Software Project

Management
Software is Different

spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management

 Formalizing
the Project
Goals

spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management

 Initiate Plan Execute & Close
Monitor

Assess Formalize Collect

Close
Feasibility Goals
Outputs

and Schedule
Monitor Goals, Cost
Develop Release

Define Kick Off

Schedule Activities

Define Costs

[Obtain
Approval]

Change Control & Configuration Management

Quality Management

Risk Management

Human Resource Management

spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management

Formalizing the Project
Goals
• Defining the project goals (project scope) is
one of the first and most important activities
in a project
• The project scope:
– Ensures that the project includes all and only
the work necessary
– Establishes a baseline of the work to be
performed.
– Defines a reference document for project
acceptance.
• The definition of the project scope starts
during the feasibility study
• The project goals and the alignment of a project
spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management
 Project Scope
Document
• The project scope is fixed in the project
scope document, which contains:
– Project goals and requirements, which describe what
we intend to achieve with the project and the main
characteristics of the project and its outputs
– Assumptions and constraints, which describe the
conditions which have to be met for the project to
succeed
– Project outputs and control points, which describe
the outputs of the project, and in some cases, a
rough timing of their delivery

spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management

 Project Goals and
Requirements
• The project goals and requirements are the
basis to define:
– The baseline work to be performed (compare
Work Breakdown Structure and Change and
Configuration Management)
– The project acceptance criteria (compare Project
Closing and Quality Management)
• Strictly related to the software requirements
• Sometimes useful to include also what is
outside the scope of a project

spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management

 Project Objectives/Goals
Make the objectives SMART!
• Specific • Realistic
– Clear and concise Goals must be realistic.
– Unrealistic goals set
unrealistic expectation
• Measurable and make the team
– Easy to obtain measure
to understand whether apathetic.
the goal has been
• Time-bound
reached. Maybe a date or – Must have a begin and an
a number, or a formula end.
(but keep it simple!) If no end can be set, are
• Agreed-to you sure we are not
– Goals must be specific talking about
enough that the team can operational work?
agree on being able to
reach them

spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management

 Project
Objectives/Goals
Make the objectives ... russian
(MoSCoW)!
• M: Must Have • C: Could
– essential Have
– desirable
• S: Should
Have • W: Won’t
– important, Have
but we can – we will not
do without do them
(next
spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management
 Project
Objectives/Goals
• Try and make sure class M success criteria depend
on factors under your/or the project’s control
• Negative examples (M not under control of the
PM):
– The system will have 1,000 users in the first
month.
• (What tools does the PM have to ensure
achievement of this goal?)
– The data entry speed of users will
increase tenfold. (How can the PM
ensure the tenfold increase is actually
achieved?)
• ... Sometimes a matter of wording. The
consequences might be costly, nevertheless.
spm - ©2014 adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management
Assumption
s
• Assumptions are conditions which are
considered to be true, but might not in fact
be
• Assumptions are not under the control of the
project manager, but they might be under the
control of some project stakeholders
• When this is the case, assumptions can be
used to define duties and obligations of
project stakeholders
• Constraints are known limitations. They
explain why we set some goals and not
others and why we structure the work in
some
spmway rather
- ©2014 than another.
adolfo villafiorita - introduction to software project management
 Project Outputs (Milestones and
Deliverables)
• The project outputs define what a project will accomplish and
when
• Milestone: a significant event in the project
– Identify critical points in the project and in the schedule
– Often used at “review” or “delivery” times
– Can be tied to contractual terms, calendar constraints, deliverables

• Deliverable: a unique, measurable, and verifiable work

product
– Can be internal or external
– Can have different dissemination and formality levels
– In Gantt charts they often interconnect tasks (the output of task is a
… in current practice often ... both have
deliverable which is the input of a subsequent activity)
milestone and deliverable are zero duration in
used interchangeably (both used the plan
to identify products - milestones
may represent key-products)
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