Chapter Four: Defining The Project

Project Management 6e.
08-Mar-21
Chapter Four
Defining the Project
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 4–1
• Acknowledgement: Although most of the slides

are based on Larson and Gray’s book, Prof Dr
Onur Demirörs’s SPM course slides are partially
also used to extend these notes for SE 324.
Relevant information is also added from Hughes
and Cotterell (2009), Wysocki (2014) and
Marchewka (2015).
1
Project Management 6e. 08-Mar-21
Where We Are Now
Learning Objectives
• 04-01 Identify key elements of a project scope statement and understand

• why a complete scope statement is critical to project success.
• 04-02 Describe the causes of scope creep and ways to manage it.
• 04-03 Understand why it is important to establish project priorities in terms
• of cost, time, and performance.
• 04-04 Demonstrate the importance of a work breakdown structure (WBS)
• to the management of projects and how it serves as a database for
• planning and control.
• 04-05 Demonstrate how the organization breakdown structure (OBS)
• establishes accountability to organization units.
• 04-06 Describe a process breakdown structure (PBS) and when to use it.
• 04-07 Create responsibility matrices for small projects.
• 04-08 Create a communication plan for a project.
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 4
2
Chapter Outline
4.1 Step 1: Defining the Project Scope
4.2 Step 2: Establishing Project Priorities
4.3 Step 3: Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure
4.4 Step 4: Integrating the WBS with the
Organization
4.5 Step 5: Coding the WBS for the Information
System
4.6 Process Breakdown Structure
4.7 Responsibility Matrices
4.8 Project Communication Plan
Defining the Project
Step 1: Defining the Project Scope

Step 2: Establishing Project Priorities
Step 3: Creating the Work Breakdown Structure
Step 4: Integrating the WBS with the Organization
Step 5: Coding the WBS for the Information
System
3
4.1 Step 1: Defining the Project Scope
• Project Scope Defined

• Is a definition of the end result or mission of your project—a product or
service for your client/customer.
• Defines the results to be achieved in specific, tangible, and
measurable terms.
• Purposes of the Project Scope Statement
• To clearly define the deliverable(s) for the end user
• To direct focus on the project purpose throughout the life of the project
for the customer and project participants
• To be published and used by the project owner and project
participants for planning and measuring project success
Project Scope Checklist
1. Project objective
2. Product scope description
3. Justification
4. Deliverables
5. Milestones
6. Technical requirements
7. Limits and exclusions
8. Acceptance criteria
4
Project Scope: Terms and Definitions
• Scope Statements
• Is a short, one- to two-page summary of key elements of the scope, followed
by extended documentation of each element.
• Is also referred to as “statements of work (SOWs)”
• Project Charter
• Is a documentation that authorizes the project manager to initiate and lead the
project.
• Often includes a brief scope description as well as such items as risk limits,
business case, spending limits, and even team composition.
• Scope Creep
• Is the tendency for the project scope to expand over time—usually by
changing requirements, specifications, and priorities.
Five of the Most Common Causes of Scope Creep
• Poor requirement analysis
• Not involving users early enough
• Underestimating project complexity
• Lack of change control
• Gold plating
5
Project Scope: Terms and Definitions
• Scope Statements
– Also called statements of work (SOW)
• Project Charter
– Can contain an expanded version of scope statement.
– A document authorizing the project manager to initiate
and lead the project
• Scope Creep
– The tendency for the project scope to expand over
time due to changing requirements, specifications,
and priorities
Requirements– Combining A Business Value

Perspective
and Software Perspective
A requirement is a desired end-state whose successful

integration into the solution meets one or more needs and
delivers specific, measurable, and incremental business value
to the organization.
Furthermore, the set of high-level requirements forms a

necessary and sufficient set for the attainment of incremental
business value.
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
6
Refresh you Requirements Engineering

Knowledge
• What kind of requirements are there?
• How do we gather the requirements?
• What is a requirements traceability matrix?
7
Scope–Use Case
Diagram
At this stage scope

and project plan
can include SDLC
specific documents
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
5-15
A Project Charter Template
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 4-16
8
Step 2: Establishing Project Priorities
• Causes of Project Trade-offs

– Shifts in the relative importance of criterions related
to cost, time, and performance parameters
• Budget–Cost
• Schedule–Time
• Performance–Scope
• Managing the Priorities of Project Trade-offs

– Constrain: original parameter is a fixed requirement.
– Enhance: optimizing a criterion over others
– Accept: reducing (or not meeting) a criterion
requirement
Project Management Trade-offs
FIGURE 4.1
9
Project Priority Matrix
FIGURE 4.2
What does it mean if the priorities of a

project include: Time–constrain,
Scope-accept, and Cost–enhance?
10
The project must be

completed on a specific date,
the scope can be scaled back
in order to meet cost and
time objectives, and when
possible seek opportunities to
reduce costs.
Step 3: Creating the Work

Breakdown Structure
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

– A hierarchical outline (map) that identifies the products and work
elements involved in a project
– Defines the relationship of the final deliverable
(the project) to its subdeliverables, and in turn,
their relationships to work packages.
– Best suited for design and build projects that have tangible
outcomes rather than process-oriented projects
– Serves as a framework for tracking cost and work performance.
11
Hierarchical
Breakdown of
the WBS
* This breakdown groups work

packages by type of work
within a deliverable and allows
assignment of responsibility to
an organizational unit. This
extra step facilitates a system
for monitoring project progress
(discussed in Chapter 13).
FIGURE 4.3
A Work Package
• Is the lowest level of the WBS.
• Is a short-duration task that has a definite start and stop

point, consumes resources, and represents cost.
• Should not exceed 10 workdays or one reporting period.
• Should be as independent of other work packages of the

project as possible.
• Is the basic unit used for planning, scheduling, and

controlling the project.
12
Work Packages
• A work package is the lowest level of the WBS.

– It is output-oriented in that it:
1. Defines work (what).
2. Identifies time to complete a work package (how long).
3. Identifies a time-phased budget to complete
a work package (cost).
4. Identifies resources needed to complete
a work package (how much).
5. Identifies a person responsible for units of work (who).
6. Identifies monitoring points for measuring success (how
well).
Work Package
13
Deliverables versus Milestones
• Deliverables
– Tangible, verifiable work products
• Reports, presentations, prototypes, etc.
• Milestones
– Significant events or achievements
– Acceptance of deliverables or phase completion
– Cruxes (proof of concepts)
– Quality control
– Keeps team focused
Some questions to discuss

• What is the relationship between deliverables
and milestones?
• Give good and bad examples of deliverables
and milestones…
14
Work Breakdown Structure
FIGURE 4.4
How WBS Helps the Project Manager
• Assures project managers that all products and work

elements are identified, to integrate the project with the
current organization, and to establish a basis for control.
• Facilitates the evaluation of cost, time, and technical
performance at all levels in the organization over the life
of the project.
• Provides management with information appropriate to
each organizational level.
15
How WBS Helps the Project Manager
• Helps project managers to plan, schedule, and budget the project.
• Helps in the development of the organization breakdown structure

(OBS), which assigns project responsibilities to organization units
and individuals.
• Provides the opportunity to “roll up” (sum) the budget and actual
costs of the smaller work packages into larger work elements.
• Defines communication channels and assists in understanding and

coordinating many parts of the project.
Q!
• Can you, as the project manager, define the
scope and work out a WBS by
email/teleconference or seeing individual project
members/ project stakeholders and combining
the results, why & why not?
16
Q!
• If you are going to create WBS in a joint project
planning session, who should attend?
• PM, Facilitator, Client Representative,

Functional Managers, Resource Managers,
Project Sponsor, Project Support Office, Process
Owner, Business Analyst..
17
4.4 Step 4: Integrating the WBS with the Organization
• Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)

• Depicts how the firm has organized to discharge work
responsibility.
• Provides a framework to summarize organization unit work
performance.
• Identifies the organization units responsible for work
packages.
• Ties the organizational unit to cost control accounts.
• The intersection of work packages and the organization

unit creates a project cost point or cost account that
integrates work and responsibility.
Integration of
WBS and OBS
FIGURE 4.5
18
Step 5: Coding the WBS for

the Information System
• WBS Coding System
– Defines:
• Levels and elements of the WBS
• Organization elements
• Work packages
• Budget and cost information
– Allows reports to be consolidated at
any level in the organization structure
• WBS Dictionary
– Provides detailed information about
each element in the WBS.
19
Coding
the WBS
EXHIBIT 4.1
Q!
• What is an acceptable activity duration for the
lowest level of WBS?
20
Two calendar weeks. For short

projects around 3 days.. For
repetitive manufacturing longer
durations are also ok..
Approaches to Building the WBS

Noun-type Approaches
 Physical components
 Functional components
Verb-type Approaches (aka Process
Breakdown Structure)
 Design-build-test-implement
 Objectives
Organizational approaches
Which is best?
 Geographic When?
 Departmental Why?
 Business process
21
IBM's MITP (managing the implementation

of the total project) – PRINCE2 (UK
alternative to PMBOK)
•Level 1: Project
•Level 2: Deliverables
•Level 3: Components – which are
key work items needed to produce
the deliverables
•Level 4: Work packages: groups of
tasks needed to produce the
components
•Level 5: Tasks
How to decompose
• By geographically separated areas for product
or activities
• By major chronological time periods
• By structural, process, system, or device
components
• By “intermediate” deliverables required in the
production of the “end” deliverables
• By separate areas of responsibility,
departments, or functional areas
22
4.6 Process Breakdown Structure
• Process Breakdown Structure (PBS)

• Is used for process-oriented projects.
• Is often referred to as the “waterfall method” in the software industry.
• Process-oriented project
• Is a project that the final outcome is a product of a series of steps and

phases.
• Is a project that evolves over time with each phase affecting the next
phase.
• Is a project that is driven by performance requirements, not by

plans/blueprints.
Process Breakdown Structure (PBS) for

Software Development Project
FIGURE 4.6
23
Another Sample: Hybrid approach
SPM (5e) Activity planning© The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009

Chronological Time Periods
Web Deployement
Site Development
Problem Analysis Ankara

Design
Branches Istanbul
Develop
Branches İzmir Test
Branches
Establish Context Define Requirements
24
Geographicaly Seperated Areas
SW Deployment
Ankara Branches Istanbul Branches İzmir Branches
Tekmer Branch
Intermediate Deliverables
Deployement
SW Project
Iteration 1 Ankara
Iteration
Branches
2 Istanbul
Iteration
Branches
3 İzmir Branches
Iteration 4
Plan Requirements Product
25
Work Package and Work Breakdown Structure
5-51
Responsibility Matrices
• Responsibility Matrix (RM)

– Also called a linear responsibility chart
– Summarizes the tasks to be accomplished and
who is responsible for what on the project.
• Lists project activities and participants responsible for
each activity.
• Clarifies critical interfaces between units
and individuals that need coordination.
• Provide a means for all participants to view their
responsibilities and agree on their assignments.
• Clarifies the extent or type of authority that
can be exercised by each participant.
26
Responsibility Matrix for a Market Research Project
FIGURE 4.7
Responsibility Matrix for the Conveyor Belt Project
FIGURE 4.8
27
Project Communication Plan
• What information needs to be collected

and when?
• Who will receive the information?
• What methods will be used to gather
and store information?
• What are the limits, if any, on who has access
to certain kinds of information?
• When will the information be communicated?
• How will it be communicated?
Steps for Developing a Communication Plan
1. Stakeholder analysis—identify the target groups.
2. Information needs—project status reports, deliverable issues,

changes in scope, team status meetings, gating decisions, accepted
request changes, action items, milestone reports, etc.
3. Sources of information—where does the information reside?
4. Dissemination modes—hardcopy, e-mail, teleconferencing,

SharePoint, and a variety of database sharing programs.
5. Responsibility and timing—determine who will send out the formation

and when.
28
Stakeholder Communications
FIGURE 4.9
Information Needs
• Project status reports

• Deliverable issues
• Changes in scope
• Team status meetings
• Gating decisions
• Accepted request changes
• Action items
• Milestone reports
29
Shale Oil Research Project Communication Plan
FIGURE 4.10
How does a communication plan help

management of projects?
• The advantage of establishing a communication plan

is that instead of responding to information requests
you are controlling the flow of information.
• Keeping stakeholders informed with timely
information reduces confusion, unnecessary
interruptions, and can provide project managers
greater autonomy. Why?
• Because by reporting on a regular basis how things
are going and what is happening, you allow senior
management to feel more comfortable about letting
the team complete the project without interference
30
Exercise
Draft a WBS and communication

plan for an airport security project.
The project entails buying and
installing biometric systems (the
hardware and software system)
that (1) scans a passenger’s eyes,
(2) fingerprints the passenger, and
(3) transmits the information to a
central location for evaluation.
What
information Frequency Mode Assigned to Recipient
High level Monthly Meetings Project Airport authority,
status report manager and airlines, funding
project office agencies, Homeland
Security Sample Communication
Status report- Weekly email Project Airport authority, Plan
time, cost, manager and airlines, funding
quality project office agencies
Scope changes As needed Meeting Design Airport authority,
contractors, airlines, funding
project manager agencies, Homeland
Security
Issues, risks, Weekly email Project Contractor, design
change report manager and architect
project office
Team status Weekly email Team recorder Staff, team members
reports
Contractor Bi- Meeting Project Project office,
performance monthly manager contractor, funding
report agencies, airport
authority
Change Weekly Document Project Project office,
requests manager, airport authority
contractors,
design
Training status Monthly Document Human Airport authority,
Resource airlines, funding
Department agencies, Homeland
Security
31
From 2018 Midterm

Draft a Work Breakdown Structure for the above subproject for the
usability testing of a word processing package.
In order to carry out usability tests for a new word processing package,
suppose that the software has already been written and debugged. User
instructions have to be available describing how the package is to be
used. These have to be scrutinized in order to plan and design the tests.
Subjects who will use the package in the tests will need to be selected. As
part of this selection process, they will have to complete a questionnaire
giving details of their past experience of, and training in, typing and using
word processing packages. The subjects will carry out the required tasks
using the word processing package. The tasks will be timed and any
problems the subjects encounter with the package will be noted. After the
test, the subjects will complete another questionnaire about what they felt
about the package. All the data from the tests will be analysed and a
report containing recommendations for changes to the package will be
drawn up.
Possible Answer
A sample WBS is given below; other correct answers are

possible:
1.Draft User Instructions
2.Plan Usability Test
2.1 Choose Candidate Subjects
2.2 Design Profile Questionnaire
2.3 Design and Pilot Usability Test (could be taken as
done in WBS package 1)
2.4 Design Feedback Questionnaire
3Carry out the Usability Test
3.1 Have the Profile Questionnaire Filled
3.2 Have the Subjects do the tasks with measurements
3.3 Have the Feedback Questionnaire Filled
4. Analyse Usability Test Data and Questionnaires
5. Draft Recommendations
32
Terms with Variations (not only textbook)

• work product: any tangible item produced during
the process of developing or modifying software.
• baseline: a work product that has been formally
reviewed and accepted by the involved parties.
– Should be changed only through formal configuration
management procedures. May be project deliverables or
the basis for further work.
• project deliverable: a work product to be delivered
to the acquirer.
– Quantities, delivery dates, and delivery locations are
specified in a project agreement.
– May include requirements, functional specifications,
design documentation, source code …
Terms – Process Related

• work task: the smallest unit of work subject to
management accountability.
– must be small enough to allow adequate planning and
control, but large enough to avoid micro-management.
• work activity: a collection of work tasks spanning a
fixed duration within the schedule of a software
project.
– May contain other work activities
– The lowest-level work activities in a hierarchy of activities
are work tasks.
– Typical work activities include project planning,
requirements specification …
33
Terms
• work package: a specification of the work that must
be accomplished to complete a work task. (note that
this definition differs somewhat from that of the
course book)
– A work package should have
• a unique name and identifier
• preconditions for initiating the work,
• staffing requirements, other needed resources,
• work products to be generated,
• estimated duration,
• risks factors,
• predecessor and successor work tasks,
• any special considerations for the work,
• the completion criteria for the work package—including quality
criteria for the work products to be generated.
Terms – Process Related

• supporting process: a collection of work
activities that span the entire duration of a
software project
• Cost account: a number of work packages to
track cost by accounting..
• milestone: a scheduled event used to measure
progress.
– examples may include an acquirer or managerial
sign-off, baselining of a specification, …
34
Key Terms
Cost account (or control account)
Milestone
Organization breakdown structure (OBS)
Priority matrix
Process breakdown structure (PBS)
Project charter
Responsibility matrix
Scope creep
Scope statement
WBS dictionary
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
Work package
35

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Project Management 6e.

• Acknowledgement: Although most of the slides

Where We Are Now

• 04-01 Identify key elements of a project scope statement and understand

Defining the Project

Step 1: Defining the Project Scope

4.1 Step 1: Defining the Project Scope

• Project Scope Defined

Project Scope Checklist

2. Product scope description

7. Limits and exclusions

Project Scope: Terms and Definitions

Five of the Most Common Causes of Scope Creep

• Poor requirement analysis

• Not involving users early enough

• Underestimating project complexity

• Lack of change control

Project Scope: Terms and Definitions

Requirements– Combining A Business Value

A requirement is a desired end-state whose successful

Furthermore, the set of high-level requirements forms a

Refresh you Requirements Engineering

At this stage scope

Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A Project Charter Template

Step 2: Establishing Project Priorities

• Causes of Project Trade-offs

• Managing the Priorities of Project Trade-offs

Project Management Trade-offs

Project Priority Matrix

What does it mean if the priorities of a

The project must be

Step 3: Creating the Work

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

* This breakdown groups work

• Is the lowest level of the WBS.

• Is a short-duration task that has a definite start and stop

• Should not exceed 10 workdays or one reporting period.

• Should be as independent of other work packages of the

• Is the basic unit used for planning, scheduling, and

• A work package is the lowest level of the WBS.

Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Deliverables versus Milestones

Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Some questions to discuss

Work Breakdown Structure

How WBS Helps the Project Manager

• Assures project managers that all products and work

How WBS Helps the Project Manager

• Helps project managers to plan, schedule, and budget the project.

• Helps in the development of the organization breakdown structure

• Defines communication channels and assists in understanding and

• PM, Facilitator, Client Representative,

4.4 Step 4: Integrating the WBS with the Organization

• Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)

• The intersection of work packages and the organization

Step 5: Coding the WBS for

Two calendar weeks. For short

Approaches to Building the WBS

IBM's MITP (managing the implementation

4.6 Process Breakdown Structure

• Process Breakdown Structure (PBS)

• Is often referred to as the “waterfall method” in the software industry.