Software ProjectManagement

FOR

DUMmIES

by Teresa Luckey, PMP, MBA, and Joseph Phillips, PMP

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Software ProjectManagement

FOR

DUMmIES

by Teresa Luckey, PMP, MBA, and Joseph Phillips, PMP

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Software Project Management For Dummies

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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About the AuthorsTeresa Luckey was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the eighth of twelve children.She earned the degree of Bachelor of Science from the University of SouthernIndiana, with a major in Education. She earned her teaching endorsements inComputer Education and Mathematics from the University of Indianapolisand thoroughly enjoyed teaching (and learning from) junior high students forseveral years. After deciding to expand her horizons beyond the teachingprofession, she pursued her interests in information systems and projectmanagement while working at hospitals in Indianapolis, and then moved onto a consulting firm, where she now works as a manager implementing health-care systems. Teresa earned her Master of Business Administration degreefrom Indiana Wesleyan University, where she served as co-class presidentwith her husband, David. She is just shy of completing her Master of Science inNew Media at Indiana University School of Informatics. One of these days soon she hopes to finish that degree so that she can maintain her reputationas a life-long learner.

Teresa earned her Project Management Professional Certification through theProject Management Institute in 2001 and continues to maintain her certifica-tion. She enjoys contributing to the field of project management, particularlywith regard to healthcare software.

Teresa takes pleasure in spending time with her family especially her husband David and their children, Amanda, Sara, and Adam. Being a firmbeliever in the axiom that theres more to life than work, Teresa and herfamily are passionate about traveling and exploring all types of music.

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Joseph Phillips, PMP, Project+, is the Director of Education for ProjectSeminars. He has managed and consulted on projects for various industries,including technical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and architectural, amongothers.

Phillips has served as a project management consultant for organizations cre-ating project offices, maturity models, and best-practice standardization.

As a leader in adult education, Phillips has taught organizations how to successfully implement project management methodologies, informationtechnology project management, risk management, and other courses.Phillips has taught courses at Columbia College, University of Chicago,Indiana University, and others. He is a Certified Technical Trainer and hastaught over 10,000 professionals. Phillips has contributed as an author oreditor to more than 30 books on technology, careers, and project management.

Phillips is a member of the Project Management Institute and is active in local project management chapters. He has spoken on project management,project management certifications, and project methodologies at numeroustrade shows, PMI chapter meetings, and employee conferences. When notwriting, teaching, or consulting, Phillips can be found behind a camera or on the working end of a fly rod. You can contact Phillips through www.projectseminars.com.

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DedicationI dedicate this effort to David, Amanda, Sara, and Adam Luckey.

Authors AcknowledgmentsTeresa Luckey: Thanks to Kevin Kirschner, Editorial Manager, for his confi-dence in me and for providing me with this opportunity. I appreciate KatieFeltman, Acquisitions Editor, for her diligence in bringing this book to fruitionand for her patience in gracefully answering all of my questions. Nicole Haims,Project Editor, provided a great deal of guidance and support to me and I amgrateful to her for her efforts. Ed Kirschner, thanks for your ideas and input,and most of all thank you to David, Amanda, Sara, and Adam Luckey for yourunrelenting support throughout this and all endeavors.

Joe Phillips: Books, like projects, are never done alone.

Thank you to Teresa Luckey for her hard work and incredible input onthis project. A humongous thank you to Katie Feltman and all the folks atFor Dummies for their patience and persistence. I would also like to thank thehundreds of folks who have attended my PMP Boot Camps. Your questions,conversations, and recommendations have helped me write a better book.

Finally, thank you to Elizabeth Lee, Rick Gordon, Scot Conrad, Phil Stuck, andmy son, Kyle.

Both authors would like to recognize and thank Cynthia Snyder and KarenScott for being conscientious and thorough while reviewing this book.

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Publishers AcknowledgmentsWere proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration formlocated at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Nicole Haims

Acquisitions Editor: Katie Feltman

Technical Editors: Cynthia Snyder and Karen Scott

Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen

Media Development Manager:Laura VanWinkle

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth

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Composition Services

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Indexer: Techbooks

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

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Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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Contents at a GlanceIntroduction .................................................................1

Part I: Starting Your Software Project ............................7Chapter 1: Examining the Big Picture of Project Management.....................................9Chapter 2: Initiating a Software Project.........................................................................25Chapter 3: Creating the Software Scope........................................................................55

Part II: Planning Your Software Project........................77Chapter 4: Planning for Communications .....................................................................79Chapter 5: Planning for Software Project Risks..........................................................107Chapter 6: Planning for Software Quality ....................................................................131Chapter 7: Building the Project Team..........................................................................147Chapter 8: Creating Project Time Estimates ...............................................................165Chapter 9: Building Your Project Budget ....................................................................191

Part III: Executing Your Software Project Plan ............209Chapter 10: Working the Project Plan..........................................................................211Chapter 11: Working with Project People....................................................................229Chapter 12: Procuring Goods and Services ................................................................245

Part IV: Controlling Your Software Project ..................263Chapter 13: Managing Changes to the Software Project ...........................................265Chapter 14: Using Earned Value Management in Software Projects ........................281Chapter 15: Tracking Project Performance.................................................................295

Part V: Closing Your Software Project.........................313Chapter 16: Finalizing the Project Management Processes ......................................315Chapter 17: Documenting Your Software Project.......................................................333

Part VI: The Part of Tens ...........................................347Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Make Your Software Project Crash and Burn ..................349Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Make Any Software Project Better ....................................359

Appendix: Formal Project Management Training and Certification .........................................369

Index .......................................................................375

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Table of ContentsIntroduction..................................................................1

About This Book...............................................................................................1Who Should Read This Book?.........................................................................2How This Book Is Organized...........................................................................3

Part I: Starting Your Software Project ..................................................3Part II: Planning Your Software Project................................................3Part III: Executing Your Software Project Plan....................................4Part IV: Controlling Your Software Project..........................................4Part V: Closing Your Software Project..................................................4Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................................................5Appendix .................................................................................................5

Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................5Where to Go from Here....................................................................................6

Part I: Starting Your Software Project .............................7

Chapter 1: Examining the Big Picture of Project Management . . . . . .9Defining Software Projects ............................................................................10Defining Software Project Management ......................................................10Comparing Projects and Operations ...........................................................12Examining Project Constraints .....................................................................13Understanding Universal Constraints (Time, Cost, and Scope) ..............13

Managing time constraints..................................................................15Managing cost constraints ..................................................................16Managing the scope .............................................................................16

Controlling Scope Creep................................................................................17Making Sense of Project Success (Or Failure) ............................................18Starting and Finishing Software Projects ....................................................19Understanding What Makes Software

Project Management So Special................................................................20Breaking Moores Law..........................................................................21Dealing with Moore ..............................................................................21Dealing with the first-time, first-use penalty.....................................23

Chapter 2: Initiating a Software Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Identifying the Project Purpose....................................................................25

Talking to the stakeholders.................................................................26Reaching project consensus ...............................................................30

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Dealing with Politics ......................................................................................31Moving from Here to There...........................................................................32

Initiating the project ............................................................................34Planning the project.............................................................................36Examining project planning approaches...........................................37Executing the project...........................................................................38Controlling the project ........................................................................38Closing the project ...............................................................................38

Living with Stakeholders...............................................................................39Loving your project team ....................................................................39Loving your project sponsor ..............................................................40Balancing stakeholder expectations..................................................40

Completing a Project Feasibility Study .......................................................42What feasibility studies do (and dont do) .......................................43Finding a feasibility consultant...........................................................43

Understanding How Executives Select Projects.........................................44Using the benefit comparison selection model ................................45Using a scoring model .........................................................................46Facing a murder board.........................................................................46Finding a projects ROI.........................................................................46

Writing the Product Description ..................................................................49Making Your Project Wish List .....................................................................51

Finding the ideal tools .........................................................................51Building a dream team.........................................................................52Finding a preferred vendor .................................................................53

Recognizing Doomed Projects......................................................................54

Chapter 3: Creating the Software Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Understanding Product Scope and Project Scope.....................................56

Completing stakeholder analysis .......................................................56Interviewing stakeholders now to avoid surprises later.................57

Managing Stakeholder Objectives................................................................58Knowing the sources of common conflicts.......................................58Resolving common conflicts...............................................................60

Building the Software Scope .........................................................................61Dealing with regulations and options ................................................62Dealing with project constraints ........................................................64Getting to the signature.......................................................................66

Creating the Project Scope ...........................................................................67Knowing what the project scope statement must include .............68What a project scope doesnt include ...............................................70

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure ........................................................70Creating your very own WBS ..............................................................71Making updates to the WBS ................................................................73Using a code of accounts.....................................................................73

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Part II: Planning Your Software Project ........................77

Chapter 4: Planning for Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79The Importance of Communicating Effectively..........................................80

Ensuring accurate communication ....................................................80How not to communicate ....................................................................82

Care and Feeding of Nerds ............................................................................83Avoiding Communication Breakdowns .......................................................85

Facing the risks of communication meltdowns................................85Managing communications across the enterprise ...........................87

Calculating the Communication Channels..................................................88Building an Effective Communication Management Plan .........................91

Knowing the six things every communication plan needs .............91The communication responsibility matrix: Determining

who communicates to whom ..........................................................93Setting up ten-minute meetings..........................................................94

Defining Who Needs What Information.......................................................96What executives want to hear ............................................................96What functional managers need to hear ...........................................97What your project team needs to hear..............................................98What you need to hear ........................................................................99

Defining When Communication Is Needed ...............................................100Creating a communication schedule ...............................................100Hosting team and stakeholder meetings.........................................102

Defining Communication Modalities .........................................................104Modalities for formal communication .............................................104Modalities for informal communication..........................................105Automating communications............................................................105

Chapter 5: Planning for Software Project Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107Identifying Pure and Business Risks..........................................................108

Dealing with pure risks in software projects ..................................109Assessing business risks ...................................................................109Accepting everyday technology risks

with your software project ............................................................110Determining Stakeholder Risk Tolerance..................................................111Mitigating Risks Early On ............................................................................112Managing Risks in Your Organization........................................................113

Identifying risks ..................................................................................113Ranking risks.......................................................................................114

Relying on Quantitative Analysis ...............................................................116Creating a Contingency Reserve ................................................................117Using Software Models for Risk Management ..........................................118

Using the waterfall model..................................................................119Using the spiral model.......................................................................121

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Using the V model ..............................................................................123Using the scrum development model..............................................124

Preparing a Risk Response Plan.................................................................126Avoiding risks .....................................................................................127Transferring risks ...............................................................................128Mitigating risks ...................................................................................128Accepting the risks.............................................................................129

Examining Risk Responses and Impacts ...................................................129Handling the ripple effect of risk response.....................................130Getting to say, I told you so! ..........................................................130

Chapter 6: Planning for Software Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131Defining Quality............................................................................................131

Referring to the product scope ........................................................132Referring to the project scope..........................................................133Avoiding gold-plated software ..........................................................134Examining quality versus grade .......................................................135

Working with a Quality Policy ....................................................................136Working ISO programs .......................................................................137Getting a Total Quality Management workout................................137Slipping into the sixth sigma.............................................................140Using homegrown, in-house quality solutions ...............................142

Balancing Time, Cost, and Quality.............................................................142Examining optimal quality ................................................................143Considering quality when making changes ....................................144

Chapter 7: Building the Project Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147Determining Your Project Needs................................................................148

Revisiting the work breakdown structure.......................................148Creating a roles and responsibilities matrix ...................................148

Finding the Talent ........................................................................................152Asking the Right Questions (In the Right Way) ........................................152

Asking questions that facilitate resource management ................153Asking questions that facilitate leadership potential....................154Finding a star ......................................................................................155Working with organizational structures ..........................................155

Determining Who Is Really in Charge ........................................................156Functioning in a functional organization.........................................157Mixing it up in a matrix......................................................................158Prospering in the projectized structure ..........................................159Cooling in a composite structure .....................................................161

Hosting Your First Project Team Meeting .................................................161Working with Organizational Policies........................................................162

Chapter 8: Creating Project Time Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165Organizing Information Before You Build a Timeline ..............................166Understanding the Importance of a Project Network Diagram..............166

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Preparing to Create Your PND ....................................................................168Determining What May Happen and When ................................168Factoring in external dependencies.................................................170Putting together all the pieces..........................................................170Relying on network templates ..........................................................171Identifying subnets and fragnets ......................................................172

Using Historical Information to Complete Inexact Activity Time Estimates .............................................................172

Identifying Activity Duration Influencers..................................................173Documenting project assumptions ..................................................173Documenting project constraints ....................................................173Considering the project risks............................................................174Considering resource requirements and capabilities....................175Anticipating the first-time, first-use penalty ...................................176

Making the Project Duration Estimate ......................................................176Creating a rough order of magnitude estimate...............................177Creating an analogous estimate .......................................................177Creating a parametric estimate ........................................................178

Estimating Dos and Donts .........................................................................178Using PERT for the Most Accurate Estimates ..........................................179Knowing What to Say if the Boss Wants an Estimate Now .....................180Understanding the Way PND Paths Interact.............................................181

Calculating the critical path..............................................................181Calculating float..................................................................................182Applying float to the project.............................................................184

Creating the Project Schedule ....................................................................185Working with the project calendar...................................................185Working with a resource calendar....................................................186Using resource-leveling heuristics ...................................................187Crashing and fast tracking your project..........................................188

Chapter 9: Building Your Project Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191Creating Cost Estimates ..............................................................................191

Using the right resources (and using them wisely) .......................192Creating a rough estimate .................................................................193Creating a budget estimate ...............................................................194Creating a definitive estimate ...........................................................194

Creating an Accurate Estimate ...................................................................195Considering Project Profitability................................................................197Planning for Contingencies .........................................................................198Controlling Project Costs ............................................................................199

Understanding accounting blue dollars ..........................................199Understanding work-for-hire accounting ........................................199Following simple strategies to manage project expenses.............200

Having More Project than Cash..................................................................202Completing root cause analysis .......................................................203Reducing the project scope ..............................................................205Begging for cash .................................................................................206

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