Software Project Management

Software Project Management (KOE-068)
UNIT-3 (Lecture-1)
Activity Planning: Objective & Scheduling
Objectives of activity planning
Feasibility assessment
Is the project possible within required timescales and resource constraints? It is not until we have
constructed a detailed plan that we can forecast a completion date with any reasonable
knowledge of its achievability.
Resource allocation
What are the most effective ways of allocating resources to the project. When should the
resources be available? The project plan allows us to investigate the relationship between
timescales and resource availability.
Detailed costing
How much will the project cost and when is that expenditure likely to take place? After
producing an activity plan and allocating specific resources, we can obtain more detailed
estimates of costs and their timing.
Motivation
Providing targets and being seen to monitor achievement against targets is an effective way of
motivating staff, particularly where they have been involved in setting those targets in the first
place.
Co-ordination
When do the staff in different departments need to be available to work on a particular project
and when do staff need to be transferred between projects? The project plan, particularly with
large projects involving more than a single project team, provides an effective vehicle for
communication and coordination among teams.
Essentially there are three approaches to identifying the activities or tasks that make up a
project
The activity-based approach,
The product-based approach
The hybrid approach.
Project Scheduling
Project Scheduling in a project refers to roadmap of all activities to be done with specified order
and within time slot allotted to each activity. Project managers tend to define various tasks, and
project milestones and arrange them keeping various factors in mind. They look for tasks lie in
critical path in the schedule, which are necessary to complete in specific manner (because of
task interdependency) and strictly within the time allocated. Arrangement of tasks which lies
out of critical path are less likely to impact over all schedule of the project.
For scheduling a project, it is necessary to -
RAVIKANT NIRALA Page 1

• Break down the project tasks into smaller, manageable form

• Find out various tasks and correlate them
• Estimate time frame required for each task
• Divide time into work-units
• Assign adequate number of work-units for each task
• Calculate total time required for the project from start to finish
Work breakdown structure (WBS)

This involves identifying the main (or high level) tasks required to complete a project and then
breaking each of these down into set of lower-level tasks.
Five levels of WBS:
Project- engineering resources has been developed by TASK
Deliverables- term for the quantifiable goods or services
Components- designing the floor plane
Work-packages- Models for the description of software artifacts
Tasks- Creation and distribution of organizing software

UNIT-3 (Lecture-2)
Network Planning models: Formulating Network Model
A project is made up of a sequence of activities that form a network representing a project.
The path taking longest time through this network of activities is called the “critical
path.”
The critical path provides a wide range of scheduling information useful in managing a
project.
Critical Path Method (CPM) helps to identify the critical path(s) in the project networks.
CPM with a Single Time Estimate
o Used when activity times are known with certainty.
o Used to determine timing estimates for the project, each activity in the project,
and slack time for activities.
CPM with Three Activity Time Estimates (a.k.a. PERT)
o Used when activity times are uncertain.
o Used to obtain the same information as the Single Time Estimate model and
probability information.
Time-Cost Models
Used when trade-off information cost is a major consideration in planning.
Used to determine the least cost in reducing total project time.
Sometimes it is possible to "crash" (expedite) some activities thus reducing the overall
completion time for the entire project.
Crashing an activity implies spending additional funds (e.g., overtime costs, hiring more
workers, and so on) to get the task done earlier
On many occasions reducing the project completion time that in turn reduces the fixed cost
outlays can generate substantial savings.
1. Draw the CPM network, identify the CP
2. Identify the least cost activity(ies) on the critical path(s)
3. Shorten the project completion time (CP) at the least cost Repeat until no more
Why Network Diagrams?

Splits up the decision making process into
Method/logic - the order in which tasks have to be completed
Time – estimates for the time to completion can be added to each task
Resources – these can be added and then analysis carried out

Two Parts to the Analysis

Forward Pass
o Calculates the Duration of the Project
Backward Pass
o Calculates the slack/float for each task and shows the critical path
To calculate the total duration of the Project…
For each task:
o Take the earliest start time (EST)
o Calculate the Earliest finish time (EFT):
EFT = EST+Duration

UNIT-3 (Lecture-3)
Forward Pass & Backward Pass Techniques
Forward pass
The forward pass is carried out to calculate the earliest dates on which each activity may be
started and completed. Significance-calculation method used in Critical Path Method.
Forward Pass Computation

Add activity times along each path in the network (ES + Duration = EF).
Carry the early finish (EF) to the next activity where it becomes its early start (ES) unless
the next succeeding activity is a merger activity, in which case the largest EF of all
preceding activities is selected.
Backward pass
The second stage in the analysis of a critical path network is to carry out a backward pass to
calculate the latest date at which each activity may be started and finished without delaying the
end date of the project. The calculating the latest dates, we assume that the latest finish date for
the project is the same as the earliest finish date that is we wish to complete the project as early
as possible.
Backward Pass Computation

Subtract activity times along each path in the network (LF - Duration = LS).
Carry the late start (LS) to the next activity where it becomes its late finish (LF) unless...
The next succeeding activity is a burst activity, in which case the smallest LF of all
preceding activities is selected.
Importance of Forward pass with an example

In order to calculate Early Finish, we use forward pass. Means moving from Early Start towards
right to come up with Early Finish of the project.
Early Finish (EF) = ES + Duration
If Early Start is 6 days and duration is 10 days, EF = 6 + 10 = 16 Days

What is Late Finish (LF)?

Late Start (LS) is the latest date that the activity can finish without causing a delay to the project
completion date.
Importance of Backward pass with an example

In order to calculate Late Start (LS), we apply backward Pass moving from Late Finish and
deducting from activity duration.
LS = LF – Duration
If Late Finish is 30 days and duration is 10 days, LS = 30 – 10 = 20 Days
Float (Slack) Calculation

The whole idea of network diagram and finding the project duration is to identify the critical path
and total float. Float represents how much each individual activity can be delayed without
delaying successor activities or project completion date.
Total Float = LS – ES or LF – EF
Total Float shows the difference between the Earliest Start (ES) and Latest Start (LS) of an
activity before the completion date is delayed.
Free Float = Lowest ES of successors – EF

Free Float represents the amount of time that an activity can be delayed before any successor’s
activity will be delayed. A zero free float represents the activity is in critical path and there is no
space to delay the activity without delaying the entire project.

UNIT-3 (Lecture-4)
Risk identification & Assessment, Risk Planning, Risk Management
Risk identification
Approaches to identifying risks include:
Use of checklists – usually based on the experience of past projects
Brainstorming – getting knowledgeable stakeholders together to pool concerns
Causal mapping – identifying possible chains of cause and effect
Dealing with risk

Risk identification – what risks might there be?
Risk analysis and prioritization – which are the most serious risks?
Risk planning – what are we going to do about them?
Risk monitoring – what is the current state of the risk?
Risk Assessment.
A systematic process of evaluating the potential risks that may be involved in a projected activity
or undertaking.
Risk Evaluation
After the potential risks have been identified, the project team then evaluates the risk based on
the probability that the risk event will occur and the potential loss associated with the event. Not
all risks are equal. Some risk events are more likely to happen than others, and the cost of a risk
event can vary greatly. Evaluating the risk for probability of occurrence and the severity or the
potential loss to the project is the next step in the risk management process.
RISK AND IMPACT

1. There is a positive correlation—both increase or decrease together—between project
risk and project complexity. A project with new and emerging technology will have a
high-complexity rating and a correspondingly high risk.
2. The project management team will assign the appropriate resources to the technology
managers to assure the accomplishment of project goals. The more complex the
technology, the more resources the technology manager typically needs to meet project
goals, and each of those resources could face unexpected problems.
3. Risk evaluation often occurs in a workshop setting. Building on the identification of the
risks, each risk event is analyzed to determine the likelihood of occurring and the
potential cost if it did occur. The likelihood and impact are both rated as high, medium,
or low. A risk mitigation plan addresses the items that have high ratings on both factors—
likelihood and impact.

RISK ANALYSIS OF EQUIPMENT DELIVERY

1. A project team analyzed the risk of some important equipment not arriving to the project
on time. The team identified three pieces of equipment that were critical to the project
and would significantly increase the costs of the project if they were late in arriving.
2. One of the vendors, who was selected to deliver an important piece of equipment, had a
history of being late on other projects. The vendor was good and often took on more
work than it could deliver on time. This risk event (the identified equipment arriving late)
was rated as high likelihood with a high impact. The other two pieces of equipment were
potentially a high impact on the project but with a low probability of occurring.
RISK MITIGATION
After the risk has been identified and evaluated, the project team develops a risk mitigation plan,
which is a plan to reduce the impact of an unexpected event. The project team mitigates risks in
the following ways:
Risk avoidance
Risk sharing
Risk reduction
Risk transfer

UNIT-3 (Lecture-5)
Risk Management: PERT technique
Project managers often use graphical representation tools to understand their projects’
performance. CPM, Gantt, and PERT Charts are used to demonstrate workflow and sequence of
activities. Although both scheduling tools serve the same purpose, they are different from each
other. In this article, we will discuss the PERT definition and demonstrate how to use PERT
Method with the help of an example. The PERT Method (or Program Evaluation and Review
Technique) is one of the most common scheduling techniques for network analysis which is used
to track and coordinate complex tasks. PERT Method helps to analyze the project work schedule
by focusing on each task and calculate the minimum time required to complete the project. In
this respect, it is similar to the Critical Path Method (CPM).
PERT Analysis Formula
The PERT method employs simple statistic calculations. It uses three-time estimations.
Optimistic Estimate: The shortest time required to complete the task.
Pessimistic Estimate: The longest time required to complete the task.
Most Likely Estimate: The most possible time (probable duration) required to complete
the task.
Expected time is calculated with the help of the PERT Analysis formula below
Expected time = ( Optimistic + 4 x Most likely + Pessimistic) / 6
PERT Method Example

We discussed the PERT Definition and analyze the formula above. Now we will provide a
simple PERT Method example with the solution.

After building a network diagram and estimating the activity durations, you will determine the
critical path by making forward and backward pass calculations.
Forward Pass Calculations specify the minimum dates at which each activity can be performed
and, ultimately, the minimum duration of a project.
Backward Pass Calculations of Program Evaluation and Review Technique determine the latest
dates by which each activity can be performed without increasing the project’s minimum
duration.

After completing the backward pass calculation, you can easily determine the critical path. In
project management, “float” or “slack” is the amount of time that a task can be delayed without
affecting the deadlines of other subsequent tasks, or the project’s final delivery date. Total
float/slack is 0 on the critical path.
Total Float: LS – ES = 18-15 = 3

Total Float: LF – EF = 30-27 = 3
The total float can be calculated by subtracting the Early Start date of an activity from its Late
Start date or Early Finish date from its Late Finish date.

When we analyze the network diagram we will see that there are some paths and every path have
duration.
The critical path is the longest path in the network diagram and the total float of the critical path
is zero.

UNIT-3 (Lecture-6)
Resource Allocation: Cost Schedule
Resource allocation
It is the assignment of available resources to various uses. In the context of an entire economy,
resources can be allocated by various means, such as markets or central planning. In project
management, resource allocation or resource management is the scheduling of activities and the
resources required by those activities while taking into consideration both the resource
availability and the project time.
Nature of Resources
Labor – Members of the project team
Equipment – Workstations and other communicating and office equipments
Material – Items that are consumed
Space – Office space
Services – Some specialist services telecommunicating
Time – Offset against the other primary resource
Identifying Resource Requirements

What resources are required along with the expected level of demand
Consider each activity
Identify required resources

Scheduling Resources
Allocating resources for one activity limits flexibility for resource allocation and scheduling of
other activities
Priorities resource allocation

Activities are ordered according to their total float .Those with the smallest float are assigned the
highest priority
Ordered list priority

Ordered according to predefined criteria
Shortest critical path – Critical activities
Shortest non-critical activity
Non-critical activity with least float
Non-critical activities
Map on activity plan to assess the distribution of resources required over the duration of the
project
Recruiting staff has cost
Smooth the histogram by delaying the start of some activities
Creating Critical Paths

Scheduling resources can create new critical paths
Delaying the start of an activity because of lack of resources will cause that activity
become critical if this uses up its float.
Cost Schedules
Calculating cost is straightforward where organization has standard cost figures for staff and
other resources. Staff costs includes not just salary, but also social security contributions by the
employer, holiday pay etc.
Timesheets are often used to record actual hours spent on each project by an individual. One
issue can be how time when a staff member is allocated and available to the project, but is not
actually working on the project, is dealt with.
Overheads e.g. space rental, service charges etc. Some overheads might be directly attributable
to the project, in other cases a percentage of departmental overheads may be allocated to project
costs. Usage charges are some charges can be on a ‘pay as you go’ basis e.g. telephone charges,
postage, car mileage – at the planning stage an estimate of these may have to be made.
Cost profile
This shows how much is going to be spent in each week. This could be important where an
organization allocates project budgets by financial year or quarter and the project straddles more
than one of these financial periods
Accumulative costs
The project manager will also be concerned about planned accumulative costs. This chart can be
compared to the actual accumulative costs when controlling the project to assess whether the
project is likely to meet its cost targets.

UNIT-3 (Lecture-7)
Risk Management: Monte Carlo simulation
This method is applied to risk quantitative analysis and decision making problems. This method
is used by the professionals of various profiles such as finance, project management, energy,
manufacturing, engineering, research & development, insurance, oil & gas, transportation, etc.
This method was first used by scientists working on the atom bomb in 1940. This method can
be used in those situations where we need to make an estimate and uncertain decisions such as
weather forecast predictions.
Monte Carlo Simulation ─ Important Characteristics
Following are the three important characteristics of Monte-Carlo method −
Its output must generate random samples.

Its input distribution must be known.
Its result must be known while performing an experiment.
Monte Carlo Simulation ─ Advantages
Easy to implement.
Provides statistical sampling for numerical experiments using the computer.
Provides approximate solution to mathematical problems.
Can be used for both stochastic and deterministic problems.
Monte Carlo Simulation ─ Disadvantages
Time consuming as there is a need to generate large number of sampling to get the
desired output.
The results of this method are only the approximation of true values, not the exact.

Monte Carlo Simulation Method ─ Flow Diagram
The following illustration shows a generalized flowchart of Monte Carlo simulation.

UNIT-4 (Lecture-1)
Framework for Management and control
CREATING THE FRAMEWORK
Exercising control over a project and ensuring that targets are met is a matter of regular
monitoring, finding out what is happening, and comparing it with current targets. If there is a
mismatch between the planned outcomes and the actual one then either preplanning is needed to
bring the project back on target or the target will have to be revised. A model of the project
control cycle is illustrated in Figure:
Responsibility:

Assessing the Progress

Progress assessment will be made on the basis of information collected and collated at
regular intervals or when specific events occur.
Wherever possible, this information will be objective and tangible - whether or not a
particular report has been delivered.
Progress assessment will have to rely on the judgment of the team members who are
carrying out the project activities.
Setting Checkpoints
A series of checkpoints in the initial activity plan need to be set. Checkpoints maybe:
Regular (Daily, for example)
Tied to specific events such as the production of a report or other deliverable
Taking Snapshots
The frequency with which a manager needs to receive information about progress will
depend upon the size and degree of risk of the project or that part of the project under
their control.
Team leaders, for example, need to assess progress daily whereas project managers may
find weekly or monthly reporting appropriate.
In general, the higher the level, the less frequent and less detailed the reporting needs to
be. A formal weekly collection of information from staff carrying out activities is
favored.

UNIT-4 (Lecture-2)
Project Collection of data
DATA COLLECTION
Managers will try to break down long activities into more controllable tasks of one or two
weeks’ duration. However, it will still be necessary to gather information about partially
completed activities and, in particular, forecasts of how much work is left to be completed. It
may be difficult to make such forecasts accurately.
Where there is a series of products, partial completion of activities is easier to estimate. Counting
the number of record specifications or screen layouts produced, for example, can provide a
reasonable measure of progress.
Partial Completion Reporting

All organizations use standard accounting systems with weekly timesheets to charge staff time to
individual jobs. The staff time booked to a project indicates the work carried out and the charges
to the project. However, it does not, tell the project manager what has been produced or whether
tasks are on schedule. It is therefore common to adapt or enhance existing accounting data
collection systems to meet the needs of project control.
Weekly time sheets, for example, are frequently adapted by breaking jobs down to activity level
and requiring information about work done in addition to time spent. Figures illustrates a typical
example of such a report form, in this case requesting information about likely slippage of
completion dates as well as estimates of completeness. Asking for estimated completion times
frequently should be avoided as this may affect the importance of the originally scheduled
targets.

Risk Reporting
One method overcoming the objections to partial completion reporting is to avoid asking for
estimated completion dates, but to ask instead for the team members’ estimates of the likelihood
of meeting the planned target date. This consists of the following steps:
Identify the key elements for assessment in a piece of work (first level)
Break these key elements into constituent elements (second level)
Assess each of the second-level elements on the scale green for ‘on target’, amber for
‘not on target but recoverable’, and red for ‘not on target and recoverable only with
difficulty’
Review all the second level assessments to arrive at first level assessments
Review first and second level assessments to produce an overall assessment
Each activity is broken into a number of component parts and deciding whether a further
breakdown is needed and get the team members to complete a return at the end of each week.

UNIT-4 (Lecture-3)
VISUALIZING PROGRESS
Once data has been collected about project progress, a manager needs some way of presenting
that data to greatest effect. Some of these methods such as Gantt charts provide a static picture, a
single snapshot, whereas others such as time line charts try to show how the project has
progressed and changed over time.
The Gantt Chart

Gantt chart is a type of a bar chart that is used for illustrating project schedules. Gantt charts can
be used in any projects that involve effort, resources, milestones and deliveries.
At present, Gantt charts have become the popular choice of project managers in every field.
Gantt charts allow project managers to track the progress of the entire project. Through Gantt
charts, the project manager can keep a track of the individual tasks as well as of the overall
project progression.
There are dozens of Gantt chart tools that can be used for successful project tracking. These
tools usually vary by the feature offered.
The simplest kind of Gantt chart can be created using a software tool such as Microsoft Excel.
For that matter, any spreadsheet tool can be used to design a Gantt chart template.
Advantage
The ability to grasp the overall status of a project and its tasks at once is the key advantage in
using a Gantt chart tool. Therefore, upper management or the sponsors of the project can make
informed decisions just by looking at the Gantt chart tool.

The software-based Gantt charts are able to show the task dependencies in a project schedule.
This helps to identify and maintain the critical path of a project schedule.
Disadvantage
For large projects, the Gantt chart tool should be supported by other means of documentation.
For large projects, the information displayed in Gantt charts may not be sufficient for decision
making.
The Slip Chart

A slip chart is an alternative favored by some project managers who believe it provides a more
striking visual indication of those activities that are not progressing to schedule. The more the
slip line bends, the greater the variation from the plan.
Additional slip lines are added at intervals and, as they build up, the project manager will gain an
idea as to whether the project is improving subsequent slip lines bend less or not. A very jagged
slip line indicates a need for rescheduling.
Ball Charts
A more prominent way of showing whether or not targets have been met is to use a ball chart.
The same is illustrated in Figure. In this version of the ball chart, the circles indicate start and
completion points for activities. The circles initially contain the original scheduled dates.
Whenever revisions are produced, these are added as second dates in the appropriate circle until
an activity is actually started or completed.

Circles will contain only two dates, the original and most recent target dates, or the original and
actual dates. Where the actual start or finish date for an activity is later than the target date, the
circle is colored red (dark grey in Figure) - where an actual date is on time or earlier than the
target then the circle is colored green (light grey in Figure).
The advantage of ball charts over Gantt and slip charts is that they are relatively easy to keep up
to date. Only the dates and possibly colors need to be changed, whereas the others need to be
redrawn each time target dates are revised.
Timeline Chart
One major disadvantage of Gantt chart, Slip chart and Ball chart is that they do not show clearly
the slippage of the project completion date through the life of the project.
Knowing the current state of a project helps in revising plans to bring it back on target, but
analyzing and understanding trends helps to avoid slippage in future projects. The timeline chart
is a method of recording and displaying the way in which targets have changed throughout the
duration of the project.

UNIT-4 (Lecture-4)
Cost Monitoring and Earned Value Analysis
Expenditure monitoring is a vital component of project control because it provides an indication
of the effort that has gone into a project. A project might be on time but only because more
money has been spent on activities than originally budgeted. A cumulative expenditure chart
such as that shown in Figure provides a simple method of comparing actual and planned
expenditure. Figure illustrates a project that is running late or one that is on time but has shown
substantial costs savings. The current status of the project activities has to be taken into account
before attempting to interpret the meaning of recorded expenditure.
Cost charts become useful if we add projected future costs calculated by adding the estimated
costs of uncompleted work to the costs already incurred. Where a computer based planning tool
is used, revision of cost schedules is generally provided automatically once actual expenditure
has been recorded.
Cost Monitoring depends upon various parameters:

Project Management
Project Planning
Project Execution
Project Control
Project Completion
Project Cost Control
Project Budget
Cost Tracking
Time Management
Project Change Control
Collecting Project Cost Control Data

Earned Value Analysis

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management technique that objectively tracks
physical accomplishment of work.
More elaborately:
EVM is used to track the progress and status of a project and forecasts the likely future
performance of the project.
EVM integrates the scope, schedule, and cost of a project.
EVM answers a lot of questions to the stakeholders in a project related to its
performance.
EVM can be used to show the past and the current performance of a project and predict
the future performance of the project by the use of statistical techniques.
Good planning coupled with effective use of EVM will reduce a lot of issues arising out
of schedule and cost overruns.
EVM consists of the following three basic elements:
Planned Value
Actual Cost
Earned Value
All the three elements are captured on a regular basis as of a reporting date.
Planned Value
Planned value (PV) is also referred to as Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS). PV or
BCWS is the total cost of the work scheduled/planned as of a reporting date.
PV or BCWS = Hourly Rate × Total Hours Planned or Scheduled
Actual Cost
Actual cost (AC) is also referred to as Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP). AC or ACWP
is the total cost taken to complete the work as of a reporting date.
AC or ACWP = Hourly Rate × Total Hours Spent
Earned Value
Earned value (EV) is also referred to as Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP). EV or
BCWP is the total cost of the work completed/performed as of a reporting date.
EV or BCWP = Baselined Cost × % Complete Actual

All these three elements can be derived from Work Breakdown Structure by associating the costs
to each of the tasks.
% Completed Planned
The percentage of work which was planned to be completed by the Reporting Date. It is
calculated using the following formula:
% Completed Planned = PV / BAC
% Completed Actual
The percentage of work which was actually completed by the Reporting Date. It is calculated
using the following formula:
% Completed Actual = AC / EAC
Cost variance
Cost Variance (CV) is a very important factor to measure project performance. CV indicates how
much over - or under-budget the project is.
Cost Variance (CV) = Earned Value (EV) − Actual Cost (AC)
Cost Performance Indicator
Cost Performance Indicator (CPI) is an index showing the efficiency of the utilization of the
resources on the project.
CPI = Earned Value (EV) ⁄ Actual Cost (AC)

UNIT-4 (Lecture-5)
Prioritizing Monitoring, Project tracking & Change control
Prioritizing Monitoring
The process of prioritizing projects is an activity for defining what projects within a
portfolio to perform in what sequence.
It is an attempt to make the project portfolio more effective through identifying the most
effective way of implementing the projects.
Project Prioritization Process is a structured and consistent activity that aims to analyze
the current operational environment to identify any projects running in parallel within the
same portfolio, develop a scoring model including ranking criteria, and apply that model
to prioritizing the projects in order to determine the execution order that ensures the
highest efficiency of the overall portfolio.
The process serves as a framework for managing the effectiveness of parallel projects.
Steps involved for prioritizing monitoring:
Collection – you must collect and gather all the data about your projects.
Ranking – you must develop and use a ranking model that includes criteria for
prioritizing.
Verification – you must approve the ranked projects.
Project tracking
Project tracking is a project management method used to track the progress of tasks in a project.
By tracking your project, you can compare actual to planned progress, and identify issues that
may prevent the project from staying on schedule and within budget.
Tracking is the process of determining how well you are sticking to the cost estimate and
schedule.
It is the same as adapting the schedule according to the latest developments
Benefits:
Project tracking helps project managers and stakeholders know what work has been done, the
resources that have been used to execute those tasks, and helps them create an earned value
analysis by measuring project variance and tracking milestones.
Steps to track the project:
Start with a project outline

Create deliverables and milestones
Set realistic, clear and measurable goals

Use a project tracker template or a project tracking software to keep track of time, costs
and tasks
Meet regularly with team and stakeholders
Have clear deadlines
Support transparency
Change control
Change control is a methodology used to manage any change requests that impact the baseline of
your project. It’s a way to capture that change from the point where it’s been identified through
every step of the project cycle. That includes evaluating the request and then approving, rejecting
or deferring it.
Change control is the process used to manage all these variables. If change happens (which it
always does) then it’s crucial that you have a mechanism in place to control that process.
Purpose:
To make sure that you’re not changing things in the project that don’t need to be changed.
Benefits:
Change control not only reinforces your team’s ability to work better together, but the
positive effects bleed into overall efficiency. It works hand-in-glove with teamwork, of
course.
Managing change effectively is crucial to bringing in your project on time and within
budget.

UNIT-4 (Lecture-6)
Software Configuration Management
Software Configuration Management
1. SCM is concerned with tracking and controlling changes to the software
2. In software development process, every work product would have to be accessed and
modified by several members
3. Hence a proper configuration management system is required to avoid several problems
4. Configuration management is carried out through the following two principal activities
5. Configuration identification
It involves deciding which parts of the system should be kept under configuration
management
6. Configuration control
It is used to ensure that changes to a system occur smoothly Configuration

management process
Purpose of SCM
Concurrent access
Undoing changes
System accounting
Handling variance
Accurate determination of project status
Preventing unauthorized access to the work products
Managing contracts
Contract management is the overseeing of a project’s contracts from their initial pre-award phase
through to completion.
Proper contract management ensures that the project’s budget and resources are in alignment
with its overall objectives.
Tracking contracts as they progress and identifying and managing any issues as they come up is
an important project management process.
Phases
1. Contract creation( This contract management stage involves identifying the contract type
and who will be responsible for each task.)

2. Contract negotiation(After the initial contract is drawn up, negotiation occurs in which
line items are discussed, changed, updated, or completely removed.)
3. Contract approval(Contract approval often involves multiple sign-offs from various
managers and departments, as well as contractors and vendors. All may have to give
approval on the contract’s specifications before the final deal is made.)
4. Contract finalization(The process of contract signing between the involved parties is the
final step to getting the project started.)
5. Contract change management(All data and information regarding changes to contract
deadlines, budgets, expenditures, etc., must be fully tracked and shared with the teams
involved.)
Contract Management
Contract management is an intricate oversight process that follows contracts from pre-
award to completion, including execution, vendor selection, issue detection and control,
tracking and processing.
When implemented properly, contract management processes ensure that budgets and
abilities are in alignment with project objectives.
The best contract management flows seamlessly through the organization and integrates
with project management and control, always involving the team members for input and
outcomes, and carefully monitoring contractors for performance and deadlines.
When a contract is initiated, it should reflect goals, timelines, budgets, resources, risks,
regulations, and specifications.
Each phase of the process requires specific elements, purpose and management in order
to proceed to the next step.
Technicians, engineers, and other skilled professionals must be carefully chosen to
complete the contract and execute the project.
provides an active thread connecting all aspects of the project, helping to fill in the holes
during revisions, and ensure communication with the right team members, at the right
time.
Benefits of contract management
Contract management streamlines adherence to the contract and can lower business costs.
All necessary documents can be found and accounted for in one place, offering increased
transparency for team members from different departments, as well as contractors
working offsite.
A positive contract experience creates lasting business partners with vendors and
subcontractors. Particularly in the construction industry, finding good help is paramount
for future projects.
Important business objectives and goals are identified when a contract is written. A good
contract management process sets expectations around those priorities and ensures
commitments in the contract are met.

UNIT-5 (Lecture-1)
Staffing in Software Projects: Managing People & Organizational

Behavior
Managing people
A project team consists of different individuals with varying levels of authority. Their way of
operation is dependent on the organizational culture and the methodology in use.
How to manage project teams effectively
1. Ensure balance within the team.

2. Ensure visibility and transparency.
3. Ensure effective communication within the team.
4. Foster a culture of collaboration.
5. Value each suggestion and discuss progress with your team.
6. Establish success metrics and reward excelling members.
7. Delegate tasks to groom future leaders
8. Manage internal conflicts
9. Use all available resources at your disposal to facilitate teamwork.
10. Take part in regular team building activities and celebrations
Responsibilities of project teams are
Working with the project manager throughout the project life cycle
Completing the assigned deliverables and meeting all project requirements
Documenting the process
Contributing to the team’s overall performance
Presenting possible solutions to the managers in case of a bottleneck
Keeping the project manager informed of the progress
Organizational behavior
Organizational behavior can be defined as the understanding, prediction and management of the
human behavior that affects the performance of the organizations.
It is the study of human behavior in organizational settings, how human behavior interacts with
the organization, and the organization itself.
Organizational behavior theories inform real-world evaluation and management of groups of
people.
Fredrick Taylor attempted to analyse the most productive way of doing manual tasks.
Taylor’s three basic objectives :
1. To select the best man for the job.
2. To instruct them in the best methods
3. To give incentives in the form of higher wages to the best workers.
Key elements are:
1. People
2. Structure
3. Technology
4. External Environment
People
Dynamic in nature as they interact with each other and also influence each other.Groups may
form,change and dissolve.Organizations are established to serve the people.
Structure:
There are two types of organizations, formal and informal.
Informal organizations do not have a specified structure.
Formal organizations are built based upon the objective set for it. Organizational
structure in such an organization is hierarchical in nature, with people at each level
having their own objectives.
Environment
Study of the environment is very wide and encompasses economic, cultural, social, government
rules and regulations, legal aspects, political climate, demographics and its impact.
Technology
Managing technology is an important job of any management. It is an important element of any
unit. Selection of technology, procurement, installation, operation and maintenance is important
and no compromise should be made in procuring latest or advanced technology.
Objectives of Organizational Behavior:
1. Human resources approach

2. Contingency approach
3. System approach
4. Productivity approach

UNIT-5 (Lecture-2)
Staffing in Software Projects: Staff Selection & Motivation
Best methods of staff selection

Ability Tests:
It helps in the measurement of mental abilities of an employee such as his/ her verbal, reasoning,
mathematical ability and the reading ability.
Integrity Tests:
It helps in measuring the attitude and experiences of a particular employee. Also helps in relating
the individual with his honesty, the art of dependability and the nature of trustworthiness.
Personality Tests:
These personality tests help in the assessment of certain traits that help in the development of an
employee and help pave the way to the road of success.
Data revealing biodata tests:
This test allows the employee to write about his personal characteristics, his interests, likes and
dislikes and so on.
It focuses on how effectively the employee has performed in the past and will perform in the
near future.
Situational Tests:
Generally, crisis management is the most given situation in these tests as it showcases how well
an individual handles it and leads the company in worst times too.
Motivation
A poorly motivated team has been known to unravel(undo) even the best project plan.
A good project manager needs to know how to harness(control) the initial excitement that comes
with starting a project and use it to maintain motivation leading to success throughout the
project’s lifecycle.
The biggest demotivator is when a project receives poor support from senior management of the
client organisation. Other demotivators include: internal conflict, an absence of effective
performance management, micro-management or disparity in work allocation or rewards.

1. Setting Goals
It is about explaining, not just the required outcomes but, how the objectives relate to the
organisation and its overall priorities.
2. Innovation
A good motivator we have identified is that of establishing a culture of innovation and
celebrating success when new ideas come to fruition.
3. Group Problem Solving
4. Organic Team Development
Provide opportunities for employees to work together on tasks, train, and learn from each
other, which leads to productive relationships being formed naturally.
5. Celebrate Wins
Lunches, trophies, letters of appreciation, a mention at team meetings and publishing
stories about key contributors in the newsletter are some ways that recognition can be
achieved. Never underestimate how powerful a simple ‘thank you’ can be.
6. Set an Example
Team members will learn from the leader’s behaviour and as a result will mirror such
behaviours.
7. Identify What’s in it for Them
Whether it is an important social project that aligns with their values, or it gives them an
opportunity to gain a qualification and earn sufficient money to achieve personal goals
team members are ultimately concerned with

UNIT-5 (Lecture-3)
The Oldham Hackman job characteristic model
The Oldham Hackman job characteristic model

Five components
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback
Each one of these components can be adjusted to recalibrate a job, making it more engaging for
the employee.
Objectives
It helps in creating job design strategies.

It improves job satisfaction.
It enables job enrichment.
Better delegation of tasks.
Clear organizational information.
It allows for straightforward performance appraisals and goal setting.

Characteristics of The Job Model
Skill variety
This is the amount of variety in any one job. A grocery store cashier may have a job with
little variety–they scan groceries and deal with customer inquiries all day. The store
manager, on the other hand, needs to apply a variety of skills to carry out their daily
tasks. They may handle customer complaints, create employee schedules, order products,
train new managers, and numerous other tasks.
Task Identity
How much of one task does any individual employee accomplish? For instance, if a
designer designs an entire room, that has a higher task identity than just designing the
window treatments.
Task Significance
What type of impact does this task have on the entire company or the customers? Jobs
with higher task impact tend to have a broader reach. For example, a chief marketing
officer’s work affects the whole company and has high task significance.
Autonomy
Higher task autonomy brings a feeling of ownership and responsibility. Lower levels of
autonomy lead to feeling micromanaged and stifled.
Feedback
Feedback can come from traditional channels, such as manager feedback and customer
satisfaction surveys. Or, feedback can come as a natural result of the work. If a janitor’s
job is to clean the bathrooms, they can take a look at the bathroom and see how effective
they are at their job.

UNIT-5 (Lecture-4)
Stress, Health and Safety, Ethical and Professional concerns
Stress
Stress is nothing but a condition where people get excited emotionally or in other words ” a
disturbed mental state” affecting their well-being.
The causal agents may be physiological which can be medically treated or emotional which we
are more worried about as emotionally unstable individuals cannot think properly which again
leads to physical distress.
Project Manager (PM) is no doubt one of the most stressful jobs out there as the PM is directly
responsible and accountable for the success or failure of a project. Some PMs believe that they
can handle and cope with the high level of stress but there are some who are ignoring or refusing
to recognize that they are under stress. The experience of stress is not only impacting cognitive
and behavioral performance, it can also have a negative impact on your personal health,
wellbeing, and family life.
Causes of Stress :
1. Unrealistic timeline
2. Working in a matrix system which PM does not have the full control of the resources
3. Lack of resources – human and/or equipment
4. Proliferation of virtual teams and cross cultural influences
5. Inter-group conflict in organization
6. Project environment
Health and Safety
Health and safety issues that relate to the conduct of a project is considered here
Responsibility for safety must be clearly defined at all levels. Top management must be
committed to the safety policy
The delegation of responsibility for safety must be clear
Those to whom responsibilities are delegated must understand the responsibilities and
agree to them
Job description should include definitions of duties related to safety

Deployment of a safety officer and the support of experts in particular technical areas
Consultation on safety
An adequate budgeting for safety costs
Ethical and Professional concerns

Ethics relates to the moral obligation to respect the rights and interests of others – goes beyond
strictly legal responsibilities
Three groups of responsibilities:
Responsibilities that everyone has

Responsibilities that people in organizations have
Responsibilities relating to your profession or calling
Ethical Issues in Project Management (& How to Deal with Them)
Accountability
When things go wrong, it's human nature to try to avoid the consequences and place the
blame somewhere else.
Conflicts of Interest
As a project manager, you should make sure that all parties involved in a project
understand your company’s standards for bidding and vendor selection, and that the
definition of a conflict of interest is clear to everyone.
Workplace Culture
Project managers should be very familiar with their company’s code of conduct and
should ensure that all employees, contractors and business partners understand what is
expected of them.
Health and Safety Concerns
On large enterprise projects, the stakes are high, and so is the pressure to get the job done.
Unfortunately, this pressure sometimes leads stakeholders to ignore or even conceal
issues that might jeopardize the health and safety of project team members or the public.

UNIT-5 (Lecture-5)
Working in teams & Decision making
Working in teams
Importance
Great teamwork in project management achieves three very important goals:
Projects are completed on time and in full

Individual team members feel more satisfied with their roles which gives them extra
motivation to perform
A well-oiled team contributes to a healthy work environment.
Tip
Good project managers know that the best way to help their team work together is by delegating
tasks and responsibilities clearly.
For example, if your team has to create an app and you have two front-end developers, you
should make the tasks and responsibilities very clear.
Real Life Strategy
Problems are never something we want to experience, but they’re vital to improving teamwork.
If you encourage your team to work together on solving projects and acknowledge different
perspectives, you’ll be able to spot risks earlier and mitigate them.
And not only that, but you’ll also be bringing a lot more creativity to the table.
Decision making
It is a process by which individuals select a particular course of action among several alternatives
to produce a desired result.
Purpose
To direct the resources of an organization towards a future goals and reduce the gap between the
actual position and desired position and the desired position through effective problem solving
and exploiting business opportunities

A decision is a choice made from various available activities and are closely related to:
Goals and objectives of organization

Organizational Structure
Organizational Design
Budgets
Time Period
Staff - Salaries, Wages, Working hours, promotion, demotion
Research And design
Importance of Decision Making:
1. Optimum and efficient utilization of resources

2. Aids in Problem Solving and facing business challenges
3. Helps in business growth and achieving objectives
4. Facilitates effective management and innovation
5. Motivates employees and improves overall business performance

UNIT-5 (Lecture-6)
Organizational structures, Dispersed and Virtual teams
Organizational structures
Organizational structure refers to the way a company or organization is set up.

It is usually defined using a hierarchy chart that shows how groups or functions report
within the organization.
Organizational behavior is the study of both group and individual performance and
activity within an organization.
It is the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups
act within the organizations where they work.
OB draws from other disciplines to create a unique field
An organizational structure could be described as the official line of authority and control
within an organization.
Organizational behavior is a combination of responses to external and internal stimuli by
a person as an individual or as a part of a group.
Project management structures tell us how reporting relationships work in a particular
organization.
Levels
1. Individual Level Analysis
Includes individual level analysis such as characteristics and behaviors of employees as

well as thought processes that are attributed to them, such as motivation, perceptions,
personalities, attitudes, and values.
2. Group Level Analysis
Includes group dynamics, decisions, power, organizational politics, conflict, leadership,

communication, etc.
3. Organization System Level Analysis
Includes how people structure their working relationships as well as how organizations
interact with their external environment forces.
Types
Functional Organizational Structure
Matrix Organizational Structure
• Balanced matrix
• Strong Matrix
• Weak Matrix

Project Based Organization Structure
Dispersed and Virtual teams

A virtual team (aka “virtual workgroup”) is a group of people who participate in common
projects by making collaborative efforts to achieve shared goals and objectives. These people
perform tasks and jobs in a virtual work environment created and maintained through IT and
software technologies.
Types of Virtual Teams:
Global virtual team:

As a rule, these teams are located in different countries and cities all over the world. They
can be employees of several companies which join their efforts and resources (incl.
people, technology, money) to perform shared outsourced projects and achieve common
goals.
Local virtual team:

Members of a local virtual workgroup usually belong to the same company. That
company is either big or small, and it has enough resources (technology is essential) to
establish and maintain virtual team workplaces and organize its employees into a
productive remote group.
The combination of activities for assembling, building, organizing, controlling, and supervising
the virtual teamwork is called virtual team management. It is an essential part of project team
collaboration.
Advantages
Reduced rents and technology savings

Lower transportation costs and less time spent on commuting
Instant communication and information exchange
Disadvantages
Poorer control of virtual groups (this may result in reduced trust in virtual teams),
because there are no direct control tools
Problems to establish good virtual team leadership (comparing to “physical” team
leading)
Unfitness to the projects which require on-site control and management

UNIT-5 (Lecture-7)
Communications genres, Communication plans & Leadership
Communications genres
Communication is a critical factor in project management. There are instances where

projects have failed because of miscommunication and communication gaps.
Project managers fill this gap by devising a good communication mechanism that will
help him to communicate with the team members as well as stakeholders, sponsors, top-
tier management and all the people who are connected to the project.
If an effective communication methodology is not followed by the project manager, it
may lead to many discrepancies and ultimately may also lead to project failure, which is
not appropriate for the organization.
It is also important that the right information is delivered to the right person.
So, project managers have the responsibility to properly channelize the communication
process, so that the right persons receive the right information.
Another important point that project managers must make a note of is that the
information sent must be clear, concise and informative.
Communication plans
A project management communication plan identifies how important information will be
communicated to stakeholders throughout the project. It also determines who will be receiving
the communication, how those people will receive it, when they'll receive it, and how often they
should expect to receive that information.
Steps For successful communication plans

1. Define the Purpose and Approach
Plan Purpose is the first item in the document. I would however, highly recommend
creating it last, so that you can pull from the entire plan and make sure that you’ve hit all
the high points.
2. List Goals and Objectives

Above mentioned are the Components of Project Communication
Promote awareness of the project inside the company or outside of it

Increase employee acceptance or increase project traction company-wide
Give an avenue for stakeholders to provide feedback
3. Research and Assign Roles
Some roles will have more responsibility than others. The project lead will be expected to
contribute more through the course of the project than the project sponsor. On the other
hand, each individual or group will be expected to provide the proper communication
when it’s requested.
4. Determine Methods
The tools and methods you’ll be using can span a variety of mediums. Some messages
will need to come in the form of presentations or meetings. Others can be accomplished
using an email or text message.
5. Pinpoint High Level Communications
Taking things a step further for important communication events, you must clearly
outline the methods, frequency, and roles within the project communication plan. These
can be internal status reports, staff meetings, project update presentations, or the kick-
off.
Leadership
Leadership is the ability to get things done through others,focusing the efforts of a group
of people toward a common goal and enabling them to work as a team.
Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated,
building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own
leadership potential.

Leadership is a quality that should be expressed by everyone. It’s not just leading by
example, such as the project manager rolling up their sleeves and joining in on the work
as needed, but everyone on the project team must take a leadership role. They need to
own their responsibilities and manage the tasks assigned to them.
Project leadership, most simply, is the act of leading a team towards the successful
completion of a project. But of course, it is much more than that. It’s about getting
something done well through others. But project leadership requires skills in both
managing people and tasks.
It is a soft skill; part art, part science.
A project leader is someone who leads a project, but that doesn’t really get to the bottom
of this seemingly simple title. There are project managers, who are responsible for many
of the aspects that we associate with leadership. They assemble the team, devise the plan
and manage resources to maintain the schedule and keep within budget.
Attributes of a Good and Ideal Leader
They are grounded and centered
They are aware and mindful
They create solutions
They are analytical
They can evaluate risk
They can generate a sense of urgency
They are insightful
They build cohesion
They motivate people
They achieve results
There are two types of leaders
1. Transactional Leaders
They guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying
role and task requirements
2. Transformational Leaders
They inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the
organization, and who are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on his or
her followers.

Software Project Management

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Software Project Management (KOE-068)

RAVIKANT NIRALA Page 1

• Break down the project tasks into smaller, manageable form

Work breakdown structure (WBS)

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Why Network Diagrams?

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Two Parts to the Analysis

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Forward Pass Computation

Backward Pass Computation

Importance of Forward pass with an example

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What is Late Finish (LF)?

Importance of Backward pass with an example

Float (Slack) Calculation

Free Float = Lowest ES of successors – EF

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Dealing with risk

RISK AND IMPACT

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RISK ANALYSIS OF EQUIPMENT DELIVERY

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PERT Analysis Formula

Expected time = ( Optimistic + 4 x Most likely + Pessimistic) / 6

PERT Method Example

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Total Float: LS – ES = 18-15 = 3

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Identifying Resource Requirements

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Priorities resource allocation

Ordered list priority

Creating Critical Paths

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Monte Carlo Simulation ─ Important Characteristics

Following are the three important characteristics of Monte-Carlo method −

Its output must generate random samples.

Monte Carlo Simulation ─ Advantages

Monte Carlo Simulation ─ Disadvantages

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Monte Carlo Simulation Method ─ Flow Diagram

The following illustration shows a generalized flowchart of Monte Carlo simulation.

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Assessing the Progress

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Partial Completion Reporting

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The Gantt Chart

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The Slip Chart

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Cost Monitoring depends upon various parameters:

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Earned Value Analysis

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Cost Performance Indicator

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