Information Technology Project Management, Seventh Edition. Note: See the text itself for full citations.

Transcription

1 Management, Seventh Edition Note: See the text itself for full citations.

2 Describe the systems view of project management and how it applies to information technology (IT) projects Understand organizations, including the four frames, organizational structures, and organizational culture Explain why stakeholder management and top management commitment are critical for a project s success Management, Seventh Edition 2

3 Understand the concept of a project phase and the project life cycle, and distinguish between project development and product development Discuss the unique attributes and diverse nature of IT projects Describe recent trends affecting IT project management, including globalization, outsourcing, virtual teams, and agile project management Management, Seventh Edition 3

4 Projects must operate in a broad organizational environment Project managers need to use systems thinking: taking a holistic view of carrying out projects within the context of the organization Senior managers must make sure projects continue to support current business needs Management, Seventh Edition 4

5 A systems approach emerged in the 1950s to describe a more analytical approach to management and problem solving Three parts include: Systems philosophy: an overall model for thinking about things as systems Systems analysis: problem-solving approach Systems management: address business, technological, and organizational issues before making changes to systems Management, Seventh Edition 5

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8 In a paper titled A Study in Project Failure, two researchers examined the success and failure of 214 IT projects over an eight-year period in several European countries. The researchers found that only one in eight (12.5 percent) were considered successful in terms of meeting scope, time, and cost goals. The authors said that the culture within many organizations is often to blame Among other things, people often do not discuss important leadership, stakeholder, and risk management issues Management, Seventh Edition 8

9 3 basic organization structures Functional: functional managers report to the CEO Project: program managers report to the CEO Matrix: middle ground between functional and project structures; personnel often report to two or more bosses; structure can be weak, balanced, or strong matrix Management, Seventh Edition 9

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11 Organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize the functioning of an organization Many experts believe the underlying causes of many companies problems are not the structure or staff, but the culture Management, Seventh Edition 12

12 Member identity* Group emphasis* team decision People focus Unit integration* Control identify with the org (loyalty) effect on people (smoother, harder, easier) Risk tolerance* Reward criteria* Conflict tolerance* Means-ends orientation Open-systems focus* *Project work is most successful in an organizational culture where these items are strong/high and other items are balanced. Management, Seventh Edition 13

13 Project managers must take time to identify, understand, and manage relationships with all project stakeholders Using the four frames of organizations can help meet stakeholder needs and expectations Senior executives/top management are very important stakeholders See Chapter 13, Project Stakeholder Management, for more information Management, Seventh Edition 14

14 The media have often reported on mismanaged IT projects. A classic example and popular case study is the baggage handling system at Denver International Airport (DIA). The system was supposed to reduce flight delays, shorten waiting times at luggage carousels, and save money, but instead it caused huge problems. One important reason for this famous project disaster was the failure to recognize the project s complexity. Management, Seventh Edition 15

15 People in top management positions are key stakeholders in projects A very important factor in helping project managers successfully lead projects is the level of commitment and support they receive from top management Without top management commitment, many projects will fail. Some projects have a senior manager called a champion who acts as a key proponent for a project. Management, Seventh Edition 16

16 Providing adequate resources Approving unique project needs in a timely manner Getting cooperation from other parts of the organization Mentoring and coaching on leadership issues Management, Seventh Edition 17

17 If the organization has a negative attitude toward IT, it will be difficult for an IT project to succeed Having a Chief Information Officer (CIO) at a high level in the organization helps IT projects Assigning non-it people to IT projects also encourage more commitment Management, Seventh Edition 19

18 Standards and guidelines help project managers be more effective Senior management can encourage the use of standard forms and software for project management the development and use of guidelines for writing project plans or providing status information the creation of a project management office or center of excellence Management, Seventh Edition 20

19 A project life cycle is a collection of project phases that defines what work will be performed in each phase what deliverables will be produced and when who is involved in each phase, and how management will control and approve work produced in each phase A deliverable is a product or service produced or provided as part of a project Management, Seventh Edition 21

20 In early phases of a project life cycle resource needs are usually lowest the level of uncertainty (risk) is highest project stakeholders have the greatest opportunity to influence the project In middle phases of a project life cycle the certainty of completing a project improves more resources are needed The final phase of a project life cycle focuses on ensuring that project requirements were met the sponsor approves completion of the project Management, Seventh Edition 22

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23 Products also have life cycles The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a framework for describing the phases involved in developing and maintaining information systems Systems development projects can follow Predictive life cycle: the scope of the project can be clearly articulated and the schedule and cost can be predicted Adaptive Software Development (ASD) life cycle: requirements cannot be clearly expressed, projects are mission driven and component based, using time-based cycles to meet target dates Management, Seventh Edition 25

24 Waterfall model: has well-defined, linear stages of systems development and support Spiral model: shows that software is developed using an iterative or spiral approach rather than a linear approach Incremental build model: provides for progressive development of operational software Prototyping model: used for developing prototypes to clarify user requirements Rapid Application Development (RAD) model: used to produce systems quickly without sacrificing quality Management, Seventh Edition 26

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29 Agile software development has become popular to describe new approaches that focus on close collaboration between programming teams and business experts See the last section of this chapter and Chapter 3 for more information on agile Management, Seventh Edition 31

30 Agile software development has become popular to describe new approaches that focus on close collaboration between programming teams and business experts Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan Management, Seventh Edition 32

31 Perhaps the best-known and most widely used agile method. Extreme Programming (XP) takes an extreme approach to development. #

32 Principle or practice Incremental planning Small releases Simple design Test-first development Refactoring Description Requirements are recorded on story cards and the stories to be included in a release are determined by the time available and their relative priority. The developers break these stories into development Tasks. See Figures 3.5 and 3.6. The minimal useful set of functionality that provides business value is developed first. Releases of the system are frequent and incrementally add functionality to the first release. Enough design is carried out to meet the current requirements and no more. An automated unit test framework is used to write tests for a new piece of functionality before that functionality itself is implemented. All developers are expected to refactor the code continuously as soon as possible code improvements are found. This keeps the code simple and maintainable.

33 Pair programming Collective ownership Continuous integration Sustainable pace On-site customer Developers work in pairs, checking each other s work and providing the support to always do a good job. The pairs of developers work on all areas of the system, so that no islands of expertise develop and all the developers take responsibility for all of the code. Anyone can change anything. As soon as the work on a task is complete, it is integrated into the whole system. After any such integration, all the unit tests in the system must pass. Large amounts of overtime are not considered acceptable as the net effect is often to reduce code quality and medium term productivity A representative of the end-user of the system (the customer) should be available full time for the use of the XP team. In an extreme programming process, the customer is a member of the development team and is responsible for bringing system requirements to the team for implementation.

34 A project should successfully pass through each of the project phases in order to continue on to the next Management reviews, also called phase exits or kill points, should occur after each phase to evaluate the project s progress, likely success, and continued compatibility with organizational goals Introduce build, buy, mine, commission options Management, Seventh Edition 36

35 IT projects can be very diverse in terms of size, complexity, products produced, application area, and resource requirements IT project team members often have diverse backgrounds and skill sets IT projects use diverse technologies that change rapidly. Even within one technology area, people must be highly specialized Management, Seventh Edition 38

36 Globalization Outsourcing: Outsourcing is when an organization acquires goods and/or sources from an outside source. Offshoring is sometimes used to describe outsourcing from another country Virtual teams: A virtual team is a group of individuals who work across time and space using communication technologies Agile project management Management, Seventh Edition 39

37 Issues Communications Trust Common work practices Tools Suggestions Employ greater project discipline Think global but act local Keep project momentum going Use newer tools and technology Management, Seventh Edition 40

38 Organizations remain competitive by using outsourcing to their advantage, such as finding ways to reduce costs Their next challenge is to make strategic IT investments with outsourcing by improving their enterprise architecture to ensure that IT infrastructure and business processes are integrated and standardized (See Suggested Readings) Project managers should become more familiar with negotiating contracts and other outsourcing issues Management, Seventh Edition 41

39 Outsourcing also has disadvantages. For example, Apple benefits from manufacturing products in China, but it had big problems there after its iphone 4S launch in January 2012 caused fighting between migrant workers who were hired by scalpers to stand in line to buy the phones. When Apple said it would not open its store in Beijing, riots resulted and people attacked security guards. The Beijing Apple Store has had problems before. In May 2011, four people were injured when a crowd waiting to buy the ipad 2 turned ugly. Management, Seventh Edition 42

40 Increasing competiveness and responsiveness by having a team of workers available 24/7 Lowering costs because many virtual workers do not require office space or support beyond their home offices. Providing more expertise and flexibility by having team members from across the globe working any time of day or night Increasing the work/life balance for team members by eliminating fixed office hours and the need to travel to work. Management, Seventh Edition 43

41 Isolating team members Increasing the potential for communications problems Reducing the ability for team members to network and transfer information informally Increasing the dependence on technology to accomplish work See text for a list of factors that help virtual teams succeed, including team processes, trust/relationships, leadership style, and team member selection Management, Seventh Edition 44

42 Agile means being able to move quickly and easily, but some people feel that project management, as they have seen it used, does not allow people to work quickly or easily. Early software development projects often used a waterfall approach, as defined earlier in this chapter. As technology and businesses became more complex, the approach was often difficult to use because requirements were unknown or continuously changing. Agile today means using a method based on iterative and incremental development, in which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration. Management, Seventh Edition 45

43 Many seasoned experts in project management warn people not to fall for the hype associated with Agile. For example, J. Leroy Ward, Executive Vice President at ESI International, said that Agile will be seen for what it is and isn t.project management organizations embracing Agile software and product development approaches will continue to grow while being faced with the challenge of demonstrating ROI through Agile adoption. * *J. Leroy Ward, The Top Ten Project Management Trends for 2011, projecttimes.com (January 24, 2011). Management, Seventh Edition 46

44 In February 2001, a group of 17 people that called itself the Agile Alliance developed and agreed on the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, as follows: We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan * *Agile Manifesto, Management, Seventh Edition 47

45 According to the Scrum Alliance, Scrum is the leading agile development method for completing projects with a complex, innovative scope of work. The term was coined in 1986 in a Harvard Business Review study that compared highperforming, cross-functional teams to the scrum formation used by rugby teams. Management, Seventh Edition 48

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47 The PMBOK Guide describes best practices for what should be done to manage projects. Agile is a methodology that describes how to manage projects. The Project Management Institute (PMI) recognized the increased interest in Agile, and introduced a new certification in 2011 called Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP). Seasoned project managers understand that they have always had the option of customizing how they run projects, but that project management is not easy, even when using Agile. Management, Seventh Edition 50

48 Johann Rost, IEEE Software, Nov 2004, page 102 Some may feel the project threatens their job Stakeholders may feel that their working condition will worsen Stakeholders dislike additional control the project entails Engineers are unhappy with the project lead assignment (hope to gain control after destroying the project) Offshore outsourcing: engineers may feel they have to train off shore individuals who will do the same work for less pay Stakeholders in some projects may be competitors in other fields (e.g., when companies develop a limited alliances) Management, Seventh Edition 51

49 Project managers need to take a systems approach when working on projects Organizations have four different frames: structural, human resources, political, and symbolic The structure and culture of an organization have strong implications for project managers Projects should successfully pass through each phase of the project life cycle Project managers need to consider several factors due to the unique context of information technology projects Recent trends affecting IT project management include globalization, outsourcing, virtual teams, and Agile Management, Seventh Edition 52

50 Management, Seventh Edition Note: See the text itself for full citations.

51 Describe the five project management process groups, the typical level of activity for each, and the interactions among them Understand how the project management process groups relate to the project management knowledge areas Discuss how organizations develop information technology (IT) project management methodologies to meet their needs Management, Sixth Seventh Edition Edition 54

52 Review a case study of an organization applying the project management process groups to manage an IT project, describe outputs of each process group, and understand the contribution that effective initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing make to project success Review the same case study of a project managed with an agile focus to illustrate the key differences in approaches Describe several templates for creating documents for each process group Management, Seventh Edition 55

53 A process is a series of actions directed toward a particular result Project management can be viewed as a number of interlinked processes The project management process groups include initiating processes planning processes executing processes monitoring and controlling processes closing processes Management, Seventh Edition 56

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55 Philip A. Pell, PMP, commented on how the U.S. IRS needed to improve its project management process. Pure and simple, good, methodology-centric, predictable, and repeatable project management is the SINGLE greatest factor in the success (or in this case failure) of any project The project manager is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the project. * A 2008 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report stated that IRS had fixed just 29 of 98 information security weaknesses identified the previous year *Comments posted on CIO Magazine Web site on article For the IRS, There s No EZ Fix, (April 1, 2004). Management, Seventh Edition 58

56 Just as information technology projects need to follow the project management process groups, so do other projects, such as the production of a movie. Processes involved in making movies might include screenwriting (initiating), producing (planning), acting and directing (executing), editing (monitoring and controlling), and releasing the movie to theaters (closing). Many people enjoy watching the extra features on a DVD that describe how these processes lead to the creation of a movie This acted not as promotional filler but as a serious and meticulously detailed examination of the entire filmmaking process. * Project managers in any field know how important it is to follow a good process. *Jacks, Brian, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition (New Line), Underground Online (accessed from August 4, 2004). Management, Seventh Edition 59

57 You can map the main activities of each PM process group into the ten knowledge areas using the PMBOK Guide, Fifth Edition, 2012 Note that there are activities from each knowledge area under the planning process groups Management, Seventh Edition 60

58 Management, Seventh Edition *Source: PMBOK Guide, Fifth Edition,

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60 Just as projects are unique, so are approaches to project management Many organizations develop their own project management methodologies, especially for IT projects A methodology describes how things should be done; a standard describes what should be done PRINCE2, Agile, RUP, and Six Sigma provide different project management methodologies Management, Seventh Edition 63

61 A 2011 study of organizations across India included the following findings: Two-thirds of organizations in some stage of Agile adoption are realizing key software and business benefits in terms of faster delivery of products to the customer, an improved ability to manage changing requirements, and higher quality and productivity in IT. Organizations struggle with the magnitude of the cultural shift required for Agile, opposition to change, a lack of coaching and help in the Agile adoption process, and a lack of qualified people. The daily stand-up, iteration planning, and release planning are the most commonly used practices, while paired programming and open workspaces are not popular Management, Seventh Edition 64

62 AgênciaClick, an interactive advertising and online communications company based in São Paulo, Brazil, made PMI s list of outstanding organizations in project management in 2007 Since 2002, the company saw revenues jump 132 percent, primarily due to their five-year emphasis on practicing good project management across the entire company Management, Seventh Edition 65

63 This case study provides an example of what s involved in initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing an IT project You can download templates for creating your own project management documents from the companion Web site for this text or the author s site Note: This case study provides a big picture view of managing a project. Later chapters provide detailed information on each knowledge area Management, Seventh Edition 66

64 It is good practice to lay the groundwork for a project before it officially starts Senior managers often perform several pre-initiation tasks, including the following: Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints for the project Identify the project sponsor Select the project manager Develop a business case for a project (see Table 3-2 for an example) Meet with the project manager to review the process and expectations for managing the project Determine if the project should be divided into two or more smaller projects Management, Seventh Edition 67

65 Initiating a project includes recognizing and starting a new project or project phase The main goal is to formally select and start off projects Table 3-3 shows the project initiation knowledge areas, processes, and outputs Management, Seventh Edition 68

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67 Contents are often sensitive, so do not publish this document. Management, Seventh Edition 70

68 See Table 3-6 for an example of a charter Charters are normally short and include key project information and stakeholder signatures It s good practice to hold a kick-off meeting at the beginning of a project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals of the project, and discuss future plans Management, Seventh Edition 71

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70 The main purpose of project planning is to guide execution Every knowledge area includes planning information (see Table 3-7 on pages ) Key outputs included in the JWD project include: A team contract A project scope statement A work breakdown structure (WBS) A project schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all dependencies and resources entered A list of prioritized risks (part of a risk register) See sample documents starting on p. 104 Management, Seventh Edition 73

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73 Usually takes the most time and resources to perform project execution Project managers must use their leadership skills to handle the many challenges that occur during project execution Table 3-11 on p. 111 lists the executing processes and outputs. Many project sponsors and customers focus on deliverables related to providing the products, services, or results desired from the project A milestone report (example on pp ) can help focus on completing major milestones Management, Seventh Edition 76

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75 One way to learn about best practices in project management is by studying recipients of PMI s Project of the Year award The Quartier international de Montreal (QIM), Montreal s international district, was a 66-acre urban revitalization project in the heart of downtown Montreal This $90 million, five-year project turned a once unpopular area into a thriving section of the city with a booming real estate market and has generated $770 million in related construction Management, Seventh Edition 78

76 Involves measuring progress toward project objectives, monitoring deviation from the plan, and taking correction actions Affects all other process groups and occurs during all phases of the project life cycle Outputs include performance reports, change requests, and updates to various plans See Table 3-13 Management, Seventh Edition 79

77 Involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final products and services Even if projects are not completed, they should be closed out to learn from the past Outputs include project files and lessons-learned reports, part of organizational process assets Most projects also include a final report and presentation to the sponsor/senior management Management, Seventh Edition 80

78 This section demonstrates a more agile approach to managing the same project Differences in using an agile approach are highlighted An agile project team typically uses several iterations or deliveries of software instead of waiting until the end of the project to provide one product. Management, Seventh Edition 81

79 It is not a snap decision whether to use an agile approach or not, just like flying or driving somewhere on a trip Projects with less rigid constraints, experienced and preferably co-located teams, smaller risks, unclear requirements, and more flexible scheduling would be more compatible with an agile approach The following example uses Scrum roles, artifacts, and ceremonies Management, Seventh Edition 82

80 Product owner: The person responsible for the business value of the project and for deciding what work to do and in what order, as documented in the product backlog. ScrumMaster: The person who ensures that the team is productive, facilitates the daily Scrum, enables close cooperation across all roles and functions, and removes barriers that prevent the team from being effective. Scrum team or development team: A cross-functional team of five to nine people who organize themselves and the work to produce the desired results for each sprint, which normally lasts 2-4 weeks. Management, Seventh Edition 83

81 An artifact is a useful object created by people Scrum artifacts include: Product backlog: A list of features prioritized by business value Sprint backlog: The highest-priority items from the product backlog to be completed within a sprint Burndown chart: Shows the cumulative work remaining in a sprint on a day-by-day basis Management, Seventh Edition 84

82 Sprint planning session: A meeting with the team to select a set of work from the product backlog to deliver during a sprint. Daily Scrum: A short meeting for the development team to share progress and challenges and plan work for the day. Sprint reviews: A meeting in which the team demonstrates to the product owner what it has completed during the sprint. Sprint retrospectives: A meeting in which the team looks for ways to improve the product and the process based on a review of the actual performance of the development team. Management, Seventh Edition 85

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85 Not different from PMBOK Guide Still create a scope statement and can use a Gantt chart for the entire project schedule; other planning similar (risk, etc.) Different: Descriptions of work are identified in the product and sprint backlogs, more detailed work documented in technical stories, estimate a velocity or capacity for each sprint; release roadmap often used for schedule Management, Seventh Edition 88

86 3 software releases vs. 1 Management, Seventh Edition 89

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88 Not different from PMBOK Guide Still produce products, lead people, etc. Different: Produce several releases of software - users of the new software might be confused by getting several iterations of the product instead of just one Communications different because the project team meets every morning, physically or virtually Management, Seventh Edition 91

89 Not different from PMBOK Guide Still check actual work vs. planned work Different Names of key reviews are the daily Scrum and the sprint review A sprint board is used instead of a tracking Gantt chart or other tools Use a burndown chart vs. earned value chart Management, Seventh Edition 92

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91 Not different from PMBOK Guide Focus is still on acceptance of deliverables and reflection Different: The retrospective is similar to a lessons-learned report, but it focuses on a shorter period of time. It is intended to answer two fundamental questions: What went well during the last sprint that we should continue doing? What could we do differently to improve the product or process? Management, Seventh Edition 94

92 Table 3-20 on pp lists the templates available on the companion Web site and the author s site ( Management, Seventh Edition 95

93 The five project management process groups are initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing You can map the main activities of each process group to the nine knowledge areas Some organizations develop their own information technology project management methodologies The JWD Consulting case study provides an example of using the process groups and shows several important project documents The second version of the same case study illustrates differences using agile (Scrum). The biggest difference is providing three releases of useable software versus just one Management, Seventh Edition 96