Ch. 5: Project Planning

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Ch. 5 Project Planning

• Good Quote
• Plans are only good intentions unless they
  immediately degenerate into hard work
• Lame excuses for not planning
• Takes too much time
• Customers dont know what they want
• If we commit, we will be held accountable

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Ch. 5.0 Reasons for Project Planning

• Establish directions for project team
• Support objectives of parent organization
• Make allowance for risk
• Put controls on the planned work

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Ch. 5.0 Project Planning in Information Systems
View of several authors in the field of IS
Popularized Name Planning Process Units Breakdown
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) 4 to 6 or 7 phases
(no name) 7 steps
(no name) 6 planning sequences
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Ch. 5.0 Contents of Project Planning Chapter

• Initial project coordination
• Systems integration
• Sorting out the project
• Work breakdown structure (WBS) and
  linearresponsibility charts
• Interface coordination through integrationmanagem
  ent

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Ch. 5.1 Initial Project Coordination Senior
Managements Role

• Delineate the firms intent
• Outline scope of project
• Describe how projects results reinforce firms
  goals

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Ch. 5.1 The Project Launch Meeting
Project Launch MeetingVisible symbol of top
managements commitment to the project
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Ch. 5.1 Major Issues at Project Launch Meeting

• Existence of well-defined set of project
  objectives
• Precise nature of scope statement
• Uniqueness of project

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Ch. 5.1 Detail/Length of Project Launch Meeting

• For routine projects
• Touch base, short meeting
• Unique projects
• Extensive discussion

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Ch. 5.1 Potential Traps for Project Launch
Meeting
Trap Effect
Go deeper than most aggregated level (level 1) No team integration
Make ballpark estimate of budget and time Preliminary estimate gets cast in stone
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Ch. 5.1 Expected Outcome of Project Launch
Meeting

• Establish technical scope
• Participants accept performance responsibility
• Tentative overall schedules and budgets
• Creation of a Risk Management Group

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Ch. 5.1 Major Risks Considered at Project
Planning Initiation

• Market reaction to new process/product
• Project being stopped due to patent awarded to a
  competing innovation

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Ch. 5.1 Risk Management Plan Includes

• Project technology
• Project schedule
• Project resource base
• Myriad of other risk factors
• Makeup of project risk management group

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Ch. 5.1 Composite Plan

• Combination of Risk Management Plan and Project
  Launch Meeting action items
• Approved by all participating functional groups
• Endorsed by PM and sent up the management ladder
  for approval

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Ch. 5.1 From Composite Plan to Project (Master)
Plan

• Modify composite plan with written change
  orders
• Approve updated plan with functional unit
  involved and senior management
• Iterate this process until no more changes are
  proposed
• Hold post-planning review meeting

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Ch. 5.1 Carefully Determine Set of Deliverables!
Typical Scenario

1. Marketing over-promises deliverables
2. Engineering may not be able to produce
   deliverable on time
3. Marketing is unable to deliver on time

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Ch. 5.1 Marketings Objections to Early
Involvement of Engineering
Probably true Probably false
Style Sales specialists know firms products and services Engineers are argumentative
Cost Sales specialists know about cost, designs and lead times Cost of bringing engineers to a meeting drives up sales cost
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Ch. 5.1 Why Involve the Customer in Planning?

• Easier
• Faster
• Give customer a voice
• Cheaper (to do things right the first time)

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Ch. 5.1 Multifunctional Teams (Concurrent
Engineering)

• Used when a system must be installed in a larger,
  more complex system
• Integrates through cross functional groups

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Ch. 5.1 Project Plan Elements

• Overview
• Objectives
• General approach
• Contractual aspects
• Schedules
• Resources
• Personnel
• Evaluation methods
• Potential problems

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Ch. 5.1 Project Charter
Generated through negotiations involving the many
parties at interest in the project
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Ch. 5.1 Classic SDLC (Left) vs. Aaron et. al.
Model (Right)
Feasibility Concept Evaluation
Analysis Requirement Identification
Design Design
Build Implementation
Closure Test
Closure Integration
Closure Validation
Closure Customer Test and Evaluation
Ongoing Use Operations and Maintenance
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Ch. 5.2 Three Main Objectives of Systems
Integration

• Performance
• Effectiveness
• Cost

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Ch. 5.3 Even Planning Process

1. Make list of activities of similar importance in
   sequential order ? Level 1
2. Break each level 1 process into sub- processes as
   under a) ? Level 2
3. Continue to lower process levels until no further
   breaking is possible

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Ch. 5.3 Illustration of Even Planning Process
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Ch. 5.3 Form Useful for Even Planning Process
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Ch. 5.3 Tree Diagram Used in Hierarchical
Planning
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Ch. 5.3 Strategic Factors in Project Planning

• Project mission
• Top management support
• Projects action plan

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Ch. 5.4 Example of a Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
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Ch. 5.4 Steps in Designing a WBS

• List task breakdown in succeedingly finer levels
• Construct a responsibility matrix
• Establish pricing control
• Schedule milestones
• Identify problems
• Generate Project Master Schedule

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Ch. 5.4 Linear Responsibility Chart

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Ch. 5.5 Planning and Design using
Multidisciplinary Teams

• Generate integrated base for project design
• Add software for conflict detection
• Add software to generate production plan
• Generate knowledge base

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Ch. 5.5 Example of Interface Map
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Ch. 5.5 Project Phases and Phase Gates in the
SDLC

• Feasibility
• Project Proposal
• System
• Requirement Specifications
• Design
• Design Specs
• Build
• Programmers and Users Manuals

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Ch. 5.5 Coordination Structure Model of Project
Management