Project Management Introduction Prof. Dr. Joachim Hering Faculty of Computer Science Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 1
Goals Goal(s) of this lecture: Brief introduction to project management A few basics required for the project management simulation Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 2
Contents Motivation What is a project Project goals/constraints What is project management A few helpful tools Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 3
Motivation Software projects fail at an alarming rate Quantitative evaluations show that every fifth project is cancelled before completion wasting all the time, money, and effort spent on them Surviving projects often fail to deliver the full initial project scope, or they deliver late and/or overrun the budget Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm Standish Group Report, 2006 4
What is a Project? A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result (Project Management Institute, 2004) Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 5
An Example from Germany Elbphilarmonie : Concert hall being built in Hamburg. Start: April 2007 Completion date: 2010 Estimated cost: 241 million Course of the project, some dates: November, 2008: Cost re-estimation: 450 million August, 2012: Cost re-estimation: 575 million Completion date: 2015 April, 2013: Cost re-estimation: 789 million Completion date: 2017 Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 6
Question What do you think are the main goals that all projects have in common? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 7
Project Goals/Constraints At the highest level, three project goals/constraints exist Time Amount of time available to complete a project Cost The budgeted amount available for the project Scope What must be done to produce the project s end result Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 8
Project Management Triangle Those constraints may be visualized as a triangle Each side represents a constraint One side cannot be changed without impacting the others Time Time Cost Cost Scope Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 9
Question When do you think is a project considered to be successful? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 10
Project Success Factors A project is considered to be successful, if it has been performed within time, cost, scope, quality (see project constraints) with acceptance by the customer Time Time Cost Cost Scope Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 11
Question What does managing projects include? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 12
What is Project Management? Managing projects includes Identifying requirements Establishing clear achievable objectives Balancing the competing demands for time, cost, scope and quality (see project constraints)... In short: Initiating, planning, executing, controlling, monitoring, and closing down a project Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 13
Project Management Institute (PMI) Process Groups Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 2008 Prentice Hall 14
Question What skills do you think a project manager should have? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 15
Project Manager A person with a diverse set of skills management, leadership, technical, conflict management, and customer relationship who is responsible for initiating, planning, executing, controlling, monitoring, and closing down a project Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 16
Question What will be your role in the next days? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 17
You as Project Manager Your focus Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 18
A Few Helpful Tools Gantt Chart Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 19
A Few Helpful Tools Activity Network Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 20
A Few Helpful Tools Question Which project tasks should you particularly keep a close eye on? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 21
A Few Helpful Tools Critical Path Critical path The sequence of project tasks/activities with the longest overall duration, determining the shortest time to complete the project The duration of the critical path determines the duration of the entire project Each activity on the critical path is time-critical because delays will have an impact on the overall project completion Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 22
A Few Helpful Tools Critical Path Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 23
A Few Helpful Tools Gantt of Resources Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 24
A Few Helpful Tools High-level Project Goals and EVA Figures for Costs and Schedule come from the Earned Values Analysis. Interpretation: Costs 132% "The project created 1.32 dollars in value for every dollar it spent" Schedule 83% "The project is completing work at 83% the rate planned" "The project is 17% behind schedule" Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 25
Things To Avoid Brief exercise Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 26
Things To Avoid Can you see a problem here? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 27
Things To Avoid Resource dependencies Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 28
Things To Avoid Can you see a problem here? Note: Fred, Sue, and Tim are members of the core team Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 29
Things To Avoid Idle time for core team members Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 30
Things To Avoid Can you see a problem here? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 31
Things To Avoid Too many resources for a task Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 32
Things To Avoid Can you see a problem here? Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 33
Things To Avoid Early tasks without assigned resources Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 34
Things To Avoid Can you see a problem here? Assumption: Only Livio is available yet Activity 4: Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 35
Things To Avoid Unavailability of sufficient resources Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 36
What next... Project Management Simulation (SimulTrain) Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 37
Recommended Literature Project Management Institute, A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: Third edition, PMI, 2004 H. Kerzner, Project Management A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling, Wiley, 2006 Joachim Hering, Hochschule Ulm 38