Project Control - Software Project Management
- 1. Software Project Management Today’s Topic: Project Control
- 2. Project Control • Ongoing effort to keep your project on track • 4 primary activities: – 1. Planning performance • A plane, schedule, and a control process – 2. Measuring status of work performed • Actuals – 3. Comparing to baseline • Variances – 4. Taking corrective action as needed • Response • Prerequisite to good control is a good plan
- 3. Project Control • “Control” • Power, authority, domination. No. • Guiding a course of action to meet an objective. Yes. • Principles • Work is controlled, not workers – Control helps workers be more effective & efficient • Control based on work completed – Use concrete deliverables • Balance – Appropriate level between too much and too little – Includes: » Micro-managing vs. neglect » Too much tracking detail vs. too little
- 4. Progress Monitoring • The 3 key Progress Monitoring Questions – What is the actual status? – If there’s a variance, what is cause? – What to do about it? • Possible responses • 1. Ignore • 2. Take corrective action • 3. Review the plan
- 5. Progress Monitoring • Monitoring rates – Daily, weekly, monthly – If problems occur – then adjust • You may have to monitor problem areas more closely for some period of time • Almost always there’s one or more areas under closer scrutiny • Status Reporting – Part of the communications management plan – Which is usually just a section of SDP
- 6. Status Reports • From team to PM, from PM to stakeholders • Typical format for latter – Summary – Accomplishments for this period (done) • Tasks, milestones, metrics – Plans for next period (to-do) – Risk analysis and review – Issues & Actions • Shoot for weekly updates – Email notes, then hold brief meeting – More frequently during crises
- 7. Programming Status Reporting • A programmer reports that he’s 90% done. – What does this mean? • A programmer reports completing 4,000 LOC on estimated 5,000 LOC effort. • Is this 80% complete? • Quality? • Ratio, estimated to completed? – Your estimates could have been wrong • If you can’t measure scope or quality you don’t know “reality” • You really only know cost (hours spent) • How can you improve this?
- 8. Binary Reporting • Work packages (tasks) can only be in one of 2 states: complete or incomplete – No partial credit • Preferred to anything subjective! • “90% Complete Syndrome” – Software is 90% complete 90% of the time • Tangible exit criteria
- 9. Quiz • Summarize what you have learnt about Project Control in no more than 5 lines – 3 minutes to think 2 minutes to write • List 5 step you could take as a PM to control your software project – 7 minutes to think 3 minutes to write • Design a sample status report you as PM would like your team to use – 10 minutes to think 10 minutes to write