Catastrophe Disentanglement Getting Software

Identify a project headed for catastrophe and get it back under control.

E. M. Bennatan’s extensive hands-on management experience stems from many years as senior director at Motorola, Inc., developing large software systems and leading multinational design centers. He has also been vice president of engineering at Midway Corporation, where he managed several hundred software and hardware engineers. A frequent lecturer and speaker on software project management, he is author of On Time Within Budget: Software Project Management, Practices and Techniques, Third Edition (Wiley, 2000). Mr. Bennatan is currently president of Advanced Project Solutions, Inc. (www.AdvancedPS.com) and senior consultant for the Boston Cutter Consortium.

Preface

xi

An Introduction to Catastrophe Disentanglement

1

(14)

Overview of the Catastrophe Disentanglement Process

3

(5)

A Case Study

4

(1)

Deciding to Rescue a Project

5

(1)

The Disentanglement Process

6

(2)

A Closer Look at the Data

8

(2)

Tips Before You Proceed

10

(3)

Summary

13

(2)

When is a Project a Catastrophe?

15

(28)

Schedule

18

(8)

Setting a Schedule Alarm

19

(3)

Fine-tuning the Schedule Alarm

22

(1)

Monitoring an Extended Schedule

23

(3)

Budget

26

(5)

Setting a Budget Alarm

27

(3)

Additional Budget Alarm Consideration

30

(1)

Software Quality

31

(5)

The Problem List Alarm

32

(3)

The Customer Satisfaction Alarm

35

(1)

Keeping a Practical Perspective

36

(1)

Summary

37

(6)

Exercises

39

(4)

Step 1---Stop

43

(14)

Stopping the Project

44

(4)

Why Stop the Project?

45

(1)

Who Initiates the Project Halt?

45

(1)

The Project Halt Procedure

46

(2)

Preparing for the Next Step

48

(1)

Development Team Activities

49

(2)

Dealing with Opposition

51

(1)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do About It)

52

(2)

Summary

54

(3)

Exercises

56

(1)

Step 2---Assign an Evaluator

57

(16)

Whom Should You Choose---Qualities of an Effective Evaluator

59

(2)

Initial Briefing

61

(5)

Topics to Be Covered

61

(2)

The Basic Commitment

63

(1)

Commitments from the Evaluator

64

(2)

Large Software Projects

66

(1)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do About It)

67

(3)

Summary

70

(3)

Exercises

71

(2)

Step 3---Evaluate the Project

73

(22)

The Evaluation Review

75

(5)

An Overview of Software Project Reviews

76

(2)

Reviewing Failing Projects

78

(2)

Sources of Project Status Information

80

(3)

Verbal Status Information

81

(1)

Operational Status Information

82

(1)

Documented Information

83

(1)

Evaluating Large Software Projects

83

(4)

How Are Large Projects Different?

83

(2)

The Evaluation Team

85

(1)

Guidelines for Evaluating Large Projects

85

(2)

Fitting the Pieces Together

87

(2)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do About It)

89

(2)

Summary

91

(4)

Exercises

93

(2)

Step 4---Evaluate the Team

95

(18)

General Guidelines

98

(2)

Reviewing the Team Unit

100

(3)

Reviewing Project Management

103

(2)

Reviewing Individual Team Members

105

(1)

Consolidate Your Findings

106

(2)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do About it)

108

(1)

Summary

109

(4)

Exercises

111

(2)

Step 5---Define Minimum Goals

113

(20)

Project Goals and the Disentanglement Process

115

(4)

Sorting out Goals, Objectives, Requirements, and Deliverables

115

(2)

Who Sets the Project Goals?

117

(1)

Goal Monitors Make Good Allies

118

(1)

Guidelines for Minimizing Goals

119

(6)

The Goal Reduction Process

120

(1)

Goal Reduction---A Case Study

121

(2)

Dealing with Opposition

123

(2)

Minimum Goals for Large Projects

125

(1)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do About it)

126

(4)

Summary

130

(3)

Exercises

132

(1)

Step 6---Can Minimum Goals Be Achieved?

133

(14)

Achievable Goals

134

(5)

A Feasibility Process

135

(1)

Achievable Goals for a Disentangled Project

136

(3)

If the Goals Are Not Achievable

139

(1)

The Midway Report

139

(2)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do about it)

141

(2)

Summary

143

(4)

Exercises

145

(2)

Step 7---Rebuild The Team

147

(22)

Review the Team Evaluation

149

(2)

Identify Problems

151

(3)

Rebuild the Team

154

(6)

Dealing with Change

154

(1)

Implementing Changes

155

(3)

Dealing with Opposition

158

(2)

Rebuilding Large Project Teams

160

(2)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do about it)

162

(3)

Summary

165

(4)

Exercises

166

(3)

Step 8---Risk Analysis

169

(20)

Risk Analysis Overview

171

(2)

The Risk Analysis Process

173

(7)

Anticipating Problems

174

(1)

The Analysis Stage

175

(3)

Implementing Risk Action Plans

178

(2)

Risk Analysis: An Exampl

180

(2)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do about it)

182

(3)

Summary

185

(4)

Exercises

187

(2)

Step 9---Revise the Plan

189

(20)

Software Planning Overview

191

(5)

Software Project Planning Concepts

191

(1)

The Software Project Development Plan

192

(3)

Tools for Project Planning

195

(1)

Planning a Disentangled Project

196

(7)

Guidelines for Producing a Disentangled Project Plan

197

(3)

Additional Considerations

200

(3)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do about it)

203

(3)

Summary

206

(3)

Exercises

207

(2)

Step 10---Create an Early Warning System

209

(24)

The Elements of an Early Warning System

212

(3)

Development Data Collection

215

(6)

The Role of Project Development Data

216

(3)

Data Collection in a Disentangled Project

219

(2)

Periodic Project Status Reviews

221

(3)

The Project Alarm Trigger

224

(2)

Initiating Corrective Action

226

(1)

Follow-Up Procedure

226

(2)

What Can Go Wrong (and What to Do About it)

228

(2)

Summary

230

(3)

Exercises

231

(2)

Epilogue: Putting the Final Pieces in Place

233

(12)

Post-Project Reviews

234

(3)

The Human Factor

237

(1)

The Catastrophe Disentanglement Timeline

238

(2)

The Final Report

240

(1)

Case Study

241

(1)

A Concluding Note

242

(3)

REFERENCES

245

(10)

Chapter 1

245

(1)

Chapter 2

246

(1)

Chapter 3

247

(1)

Chapter 4

247

(1)

Chapter 5

247

(1)

Chapter 6

248

(1)

Chapter 7

249

(1)

Chapter 8

249

(1)

Chapter 9

250

(1)

Chapter 10

250

(1)

Chapter 11

251

(1)

Chapter 12

252

(1)

Chapter 13

253

(2)

Glossary

255

(2)

About the Author

257

(2)

Index

259

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Catastrophe Disentanglement Getting Software Projects Back on Track

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials