percent above

the industry average. Estimated savings are

$30/employee per year for four years.

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Scope Statment

…

Product Characteristics and Requirements:

1. The new system must run on the existing intranet using current hardware and software as much as possible.

2. The new system must be very user-friendly. 3. The main requirements of the system are to:

• Allow employees to register for company-sponsored recreational programs, such as soccer, softball, bowling, jogging, walking, and other sports.

• Allow employees to register for company-sponsored classes and programs to help them manage their weight, reduce stress, stop smoking, and manage other health-related issues.

• Track data on employee involvement in these recreational and health-management programs.

• Offer incentives for people to join the programs and do well in them (i.e., incentives for achieving weight goals, winning sports team

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Scope Statment

…

Summary of Project Deliverables

Project management-related deliverables: Business case,

charter, team contract, scope statement, WBS, schedule, cost baseline, status reports, final project presentation, final project report, lessons-learned report, and any other documents required to manage the project.

Product-related deliverables:

1. Requirement definition: Define the requirements for the new system. Includes developing and administering a survey to current employees to help determine desired programs, courses, incentives, and content and features for the new system.

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Scope Statment

…

Product-related deliverables … (contd.):

2. Web site design: An initial design of the new intranet site will include a site map, suggested formats, appropriate graphics, and design of the required features like registration, tracking, etc. The final design will incorporate comments from users on the initial design.

3. Web site development: The intranet site will include content for the programs, classes, and incentives as well as features for registration, tracking, and incentives management.

4. Testing: Testing will include the development of test plans to

document how the system will be tested, who will do the testing, and how bugs will be reported.

5. Training: Training will be provided for the new system, both on-line and in-class.

6. Roll out and support: There will be a well-defined plan for rolling out the new system, supporting users, and providing updates,

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Scope Statment

…

Project Success Criteria: Our goal is to complete

this project within six months for no more than $200,000. The main goal is improve employee health to negotiate lower insurance premiums. Even having this program should help us

negotiate lower premiums, and tracking

improvements in employee health will provide solid evidence for lower premiums and have other benefits, like improved morale and

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WBS

1. Project Management 2. Requirements Definition 3. Web Site Design

3.1 Registration for recreational programs 3.2 Registration for classes and programs 3.3 Tracking system

3.4 Incentive system 4. Web Site Development

4.1 Registration for recreational programs 4.2 Registration for classes and programs 4.3 Tracking system

4.4 Incentive system 5. Testing

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