Software Project Management

By
Tanveer Khan
 Many corporate executives have said, “People are
our most important asset”
 People determine the success and failure of
organizations and projects

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 Proactive organizations are addressing workforce
needs by:

◦ Improving benefits

◦ Redefining work hours and incentives

◦ Finding future workers

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 Making the most effective use of the people involved with a project

 Processes include:
◦ Developing the human resource plan: identifying and documenting
project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships

◦ Acquiring the project team: getting the needed personnel assigned to

and working on the project

◦ Developing the project team: building individual and group skills to

enhance project performance

◦ Managing the project team: tracking team member performance,

motivating team members, providing timely feedback, resolving issues and
conflicts, and coordinating changes to help enhance project performance

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 Intrinsic motivation causes people to participate
in an activity for their own enjoyment

 Extrinsic motivation causes people to do

something for a reward or to avoid a penalty

 For example, some children take piano lessons for

intrinsic motivation (they enjoy it) while others take
them for extrinsic motivation (to get a reward or
avoid punishment)

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If our project team member is worried about getting food on the family table, about the safety
of their family, doesn’t know where the next payment is going to come from; (the lower levels
of needs) they may not be a good member of our team.

I think we want individuals from the upper hierarchy of needs on our team. People seeking
challenges and opportunities.

If our team members are not at the higher levels, I think the project manager should seek to
help fulfill their lower needs. Train the person so they improve their skills and then can in turn
earn a higher salary and hopefully move up in the hierarchy. Improve our team members!

Beware of team members that have too many problems. Can they leave their problems at
home? We are going to have enough problems completing our project!

(Just thinking out loud.)

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 Projects are more likely to succeed when project
managers influence with:
◦ Expertise
◦ Work challenge

 Projects are more likely to fail when project

managers rely too heavily on:
◦ Authority
◦ Money
◦ Penalty

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 Project managers can improve
effectiveness on projects

◦ Be proactive
◦ Begin with the end in mind
◦ Put first things first
◦ Think win/win
◦ Seek first to understand, then to be
understood
◦ Synergy: The interaction of two or
more agents or forces so that their
combined effect is greater than the
sum of their individual effects.
◦ Sharpen the saw

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 Good project managers are empathic listeners; they listen with the
intent to understand

 Before you can communicate with others, you have to have

rapport, a relation of harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity

 Mirroring is the matching of certain behaviors of the other person,

a technique to help establish rapport

 IT professionals need to develop empathic listening and other

people skills to improve relationships with users and other
stakeholders

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 Involves identifying and documenting project
roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships

 Contents include:
◦ Project organizational charts
◦ Staffing management plan
◦ Responsibility assignment matrices
◦ Resource histograms

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 A staffing management plan describes when
and how people will be added to and taken off the
project team

 A resource histogram is a column chart that

shows the number of resources assigned to a
project over time

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 A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is a
matrix that maps the work of the project as
described in the WBS to the people responsible
for performing the work as described in the
Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)

 Can be created in different ways to meet unique

project needs
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 Acquiring qualified people for teams is crucial

 It’s important to assign the appropriate type and

number of people to work on projects at the
appropriate times

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 Resource loading refers to the amount of individual resources an
existing schedule requires during specific time periods

 Helps project managers develop a general understanding of the

demands a project will make on the organization’s resources and
individual people’s schedules

 So we have identified a task (work) that is to be completed. We

identify the resources required to complete that task within the time
allotted.
◦ Overallocation means that the work requires more resources than are available.
We don’t have the resources that are required. So, Triple Constraint, we can
change the amount of work that the task requires (scope), increase the budget
(cost) and obtain more resources, and/ or extend the schedule (time) for the task
to be completed.

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 Resource leveling is a technique for resolving
resource conflicts by delaying tasks (more time)

 The main purpose of resource leveling is to create

a smoother distribution of resource usage and
reduce overallocation

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 The main goal of team development is to help
people work together more effectively to improve
project performance

 It takes teamwork to successfully complete most

projects

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 Training can help people understand themselves,
each other, and how to work better in teams

 Team building activities include:

◦ Physical challenges
◦ Psychological preference indicator tools

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 MBTI is a popular tool for determining personality
preferences and helping teammates understand each
other

 Four dimensions include:

◦ Extrovert/Introvert (E/I)
◦ Sensation/Intuition (S/N)
◦ Thinking/Feeling (T/F)
◦ Judgment/Perception (J/P)

 NTs or rationals are attracted to technology fields

 IT people vary most from the general population in not

being extroverted or sensing

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Are you outwardly or inwardly focused?

Extrovert
 Could be described as talkative/ outgoing.
 Like to be in a fast paced environment.
 Tend to workout ideas with others.
 Think out loud.
 Enjoy being the center of attention.
Introvert
 Could be described as reserved.
 Preferred a slower pace.
 Tend to think things inside your head.
 Would rather observe then be the center of
attention.
How do you prefer to make decisions?

Thinking
 Make decisions in an impersonal way, using
logical reasoning.
 Value justice, fairness.
 Enjoy finding the flaws in an argument.
Feeling
 Base your decision on personal values and how
your actions affect others.
 Value harmony and forgiveness.
 Like to please others and point out the best in
people.
How do you prefer to take in information?

Sensing
 Focus on the reality of how things are.
 Pay attention to concrete fact and details.
 Prefer ideas that have practical applications.
Intuition
 Imagine the possibilities of how things could be.
 Notice the big picture, see how every thing
connects.
 Enjoy ideas and concepts for their own sake.
How do you prefer to live your outer life?

Judging
 Prefer to have matter settled.
 Think rules and deadlines should be respected.
 Prefer to have detailed, step by step instructions.
 Make plans, want to know what you are getting
into
Perceiving
 Prefer to leave your options open.
 See rules and deadlines as flexible.
 Like to improvise and make things as you go.
 Many organizations also use the Social Styles
Profile in team-building activities.

 Psychologist David Merril, describes people as

falling into four approximate behavioral profiles, or
zones, based on their assertiveness and
responsiveness:
◦ Drivers
◦ Expressives
◦ Analyticals
◦ Amiables

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 People on opposite corners (driver and amiable,
analytical and expressive) may have difficulties
getting along
DRIVERS
 Drivers are proactive and task-oriented.
 They are firmly rooted in the present, and they
strive for action.
 Adjectives to describe drivers include pushy,
severe, tough, dominating, harsh, strong-willed,
independent, practical, decisive, and efficient.
EXPRESSIVES
 Expressives are proactive and people-oriented.

 They are future-oriented and use their intuition to

look for fresh perspectives on the world around
them.

 Adjectives to describe expressive include

manipulating, excitable, undisciplined, reacting,
egotistical, ambitious, stimulating, wacky,
enthusiastic, dramatic, and friendly.
ANALYTICALS
 Analyticals are reactive and task-oriented.

 They are past-oriented and strong thinkers.

 Adjectives to describe analyticals include critical,

indecisive, stuffy, picky, moralistic, industrious,
persistent, serious, expecting, and orderly.
AMIABLES
 Amiables are reactive and people-oriented.

 They think in terms of the present, past, or future

depending on the situation, and they strongly
value relationships.

 Adjectives to describe amiables include

conforming, unsure, ingratiating, dependent,
awkward, supportive, respectful, willing,
dependable, and agreeable
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 Figure 9-9 shows these four social styles and their
two main determinants: Assertiveness and
Responsiveness.

 To determine your level of assertiveness, ask if

you are more likely to tell people what to do or ask
them what should be done.

 To determine your level of responsiveness, ask

whether you focus on the task itself or on the
people involved in performing the task.
 Knowing the social styles of project stakeholders
can help project managers understand why certain
people may have problems working together.

 For example, drivers are often very impatient

working with amiables, and analyticals often have
difficulties understanding expressives.
 Many organizations also use the Social Styles
Profile in team-building activities.

 Psychologist David Merril, describes people as

falling into four approximate behavioral profiles, or
zones, based on their assertiveness and
responsiveness:
Observation and conversation
Project performance appraisals
Interpersonal skills
Conflict management

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1. Confrontation: Directly face a conflict using a problem-
solving approach
2. Compromise: Use a give-and-take approach
3. Smoothing: De-emphasize areas of difference and
emphasize areas of agreement
4. Forcing: The win-lose approach
5. Withdrawal: Retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential
disagreement
6. Collaborating: Decision makers incorporate different
viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and
commitment

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Conflict often produces important results, such as
new ideas, better alternatives, and motivation to
work harder and more collaboratively

Groupthink: Conformance to the values or ethical

standards of a group. Groupthink can develop if
there are no conflicting viewpoints

Research suggests that task-related conflict often

improves team performance, but emotional conflict
often depresses team performance

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