Project Planning cont

1
Project Planning cont
CEN 4021 Class 6 01/31

• Review Class 5
• Time and resource assignments

2
Requirements Sources
Development
Requirements Prioritization
Support
Software Product Management Board
List of Reqs input to the Product Plan
Reqs Repository
. . .
Customer
Consultant
Fig 1.2 Requirements Prioritization
3
Work Breakdown Activity cont

• Steps in WBS
• Examine the set of required external
  deliverables.
• Identify and list the steps and tasks needed to
  produce the required deliverables, including
  intermediate deliverables.
• Sequence the identified tasks required to produce
  the deliverable.
• Estimate the effort required to perform each
  task.
• Estimate the productivity of the resources that
  will be applied to the tasks.

4
Work Breakdown Activity cont

• Steps in WBS cont
• Compute the time needed for each task by dividing
  the task effort estimates by the resource
  productivity estimates.
• Lay out the time needed for each task and label
  each task with its task name and the assigned
  resources this layout forms the initial schedule
• Go through figure 2.1. on next slide
• See example in the text.

5
Identify and list all deliverables
For each deliverable Identify and list
the necessary tasks for completing the deliverable
Sequence the tasks
Perform task
For each task Compute the timeline required by
dividing effort by productivity
For each task Estimate the productivity of the
assigned resource
For each task Estimate the effort needed
Lay out the timeline for all the ordered tasks
need for each deliverable
After the timelines for all tasks for all
deliverable are computed
Fig. 2.1 Flow of WBS to schedule
6
WBS - Task Sequencing cont

• Steps for the construction of the software
  project
• List the deliverables.
• For each deliverable, list the activities that
  are required.
• For each activity, list the set of subtasks that
  are required.
• Further refine any of the subtasks by creating
  the next level of subtasks, if necessary.
• Construct the sequence relationship of the
  subtasks
• Depict the sequence relationship with a sequence
  diagram

7
WBS - Example

• Deliverable 1 Executable code that is
  installable from a CD.
• Deliverable 2 Help text, usage, and reference
  information that is installable from CD.
• Deliverable 1 activities
• To develop code requirements specification, and
  analysis (which are already completed), design,
  coding, and testing.
• To make code installable reqs specification
  (already completed), design, coding and testing

8
WBS - Example

• Deliverable 2 activities
• Creating help text reqs specification and
  analysis (already completed), design, writing,
  tucking in, and testing.
• Developing usage and reference information reqs
  specification and analysis (already completed),
  design, writing, tucking in and testing.
• Choice of activities and sequence depends on
• The size and complexity of both the problem and
  the solution,

9
WBS Task Refinement

• List of activities for WBS example
• Activity A Designing and documenting the design
  using an agreed upon notation
• Activity B Coding (in language agreed upon)
• Activity C Defining test cases and generating
  test scripts
• Activity D Executing test scripts
• Activity E Correcting and fixing problems found
  during testing
• Activity F Collecting the tested executable
  modules and handing them to the packaging group

10
WBS Task Refinement

• Refinement of activity A
• Table 2.1. Subtasks within the Design activity

Tasks Description
Task A-1 Overall application, user interface (UI), and message architecture
Task A-2 Database and relational tables design
Task A-3 Application function 1 design
Task A-4 Application function 2 design
Task A-5 Application function 3 design
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WBS Time and Resource Assignments

• What is a satisfied level of refinement?
• Guidelines
• Each tasks may be assigned to one person
• The estimate of the task cost, stated not in
  terms of money but rather in terms of time
  required to complete it, does not extend beyond
  more than two or three project status meeting.
• Ensuring single person accountability makes the
  management and tracking of the task much easier.

12
Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Units of tasks management
• Project team must decide on a unit of
  measurement, usually range from 1 hour units to
  a several days (lt week).
• It is important to state hours in a day and days
  in a week (5 or 7)
• Person-day is usually 6 hours of direct s/w
  project related work per day.

13
Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Units of tasks management cont
• Time must be allocated for non-direct-task-related
  activities e.g., departmental meetings,
  telephone interruptions etc.
• How to estimate time required to complete a task.
• Ask experience s/w engineers (bottom-up
  estimating).
• Assemble a team and ask them to estimate each
  task in terms of some common work volume unit
  e.g., lines of code (LOC) per hour per day

14
Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Units of tasks management cont
• Example of Historical Information

Tasks Possible rates
Requirements elicitation 2 interviews/person-day
Message design 15 messages/person-day
Code implementation 2 functions points/person-day 40 lines of Java/person-day
Test generation 5 test scenarios/person-day
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Time and Resource Assignments cont
Task A-3
7 days
3 days
5 days
3 days
Task A-1
Task A-2
Task A-4
2 days
End
3 days
Task A-5
5 days
Fig2.3 Subtasks with estimated times.

• Longest path includes A-1, A-2, and A-3
  (critical path)
• There is no slippage along the critical path.

16
Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Estimates and assignments
• Need to assign people to tasks.
• Spmr need to consider skills required to perform
  each task, then seek people capable of performing
  these tasks.
• Must consider the availability of the identified
  skilled people.
• Must consider the timing of and the requirement
  of the identified person for another aspect of
  the project or another project.
• The above must be made in conjunction with the
  schedule in the time-estimated WBS.

17
Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Estimates and assignments cont
• The dependencies of the tasks in the WBS restrict
  assignment of resources, it also allows for the
  use of additional resources.
• The skill of the team members may also restrict
  assignment.

18
Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Estimates and assignments cont
• Subtasks with time Estimates and People
  Assignments

Subtask Person Sequence time-estimate
A-1 P1
A-2 P2
A-3 P3
A-4 P4
A-5 P5
5 days
3 days
7 days
2 days
5 days
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Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Milestones
• End-point of a software process activity.
• A significant event in a project that occurs at a
  specific point in time.
• The labeling of a milestone gives a certain
  amount of priority and significance to the event.
• Spmr may use the term milestone to emphasize
  the particular activity, as well as for the
  purpose of recognizing the attainment of a
  significant task.

20
Time and Resource Assignments cont

• Milestones cont
• Depending on the size of the project the schedule
  might only be depicted in terms of milestones.
  Such a schedule may be used by higher level
  management.
• See Table 2.4 in the text.
• It is important for the spmr to recognize the
  accomplishments of milestones and publicly
  recognize them.
• The spmr should also pay attention to missed
  milestones.