3.8.3 Formal project management methods

3.8.3 Formal project management methods

1. Project Manager

   • In charge of development teams
   • Responsible if things go wrong

2. Effective team

   • Effective leader
   • Good organisation
   • Allocation of tasks
   • Monitoring progress
   • Control over change
   • Balance of team
   • Internal and external communciation
   • Adherence to standards
   • Managing the budget

3. Agreed deliverables

   • Documents or systems that must be produced during various stages of the SDLC
   • Agreed in advance by team and client
   • Signed-off when completed to standard

4. Planning a schedule

   • Not listing as tasks can be concurrent
   • Gantt charts are often used

5. Identifying dependencies

   • What tasks are depending on earlier ones having been completed
   • What resources you need to do certain tasks

6. Complexity

   • Breaking down into a number of sub-tasks to make the outcome easier to achieve

7. Milestones

   • A critical point in which the progress of the project is assesed
   • Certain parts of the project should be completed at this time

8. Preparing Plans

   • Resource Plan
     • Human resources and equipment needed
   • Financial Plan
     • Allocates financial budget to each stage
   • Quality Plan
     • Clear quality requirements for each deliverable and how they will be met
   • Risk Plan
     • Any foreseeable risks, how to reduce them and how to deal with them if they happen
   • Acceptance Plan
     • Critera for client acceptance and schedule for acceptance reviews
   • Communications Plan
     • How everyone will be informed of progress
   • Procurement Plan
     • Goods and services to be obtained externally

9. Clear timescales

   • To monitor project
   • Deadlines that are achievable

10. Cost and quality

    • Budget must be adhered to
    • Quality of deliverables must be monitored

11. Monitoring progress

    • Effective communication to constantly monitor progress
    • Remedial action can be taken if needed