System Development Project Management Cheat Sheet

- Undefined PM practices
- Poor IT mgmt & poor IT procedures
- Inadequate exec project support
- Inexpe­rienced PMs
- Unclear busi needs and project objectives
- Inadequate user involv­ement

Need to balance the order and chaos required for agile projects
Order: control project budget & duration
Chaos: adjust to changing customer needs

Agile projects implement PMBOK differ­ently
Scope: re-pri­ori­tizing features each iteration
Time: plan each iteration at its start
Cost: cost control rather than estimating
Risk: build high-risk areas first
Quality: testing & QC spread through project
Self-e­val­uation: what can be done better?

1. Estimated Time for Completion (diffi­cult, get team input)
2. Estimated COST for dev.
3. Est cost support ongoing system operation

Strate­gic­/Ta­ctical new markets, market share, cross-­sales existing customers
Efficiency Collecting $$, reduce staff
Quality: Lower expenses, error rates, bad debt, inventory loses tighter controls
Compete match compet­itors

1. Dev resource plan
2. ID and req specific technical staff
3. ID and req specific user staff
4. Org the project team into work groups
5. Training and team-b­uilding exercises

Project Management
- Organizing and directing other ppl to achieve a planned result within a predet­ermined schedule and budget
- Processes used to plan project, monitor and control it
Project Manager ------­---­---­---­------
- Great need for effective project managers
- Internally managing people and resources
- Externally conducting public relations
Internal Respon­sib­ilities ------­---­-----
Developing the project schedule
Recruiting and training team members
Assigning work to teams and team members
Assessing project risks
Monitoring and contro­lling project delive­rables and milestones
External Respon­sib­ilities ------­-------
Reporting the project’s status and progress
Working directly with the client (the project’s sponsor) and other stakeh­olders
Identi­fying resource needs and obtaining resources

1. Recording and commun­ica­tin­g—i­nternal and external: Who, what, when, and how
2. Work env - Workst­ations, software dev tools (IDE), servers and reposi­tories, office, meeting space, support staff
3. Process and procedures followed - Reporting and doc, prog approach, testing, delive­rables, code, v control

Projects respond to an opport­unity, problem, directive
System Vision Document ------­---­-------
1. Problem Descri­ption: What is the problem and idea for the solution?
2. System Capabi­lities: What are the capabi­lities the new system will have?
Helps define the scope
3. Business Benefits: The benefits that accrue to the organi­zation. Tangible (in dollars) and intangible benefits

PM establish and keep adjusting:
Project Iteration Schedule
Iteration list & use cases / stories for each
Detailed Work Schedule (DWS)
In iteration, schedule that lists, organizes, and describes task depend­encies
When iteration finished, DWS prepared for next iteration based on feedba­ck/­pro­gress

Steps for Detailed Work Schedule
1. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
2. Estimate effort and identify depend­encies: Task times, precedence and critical path
3. Create a schedule using a Gantt chart.