PROJECTSCHEDULING

WhatisPROJECTSCHEDULING?
Whyitisimportant?
Whatarethesteps?
BasicConcepts.
Whatshouldwedowhenmanagementdemandsthatwemake
adeadlinethatisimpossible?
BasicPrinciples.
Whataretimelinechartanditsexample.
HowtotrackOOproject?
Earnedvalueanalysis.
WhatisPROJECTSCHEDULING?
Youveselectedanappropriateprocessmodel.
Youveidentifiedthesoftwareengineeringtasksthathave
tobeperformed.
Youestimatedtheamountofworkandthenumberof
people,youknowthedeadline,youveevenconsidered
therisks.
Nowitstimetoconnectthedots.Thatis,youhaveto
createanetworkofsoftwareengineeringtasksthatwill
enableyoutogetthejobdoneontime.
Oncethenetworkiscreated,youhavetoassign
responsibilityforeachtask,makesureitgetsdone,and
adaptthenetworkasrisksbecomereality.
Whyits Important?
Inordertobuildacomplexsystem,many
softwareengineeringtasksoccurinparallel.
Theresultofworkperformedduringonetask
mayhaveaprofoundeffectonworktobe
conductedinanothertask.
Theseinterdependenciesareverydifficultto
understandwithoutaschedule.
lts alsovirtuallyimpossibletoassessprogress
onamoderateorlargesoftwareproject
withoutadetailedschedule.
Whatarethesteps?
Thesoftwareengineeringtasksdictatedbythesoftware
processmodelarerefinedforthefunctionalitytobebuilt.
Effortanddurationareallocatedtoeachtaskandatask
network(alsocalledanactivitynetwork)iscreatedina
mannerthatenablesthesoftwareteamtomeetthe
deliverydeadlineestablished.
BasicConceptofProject
Scheduling
Anunrealisticdeadlineestablishedbysomeoneoutside
thesoftwaredevelopmentgroupandforcedonmanagers
andpractitioner'swithinthegroup.
Changingcustomerrequirementsthatarenotreflectedin
schedulechanges.
Anhonestunderestimateoftheamountofeffortand/or
thenumberofresourcesthatwillberequiredtodothe
job.
Predictableand/orunpredictablerisksthatwerenot
consideredwhentheprojectcommenced.
Technicaldifficultiesthatcouldnothavebeenforeseenin
advance.
Continue.
Humandifficultiesthatcouldnothavebeenforeseenin
advance.
Miscommunicationamongprojectstaffthatresultsin
delays.
Afailurebyprojectmanagementtorecognizethatthe
projectisfallingbehindscheduleandalackofactionto
correcttheproblem.
WhyShouldwedowhenthe
managementdemandsthatwe
makeadeadlineimpossible?
Performadetailedestimateusinghistoricaldatafrompast
projects.
Determinetheestimatedeffortanddurationforthe
project.
Usinganincrementalprocessmodel,developasoftware
engineeringstrategythatwilldelivercriticalfunctionality
bytheimposeddeadline,butdelayotherfunctionality
untillater.Documenttheplan.
Continue.
Meetwiththecustomerand(usingthedetailedestimate),
explainwhytheimposeddeadlineisunrealistic.
Becertaintonotethatallestimatesarebasedon
performanceonpastprojects.
Alsobecertaintoindicatethepercentimprovementthat
wouldberequiredtoachievethedeadlineasitcurrently
exists.
BasicPrinciplesofProjectScheduling.
1. Compartmentalization:Theprojectmustbe
compartmentalizedintoanumberofmanageable
activitiesandtasks.
2. Interdependency: Theinterdependencyofeach
compartmentalizedactivityortaskmustbedetermined.
3. Timeallocation:Eachtasktobescheduledmustbe
allocatedsomenumberofworkunits(e.g.,persondays
ofeffort).
4. Effortvalidation: theprojectmanagermustensurethat
nomorethantheallocatednumberofpeoplehavebeen
scheduledatanygiventime.
5. Definedresponsibilities: Everytaskthatisscheduled
shouldbeassignedtoaspecificteammember.
Continue
6. Definedoutcomes:Everytaskthatisscheduledshould
haveadefinedoutcome.
7. Definedmilestones: Everytaskorgroupoftasksshould
beassociatedwithaprojectmilestone.Amilestoneis
accomplishedwhenoneormoreworkproductshasbeen
reviewedforqualityandhasbeenapproved.
Timelinecharts
Whencreatingasoftwareprojectschedule,theplanner
beginswithasetoftasks.
Ifautomatedtoolsareused,theworkbreakdownis
inputasatasknetworkortaskoutline.
Effort,duration,andstartdatearetheninputforeach
task.Inaddition,tasksmaybeassignedtospecific
individuals.
Asaconsequenceofthisinput,atimelinechartis
generatedalsocalledgantt chart.
Atimelinechartcanbedevelopedfortheentireproject.
Alternatively,separatechartscanbedevelopedforeach
projectfunctionorforeachindividualworkingonthe
project.
ExampleforTimelinecharts
HowtotrackOOproject?
TechnicalMilestone:OOAnalysiscompleted
Allclassesandtheclasshierarchyhavebeen
definedandreviewed.
Classattributesandoperationsassociated
withaclasshavebeendefinedandreviewed.
Classrelationshipshavebeenestablishand
reviewed.
Abehavioralmodelhasbeencreatedand
reviewed.
Reusableclasshasbeennoted.
Continue
TechnicalMilestone:OODesigncompleted
Thesetofsubsystemshasbeendefinedand
reviewed.
Classesareallocatedtosubsystemsandreviewed.
Taskallocationhasbeenestablishandreviewed.
Responsibilitiesandcollaborationshasbeen
identified.
Designclasseshavebeencreatedandreviewed.
Thecommunicationmodelhasbeencreatedand
reviewed.
Continue
TechnicalMilestone:OOProgramming
completed
Eachnewclasshasbeenimplementedin
codefromthedesignmodel.
Extractedclasseshavebeenimplemented.
Prototypeareincrementhasbeenbuilt.
TechnicalMilestone:OOtesting
ThecorrectnessandcompletenessofOO
analysisanddesignmodelshasbeen
reviewed.
Aclassresponsibilitycollabaration has
beendevelopedandreviewed.
Testcasesaredesigned,andclustertesting
iscompletedandtheclassesareintegrated.
Systemleveltestshavebeencompleted.
Continue
Earnedvalueanalysis
Thebudgetedcostofworkscheduled(BCWS)is
determinedforeachworktaskrepresentedintheschedule.
TheBCWSvaluesforallworktasksaresummedtoderive
thebudgetatcompletion,BAC.Hence,
BAC=(BCWSk)foralltasksk
Next,thevalueforbudgetedcostofwork
performed(BCWP)iscomputed.
ThevalueforBCWPisthesumoftheBCWSvaluesforall
worktasksthathaveactuallybeencompletedbyapointin
timeontheprojectschedule.