Fostering Friendships - Enhancing Social Bonds in the Classroom
SDPM - Lecture 7 - Project monitoring and control
1. Leiden Insitute of Advanced Computer Science
System’s Development and Project
Management –
Project monitoring and control
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bäck
1
2. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science Dates
Feb. 1 14:45 – 17:30 Introduction, Project Description
Feb. 2 13:45 – 16:30 STEP WISE Approach to Project Planning
Feb. 9 13:10 – 15:45 STEP WISE Approach to Project Planning,
SAVE ENERGY Case
Feb. 15 14:45 – 17:30 Selecting an Appropriate Software Dev.
Approach
Feb. 16 15:15 – 18:00 Activity Planning and Resource Allocation
Feb. 22 14:45 – 17:30 Software Effort Estimation
Feb. 23 13:15 – 15:45 Risk management, project escalation
Mar. 1 14:45 – 17:00 Exam
Mar. 2 13:45 – 16:30 Risk Management, Project monitoring and
control
Mar. 8 14:45 – 17:30 Software Quality Assurance
Mar. 9 13:45 – 16:30 Managing People; Contract Management
Mar. 18 15:00 – 17:00 Trade Fair
3. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Project control - Motivation
! Project under way …
! Attention on ensuring progress
! Monitoring
! Comparison
! Revision of plans and schedules
3
4. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Project control - overview
! The project control life-cycle
! What’s going on? Collecting control
information
! Excuses, excuses… Reporting upwards
! Doing something about it. Corrective action.
! A continual process !
! Monitoring against plan
! Revising plan, if necessary
4
5. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Project control – Responsibility ?
! Overall: Project Steering Committee
! Day-to-day: Project Manager
Steering committee Client
Project manager
Team leader Team leader Team leader Team leader
Analysis/design Programming Quality control User documentation
section section section section
5
6. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
The project control life-cycle
real world
actions
define collect
objectives data
data
process data implement
information
make
modeling decisions decisions
6
7. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
The project control life-cycle
Start
Publish initial plan
Gather project information Publish revised plan
End
Compare progress - targets Take remedial action
Document conclusions
no
Satisfactory?
Review Project
yes
no
Completed ? End Project
yes 7
8. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
What needs controlling
! Technical integrity ! Project may be on time but
! What tasks have been only because more
completed resources have been used
than were originally
! Business integrity budgeted
! Costs of project must be ! Conversely, project may be
less than benefits late because planned
! Delays in implementation resources have not been
reduce benefits used
8
9. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
What needs controlling (cont’d)
! Quality
! A task has not really been finished unless the
product of that task is satisfactory
! Activity reported as finished could need to be re-
worked
! Testing is difficult to control: depends on an
unknown number of errors
9
10. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
The bug chain
Errors
Requirem.
gathering
More errors
Errors
Design Even more errors
Errors
Build
HELP!
Errors Test
10
11. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Data collection
! Partial completion reporting
! Common to enhance existing accounting data
collection systems (e.g. time sheets) to meet
needs of project control
! Asking for estimated completion time
11
12. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Time Sheets
Rechargeable Hours Name: Week ending: 30/03/05
Project Activity Description Hours % Scheduled Estimated
Code this week complete completion completion
P21 A243 Code mod A3 12 30 24/4/05 24/4/05
P34 B771 Document take-on 20 90 6/4/05 4/4/05
Total: 32
12
13. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Data collection
! Risk reporting – traffic light method
! Identify key elements for assessment
! Break into constituent elements
! Assess each second-level element
• Red / Amber / Green (Traffic light)
! Produce overall assessment
• All second-level assessment -> first-level assessment
• Review for overall estimate
13
14. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Risk Reporting: Red, amber, green
! Red not on plan:
recoverable only with
difficulty
! Amber not on plan:
recoverable
! Green on schedule
14
15. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Some problems with controlling projects
! 99% completion syndrome
! Job reported as ‘on time’ until last scheduled week
! Job reported as ‘99% complete’ for each
remaining week until task is completed
! Solution?
! Control on deliverables
15
16. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Further problem
! Scope creep
! Tendency for system to increase in size during
development
! Solution?
! Re-estimating
! Change control
16
17. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Progress checklist
! Tasks completed ! Risk analysis
! Staffing ! Can identify sensitive
factors that need
! Scope (more monitoring
requirements)
! External dependencies
! Cost of quality
! Finance
17
18. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Levels of control
! End-stage assessment
Project board
(event driven)
! Mid-stage assessment
Checkpoint reports
(time driven, e.g.
Project manager monthly)
(stage manager)
Checkpoint meetings
e.g. weekly
Project team
18
19. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Levels of control
Information Control
Decision-making
Reporting on actions
! As information goes to higher levels it becomes more
summarized
! General directives are filled in with operational details
as they filter down
! Danger of ‘information overload’
19
20. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Collecting project information
! Sources
! Checkpoint meetings
! Time sheets
! Machine generated statistics, e.g. connect time
! Internal documents, e.g. error reports
20
21. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Progress report
! Avoid ‘information overload’
! Focus on real problems - exceptions to
planned activity
! Some approaches
! Graphical representation
! Highlight problem cases, e.g. RAG (red/amber /
green) indicators
21
22. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Progress report (cont‘d)
! Achievements in reporting period
! Tasks that should have been finished
! Tasks that should have been started
! Costs - actual costs compare to budgeted
! Staffing - joiners, leavers, sickness, etc.
! Risk monitoring - status of identified risks
! Outlook
! How things are likely to progress in next period
22
23. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Earned value analysis (EVA)
1. Identify ‘modules’
! Good if users can recognize these
2. Identify ‘checkpoints’
! When a phase finishes - should be
specific and measurable
3. Identify percentage durations, e.g.
! Design 30% , code 25%, test 45%
4. Estimate size/effort for each module
5. When phase is completed for a module
! That percentage of the project has been ‘earned’
23
24. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Earned value:
! 0/100 technique: EV = 0% until task
completed, then EV = 100%.
! 50/50 technique: EV = 50% as soon as task is
started. 100% when completed.
! Milestone technique: Based on achievement
of milestones with assigned values.
24
25. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Earned value analysis - example
Module Est. Est. Design Code Test
ID hours hours 30% 25% 45%
(total) (total)
Hours % Hours % Done Hours % Done Hours % Done
A 100 47.6 30 14% y 25 12% y 45 21% n
B 50 23.8 15 7% y 12.5 6% y 22.5 11% y
C 60 28.6 18 9% y 15 7% n 27 13% n
Total 210 100 30% 18% 11%
% Total 59%
% of total (210)
25
26. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Accumulative chart
120
100
80
%
C omplete
Planned
60
Actual
40
20
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Week
n umber
26
27. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
EVA indicators - cost
! BCWP Budgeted cost of work performed
! = earned value EV
! = The planned (not actual) cost to complete the
work that has been done.
! ACWP Actual cost of work performed, i.e.
what it actually costs to get BCWP
! = actual cost AC
! = Cost incurred to accomplish the work that has
been done to date.
! Cost variance BCWP – ACWP = EV – AC
27
28. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
EVA indicators - schedule performance
! BCWS Budgeted cost of work scheduled:
! BCWP that would be achieved if all work had been
finished on time
! BCWS = Planned Value PV
! = Planned cost of the total amount of work
scheduled to be performed by the milestone date.
! Budget variance ACWP – BCWS = AC-PV
! Schedule variance BCWP – BCWS = EV-PV
28
29. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
EVA performance indices
! Cost performance indicator (CPI = EV/AC)
! BCWP/ACWP
! Schedule performance indicator (SPI = EV/PV)
! BCWP/BCWS
! CPI=1 – right on track
! CPI>1 – ahead of plan; cost less than budget.
! CPI<1 – falling behind.
! Value for money indices
29
30. Leiden Institute of Advanced Less work was
Computer Science
performed than … the actual cost
scheduled for it was higher
than budgeted!
Accumulative chart
Now Baseline budget PV
Cumulative Cost %
Planned Value, BCWS
ACWP, Actual Cost to date (AC)
Budget variance AC-PV
Cost variance EV – AC (< 0)
Schedule variance EV-PV
Earned Value EV,
BCWP
Time
CPI = BCWP/ACWP < 1 à NOT Good! Schedule variance (time)
SPI = BCWP/BCWS < 1 à NOT Good!
30
31. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Graphical representation
! Gantt charts
! Activity bar chart indicating scheduled activity dates and
duration (and floats)
! Shading (for schedule completion) and today ‘cursor‘
! Slip charts
! Gantt chart plus slip line (bending = bad)
! Ball charts
! Circles indicate estimated and actual start and completion
points for activities
! Green and red shading
! Timeline charts
! Recording and displaying changed targets
! Slipping more clearly visualized!
31
32. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Graphical representation (cont’d)
SA
SD1
SD2
CDR1
CDR2
‘Slip-chart’ red-line indicates position as of today
A very uneven line suggests need for rescheduling
32
33. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Monitoring priorities
! Critical path activities
! Activities with no free float
! Activities with less than a specified float
! High-risk activities
! Activities using critical resources
33
34. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Corrective action
! Tolerance
! Acceptable margins of overshoot may be specified
in plan
! Contingency
! This is not owned by the activity but by the project:
give and take between activities
! Exception plans
! Drawn up when the original plan needs major
change: especially change to scope or costs
! Requires project board authority
34
35. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Some possible actions to recover project
! Re-schedule, e.g. precedence requirements
! Make more resources available
! Redefine scope
! Modify quality requirements
! Enhance productivity, e.g. through training,
tools
35
36. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Change control – Task changes !
! Identification of all items that are subject to
change control
! Central repository of master copies, project
documentation, and software products
! Formal set of procedures to deal with change
! Maintenance of access rights and library item
status
36
37. Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Change control – Example
! Users perceive need for system modification
! User management considers change request, approves, passes
to development mgmt.
! Dev. Mgmt. delegates staff member to look at request, report
practicality and cost.
! Dev. Mgmt. reports back to user mgmt.
! User mgmt. decides whether they want to go ahead.
! Developers are authorized to go ahead.
! Code is modified.
! User mgmt. is notified on completion, software is released for
user acceptance testing.
! Operational release when users are satisfied.
37