Project Management Methodology Project monitoring and control

Project management tasks Risk management Procurement management Communication management People management Scope management Time management Cost management Quality management

What to control? Scope Resources Risks occurrence Time Cost People Risks occurrence Communication plan implementation Quality control

Scope monitoring and control At the planning stage the project scope was identified with the help of: Scope definition (in and out) Requirements Deliverables WBS

Scope Control Scope control involves controlling changes to the project scope Goals of scope control are to: Influence the factors that cause scope changes Assure changes are processed according to procedures developed as part of integrated change control Manage changes when they occur Variance is the difference between planned and actual performance

The factors of scope change Time is shorter than planned Human resources not available Material resources shortage Requirements changed

Change control Formal change control must be implemented Change control assumes having a formal processes and procedures of Filing change requests (CR) Reviewing CRs Approval Planning for implementation

Configuration management This is a part of Change Control system Must ensure that the descriptions of the project products are correct and complete Configuration management activities: Identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of the products Control any changes to such characteristics Record and report changes Audit the product to verify conformance to requirements

Change Control and Project Management Use performance reports to identify and manage changes Ensure the discipline inside your team in regards to change management Have everyone affected by the change, informed about the project changes Coordinate changes

Resources monitoring and control Cost Time People Baseline Initially developed and approved state of resources allocated to the project Used to control deviations between actual and planned numbers

Cost control Project budget defined at the planning stage and recorded into the project plan creates the baseline To have the cost baseline established make sure that All tasks from WBS have assigned resources Work efforts are identified Rate or fixed cost data are provided Material resources and third-party services are counted

Cost controlling tools Earned value management This is a project performance measurement technique that integrates scope, time , and cost data. First thing is to track the WBS items in terms of how much work has been completed by the time of measurement, when the work started and ended, and how much it actually cost to do the work

Cost controlling tools Earned value calculate 3 values Planned value (PV). That is the budget Actual cost (AC). That is about how much is spent during a monitoring period Earned value (EV). The value of actual work completed. To calculate the earned value we need first the Rate of Performance (RP) RP is calculated as the ratio of actual work completed to the percentage of work planned to be completed. The EV = PV to date * RP

Cost controlling tools Other calculations involved into the cost control Cost variance (CV) = EV – AC If CV is negative it means that the cost is higher than planned. If CV is positive it means that the cost is lower than planned Schedule variance (SV) = EV – PV as of to date If SV is negative it means the work took longer than planned. If SV is positive it means that the work took shorter time than planned

Cost controlling tools Cost performance index (CPI) is the ratio of EV to AC. Used to estimate the projected cost of completing the project. If CPI = 1, the cost is as budgeted. If CPI < 1, the cost is over budgeted. If CPI > 1, the cost is under budgeted. Schedule performance index (SPI) is the ratio of earned value to planned value. If SPI = 1 the project is on schedule. If SPI < 1 the project is behind the schedule. If SPI is > 1 the project is ahead of schedule

Cost controlling tools Estimate at completion (EAC) Used to estimate of what it will cost to complete the project based on performance today To calculate, use Budget at Completion (BAC) which is equal to planned budget EAC = BAC/CPI

Cost control exercise You are assigned as a project manager for the project which is approximately in the middle of its completion. Your predecessor was fired, and you did not have a chance to talk to him You are trying to determine the project state based on a few project management documents (see the MS Word document and answer the questions)

Project Risks Control Tools Risks mitigating plan to start with Risks occurrence log Issues log Decisions log

The factors of risks occurence Time is shorter than planned Human resources not available Material resources shortage Requirements changed And many others. You should think about the factors at the time of identifying the risks

Risks occurrences log A risk owner is responsible for monitoring the risk factors He/she is also responsible for identifying the risk occurrence and recording it into the log

Risks occurrences log The log structure Ref # Risk description Occurrence date/time Factors and evidences of occurrence Activity undertaken to address the occurrence

Risk occurrence sample Risk description Project may not be implemented by the deadline due to unforeseen problems with new technology Factors and evidences of occurrence The tool installation resulted in the system crash Attempts to change configuration parameters did not bring any results Technical team has no clue for the problem resolution Activity undertaken to address the occurrence Contact the tool vendor for technical support The tool must be re-installed Required time – 3 days

The risk occurred – what next? As a project manager do the following Record the occurrence to the issues log Report to the management Work on the issue resolution with the appropriate people Drive to the decision Record the decision into the decisions log Monitor the decision implementation

Issues log The log structure: Issue ID Issue description and key impact Date/time of being identified Issue’s originator Actions anticipated or taken Issue’s owner Target date for resolution or “resolved”

Issues log record sample Cont from the risks occurrence: Issue description and key impact New tool installation affected the system badly. The system got crashed. The project implementation deadline is impacted. Issue’s originator Technical leader Actions anticipated or taken Requested for the vendor help. Should go with the installation Project manager will report to the management and will request for the project deadline delay respectively Issue’s owner Target date for the resolution: Xx.xx.xxx (3 days later)

Decisions log Decisions log structure Decision ID Issue ref ID Issue description Decision statement Responsible for the decision implementation Decision is made by

Decisions log record sample After reporting the issue and discussion Issue description New tool installation affected the system badly. The system got crashed. The project implementation deadline is impacted. Decision statement Move the project deadline to 3 days later Discuss with the vendor the issue of the 3 days cost allocation Responsible for the decision implementation Project manager Decision is made by Project monitoring committee

Issues and decisions Note, that one issue may raise another issue. E.g. time delay practically always impacts cost Issues not always relate to risks occurrence. Issues may appear at their own, but they always create concerns from the risks management perspective.

Communication plan monitoring and control Two options are used in practice Project manager acts as a single point of communication A person who takes a responsibility for a given communication item communicates to the audience directly, keeping a project manager posted. Decide which way is better. Factors – project specifics and personal preferences

Resource Management - allocation Resolve resource shortage issues: Review Functional Requirements Identify critical functions and less important ones Concentrate resources on critical functions implementation Exclude “nice to have” tasks Perform parallel development, e.g. coding and testing in parallel

Resource Management - Team Build the right team Be prepared to changes Follow the methodology and standards requirements Complete documentation Complete Pilot Project if necessary Support high spirit of the development team

Team models Business team Most often in use in IT projects Peer group headed by technical leader Team members are differentiated by the area of expertise All the members are equal Technical leader is supposed to make technical decision Most often in use in IT projects

Team models Chief-Programmer Team Chief-programmer is one with very high productivity and skills, much higher than the others’ He/she is supposed to do major part of work, including design and programming The others are involved to help only

Team models Feature team Often is created to resolve the problem Team members represent different areas of the project development They all are responsible for the decisions made Often is created to resolve the problem

RACI Matrix Used to assign responsibilities to team members R – responsible (doer) A – accountable (must assure things done) C – consulted I – informed