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Project Management for the MX generation. Shlomy Gantz CFUN-02. Project Buzzwords. Process Requirements Teamwork Consensus “On-time, On Budget” Methodology Empower, Synergy, etc…. “Process”. Buzzwords - “Process”. Buzzwords - “Process”. 4 Step, 5 Step, 12 Step…
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Project Management for the MX generation Shlomy Gantz CFUN-02
Project Buzzwords • Process • Requirements • Teamwork • Consensus • “On-time, On Budget” • Methodology • Empower, Synergy, etc…
Buzzwords - “Process” • 4 Step, 5 Step, 12 Step… • Who designed your process? • Do you follow that process? • Do you? Really? • Do you update your process? • How complex is your process? • How abstract is your process?
Buzzwords – “Requirements” “I’ll need you to review these 300 use cases by Monday”
“Horror Story” #1 • Large airline industry project • Thousands of documents • 200 Consultants • No consistensy • No clear vision • Project already late • Too many project managers
“Horror Story” #1 • Re-State Goal • New Document Templates and Management • Buzzword free architecture • Simple, Achievable Milestones
Buzzwords – “Requirements” • Do you have enough requirements before you start coding? • Do you, really? • Can you have too much of it? • Are they consistent? • Can your requirements change? • Are they simple to understand?
Buzzwords – Project Managers • Project Managers are overrated • Project Leadership is needed instead of project management
Buzzwords – “on time and on budget…” • Nearly a third of IT projects were CANCELED before they could be completed. • Over half of the projects cost almost TWICE as much as their original approvedbudget
Buzzwords – “Teamwork” • Hierarchies can inhibit communication • One Good programmer is worth 10 mediocre
Buzzwords – “Consensus” • Too much time and energy spent on consensus • Great tool for Avoiding Accountability • Promotes management by committee, slows development
Reasons for Failure • In software, past performance is your bestindicator of future performance • “Project success is determined in the first month”
Reasons for Failure • Lack of clear vision • Lack of communication • Lack of flexibility • Lack of creativity
Project Success Factors 1. User Involvement……………………..…….20 2. Executive Management Support………...….15 3. Clear Statement of Requirements………..….15 4. Proper Planning ……………………….……10 5. Realistic Expectations …………….….…….10 6. Smaller Project Milestones ………….……..10 7. Competent Staff …………………………….5 8. Ownership…………………………………. .5 9. Clear Vision & Objectives ………………….5 10. Hard-Working, Focused Staff……………. .5
“Horror” Story #2 • “Instant” company 0-60 employees in one month • Extremely Short timeframe • Not enough developers • No planning or Vision • Constant Scope creep
“Horror” Story #2 • Stop • Force everyone think the product does do,and write it down. • Owner and President given a multiple choice questionnaire based on response. • Mini-plans, small milestones/tasks – complete a feature • Momentum – team happier, more productive • Project gets done
Project Management – The problem • Phase Isolation – “Plan, then do” • Requirements done once and set in stone • Requirements are not simple to understand • Implementation is done in Isolation
Project Management – The Solution ? • RUP? • RAD? • XP ? • FliP ?
Project Management – The Solution • An clear vision • An evolving project plan • An evolving functional specification • An evolving risk list • An evolving test plan
A Clear Vision • Storyboarding / Wireframes • The Topic • The Classifications • The Specific Ideas • Non-Functional Models • Evolving Simplified Documentation
Storyboarding • Team of 5-7 people • 45 minutes to 1 Hour at most • Visually represent your ideas
An evolving project plan • Reality Check (Resources, Time, Quality) • Don’t be afraid to change the plan !!! • Pick any 2: • Fast. • Good. • Cheap.
The Plan • What You Gonna Get? • By When? • How You Gonna Get there? • How Much It Gonna Cost?
The Initial Plan • The specification of what the final product or service will be capable of doing; • The top-level plan for how everything is going to be done and how it will all fit together. • The timetable of when the client can expect to be able to see and evaluate specific parts of the finished product. • The budgets associated with those timetables
The Plan • Differentiate the major tasks from the little stuff; group minor related tasks under the major tasks. • Sequence the major tasks into some logical progression. • Figure out who’s going to do which task(s) and what they’ll need to get it/them done well and right and about how long your team members think they will take to get done. Add 50% (build in the time cushion). • Advise those people what you want done, but not necessarily exactly how you want it done. People’s creativity will amaze you sometimes.
The Plan • Too Much Detail • Not enough Detail • Project and Product summary • Plain English • Who’s who
Risk Management “since unplanned network outages are a big inconvenience, in the future I should be notified in advance of all unplanned outages...”
Plan your Risks • Believe in Murphy What can go wrong, will • Think about it • Plan for it • Accept it • Find your constraints
Plan your Risks • You don’t get enough money. • You don’t get enough time. • You don’t get enough people. • You get the wrong people • Your client is inaccessible. • There are too many cooks. • “Circumstances beyond your control”.
Roles - Introspective Roles • Product focus. • Project focus. • Task execution focus. • QA and testing focus • Structural focus. • Documentation and training focus.
Roles - Extrospective • Client/Customer liaison. • Sponsor liaison. • Business point-of-contact. • “Infrastructure”/maintenance liaison.
Estimating time • There are three major ways projects get scheduled: • Top-down; • Bottom-up; and • Dictated release date.
Keeping Track of it all • Show and Tell instead of Reports • MBWA • Email, Email, Email !!! (or IM/ICQ)
Communication • Good Reports • Short • Contain Summary • Have pictures ! • One page long • Too much information is • (a) useless, or • (b) distracting, or • (c) all of the above
Using Time • You CANNOT manage time, you can only use it
Using Time - Meetings • No specific objective (“We always meet on Tuesdays at 11.”); • No agenda (“Well, we’re all here, what shall we talk about today?”); • Too many participants or wrong participants • Too long • Failure to control the meeting , lack of focus • No closure