Software Project Management

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Software Project Management

• Session 6 MS-Project Intro Mid-term Exam

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Today

• WBS Homework Review
• Brief introduction to MS-Project
• Exam

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WBS Review

• For process approaches
• It sometimes appears that you think requirements
  analysis design
• Or that doing a few diagrams (ERD, DFD)
  requirements
• Consistency
• Consistent use of verbnoun descriptions of
  activities
• Language
• Inclusion of some phases but missing others
• Some at beginning, some at end
• Use of a spell checker (spelling counts in
  project plans too)

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WBS Review

• Disappearing plot lines
• Like designing a network or choosing hardware but
  never implementing
• Consistency across phases
• If Development includes four major modules,
  typically Design should reflect those same four
• If using a process model, then there should be
  a visible flow to the process
• Not like this Systems Engineering, Hardware
  Software, Project Management, Test, Training,
  Site Implementation

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WBS Review

• Some MS-Project plans had all 1 day assignments,
• That's good for this point of process
• This is prior to estimation
• Tone Content
• Some are very generic
• Tell me nothing about your system
• Not enough to say 'requirements, analysis,
  design, etc, done

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WBS Review

• Some activities overly general 'Control Project
• Forget things at equal level like architecture
  design
• Think all activities through
• Aim for a consistent level of detail
• Know the basic order of things testing doesnt
  occur before development
• Other details QA is not part of Rollout
• I am lenient now but will be less so going forward

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MS-Project

• Mid-market leader
• Has approx. 50 overall market share
• 70-80 MS-Project users never used automated
  project tracking prior (a first tool)
• Not a mid/high-end tool for EPM (Enterprise
  Project Mgmt.)

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Project Pros

• Easy outlining of tasks
• Resource management
• Accuracy baseline vs. actual various
  calculations
• Easy charting and graphics
• Cost management
• Capture historical data

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Project Cons

• Illusion of control
• Workgroup features ok, still in-progress
• Scaling
• No estimation features
• Remember
• Being a MS-Project expert does not make you an
  expert project manager!
• No more so than knowing MS-Word makes you a good
  writer.

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The MS-Project Process

• Move WBS into a Project outline (in Task Sheet)
• Add resources (team members or roles)
• Add costs for resources
• Assign resources to tasks
• Establish dependencies
• Refine and optimize
• Create baseline
• Track progress (enter actuals, etc.)

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Project Overview

• This is a quickie overview
• We will return to all of these steps individually
  over the next few weeks
• Sample project from McConnell

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Project UI

• Views
• Default is Gant Chart View
• 2 panes
• Task Sheet on left (a table)
• Gantt Chart on right
• View Bar on far left

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Project UI
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Create Your Project

• File/New
• Setup start date
• Setup calendar
• Menu Project/Project Information
• Often left with default settings
• Hours, holidays

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Enter WBS

• Outlining
• Sub-tasks and summary tasks
• Do not enter start/end dates for each
• Just start with Task Name and Duration for each
• Use Indent/Outdent buttons to define summary
  tasks and subtasks
• You can enter specific Start/End dates but dont
  most of the time

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Establish Durations

• Know the abbreviations
• h/d/w/m
• D is default
• Can use partial
• .5d is a half-day task
• Elapsed durations
• Estimated durations
• Put a ? after duration

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Add Resources

• Work Resources
• People
• Material Resources
• Things
• Can be used to track costs
• Ex amount of equipment purshased
• Not used as often in typical software project

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Resource Sheet

• Can add new resources here
• Or directly in the task entry sheet
• Beware of mis-spellings (Project will create
  near-duplicates)
• Setup costs
• Such as annual salary (put yr after Std. Rate)

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Effort-Driven Scheduling

• MS-Project default
• Duration Units Work
• Duration Work / Units (D W/U)
• Work Duration Units (W DU)
• Units Work / Duration (U W/D)
• Adding more resources to a task shortens duration
• Can be changed on a per-task basis
• In the advanced tab of Task Information dialog
  box
• Task Type setting
• Beware the Mythical Man-month
• Good for laying bricks, not always so for
  software development

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Link Tasks

• On toolbar Link Unlink buttons
• Good for many at once
• Or via Gantt chart
• Drag from one task to another

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Milestones

• Zero duration tasks
• Insert task normally but put 0 in duration

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Make Assignments

• Approach 1. Using Task Sheet
• Using Resource Names column
• You can create new ones by just typing-in here
• 2. Using Assign Resources dialog box
• Good for multiple resources
• Highlight task, Tools/Resources or toolbar button
• 3. Using Task Information dialog
• Resources tab
• 4. Task Entry view
• View/More Views/Task Entry
• Or Task Entry view on Resource Mgmt. toolbar

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Save Baseline

• Saves all current information about your project
• Dates, resource assignments, durations, costs

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Fine Tune

• Then is used later as basis for comparing against
  actuals
• Menu Tools/Tracking/Save Baseline

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Project 2002

• 3 Editions Standard, Professional, Server
• MS Project Server 2002
• Upgrade of old Project Central
• Includes Project Web Access, web-based UI
  (partial)
• Workgroup and resource notification features
• Requires SQL-Server and IIS
• Portfolio Analyzer
• Drill-down into projects via pivot tables
  charts
• Portfolio Modeler
• Create models and what-if scenarios
• SharePoint Team Services integration

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Project 2002

• MS-Project Professional
• Build Team feature
• Skills-based resource matching
• Resource Pools with skill set tracking
• Resource Substitution Wizard
• Project Guide feature
• Customizable process component

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Homework

• McConnell 5 Risk Management, 14 Feature-Set
  Control
• Schwalbe 10, Project Risk Management, Appendix
  A Guide to Using Microsoft Project 2000
  (447-477)
• Install MS-Project if you havent done so already

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Questions?