don f. erwin buffalo state college buffalo, new york, usa part 3 – communication, leadership, it...
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DON F. ERWINBUFFALO STATE COLLEGEBUFFALO, NEW YORK, USA
PART 3 – COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP, IT GOVERNANCE
Software Project Management
Survey
What are the top 5 issues you need to solve on your software project?
1. The difficulties in estimations (budget, schedule, etc.)2. Wrong assumptions3. Customer changing mind4. How to manage client expectations5. Not enough qualified resources
Overview
Project Management BasicsProject Management on Software ProjectsManaging Stakeholders’ ExpectationsRisk ManagementProject CommunicationLeadership in Software Project ManagementIT GovernanceOther???
We Plan to Cover:
Tailoring the Approach
1. Analyze Situation
2. Develop Approach
• Stakeholder Analysis• Risk Assessment
• Strategy• Organization• Feedback
(De Baar)
Where were we?
Project Communication
Develop a Communication Plan•Based on Stakeholder Analysis and Risk Assessment•Define who needs to be informed•What?•When?•Who does the actual communicating?•Product – DevelopersBut the PM assures the communication is taking place•Process - PM
(De Baar)
Sample Communication Schedule
Author Communication Purpose Audience CommunicationVehicle/Location
Frequency
State Project Manager
Executive Status Report
To keep the executives informed on the project's progress.
Executive Sponsor
Status Report, Presentation, or Bulleted Handout
Monthly
SunGard HE Project Manager
Project Status Report
To keep project manager informed of the team's progress on the project.
State Project Manager,SunGard HE Project Manager.
Status report template Monthly
Implementation Team, SunGard Higher Education Project Manager, Project Manager
Project Meetings To keep the PM informed of decisions, issues and open items discussed during project meeting
State PM, SunGard HE PM and Team Leads as appropriate
Meeting minutes template Weekly
SunGard HE Functional and Technical consultants
Trip Reports To keep PM informed of accomplishments, open items and issues of consultant visits
Buffalo State PM, SunGard Higher Education PM and Team Leads as appropriate
Trip report template, Within 1 week after each visit
Requirements
How to get requirements from users’ heads into the final product?•Requirements development is very difficult•Remember the 1:10:100 rule•Challenges• Basic human communication issues • Processes will change with the new system
•Not a Project Management task, but assuring its quality is
(De Baar)
The Flow of Stakes
Stakeholders
Expectations
ProjectManageme
nt
Requirements
Feedback
Interests
havecommunicate
recorded by
negotiated to
communicated
changes
(De Baar)
Gathering Quality Requirements
Expect requirements to change over time •Stakeholders Change Mind•Project Team Interprets Requirements Differently Than Intended by Stakeholder•“Forgotten” Requirements Pop Up•Changes in the Project Surroundings Affect Project
So…•Be aware of that fact and prepare for it•Feedback will identify changes required•Even the “I’ll Know It When I See It (IKIWISI)” method needs a first cut (De Baar)
Getting the Best Possible Requirements
Just ask…
Workshop / Interview•Tailor to the project and the stakeholders’ interests•Educate the stakeholders on how their part fits into the big picture•Satisfy everyone?•Probably not• Some have no interest in project success, but
don’t let them disturb the process.
(De Baar)
Prepare for Requirements Gathering
Checklist (Not an agenda…)•General Information (title, place, and time)•Purpose•Scope•Subjects•Controversy•Strategy•Result•Participants•Roles•Tools•Feedback/Follow-up•Agenda (De Baar)
Conduct the Workshop
Getting Information•Ask•Be stupid•Ask what you already know/be incorrect•Repeat•Ask how and why five times•Don’t forget assumed requirements (uptime, performance, modern UI)
(De Baar)
Conduct the Workshop
Formulate the Requirements
•Can’t satisfy everyone, but try to reach consensus by the end of the workshop.•Associate people’s names with requirements (ownership/responsibility)•Group related requirements together•Get participant approval•Establish priorities among requirements•Document process issues that come up separately from product issues
(De Baar)
Document the Requirements
Finite Requirements or User StoriesFormal or InformalStructured or Free Format
Can be easier, but takes more time to get it right
Better if more iterations are planned
(De Baar)
Communication Types
Open• Encourage word-of-mouth• Discover what is NOT known
Inclusive• “Always an open seat at the table”• Networked relationships
Win / Win• Organization/Industry growth
Conspiracy
Guarded• “Loose lips sink ships”• Keep what is known
secret
Exclusive• Meet “behind closed
doors”• Good old boys club
Win/Lose• Individual growth
Collaboration
Defined as
Transparency
Result
(De Baar)
Win-Win Communication
Win-Win Approach:•Men get their towels•Lady gets her quiet
Problem:Heavy-handed use of towel dispenser distracting to lady on other side of wall
Process Requirements
Cost•What are the drivers behind the stated cost constraints?•Fixed cost: be sure you know what you want•Time & Materials: be sure you can end the project Time•Man-months are for cost estimating, not time estimating•Have those doing the work give the estimate (for ownership)Scope •Change control process
(De Baar)
Process Requirements
Selling your Approach•Plan as best you can•Estimate what you don’t know (with disclaimers)•Relate everything back to business priorities•Emphasize the triple constraint Iteration and feedback increase Time, Cost and Quality
(De Baar)
Product Feedback
Managing expectations•Communication is influenced by people’s interpretation •Feedback helps get to common interpretations•Why feedback?• Validation• Reassure Stakeholders• Reduces Risk of Miscommunication
(De Baar)
Product Feedback
How?•Verbal, cheap, easy, but hard to refer to•Written, takes time, no one likes to read of lot of text •Mock-up, takes time, usually throw-away, but great for getting message across
So, consider:•The audience•The time it is needed (temporary or permanent/contractual)•Cost of feedback (is it acceptable within the triple constraint?) (De Baar)
Requirements to Design
Design addresses “how”•Designs are ‘build-to” specs, but stakeholders want to see where their requirements are going…•A design is a medium to explain how the requirements will be translated in the real world. •Often considered by techies as “their” document.
(De Baar)
PM Role in Design
Project Manager needs to make sure that techies communicate their interpretations of requirements to stakeholders in a timely manner• Be aware of the need to do it• Design choices should not be based solely on technical know-
how• Take more time that you think, spend it on communicating• As PM, encourage communication, and follow up with
stakeholders to verify info was effectively communicated.• Document decisions, including the arguments for the decision• Map design elements to requirements; sort by stakeholder for
ease in presentation• Designers need to be prepared to start over (iterative
process)• Get agreements in writing; people pay more attention to their
agreements
(De Baar)
More Product Feedback
Pilots and Prototypes•Use them to give/get feedback•But throw them away after the lesson is learned•Build time for this into your project
Benchmarks•Benchmarks provide a measure to compare actual products to•Benchmarks can be created as part of a pilot
(De Baar)
More Product Feedback
Technical• What works• What does it break• Iterative
Functional• “Software is like a banana. It ripens at
the customer’s house…”• Plan for it in advance• Provides final feedback and acceptance
(De Baar)
Testing
Change Management
A major part of PM role (Integration Management)
Different ways to address change• Don’t allow it• Set up a process for managing change
(De Baar)
Process Feedback
Time, Cost, Quality and Scope
• Statement on either Project Progress or Status• Consider • Frequency• Medium (written/verbal)• Level of Detail
• Goal: Address feedback in terms of stakes, not numbers• Be creative in negotiating progress on budget and
schedule(De Baar)
Process Reporting
Schedule• Gannt Chart is not the project plan• But many people relate to it• Therefore it is a good tool for reporting status of
the project
(De Baar)
Process Reporting
BudgetGather all expected costs / Provide a summary
Estimating time required• Let the programmers do it• PM needs to temper programmer estimates with experience
and other realities• Understand the critical path• Get agreement• Challenge of getting agreement from programmers• Don’t change their estimates
• Estimate At Completion (EAC)• Know when to say the project is no longer viable.
(De Baar)
Project Manager as Leader
Your Job:•Get people who may not like each other to work together.•Convince people who believe they can not do something to do it – well.•Motivate people who may not be interested in seeing the project be successful.•Do it OTOBOS (On Time, On Budget, On Scope).•Make your boss look good.•Stay sane…
Project Manager as Leader
5 Ways to Be A Naturally Visible Leader1.Don’t demand recognition, inspire it. 2.When your team hits a big milestone, commend them publicly.3.Recognize individuals that go out of their way to help you.4.When someone doesn’t credit, don’t react in indignation, fix it.5.Demonstrate your knowledge by contributing and commenting in any forum.
(Henak)
Creating the Right Environment
Personal Mastery•Know/Develop Personal skills•Why do you do what you do? Mental Models •Our favorite vs. actuality•Different models help to understand others•Models affect reality
Systems Thinking•Focus on interrelationships among components•Look at processes of change to form conclusions
‘The Fifth Discipline’4 and SW Project Management
Individual Disciplines
(De Baar)
Creating the Right Environment
Shared vision•Establish initial vision•Transform initial vision to shared vision
Team learning•Insightful thinking on issues is complex•Coordinated action on specific tasks•Encourages other teams to participate
‘The Fifth Discipline’4 and SW Project Management
Group Disciplines
(De Baar)
Creating the Right Environment
Why ?•It is a lot of effort, personally and for the team•It takes time away from the project(s)•Not everyone is as excited about this stuff as you are…
Because…•You’ll have to work with the same people on other projects (hopefully)•Common language/methods are more productive•Team members will enjoy the work, take pride in product
Frames of Leadership3
Metaphor
CentralConcept
Image of Leadership
BasicLeadershipChallenge
Structural
Factory orMachine
Rules, Roles,Technology,Environment
SocialArchitecture
Match Structure to Task,Technology…
Human Resource
Family
Needs, Skills,Relationships
Empowerment
Align Org& HumanNeeds
Political
Jungle
Power, ConflictCompetition,Politics
Advocacy
Develop Agenda & Power Base
Symbolic
Carnival, Theatre
Culture,Ceremony,Stories, Heroes
Inspiration
Create Faith,Beauty,Meaning
Expanding Managerial Thinking3
How Managers Typically Think How Managers Might Think
Limited view of Organizations(e.g. problems attributed to individuals’ errors).
Encourage inquiry into a range of issue, people, power, structure, symbols.
Often choose rational solutions: facts, logic, restructuring.
Consider an array of options, e.g. celebration as well as organizing.
Value certainty, rationality, control; Fear ambiguity, paradox, “going with the flow”.
Develop creativity, risk taking, playfulness in response to life’s dilemmas. Find the right question as well as the answer.
Rely on one “right” answer; surprised by resistance.
Commitment to principle combined with flexibility in understanding and responding to events.
Leadership Frames in SW Project Management
Projects usually mean something will change•End users: New product, new process…•Developers: New tools, new processes…•Functional Team: Day job as well as project duties, two bosses…During periods of change, focus on Political and Symbolic frames•Political: Build support, allay fears, communicate•Symbolic: Set examples, demonstrate other successes, make it fun!
Frames of Leadership3
Metaphor
CentralConcept
Image of Leadership
BasicLeadershipChallenge
Structural
Factory orMachine
Rules, Roles,Technology,Environment
SocialArchitecture
Match Structure to Task,Technology…
Human Resource
Family
Needs, Skills,Relationships
Empowerment
Align Org& HumanNeeds
Political
Jungle
Power, ConflictCompetition,Politics
Advocacy
Develop Agenda & Power Base
Symbolic
Carnival, Theatre
Culture,Ceremony,Stories, Heroes
Inspiration
Create Faith,Beauty,Meaning
Sum It Up
• Stakeholders define how the project will perform
• Project management is about people, not technology, schedules, processes, etc.
• A different approach for every project
(De Baar)
IT Governance
Refer to presentation:
Project Management2. Portfolio ManagementBy Craig Brownhttp://www.slideshare.net/craigwbrown/the-project-management-process-week-2/
(Start at page 66…)
List of Works Cited
1. Project Management Institute (PMI), Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). 3rd ed. 2004.
2. De Baar, Bas. Surprise! Now You're a Software Project Manager. 1st ed. Lakefield, Ontario: Multi-Media Publications, 2006.
3. Bolman, Lee, and Terrence Deal. Reframing Organizations. 3rd ed. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.
4. Denge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. 1st ed. USA: Doubleday Publishing, 2006.
5. Henak, Brandon. "5 Ways to Be A Naturally Visible Leader." NewlyCorporate.com. 23 July 2008. Newly Corporate. 26 Aug 2008 <http://newlycorporate.com/2008/07/23/6-ways-to-be-a-naturally-visible-leader/>.
6. Brown, Craig. “Project Management – 2. Portfolio Management" SlideShare.com. 17 Aug 2008. BetterProjects.net. 7 Aug 2008 <http://www.slideshare.net/craigwbrown/the-project-management-process-week-2>.