Chapter 2
Step Wise: an overview of project planning
Step 0: Select project
• Step 0 – outside main project planning
• Determines whether project is worthy
• Can be done;
– Individual basis
– Strategic planning
Step 1: Identify project scope & objectives
• Ensures that all parties
– agree with project objectives
– committed to the project success
• Identify objectives & practical measures of
effectiveness in meeting those objectives
Step 3: Analyze project characteristics
• Objective driven vs. product driven project
– Focus shifts to product
– objectives must be respected
• Analyze other project characteristics
– nature of project
• Information system e.g. payroll system
• Process control system e.g. pressure control application
• Safety critical e.g. nuclear, aircraft systems
• Identify high level project risks
– Consider risks that impact the project success
– Risks can be;
• Operational /development environment e.g. requirements errors,
no back-up or code recovery etc
• Technical nature of project / project type e.g. project complexity
• Take into account user requirements concerning
implementation
– Client’s requirements e.g. use of SSADM (Structured
Systems Analysis and Design Method) for developing
information systems for UK government
• Select development methodology and life cycle
approach
– Several issues are involved in selection e.g. project
characteristics, client’s recommendation etc.
– some selects already used methods
– If there is need to identify problems to solve, the
planning is focused on different ways of problem
solution
– For new project, research on commonly used
methods for such project is to be done
• Review overall resource estimates
– Re-estimate effort & resources required for
project after identification of;
• broad project approach
• major risks
Step 4: Identify project products & activities
– Detailed planning of each activity
– Immediate tasks are planned in detail
– Longer term planning is outlined
• Identify & describe project products/deliverables
– Project products are created by activities & vice versa
– Deliverables: product handed over at project end
– Intermediates: product not in final configuration but is used for
creating deliverable
– The product ranges from;
• technical product e.g. training material, operating instructions
• Related to management e.g. planning documents or project quality e.g.
reviews or inspection reports
• The products form a hierarchy of component products and sub
component products represented by product break down structure
(PBS)
• PBS must contain product description specifying;
– Name/identity of product
– Purpose of product
– Derivation of product
– Composition of product
– Form of product
– Relevant standards
– Quality criteria
• Diagram…
• A product can be;
– document e.g. software design document, SRS
– modified version of code
– trained user
• Product is result of activity, activity can be;
– training
– designing
– Testing
• Distinguish product from activity
• Document generic product flows
– Some product requires other product to exist e.g.
• program specification – program design – code
– These relationships can be represented by product
flow diagram (PFD)
diagram
• Recognize product instances
– Where same generic PFD relates to more than one
instance of product, identify each instance
• Produce ideal activity network
– One or more activities must be carried out to
generate one product from another
– Activity network – tasks & their order
Step 7: Allocate Resources
• Identify & allocate resources
– Type of staff needed for each activity e.g. system
analysts for system designing, developer for
programming etc
– Available staff is identified & provisional task
allocation
• Revise plan and estimates to take into account
resource constraints
– Establish priority for staff needed for more than
one tasks, project delays possible
– In case staff is waiting to start activity –
inefficiently used
– Gantt charts
Step 8: Review/publicize plan
• Review quality aspects of the project plan
– A project goes out of control if an activity reveals that
earlier activity was not properly completed – rework.
– Quality reviews must determine that task completed
is properly done.
– Exit requirements: quality checks on activity
• Document plans & obtain agreement
– Plans are documented
– understand & commit to plan
Step 9&10: Execute plan & lower levels of
planning
• During project plans are detailed for each
stage.
• Some plans are delayed as more information is
available near the start of stage.
• However provisional plans are made
