Credos

Project Managers:
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail Plans are nothing; planning is everything. I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught

Business Analysts: Programmers:

What does a Project Manager Do?

Delineates tasks Acquires or requests resources First responder to projects falling out of
scope Ensures a quality and effective team Provides feedback to client on progress Provides translation layer between management and programmers

What does a Business Analyst do?

First-line communication with client Understand the current business culture and the

requirement to change it Understand the limitation of both client, business and technology Gathers the required knowledge or requests a Subject Matter Expert if required Ensures end-product meet expectations Documents everything

Where the two collide

Most small productions company will
combine PM and BA

Some will mix PM and Team Lead Avant-garde houses will not have PMs or
BAs (i.e. they implement Agile and expect developers to be the experts)

Large house will have Technical and

Programmer Analysts.

Where there is conflict

Programmers dont want project managers Business Analysts dont want project
managers Project managers dont want either High level managers dont want any of them All are required All are equal

A Case Study
Create a program that receives data from
a legacy database, generates two reports given user criteria and allows for an update back to the legacy system upon request
Estimated Work: Estimated Cost: Initial Contact : Completion: 23 days $24,610 February 23rd, 2006 6 weeks from signing

May 23rd, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $24,100 $24,000 Delivery Date: Days Overrun: July 1st, 2006 0

May 29th, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $38,100 $31,500 Delivery Date: Days Overrun: July 1st, 2006 0

June 5th, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $38,100 $36,000 Delivery Date: Days Overrun: July 1st, 2006 0

July 31st, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $38,100 $42,000 Delivery Date: Days Overrun: September 1st, 2006 60

August 9th, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $44,100 Delivery Date: $49,500 Days Overrun: September 29th, 2006 79

August 29th, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $49,100 $55,500 Delivery Date: Days Overrun: October 16th, 2006 88

September 21st, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $49,100 $73,000 Delivery Date: Days Overrun: October 16th, 2006 88

October 10th, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $56,100 $84,000 Delivery Date: Days Overrun: October 16th, 2006 88

October 23rd, 2006

Cost of application: Cost to business: $61,100 Delivery Date: $100,500 Days Overrun: November 15th, 2006 127

May 2007
All known documentation ended

November 21nd, 2006 4 programmers have left company Original PM leaves Original Sales Representative leaves

According to Quality Assurance logs,

internal testing ends.

August 2007

Client prepares for User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Application only works with test data Cancel buttons save results without validation Import process pointed to a database that didnt exist on a drive
that would never exist

Major database imported but never used allowing for restricted

clients to be reported

Database never cleared temporary data, bloating to point of failure Most search criteria was implemented backwards Many report criteria was able to entered by the user, by never
applied to data

Selecting Edmonton would inundate the entire Mid-West United

States with products

October 2007
Total Cost to Client : Cost Over Estimate
Total Cost to Business : Loss to business: Total Work Days: Total Days Past Deadline : $ 147,170 $ 122,560 (6x over) $ 166,500 $ -19,330 600 430

Application still not complete and delivered to client

What went wrong?

No communication
No one halted process nor confided in management or client

No ownership
Everyone assumed it was someone elses problem

No foresight
No knowledge of development process nor in-house capabilities

Failure to curtail attrition Poor requirements gathering Knowledge hoarding or zero transfer

What were the consequences?

Morale decimated Lost valuable members of the team Loss of client for future Word-of-Mouth disease Possible litigation Possible firing due to incompetence Other projects suffered
(Iterate all above for them, as well)

Possible layoffs Bankruptcy of company

How to carry yourself

Understand how applications work Understand the applications you are

responsible for Dont pass the buck Dont be rigid. Every project is different. Acronyms dont make you look smarter; They make you look like you cant communicate

How to Manage
Dont micromanage Use tools wisely Dont download your position
Encourage communication, accountability
and ownership.
(Garbage in Garbage out)

Know when NOT to manage

Have your clients meet and talk to your team regularly, even if only via e-mail.

How to manage yourself

Know your talent pool
Know their limitations

Multiple by 2.4 Have a knowledge repository Ensure that all documents are knowledge Time is money; Keep meetings short and pertinent Double-check everything.
One mistake early in the process is catastrophic in the later stages

What not to say

Never say Process make the Product!
Its the that people do

Never say Work smarter, not harder

Unless you have dental coverage

Never say Maybe we should fire the client

They give money to the company, you dont

Never ask Maybe we should implement Agile?

Unless your resume is up-to-date