DON F. ERWINBUFFALO STATE COLLEGEBUFFALO, NEW YORK, USA

PART 3 – COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP, IT GOVERNANCE

Software Project Management

Survey

What are the top 5 issues you need to solve on your software project?

1. The difficulties in estimations (budget, schedule, etc.)2. Wrong assumptions3. Customer changing mind4. How to manage client expectations5. Not enough qualified resources

Overview

Project Management BasicsProject Management on Software ProjectsManaging Stakeholders’ ExpectationsRisk ManagementProject CommunicationLeadership in Software Project ManagementIT GovernanceOther???

We Plan to Cover:

Tailoring the Approach

1. Analyze Situation

2. Develop Approach

• Stakeholder Analysis• Risk Assessment

• Strategy• Organization• Feedback

(De Baar)

Where were we?

Project Communication

Develop a Communication Plan•Based on Stakeholder Analysis and Risk Assessment•Define who needs to be informed•What?•When?•Who does the actual communicating?•Product – DevelopersBut the PM assures the communication is taking place•Process - PM

(De Baar)

Sample Communication Schedule

Author Communication Purpose Audience CommunicationVehicle/Location

Frequency

State Project Manager

Executive Status Report

To keep the executives informed on the project's progress.

Executive Sponsor

Status Report, Presentation, or Bulleted Handout

Monthly

SunGard HE Project Manager

Project Status Report

To keep project manager informed of the team's progress on the project.

State Project Manager,SunGard HE Project Manager.

Status report template Monthly

Implementation Team, SunGard Higher Education Project Manager, Project Manager

Project Meetings To keep the PM informed of decisions, issues and open items discussed during project meeting

State PM, SunGard HE PM and Team Leads as appropriate

Meeting minutes template Weekly

SunGard HE Functional and Technical consultants

Trip Reports To keep PM informed of accomplishments, open items and issues of consultant visits

Buffalo State PM, SunGard Higher Education PM and Team Leads as appropriate

Trip report template, Within 1 week after each visit

Requirements

How to get requirements from users’ heads into the final product?•Requirements development is very difficult•Remember the 1:10:100 rule•Challenges• Basic human communication issues • Processes will change with the new system

•Not a Project Management task, but assuring its quality is

(De Baar)

The Flow of Stakes

Stakeholders

Expectations

ProjectManageme

nt

Requirements

Feedback

Interests

havecommunicate

recorded by

negotiated to

communicated

changes

(De Baar)

Gathering Quality Requirements

Expect requirements to change over time •Stakeholders Change Mind•Project Team Interprets Requirements Differently Than Intended by Stakeholder•“Forgotten” Requirements Pop Up•Changes in the Project Surroundings Affect Project

So…•Be aware of that fact and prepare for it•Feedback will identify changes required•Even the “I’ll Know It When I See It (IKIWISI)” method needs a first cut (De Baar)

Getting the Best Possible Requirements

Just ask…

Workshop / Interview•Tailor to the project and the stakeholders’ interests•Educate the stakeholders on how their part fits into the big picture•Satisfy everyone?•Probably not• Some have no interest in project success, but

don’t let them disturb the process.

(De Baar)

Prepare for Requirements Gathering

Checklist (Not an agenda…)•General Information (title, place, and time)•Purpose•Scope•Subjects•Controversy•Strategy•Result•Participants•Roles•Tools•Feedback/Follow-up•Agenda (De Baar)

Conduct the Workshop

Getting Information•Ask•Be stupid•Ask what you already know/be incorrect•Repeat•Ask how and why five times•Don’t forget assumed requirements (uptime, performance, modern UI)

(De Baar)

Conduct the Workshop

Formulate the Requirements

•Can’t satisfy everyone, but try to reach consensus by the end of the workshop.•Associate people’s names with requirements (ownership/responsibility)•Group related requirements together•Get participant approval•Establish priorities among requirements•Document process issues that come up separately from product issues

(De Baar)

Document the Requirements

Finite Requirements or User StoriesFormal or InformalStructured or Free Format

Can be easier, but takes more time to get it right

Better if more iterations are planned

(De Baar)

Communication Types

Open• Encourage word-of-mouth• Discover what is NOT known

Inclusive• “Always an open seat at the table”• Networked relationships

Win / Win• Organization/Industry growth

Conspiracy

Guarded• “Loose lips sink ships”• Keep what is known

secret

Exclusive• Meet “behind closed

doors”• Good old boys club

Win/Lose• Individual growth

Collaboration

Defined as

Transparency

Result

(De Baar)

Win-Win Communication

Win-Win Approach:•Men get their towels•Lady gets her quiet

Problem:Heavy-handed use of towel dispenser distracting to lady on other side of wall

Process Requirements

Cost•What are the drivers behind the stated cost constraints?•Fixed cost: be sure you know what you want•Time & Materials: be sure you can end the project Time•Man-months are for cost estimating, not time estimating•Have those doing the work give the estimate (for ownership)Scope •Change control process

(De Baar)

Process Requirements

Selling your Approach•Plan as best you can•Estimate what you don’t know (with disclaimers)•Relate everything back to business priorities•Emphasize the triple constraint Iteration and feedback increase Time, Cost and Quality

(De Baar)

Product Feedback

Managing expectations•Communication is influenced by people’s interpretation •Feedback helps get to common interpretations•Why feedback?• Validation• Reassure Stakeholders• Reduces Risk of Miscommunication

(De Baar)

Product Feedback

How?•Verbal, cheap, easy, but hard to refer to•Written, takes time, no one likes to read of lot of text •Mock-up, takes time, usually throw-away, but great for getting message across

 So, consider:•The audience•The time it is needed (temporary or permanent/contractual)•Cost of feedback (is it acceptable within the triple constraint?) (De Baar)

Requirements to Design

Design addresses “how”•Designs are ‘build-to” specs, but stakeholders want to see where their requirements are going…•A design is a medium to explain how the requirements will be translated in the real world. •Often considered by techies as “their” document.

(De Baar)

PM Role in Design

Project Manager needs to make sure that techies communicate their interpretations of requirements to stakeholders in a timely manner• Be aware of the need to do it• Design choices should not be based solely on technical know-

how• Take more time that you think, spend it on communicating• As PM, encourage communication, and follow up with

stakeholders to verify info was effectively communicated.• Document decisions, including the arguments for the decision• Map design elements to requirements; sort by stakeholder for

ease in presentation• Designers need to be prepared to start over (iterative

process)• Get agreements in writing; people pay more attention to their

agreements

(De Baar)

More Product Feedback

Pilots and Prototypes•Use them to give/get feedback•But throw them away after the lesson is learned•Build time for this into your project 

Benchmarks•Benchmarks provide a measure to compare actual products to•Benchmarks can be created as part of a pilot

(De Baar)

More Product Feedback

Technical• What works• What does it break• Iterative

Functional• “Software is like a banana. It ripens at

the customer’s house…”• Plan for it in advance• Provides final feedback and acceptance

(De Baar)

Testing

Change Management

A major part of PM role (Integration Management)

Different ways to address change• Don’t allow it• Set up a process for managing change

(De Baar)

Process Feedback

Time, Cost, Quality and Scope

• Statement on either Project Progress or Status• Consider • Frequency• Medium (written/verbal)• Level of Detail

• Goal: Address feedback in terms of stakes, not numbers• Be creative in negotiating progress on budget and

schedule(De Baar)

Process Reporting

Schedule• Gannt Chart is not the project plan• But many people relate to it• Therefore it is a good tool for reporting status of

the project

(De Baar)

Process Reporting

BudgetGather all expected costs / Provide a summary

Estimating time required• Let the programmers do it• PM needs to temper programmer estimates with experience

and other realities• Understand the critical path• Get agreement• Challenge of getting agreement from programmers• Don’t change their estimates

• Estimate At Completion (EAC)• Know when to say the project is no longer viable.

(De Baar)

Project Manager as Leader

Your Job:•Get people who may not like each other to work together.•Convince people who believe they can not do something to do it – well.•Motivate people who may not be interested in seeing the project be successful.•Do it OTOBOS (On Time, On Budget, On Scope).•Make your boss look good.•Stay sane…

Project Manager as Leader

5 Ways to Be A Naturally Visible Leader1.Don’t demand recognition, inspire it. 2.When your team hits a big milestone, commend them publicly.3.Recognize individuals that go out of their way to help you.4.When someone doesn’t credit, don’t react in indignation, fix it.5.Demonstrate your knowledge by contributing and commenting in any forum.

(Henak)

Creating the Right Environment

Personal Mastery•Know/Develop Personal skills•Why do you do what you do? Mental Models •Our favorite vs. actuality•Different models help to understand others•Models affect reality

Systems Thinking•Focus on interrelationships among components•Look at processes of change to form conclusions

‘The Fifth Discipline’4 and SW Project Management

Individual Disciplines

(De Baar)

Creating the Right Environment

Shared vision•Establish initial vision•Transform initial vision to shared vision

Team learning•Insightful thinking on issues is complex•Coordinated action on specific tasks•Encourages other teams to participate

‘The Fifth Discipline’4 and SW Project Management

Group Disciplines

(De Baar)

Creating the Right Environment

Why ?•It is a lot of effort, personally and for the team•It takes time away from the project(s)•Not everyone is as excited about this stuff as you are…

Because…•You’ll have to work with the same people on other projects (hopefully)•Common language/methods are more productive•Team members will enjoy the work, take pride in product

Frames of Leadership3

Metaphor

CentralConcept

Image of Leadership

BasicLeadershipChallenge

Structural

Factory orMachine

Rules, Roles,Technology,Environment

SocialArchitecture

Match Structure to Task,Technology…

Human Resource

Family

Needs, Skills,Relationships

Empowerment

Align Org& HumanNeeds

Political

Jungle

Power, ConflictCompetition,Politics

Advocacy

Develop Agenda & Power Base

Symbolic

Carnival, Theatre

Culture,Ceremony,Stories, Heroes

Inspiration

Create Faith,Beauty,Meaning

Expanding Managerial Thinking3

How Managers Typically Think How Managers Might Think

Limited view of Organizations(e.g. problems attributed to individuals’ errors).

Encourage inquiry into a range of issue, people, power, structure, symbols.

Often choose rational solutions: facts, logic, restructuring.

Consider an array of options, e.g. celebration as well as organizing.

Value certainty, rationality, control; Fear ambiguity, paradox, “going with the flow”.

Develop creativity, risk taking, playfulness in response to life’s dilemmas. Find the right question as well as the answer.

Rely on one “right” answer; surprised by resistance.

Commitment to principle combined with flexibility in understanding and responding to events.

Leadership Frames in SW Project Management

Projects usually mean something will change•End users: New product, new process…•Developers: New tools, new processes…•Functional Team: Day job as well as project duties, two bosses…During periods of change, focus on Political and Symbolic frames•Political: Build support, allay fears, communicate•Symbolic: Set examples, demonstrate other successes, make it fun!

Frames of Leadership3

Metaphor

CentralConcept

Image of Leadership

BasicLeadershipChallenge

Structural

Factory orMachine

Rules, Roles,Technology,Environment

SocialArchitecture

Match Structure to Task,Technology…

Human Resource

Family

Needs, Skills,Relationships

Empowerment

Align Org& HumanNeeds

Political

Jungle

Power, ConflictCompetition,Politics

Advocacy

Develop Agenda & Power Base

Symbolic

Carnival, Theatre

Culture,Ceremony,Stories, Heroes

Inspiration

Create Faith,Beauty,Meaning

Sum It Up

• Stakeholders define how the project will perform

• Project management is about people, not technology, schedules, processes, etc.

• A different approach for every project

(De Baar)

IT Governance

Refer to presentation:

Project Management2. Portfolio ManagementBy Craig Brownhttp://www.slideshare.net/craigwbrown/the-project-management-process-week-2/

(Start at page 66…)

List of Works Cited

1. Project Management Institute (PMI), Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). 3rd ed. 2004.

2. De Baar, Bas. Surprise! Now You're a Software Project Manager. 1st ed. Lakefield, Ontario: Multi-Media Publications, 2006.

3. Bolman, Lee, and Terrence Deal. Reframing Organizations. 3rd ed. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.

4. Denge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. 1st ed. USA: Doubleday Publishing, 2006.

5. Henak, Brandon. "5 Ways to Be A Naturally Visible Leader." NewlyCorporate.com. 23 July 2008. Newly Corporate. 26 Aug 2008 <http://newlycorporate.com/2008/07/23/6-ways-to-be-a-naturally-visible-leader/>.

6. Brown, Craig. “Project Management – 2. Portfolio Management" SlideShare.com. 17 Aug 2008. BetterProjects.net. 7 Aug 2008 <http://www.slideshare.net/craigwbrown/the-project-management-process-week-2>.