Day 2 1135 - 1220 - maple - paramita mukerji

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Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?A new methodology for preparing Alternate Plans

Paramita Mukerji

28 September 2013

2Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

Agenda

Current Scenario in IT projects

Why plans change?

Constraints in Alt Planning

Alt-PM : The Alternate Planning Methodology

Prepare Guidelines

Define Benchmarks

Calculate Total weight

Derive the number of alternate plans

Critical factors for success

Benefits

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Current Scenario in IT Projects

• Plans are prepared by PMs during project planning

• All relevant information is taken in consideration

• Senior management approval, followed by customer assent

BUT THESE PLANS FREQUENTLY CHANGE

WHY?

Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Why plans change?


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Factors leading to change in plans

• Factors Internal to the team– lack of skilled resources– lack of experience– lack of technical competence – processes which are either not defined or not followed

• Factors external to the team (in decreasing order of impact)– change in scope– change in timelines – change in final product quality/specifications – change in budget


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Root causes which lead to the failure of the plans

Above data based on inputs from people working in various types of IT projects majorly in

the role of Project Managers and some in various types of other roles like Project Lead,

Analyst, Architect, Tester, Quality Assurance, Developer, vendor side SPOC across

organizations.

43%

22%

11%

9%

4%4%

7% Customer driven

Technology related

Unavailability of resources

In capability of the de-livery team

Competition driven

Statutory regulations

Others


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Is there a need for Alternate Plan ?

Existing Scenario in IT projects reflect that:

• 90% Project Managers feel the need for Alternate Plans

• 60% of the Projects do not prepare Alternate Plans

• 40% projects have Alternate Plans– BUT they are created post failure of earlier plan

• 70% PMs believe Alternate Plans should be made proactively


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Constraints in Alt Planning


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Constraints in proactive planning

• Inability to forecast

• Unavailability of time (budget)

• Unavailability of data

• Not part of defined process

• Reactive versus Proactive– Hindsight is 20:20


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Constraints in implementation

• Tendency to revert to earlier plan

• Revised plan not detailed enough

• Unavailability of resources (Human, Hard or Software).

• Lack of faith

• Frequent changes in the revised plan

• Delay in mid-project approval– Customer approval– Senior management approvals


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Recap

• Projects will undergo changes

• These changes have to be handled

• In order to handle changes we should:– Identify the need for Alternate Plans– Prepare Alternate Plans proactively– Implement Alternate Plans appropriately


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Alt-PMAlternate Planning Methodology

A reference tool to help projects identify the optimum number of alternate plans required under varying project conditions


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About Alt-PM Methodology

Alt-PM is a methodology aimed towards helping the managers

identify the alternate plans proactively based on information

available. It factors in the challenges with respect to

implementation of these plans.

It is a simple methodology in which :– Guidelines are prepared by experienced project managers– Projects use these guidelines to prepare Alternate Plans– Guidelines evolve dynamically with usage


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Using Alt-PM

The usage of this methodology is a two step process:

Step 1: Preparation of the Guidelines & Benchmarks

Step 2: Calculating the number of Alternate Plans for a new project


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Step 1a. Prepare guidelines

1. Choose the group of project with similar characteristics

2. Creating the Factor table– List the constraints which are generally faced by such projects.

We call them Factors• Assign weight to each factor in a scale of 0-5 (5 means

highest impact on plans) – Factor Table

3. Creating the Phase table– Sequence in which these projects get executed. We call them

Phases• Arrange phases in chronological order• Assign weight to each phase ( higher weight means change

in this phase has higher impact on plans) – Phase Table


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Factor & Phase Tables for a typical IT Development Project ( An Example )

Factors Weight (A)

Team not experienced in the domain

3

Team not skilled for gathering requirements

2

Team resists any change 4

Team does not follow processes 1

Customer not clear on the requirements

4

Delay due to vendor 3

Human Resources not available 3

Phases Weight (B)

Initiation 0.25

Planning 0.25

Requirements 1

Design 2

CUT 2

Testing 3

Factor Table (1)

Phase Table (2)


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Step 1b. Define benchmarks

Benchmarks are decided on the basis of data gathered from past projects

with similar characteristics

• Identify completed project

• Identify the constraints that were faced by this project– Note the corresponding weights for the Factors (refer Factor Table) - A

• Identify the phases in which they were identified– Note the corresponding weight for the Phases (refer Phase Table) - B

• Final Weight for each phase = ( A * B )

• Count the number of Alternate Plans prepared during these phases of the

project to handle the constraints

• Repeat this process with various projects which are complete and take the

average value

• Benchmark this count against the weight ranges – Benchmark Table


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Benchmark Table for a typical IT Development Project ( An Example)

Weight Range

Recommended number of Alternate Plans

Initiation Planning Req. Design CUT Testing

0-1 0 0 0 0 0 0

2-10 1 1 2 2 3 3

11-20 2 2 3 3 4 4

>20 3 3 4 4 5 5


Benchmark Table (3)

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Step 2a. Calculate total weight in case of a new project

• Identify the Factors in the new project– Note the corresponding weights (refer Factor Table) -- A

• Identify the Phase in which they have maximum probability of

identification– Note the corresponding weight (refer Phase Table) -- B

• Total Weight = ( A * B)


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Calculation of Total Weight for a new IT Development Project ( An Example )

Factors effecting the current project

Weight based on

Factor Table (A)

Phase when this

factor may be

identified

Weight based on

Phase Table (B)

Total Weight (A * B)

Team not experienced in the domain

3 Initiation 0.25 0.75

Team not clear on the requirements

2 Design 2 4

Team does not follow processes 1 Req. 1 1

Multiple stakeholders 4 Planning 0.25 1

Delay in query resolution by customer

4 Planning 0.25 1

Competitors launching similar product

5 Design2 10


Total Weight Table (4)

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Step 2b. Derive the number of alternate plans required for a phase

• Calculate the sum of the total weights for each of the phases

separately

• Look up in the Benchmark Table

• Find the number of alternate plans corresponding to the total

weight for that phase

• Prepare Alternate Plans accordingly for each phase


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Number of Alternate Plans for a new IT Development Project ( Example contd.)

Phase(s) Total weight Calculated from

Table 4

Alternate Plans to be prepared based

on Benchmark Table

Initiation 0.75 0

Planning 2 1

Requirements 1 0

Design 14 3


Number of Alternate Plans Table (5)

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Critical factors for success

The success of this methodology depends on

• Experience of the person/team preparing the guidelines

• Reliability of the data received from past projects

• Clear understanding of the project

• Updating & improving the guidelines

• Proper use of the guidelines & benchmarks

• Different set of guidelines and benchmarks to be used for

different types of projects


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Benefits of using Alt-PM

• Planning for eventualities in advance

• Saving project effort & time leading to cost saving

• Enhancing knowledge sharing and reducing person

dependency

• Showcasing proactive Project Management

• Achieving higher customer satisfaction scores

• High project flexibility

• Higher team motivation


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Alt-PM A methodology to face the challenges in a more

structured & organized manner

HAPPY PROJECT MANAGEMENT


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Thank You


Day 2 1135 - 1220 - maple - paramita mukerji

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