Project Planning Techniques U08784Software Project Management Rosemary Phillimore

Project Planning Client Requirements Start End Project Outline Project Plan Start End Project Stages Stage Plan (may be one phase of a larger development)

Phase Plan Maternity Pathology Accidents Others MarAprMayJunJulyAugSep Projects

Levels of Breakdown Project Stage 1Stage 2 Task ATask BTask XTask Y Activities Deliverables Task/Activity/Deliverable checklists should be defined

Project Plan Maternity Phase Define Interface Needs Design Interface Prototype Interface Implement in Admissions Implement for Doctors MarApr MayJun Deliverables/Milestones Requirements Definition Evaluation Report Product Acceptance End of Stage End of Stage End of Stage End of Stage End of Stage

Stage Plan Design Stage of Maternity Phase Week StaffTask MPDesign Interface AllReview with A Team MP/DVTest Design on PDA Modules AllReview and Update MPSpecify Changes DVImplement Prototype DV/RSTest with Midwives RSTest with Dr. Medway AllReview and Update AllProgress Meeting

Products/Tasks/Reviews Stage Plan Starting Products Test Review Accept Baseline Products Task Mid-Stage ReviewsEnd-Stage Review Progress Reviews

Product Breakdown Reports Project Products Technical Products Software Documents Quality Products Management Products Plans QA PlansQC Results

Stage Plans Products Technical Quality Man'ment Task A Activity A1 Activity A2 Activity A3 Task B Activity B1 Activity B2 Task C Activity C1

3 Product Breakdown Products to be Delivered Quality Criteria Quality Review Procedures 3 Work Breakdown Tasks List Dependency between Tasks Making a Stage Plan Inputs Actions Ù Estimate Time for Each Task Ù Consider Required Deadlines Ù Draw activity Network Ù Identify the Critical Path Ù Document the Plan

Documenting the Plan Product Breakdown (Hierarchy Chart) Project Schedule (Network Diagram) Stage Plan (Gantt Chart) Risk Analysis (Matrix) Task Risk

l Easy to understand l Drawn to scale l Can show resources against tasks l Can show milestones l Can show holidays/regular meetings l Can plot 'actuals' against predictions Bar Charts ( Gantt Charts ) Time TasksTasks

l Not Drawn to Scale l Illustrate dependencies between tasks l Highlight those tasks on the critical path l Highlight slack (or float) in the process Networks

l Not Drawn to Scale l Illustrate dependencies between tasks l Highlight those tasks on the critical path l Highlight slack (or float) in the process Networks Milestone A Milestone B A B C D E F G H I J K L M N

Network Notation Node Earliest start time Latest start time Activity Name Activity Duration Critical Path Dummy Activity

Network Notation Activity Name Activity Duration The time required for the completion of the activity. This may be calculated knowing the resources available or may be calculated knowing how much time is available to complete the activity (the appropriate resources may be allocated later). See notes on activity timings at the end of this tutorial Activity Name By carefully analysing all aspect of the project both the technical and non-technical, a list can be made of the activities that need to be completed in order to achieve the project aims. This list is the basic data for drawing up the project network.

Network Notation Activity Name Activity Duration ACTIVITY TIMINGS Each activity in the network is given a time. It is estimated as being the time required for the work to complete the task. In PERT (programme evaluation and review techniques), three such estimates are required for every activity: Optimistic time i.e. the best time possible for completing the activity Pessimistic timei.e. worst possible time The most likely time These three times are used to give a weighted mean from the formula: Time = Optimistic time + 4*Most likely time + Pessimistic time 6

Network Notation Node Earliest start time Latest start time The earliest time by which this event can be reached and subsequent activities can begin. For the first event this is zero, for other events it is calculated by adding all the durations of events leading up to that event. If there are two or more paths into an event then the one with the longest duration becomes the earliest event time. The latest start time is the time at which an event can occur if the total end date is not to be affected. Working from right to left calculate and enter latest event times by subtracting duration times. Where there is more than one path the correct latest time will be the smallest of the alternatives. Events (nodes) Events or nodes are points in time, do not have duration but represent the start and finish of activities. They often coincide with a deliverable (some significant tangible products that has to be completed) or a milestone (a point in the project where an assessment of progress made) of some sort. They are a point in time and have no duration but they can be used to show the earliest time at which following events may start and the latest time at which preceding events may finish.

Network Notation Critical Path Dummy Activity The Critical Path This is a path through the project where a series of tasks have no slack or float in their duration such that if one task on the path goes beyond its deadline then all the subsequent tasks slip and the project deadline is jeopardised. The critical path is the longest path from start to finish. For all activities on the critical path the Earliest Event time and the latest start time are the same. There may be more than one critical path in a system Dummy Activities Dummies are added to a network in order to clarify dependencies where an ordinary arrow cannot reflect this correctly. Dummy activities have no duration. They may be used freely when first drawing the network. Unnecessary dummies should be eliminated later to simplify the diagram

Network Analysis ACTIVITYDURATIONDEPENDS (Months)ON 10Requirements Analysis3 15Develop test plan2 20Systems Design410 25Write test drivers615 30Prepare test data215, 10 40Code system420 50System test440, 30, 25 60Document system220 70Install450, 60

Network Analysis

l Planning Packages Ù Project Managers Workbenches Ù Work Recording Packages l Spreadsheets l Decision Support Packages Ù Estimators Ù Project Breakdown and Templates l IPSE / CASE Microsoft Project Planner is on Brookes Network Tools for Project Management