Software Project Management

Introduction to Project Management

Chapter 1
 Project Management
What’s a project?
PMI definition
A project is a temporary endeavor (effort)
undertaken to create a unique product or service
Progressively elaborated(enlarged)
With repetitive elements
A project manager
Analogy: conductor, coach, captain
To schedule and control the progress and cost of
a project
 What Is a Project?

Outcome of Projects
A project can create:
A product that can be either a component of another
item, an enhancement of an item, or an end item in
itself;
A service or a capability to perform a service (e.g., a
business function that supports production or
distribution);
 What Is a Project?
Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:
Developing a new product, service, or result; e.g. software
products.
Improving an existing product and service. e.g. Software
Product feature Enhancements etc.
Developing or acquiring a new or modified information
system (hardware or software);
Constructing a building, industrial plant, or infrastructure;
or
Implementing, improving, or enhancing existing business
processes and procedures.
Project Management Skills
Leadership
Project managers should be good leaders. They have to build trust with key parties
involved in the projects and have to lead them to a success.
Communications
The good project manager not only has excellent communication skills but also
is able to create an environment in which everyone can communicate effectively.
Problem Solving
Knowledge of methodologies – Waterfall, Iterative, Agile.
Ability to manage many different tasks at the same time (multitasking).
Basic technical knowledge. 
Knowledge of the business area he is involved in.
Project Management Skills
Negotiating
There are at least 4 major types of stakeholders you will
need to negotiate with:
Customers
Team Leads – negotiation for resources
High Management – negotiation for time and cost.
Team Member – scope and tasks.
Project Management Skills
Influencing the Organization
Organizational influence is a two-way exchange:
Organizations cannot accomplish their goals if they can't
influence their members to do the right things. And the members, of
course, cannot do the right things if they can't influence what goes
on in their organizations.
Mentoring
mentors actively participate in projects to ensure
standards are being adopted and help provide a
comfortable transition when deploying new processes,
practices, and templates.
Process and technical expertise
Software Project Management
Management

Project
Management

Software
Project
Management
 Advantages of Using Formal
Project Management
Better control of financial, physical, and human resources.
Improved customer relations.
Shorter development times.
Lower costs.
Higher quality and increased reliability.
Higher profit margins.
Improved productivity.
Better internal coordination.
Higher worker morale (less stress).
 Project vs. Program Management
What’s a ‘program’?
A program is defined as a group of related projects,
subprograms, and program activities managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from
managing them individually.
A project may or may not be part of a program but a
program will always have projects.
Interactions / Stakeholders
As a PM, who do you interact with?
Project Stakeholders
Project sponsor
 The project sponsor is an individual (often a manager or executive)
with overall accountability for the project. He or she is primarily
concerned with ensuring that the project delivers the agreed upon
business benefits and acts as the representative of the organization
Team
Customers
Contractors
 There are times when organizations don’t have the expertise or
resources available in-house, and work is farmed out to contractors or
subcontractors. 
Interactions / Stakeholders
 Functional managers
 A functional manager is a person who has
management authority over an organizational unit—such
as a department—within a business, company, or other
organization. ... A general manager is responsible for all
areas and oversees all of the firm's functions and day-to-
day business operations.
 Project and Program Managers
Project managers work with project sponsors, project teams,
and other people involved in projects to meet project goals.
Program: “A group of related projects managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available
from managing them individually.”*
Program managers oversee programs and often act as
bosses for project managers.

*PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

(PMBOK® Guide)
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 The Triple Constraint
Every project is constrained in different ways by its:

Scope goals: What work will be done? (What unique

product or service)

Time goals: How long should it take to complete?

(Project Schedule)

Cost goals: What should it cost? (Project Budget)

It is the project manager’s duty to balance these three

often-competing goals.

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The Triple Constraint
To speed up a project (time), you could reduce features
(scope), or dedicate more resources (cost).
To increase the number of features on a project
(scope), you can add people to work faster (cost),
extend the deadline (time), or do both.
To complete a project under budget (cost), you can cut
features (scope), or reduce the number of workers and
extend the amount of time it takes to finish.

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 Figure 1-1. The Triple Constraint of
Project Management

Successful project
management means
meeting all three
goals (scope, time,
and cost) – and
satisfying the
project’s sponsor!

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Figure 1-2. Project Management
Framework

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Nine Project Management
Knowledge Areas
Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project
managers must develop.
Four core knowledge areas lead to specific project objectives
(scope, time, cost, and quality).
Four facilitating knowledge areas are the means through
which the project objectives are achieved (human resources,
communication, risk, and procurement management).
One knowledge area (project integration management) affects
and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas.
All knowledge areas are important!

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Management, Fourth Edition
 Project Management Tools and
Techniques

Project management tools and techniques assist project

managers and their teams in various aspects of project
management.
Specific tools and techniques include:
Project charters, scope statements, and WBS (scope).
Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, critical
chain scheduling (time).
Cost estimates and earned value management (cost).

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Management, Fourth Edition
Project Charter
 The purpose of the project charter is to document:
Reasons for undertaking the project
Objectives and constraints of the project
Directions concerning the solution
Identities of the main stakeholders
In-scope and out-of-scope items
Risks identified
Target project benefits
High level budget and spending authority

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Management, Fourth Edition
 Critical Path analysis
 The critical path is the sequence of activities with the longest duration. A
delay in any of these activities will result in a delay for the whole project.

 For each path, add the duration of each node to determine it's total duration.
The critical path is the one with the longest duration.

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Management, Fourth Edition
 Super Tools
• “Super tools” are those tools that have high use and
high potential for improving project success, such
as:

–Requirements analysis
–Scope statements
–Lessons-learned reports
–Progress reports
–Kick-off meetings
–Gantt charts
–Change requests
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The Role of the Project Manager
Job descriptions vary, but most include responsibilities
such as planning, scheduling, coordinating, and
working with people to achieve project goals.

Remember that 97 percent of successful projects were

led by experienced project managers.

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Management, Fourth Edition
 Table 1-3. Fifteen Project
Management Job Functions*
 Evaluate project requirements.
 Define scope of project.
 Identify and evaluate risks.
 Identify stakeholders, decision-
 Prepare contingency plan.
makers, and escalation
 Identify interdependencies.
procedures.
 Identify and track critical
 Develop detailed task list (work
milestones.
breakdown structures).  Participate in project phase review.
 Estimate time requirements.
 Secure needed resources.
 Develop initial project  Manage the change control process.
management flow chart.  Report project status.
 Identify required resources and
budget.
*Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies, “Building a Foundation for Tomorrow: Skills Standards
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•27 Technology,” Belleview, WA, 1999.
Management, Fourth Edition
 Difference b\w project, program and
portfolio
Project - Project is a temporary endeavor to create
a unique product, service, or result.
Program - A group of related projects,
subprograms, and program activities managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits not available
from managing them individually.
Portfolio - A portfolio is a collection of Project,
programs, sub portfolios, and operations managed
as a group to achieve strategic objectives.

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 Portfolio Management
 Example of Portfolio
 For example, an infrastructure firm that has the strategic objective of
“maximizing the return on its investments” may put together a portfolio that
includes a mix of projects in oil and gas, power, water, roads, rail, and
airports.
 From this mix, the firm may choose to manage related projects as one
program.
 All of the power projects may be grouped together as a power program.
 Similarly, all of the water projects may be grouped together as a water
program.
 Thus, the power program and the water program become integral components
of the enterprise portfolio of the infrastructure firm.

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Management, Fourth Edition
 Project Management Compared to Project
Portfolio Management

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 Suggested Skills for Project
Managers

 Project managers need a wide variety of skills

 They should:

Be comfortable with change

Understand the organizations they work in and with

Be able to lead teams to accomplish project goals

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 Different Skills Needed in Different
Situations
Large projects: leadership, relevant prior experience,
planning, people skills, verbal communication, and
team-building skills were most important
High uncertainty projects: risk management,
expectation management, leadership, people skills,
and planning skills were most important
Very novel projects: leadership, people skills, having
vision and goals, self confidence, expectations
management, and listening skills were most
important

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 Figure 1-4. Sample Gantt Chart
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The WBS is shown on the left, and each task’s start and finish dates
are shown on the right. First used in 1917, early Gantt charts were
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Management, Fourth Edition
 Project Management Software
 There are hundreds of different products to assist in performing project
management
 Three main categories of tools:
 Low-end tools: handle single or smaller projects well
 Most of these tools allow users to create Gantt charts.
 Midrange tools: handle multiple projects and users
 All of these tools can produce Gantt charts and network diagrams, and can
assist in critical path analysis, resource allocation, project tracking, status
reporting, and so on.
 High-end tools: also called enterprise project management software.
 These tools provide capabilities to handle very large projects, dispersed
workgroups, and enterprise and portfolio management functions that
summarize and combine individual project information to provide an
enterprise view of all projects.

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 The Project Management Profession
Professional societies such as the Project Management
Institute (PMI) have grown significantly.
There are specific interest groups in many areas, such as
engineering, financial services, health care, and IT.
Project management research and certification programs
continue to grow.

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Management, Fourth Edition
Project Management Certification
PMI provides certification as a Project Management
Professional (PMP).
A PMP has documented sufficient project experience,
agreed to follow a code of ethics, and passed the PMP
exam.
The number of people earning PMP certification is
increasing quickly.
PMI and other organizations are offering new
certification programs (see Appendix B).

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Management, Fourth Edition
Figure 1-7. Growth in PMP
Certification, 1993-2003
80,000 76,550

70,000
60,000
52,443
50,000
# PMPs

40,000 40,343

30,000 27,052

20,000 18,184

10,000 6,415
10,086
4,400
1,900 2,800
0 1,000
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year
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Management, Fourth Edition
 Chapter Summary
 A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique
product, service, or result
 Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools,
and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
 A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated
way
 Project portfolio management involves organizing and managing
projects and programs as a portfolio of investments
 Project managers play a key role in helping projects and
organizations succeed
 The project management profession continues to grow and mature

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 Hand Written Homework (Individual)
Submit it in very next class
Write short note(3 to 4 lines) on each of the following:
Project Management Institute (PMI) (pmi.org)
Software Engineering Institute (SEI)
IEEE Software Engineering Group

Certifications
PMI PMP

Search PM tools (Minimum 5)

Write down examples of low-end tools, mid-range tools
and high-end tools.
Write down any 3 detailed examples if IT Projects.