Better Software - November 2008 - (Page 36)

Step 1: Define Step 2: Plan Determine the boundaries of the effort (scope, schedule, resources). Determine the work (scope) required to complete the project, figure out when it will happen (schedule), decide who will do it and what it will cost (resources), and compare this to the definition from step 1. • If the solution from step 2 fits within the boundaries from step 1, proceed to step 3. • If the solution from step 2 doesn’t fit, tinker with the solution or your problem definition to see if you can make it fit (this is called optimization and renegotiation of the definition). If they fit, go on to step 3, else stop (project is not feasible). Do some increment of the defined work and monitor your progress: • Scope—Did you do what you thought you were going to do? • Schedule—Did it happen when you thought it would happen? • Resources—Did it cost what you thought it would cost (people, money, etc.)? Compare the results to your plans and adjust from there. • If your plans seem consistent with reality to date, do more work and continue monitoring your progress. • If your plans are wrong, rework your plans (go back to step 2) or try to adjust your approach to get back on track. • If the project is over, celebrate. Step 3: Do work and monitor the effort Table 1 Pop Quiz: Identify three project dimensions that should be represented in any project definition, project plan, or project status report: A. Rock, paper, scissors B. Larry, Moe, Curly C. Sun, moon, stars D. Scope, schedule, resources E. I like pie The correct answer is D (even if you do like pie). Scope, Schedule, and Resources: How Hard Can That Be? Describing status in terms of scope, schedule, and resources sounds straightforward, but it can be challenging to determine our status and to explain it to others. In the future, when our presenta- tion systems do a better job of projecting three-dimensional animated images, this task may be easier. But here in the early twenty-first century, we often make do with independent discussions of scope, schedule, and resources and struggle to represent the interrelationships among these factors. For example, I recently attended a project meeting in which the project manager presented status suggesting his project was spending significantly less than expected to date but was running two months behind schedule. The busy executives at the meeting considered this briefly and inferred that the project was being schedule delayed but was going to finish under budget. That was one way to interpret the data, but that interpretation missed the connection between schedule and resources. Project start had been delayed, so the resources that had been budgeted for the first months of the project were not expended. The project had anticipated needing sixty person-months of effort in the first six months. Because of the delayed start, only forty person-months had been consumed, but that was because some of work scheduled for the first six months had not yet been performed. The cost estimate to complete the project had not changed; the project just hadn’t spent as much to date as expected. The challenge is to accurately reflect project status while representing the interrelationships among scope, schedule, and resources. If you think of plans as maps that describe the route to the project objectives, project performance can be described as consistency with Total Estimates Table 2 August $52,000 September $45,000 October $48,000 November $55,000 $200,000 36 BETTER SOFTWARE NOVEMBER 2008 www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - November 2008

Better Software - November 2008 Contents Mark Your Calendar Contributors eLightenment Technically Speaking Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles Getting Agile with User-Centered Design Google Web Toolkit Simple Summaries of Complex Projects Product Announcements 10 Things You Might Not Know About … The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - November 2008

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