Software Project Management For Dummies

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ISBN: 9780471749349 | 0471749346
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 10/9/2006

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The increase in project outsourcing has forced traditional programmers to take on the role of project managers and quickly learn how to manage software projects The author discusses all of the essentials in widely accepted project management methodology, from managing programmers to assessing and eliminating risk The book covers the iterative development model, using Microsoft Project 2003, as well as a variety of methodologies including eXtreme, open source, SQA testing, software life cycle management, and more The companion Web site contains tools, case studies and other resources to help even novices get up and running

Teresa Luckey was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the eighth of twelve children. She earned the degree of Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern Indiana, with a major in Education. She earned her teaching endorsements in Computer Education and Mathematics from the University of Indianapolis and thoroughly enjoyed teaching (and learning from) junior high students for several years. After deciding to expand her horizons beyond the teaching profession, she pursued her interests in information systems and project management while working at hospitals in Indianapolis, and then moved on to a consulting firm, where she now works as a manager implementing healthcare systems. Teresa earned her Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana Wesleyan University, where she served as co-class president with her husband, David. She is just shy of completing her Master of Science in New Media at Indiana University School of Informatics. One of these days—soon—she hopes to finish that degree so that she can maintain her reputation as a life-long learner.
Teresa earned her Project Management Professional Certification through the Project Management Institute in 2001 and continues to maintain her certification. She enjoys contributing to the field of project management, particularly with regard to healthcare software.

Joseph Phillips, PMP, Project+, is the Director of Education for Project Seminars. He has managed and consulted on projects for various industries, including technical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and architectural, among others.
Phillips has served as a project management consultant for organizations creating project offices, maturity models, and best-practice standardization.
As a leader in adult education, Phillips has taught organizations how to successfully implement project management methodologies, information technology project management, risk management, and other courses.
Phillips has taught courses at Columbia College, University of Chicago, Indiana University, and others. He is a Certified Technical Trainer and has taught over 10,000 professionals. Phillips has contributed as an author or editor to more than 30 books on technology, careers, and project management.
Phillips is a member of the Project Management Institute and is active in local project management chapters. He has spoken on project management, project management certifications, and project methodologies at numerous trade shows, PMI chapter meetings, and employee conferences. When not writing, teaching, or consulting, Phillips can be found behind a camera or on the working end of a fly rod. You can contact Phillips through www.projectseminars.com.

Introduction

(1)

About This Book

(1)

Who Should Read This Book?

(1)

How This Book Is Organized

(2)

Part I: Starting Your Software Project

(1)

Part II: Planning Your Software Project

(1)

Part III: Executing Your Software Project Plan

(1)

Part IV: Controlling Your Software Project

(1)

Part V: Closing Your Software Project

(1)

Part VI: The Part of Tens

(1)

Appendix

(1)

Icons Used in This Book

(1)

Where to Go from Here

(1)

Part I: Starting Your Software Project

(70)

Examining the Big Picture of Project Management

(16)

Defining Software Projects

(1)

Defining Software Project Management

(2)

Comparing Projects and Operations

(1)

Examining Project Constraints

(1)

Understanding Universal Constraints (Time, Cost, and Scope)

(4)

Managing time constraints

(1)

Managing cost constraints

(1)

Managing the scope

(1)

Controlling Scope Creep

(1)

Making Sense of Project Success (Or Failure)

(1)

Starting and Finishing Software Projects

(1)

Understanding What Makes Software Project Management So Special

(5)

Breaking Moore's Law

(1)

Dealing with Moore

(2)

Dealing with the first-time, first-use penalty

(2)

Initiating a Software Project

(30)

Identifying the Project Purpose

(6)

Talking to the stakeholders

(4)

Reaching project consensus

(1)

Dealing with Politics

(1)

Moving from Here to There

(7)

Initiating the project

(2)

Planning the project

(1)

Examining project planning approaches

(1)

Executing the project

(1)

Controlling the project

(1)

Closing the project

(1)

Living with Stakeholders

(3)

Loving your project team

(1)

Loving your project sponsor

(1)

Balancing stakeholder expectations

(2)

Completing a Project Feasibility Study

(2)

What feasibility studies do (and don't do)

(1)

Finding a feasibility consultant

(1)

Understanding How Executives Select Projects

(5)

Using the benefit comparison selection model

(1)

Using a scoring model

(1)

Facing a murder board

(1)

Finding a project's ROI

(3)

Writing the Product Description

(2)

Making Your Project Wish List

(3)

Finding the ideal tools

(1)

Building a dream team

(1)

Finding a preferred vendor

(1)

Recognizing Doomed Projects

(1)

Creating the Software Scope

(22)

Understanding Product Scope and Project Scope

(2)

Completing stakeholder analysis

(1)

Interviewing stakeholders now to avoid surprises later

(1)

Managing Stakeholder Objectives

(3)

Knowing the sources of common conflicts

(2)

Resolving common conflicts

(1)

Building the Software Scope

(6)

Dealing with regulations and options

(2)

Dealing with project constraints

(2)

Getting to the signature

(1)

Creating the Project Scope

(3)

Knowing what the project scope statement must include

(2)

What a project scope doesn't include

(1)

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure

(7)

Creating your very own WBS

(2)

Making updates to the WBS

(1)

Using a code of accounts

(4)

Part II: Planning Your Software Project

(132)

Planning for Communications

(28)

The Importance of Communicating Effectively

(3)

Ensuring accurate communication

(2)

How not to communicate

(1)

Care and Feeding of Nerds

(2)

Avoiding Communication Breakdowns

(3)

Facing the risks of communication meltdowns

(2)

Managing communications across the enterprise

(1)

Calculating the Communication Channels

(3)

Building an Effective Communication Management Plan

(5)

Knowing the six things every communication plan needs

(2)

The communication responsibility matrix: Determining who communicates to whom

(1)

Setting up ten-minute meetings

(2)

Defining Who Needs What Information

(4)

What executives want to hear

(1)

What functional managers need to hear

(1)

What your project team needs to hear

(1)

What you need to hear

(1)

Defining When Communication Is Needed

100

(4)

Creating a communication schedule

100

(2)

Hosting team and stakeholder meetings

102

(2)

Defining Communication Modalities

104

(3)

Modalities for formal communication

104

(1)

Modalities for informal communication

105

(1)

Automating communications

105

(2)

Planning for Software Project Risks

107

(24)

Identifying Pure and Business Risks

108

(3)

Dealing with pure risks in software projects

109

(1)

Assessing business risks

109

(1)

Accepting everyday technology risks with your software project

110

(1)

Determining Stakeholder Risk Tolerance

111

(1)

Mitigating Risks Early On

112

(1)

Managing Risks in Your Organization

113

(3)

Identifying risks

113

(1)

Ranking risks

114

(2)

Relying on Quantitative Analysis

116

(1)

Creating a Contingency Reserve

117

(1)

Using Software Models for Risk Management

118

(8)

Using the waterfall model

119

(2)

Using the spiral model

121

(2)

Using the V model

123

(1)

Using the scrum development model

124

(2)

Preparing a Risk Response Plan

126

(3)

Avoiding risks

127

(1)

Transferring risks

128

(1)

Mitigating risks

128

(1)

Accepting the risks

129

(1)

Examining Risk Responses and Impacts

129

(2)

Handling the ripple effect of risk response

130

(1)

Getting to say, ``I told you so!''

130

(1)

Planning for Software Quality

131

(16)

Defining Quality

131

(5)

Referring to the product scope

132

(1)

Referring to the project scope

133

(1)

Avoiding gold-plated software

134

(1)

Examining quality versus grade

135

(1)

Working with a Quality Policy

136

(6)

Working ISO programs

137

(1)

Getting a Total Quality Management workout

137

(3)

Slipping into the sixth Sigma

140

(2)

Using homegrown, in-house quality solutions

142

(1)

Balancing Time, Cost, and Quality

142

(5)

Examining optimal quality

143

(1)

Considering quality when making changes

144

(3)

Building the Project Team

147

(18)

Determining Your Project Needs

148

(4)

Revisiting the work breakdown structure

148

(1)

Creating a roles and responsibilities matrix

148

(4)

Finding the Talent

152

(1)

Asking the Right Questions (In the Right Way)

152

(4)

Asking questions that facilitate resource management

153

(1)

Asking questions that facilitate leadership potential

154

(1)

Finding a star

155

(1)

Working with organizational structures

155

(1)

Determining Who Is Really in Charge

156

(5)

Functioning in a functional organization

157

(1)

Mixing it up in a matrix

158

(1)

Prospering in the projectized structure

159

(2)

Cooling in a composite structure

161

(1)

Hosting Your First Project Team Meeting

161

(1)

Working with Organizational Policies

162

(3)

Creating Project Time Estimates

165

(26)

Organizing Information Before You Build a Timeline

166

(1)

Understanding the Importance of a Project Network Diagram

166

(2)

Preparing to Create Your PND

168

(4)

Determining What May Happen---and When

168

(2)

Factoring in external dependencies

170

(1)

Putting together all the pieces

170

(1)

Relying on network templates

171

(1)

Identifying subnets and fragnets

172

(1)

Using Historical Information to Complete Inexact Activity Time Estimates

172

(1)

Identifying Activity Duration Influencers

173

(3)

Documenting project assumptions

173

(1)

Documenting project constraints

173

(1)

Considering the project risks

174

(1)

Considering resource requirements and capabilities

175

(1)

Anticipating the first-time, first-use penalty

176

(1)

Making the Project Duration Estimate

176

(2)

Creating a rough order of magnitude estimate

177

(1)

Creating an analogous estimate

177

(1)

Creating a parametric estimate

178

(1)

Estimating Do's and Don'ts

178

(1)

Using PERT for the Most Accurate Estimates

179

(1)

Knowing What to Say if the Boss Wants an Estimate Now

180

(1)

Understanding the Way PND Paths Interact

181

(4)

Calculating the critical path

181

(1)

Calculating float

182

(2)

Applying float to the project

184

(1)

Creating the Project Schedule

185

(6)

Working with the project calendar

185

(1)

Working with a resource calendar

186

(1)

Using resource-leveling heuristics

187

(1)

Crashing and fast tracking your project

188

(3)

Building Your Project Budget

191

(18)

Creating Cost Estimates

191

(4)

Using the right resources (and using them wisely)

192

(1)

Creating a rough estimate

193

(1)

Creating a budget estimate

194

(1)

Creating a definitive estimate

194

(1)

Creating an Accurate Estimate

195

(2)

Considering Project Profitability

197

(1)

Planning for Contingencies

198

(1)

Controlling Project Costs

199

(3)

Understanding accounting blue dollars

199

(1)

Understanding work-for-hire accounting

199

(1)

Following simple strategies to manage project expenses

200

(2)

Having More Project than Cash

202

(5)

Completing root cause analysis

203

(2)

Reducing the project scope

205

(1)

Begging for cash

206

(1)

Recognizing Budgetary Problems Before You Get to the Root Cause Analysis Stage

207

(1)

Dealing with a Budget Problem that Your Bosses Know about (But Haven't Addressed)

208

(1)

Part III: Executing Your Software Project Plan

209

(54)

Working the Project Plan

211

(18)

Authorizing the Project Work

211

(2)

Creating a work authorization System

212

(1)

Using a project management information system

212

(1)

Ensuring Quality in Execution

213

(3)

Understanding the Interoperability of the Quality Management Plan

216

(1)

Follwing Quality Assurance

217

(1)

Following the Quality Policy

218

(1)

Managing Software Project Risks

219

(5)

Gathering the ingredients for a solid risk management plan

220

(1)

Examining typical risks

221

(1)

Getting a plan together

221

(1)

Gathering information to identify real risks

222

(2)

Monitoring and Controlling Risks

224

(1)

Managing Secondary and Residual Risks

225

(1)

Documenting Risk Management Effectiveness

226

(3)

Working with Project People

229

(16)

Examining the Phases of Team Development

229

(4)

Understanding the life cycle of a typical project team

230

(2)

Making a team out of a group of people

232

(1)

Training the project team

232

(1)

Doing Some Fun Team-Building Exercises

233

(1)

Managing Project Conflicts

234

(4)

Dealing with stakeholders

235

(1)

Dealing with project team members

236

(1)

Documenting project conflicts and resolutions

237

(1)

Using Your Super Magic Project Manager Powers

238

(5)

Forcing a decision

238

(1)

Relying on expert power

239

(1)

Using coercive power

240

(2)

Rewarding the project team

242

(1)

You and Your Positional Power

243

(2)

Procuring Goods and Services

245

(18)

Finding a Vendor

246

(4)

Using RFIs to solicit vendors

247

(1)

Hosting a bidders' conference

248

(1)

A day in the life of a bidders conference

248

(1)

Setting up criteria for RFPs

249

(1)

Selecting the Vendor

250

(3)

Considering market conditions

250

(1)

Using a screening system

251

(1)

Using the help of others

251

(1)

Implementing a weighting system

252

(1)

Negotiating for the Best Solution

253

(2)

Starting with price

253

(1)

Considering time, cost, and quality issues

254

(1)

Administering Contracts

255

(5)

Selecting the contract type

256

(1)

Writing the terms and conditions

256

(2)

Creating the statement of work

258

(1)

Solving problems and compromising

259

(1)

Closing the Vendor Contract

260

(3)

Auditing the goods and services

261

(1)

Signing off for the procured goods and services

261

(2)

Part IV: Controlling Your Software Project

263

(50)

Managing Changes to the Software Project

265

(16)

Introducing the Controlling Process Group

266

(1)

Controlling the Project Scope

266

(6)

Examining the project scope

267

(2)

Creating and following a change control system

269

(2)

Determining the value of the proposed change

271

(1)

Correcting mistakes

271

(1)

Controlling Project Costs

272

(3)

Managing project cost variances

273

(1)

Estimating the cost of change

274

(1)

Forecasting variance

274

(1)

Controlling the Project Schedule

275

(6)

Managing project time variances

275

(2)

Estimating impact of change on the project schedule

277

(1)

Forecasting schedule variances

278

(3)

Using Earned Value Management in Software Projects

281

(14)

Defining Earned Value Management

281

(3)

Understanding what earned value is (and isn't)

282

(1)

Discovering the other pieces of the EV formula

282

(1)

Determining a project's worth

283

(1)

Discovering the Earned Value Management Formulas

284

(2)

Playing with Values

286

(9)

Calculating your PV

286

(1)

Calculating earned value

287

(1)

Calculating your AC

287

(1)

Creating a new EAC

288

(1)

Determining the estimate to complete the project

289

(1)

Uh-oh! What's your variance?

289

(3)

Finding your cost and schedule performance indexes

292

(3)

Tracking Project Performance

295

(18)

Planning Project Metrics

296

(2)

Establishing project goals

296

(1)

Planning for project metrics

297

(1)

Determining realistic project milestones

298

(1)

Implementing a Tracking Plan

298

(4)

Using project baselines

299

(1)

Stressing accuracy in reporting

300

(2)

Using a Project Management Information System

302

(1)

Tracking Project Performance

302

(6)

Using earned value management

303

(1)

Creating Pareto charts

303

(3)

Creating control charts

306

(2)

Communicating Project Performance

308

(5)

Relying on the communication management plan

308

(1)

Automating project communications

309

(1)

Hosting status meetings

310

(1)

Sharing good and bad news

311

(2)

Part V: Closing Your Software Project

313

(34)

Finalizing the Project Management Processes

315

(18)

Closing the Software Project

315

(4)

Completing quality control

317

(1)

Completing scope verification

318

(1)

Closing Out Vendor Contracts

319

(3)

Auditing vendors' work and deliverables

320

(2)

Paying the bills

322

(1)

Completing the Project (Or at Least Transferring It to Someone Else)

322

(6)

Celebrating!

324

(1)

Releasing project team members from the project team

325

(3)

Case Study: Completing a Project Post Mortem

328

(5)

Documenting Your Software Project

333

(14)

Using Teamwork When Writing Documentation

334

(1)

Completing the Lessons Learned Documentation

335

(3)

Getting your historical information together at the beginning of a project

336

(1)

Creating a lessons learned spreadsheet at the beginning of the project

336

(2)

Organizing Your Lessons Learned Document

338

(4)

Organizing the summary of your document

338

(1)

Organizing the meat of the document

339

(1)

Organizing your references, contributors, and resources

339

(1)

Documenting the project's successes

340

(1)

Documenting the project's failures

340

(1)

Documenting the better approach

341

(1)

Offering advice for future project managers

341

(1)

Creating the User Manual and Help System

342

(5)

Using the project scope as a reference

343

(1)

Establishing operational transfer

343

(3)

Avoiding helpless help systems

346

(1)

Part VI: The Part of Tens

347

(22)

Ten Ways to Make Your Software Project Crash and Burn

349

(10)

Failing to Plan

349

(1)

Ignoring Risk Management

350

(1)

Letting Your Ego Lead the Project

351

(1)

Letting Your Iron Triangle Melt

352

(1)

Hiding from the Project Team

353

(1)

Hovering over the Project Team

353

(1)

Creating Unrealistic Schedules

354

(1)

Consistently Being Inconsistent

355

(1)

Doing Nothing

356

(1)

Being a Wimp

357

(2)

Ten Ways to Make Any Software Project Better

359

(10)

Asking the Right Questions

359

(1)

Being a Good Communicator

360

(1)

Showing Your Leadership Skills

361

(1)

Creating the Right Project Plan

361

(1)

Finding the Correct Sponsor

362

(1)

Recognizing Failure Before It Arrives

363

(1)

Planning, Planning, and a Little More Planning

364

(1)

Documenting Your Project Even if You Don't Want To

365

(1)

Hosting a Successful Project Meeting

365

(2)

Establishing Project Rules Before the Project Begins

367

(1)

Communicating Good and Bad News

367

(2)

Appendix: Formal Project Management Training and Certification

369

(6)

Getting Up Close and Personal with the Project Management Institute

369

(1)

Finding Out Whether the Project Management Professional Certification Is for You

370

(3)

Understanding what a PMP certification says to others

371

(1)

Understanding what the PMP certification gets you

371

(1)

Getting started

372

(1)

What Is the CAPM Certification?

373

(1)

Deciding between the PMP and the CAPM

374

(1)

Index

375

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Software Project Management For Dummies

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials