Managing, Measuring & Benchmarking Offshore Application Development
- 1. Managing, Measuring & Benchmarking Offshore Application DevelopmentGlobal Projects
- 2. page 2September 21, 2011AgendaThe 4 Key Project Practices“Case Studies” missing key practices A success story with a geographically distributed teamOverview of some Statistics
- 3. page 3September 21, 2011Problem! – “Too Many” Project PracticesProject InfrastructureReturn on InvestmentSponsorshipProject OfficeQuality PlanningRetrospectivesActivity DefinitionsTeamwork ProcessesRewards & RecognitionControl ProcessesCost ProcessesMarket ResearchResource LevelingProcurement PlanningProject MetricsCost Estimation
- 4. page 4September 21, 2011The 4 Key Project Practices
- 5. page 5September 21, 20114 Key Project Management PracticesCommunication Processes Match type to time
- 6. Prepare & Follow-up
- 7. Don’t assume!Project Sponsorship High enough
- 8. Engaged
- 9. CommittedTeam Processes Have clear startup goals
- 10. Involve & Ask
- 11. Match skills to tasks
- 12. Get personalProject Processes Scope
- 13. Schedule
- 14. Resourcespage 6September 21, 2011Project SponsorshipSponsorship at Appropriate Level (usually vice-president or GM)When? At initiation and involved @ key milestones!Who? Executive sponsor, and management to the project managerWhat do you need?Executive sponsorship with project tied into organization goalsCommitment of resources and management across the organizationSponsors help with key stakeholders outside organizationSupport and attend kick-off workshopBuy in to project scope definitionEnsure sponsor not spread thin on too many projects.Agree to problem escalation and scope change processes up frontLose a sponsor?Find a new one ASAP or consider stopping the project!
- 15. page 7September 21, 2011Development Project Highest Priority for Division
- 16. page 8September 21, 2011Communication* ProcessesWhen? At initiation, at meetings, in hallways, emails, when ever and where ever you canWho? Project Manager to lead, all team members to participateWhat to do?Match the way you communicate with the circumstances (place, time, culture, etc – see follow-on slide)Always have excellent meeting preparation and follow-upProject status communicated clearly and frequently (“hard” and “soft” info)Formal presentations to review, escalate and mark phase transitions – prepare, REHEARSE, deliver!Ensure project closure (final reports, retrospectives, celebrations, thank yous, formal project acceptance)Don’t assume anything and constantly check in with team on how practices are working*This is most important process for dispersed teams after sponsorship!
- 17. page 9September 21, 2011Matching communication to circumstancesDifferent CulturesDifferent PlaceSame Placespeak slowly and clearly
- 18. send out prep material as early as possible
- 19. recruit candid “buddies” for feedback
- 20. avoid idioms eg – high roller
- 21. watch voice ‘tone’
- 22. teleconferences (planned / many attendees)
- 23. web based meetings
- 24. impromptu conference calls (unplanned / few people)
- 26. video conferencing (still technically limited)
- 27. Face-to-face ‘formal’ meetings
- 28. Informal conversations (lunch, ‘water’ cooler)
- 29. Team building / celebrations
- 30. Networking - one on ‘few’ conversationsSame Timeadd more explanation in email, v-mails
- 31. avoid ‘telling’ and try ‘asking’
- 32. ask for input on technologies used to send, store info
- 33. voicemail
- 34. email
- 35. websites (doc sharing, forums, discussions)
- 36. video / audio tapes
- 37. reports
- 38. “War” rooms
- 39. “Post-It” notes
- 40. White boards
- 41. video / audio tapesDifferentTime
- 42. page 10September 21, 2011Team ProcessesWhen? Project startup and throughout projectWho? Project Manager to lead and involve teamWhat to do?Begin team building with startup workshops and face to face meetings (especially for “new” teams!)Have and communicate a clear project objective and visionInvolve all ‘leads’ in user needs assessmentCreate and clarify processes through team involvement and inputChoose processes that work best for the greatest number. Don’t try for “perfection”Ensure proper skills on team (use skills analysis and personal knowledge of team)Allow for team growth and “stretching” of members into new areasGet personal! Get to know them and them to know each other.
- 43. page 11September 21, 2011Structured Communication needed for offshore / onshore team management
- 44. page 12September 21, 2011Example from team knowledge base
- 45. page 13September 21, 2011Proactive steps by Technical & Bus. TeamsContent Mgmnt System User Interface Improvement (v 4.5)
- 47. Environment Details (Displays the multiple development streams in progress)
- 48. Dependency Tracking tool (Helps to reduce environment Issues during System Test & Deployment)
- 49. Instant Data Creation tool (Helps in System Testing)
- 50. Server Monitoring tool –(Helps in Production support)
- 51. Download cleanup (Cleans up expired content in download folder)
- 52. Parallel Development (New System Code Management Process using Clear-case)
- 53. Fortnightly Patch process (More defect fixing in minor release)page 14September 21, 2011Project ProcessesWhen? At beginning to get rough idea of scope & schedule. Several versions needed before plan is final and used to manage deliverables. Who? Project manager leads this effort with project leadsWhat to do?Use the “iron triangle” of Scope, Schedule and Resources at all times!Management must understand and supports project planning discipline“Bottoms up” plans and “Tops down” goals rarely synch up at first. Save time for ‘re-fitting’Create major risk identification plan and update periodicallyGet project team comfortable with simultaneous work in various areas (eg - user needs & technology capabilities ) and possible re-work Once the plan is ‘final’ use it to track, report and verify progress
- 54. page 15September 21, 2011Create a Structured Project PlanSystem Test (15)
- 55. page 16September 21, 2011Effort & Staffing Status
- 56. page 17September 21, 2011Managing Risk140 risk factors assessedRisk Management plan developedRisks monitored continuously
- 57. page 18September 21, 2011Risk Analysis SummaryKey Risks with High/Medium ImpactImpact and How Likely are weighted as 1-High, 0.6-Medium, 0.3-Low; Risk Index = Impact * How LikelyTracking Intensity = weekly if Risk Index is high, once in 2 weeks if Medium and once in 4 weeks if Risk Index is Low
- 58. page 19September 21, 2011“Case Study of Projects” with key missing practices
- 59. page 20September 21, 2011When key practices are ‘missing’“Case Studies”Project SponsorshipProject Planning
- 60. page 21September 21, 2011“Missing” Project SponsorshipProblem – Project Sponsorship not at right level in the correct organization. Issues:Sponsor had many competing prioritiesImproper staffing for project (skills, experience, total people)Little cooperation from within organization or outside stakeholdersNo clear user needs list createdOutcomes:2 years & $50 million spentSystem had few users at launchAbandoned system within a year of launch
- 61. page 22September 21, 2011Project Planning Processes not usedProblem – Management not knowledgeable on project planning.Issues:No support for documenting user requirements. (just build something like “Charles Schwab” has)No understanding of value of project planning tools (eg, requirements analysis, planning, scope and priority trade-offs)Wanted a system built ‘outside’ of existing business processes. “Build it and they will come!”Outcome:1 year and $3 million spent with no functioning systemThe technical team ‘abandoned’ the project for more attractive workUPSIDE: Failure of project sparked a divisional re-org that enabled a successful follow-on project.Lessons from failure informed the follow-on successful project.
- 62. page 23September 21, 2011A success story with a geographically distributed team
- 63. page 24September 21, 2011A More Successful ProjectA Challenging StartCauses for SuccessA few lessons from Success
- 64. page 25September 21, 2011A Challenging BeginningChallenges:High degree of organizational complexity (worldwide, cross divisional software development, cross functional - sales, marketing, engineering – offshore & onshore)Compressed timeline – initially a year planned from defining requirements to delivering systemTeam mostly new to each otherInitial Scope unclear Mix of old and new technologies chosenOffshore (India) development team new to technologyBusiness teams and development team never worked together1st time the project manager had worked with off-shoring modelNew division organizationNo agreed upon communication and project processes, or supporting technologies
- 65. page 26September 21, 2011Why the Project Succeeded (1 of 2)Strong sponsorship and management support both vertically and horizontallyUpper level management stayed involved and stepped in for key problemsProject was a top division priority and one of few the sponsor hadResources (people, money, technology) assigned as project scope definedSupport for Project PlanningVice-President understood the Scope, Schedule, Resource ‘triangle’Time allowed for detailed project plansContingency and backup plans Risk assessments created & actively managedMeasured progress and re-planned based on metrics
- 66. page 27September 21, 2011Why the Project Succeeded (2 of 2)Communication Processes utilizedCognizance of time, place and with experience, cultural issuesProject manager (PM) educated team mates on when and how to use various types of communications based on situation & culturePM coached team to assume nothing and to be willing to communicate any news (good or bad) quicklyTeam Processes implemented earlyStartup meeting held with people flown in for face to faceCaucused team to find out what skills they wanted to contribute and improve during the projectCreated and constantly clarified processes with team inputBuilt personal relationships via travel, Instant Messaging, sharing personal storiesUsed humor to ensure open-ness. (need to be careful in using humor in cross-cultural situations! Self-deprecation by PM worked)
- 67. page 28September 21, 2011A Few LessonsProject was a success, but still had some big lessonsShort sighted in adoption of an older technology (tcl scripting language) due to internal political pressuresWe were on the “bleeding edge” of adopting corporate ‘standards’ Some user requirements were short-changed due to time pressures. - Caused substantial re-work later.Didn’t apply prioritization strictly enough and made some parts of application too complex for efficient operation. (tried to do something for everyone!)Not enough due diligence on other internal HP corporate divisional “partner” capabilities. - Caused substantial re-work and 6 month timeline slip.
- 68. page 29September 21, 2011Using Metrics to Manage Onshore / Offshore teams
- 69. page 30September 21, 2011Operating Offshore / Onshore Technical & Business teams Key statistics gathered and used to monitor technical team progress and issuesTied statistics back to business goals and needsMonitored both operation and developmental statisticsMonitored release schedule and interaction with technical / business processesEffort estimates and actuals versus Phase comparison to improve planning processDefects initiation and Phase comparison to address quality issuesAction plan and Retrospectives
- 70. page 31September 21, 2011Development and Operational MetricsPortal ReleasesMajorPatchThematic
- 71. page 32September 21, 2011Patch Release
- 72. page 33September 21, 2011Planned vs. Actual Schedules
- 73. page 34September 21, 2011Re-planning Triggers
- 74. page 35September 21, 2011Defect Containment R5.0
- 75. page 36September 21, 2011Phase-wise defects R5.0Phase-wise defects foundPhase-wise defects introduced
- 76. page 37September 21, 2011Size & Scope Status
- 77. page 38September 21, 2011R 5.0 Defect Prevention & Process ImprovementsDefect Data Analysis of internally found defects:Highlight the PI activities carried out in the review period
- 78. page 39September 21, 2011Retrospective Action Items
- 79. page 40September 21, 2011“The illusion that we are separate from one another is an optical delusion of our consciousness.”Albert EinsteinQuote slide