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The most important requirement for a successful project is to define requirements clearly…
No, we are not playing with words (Part 2)
Project planning is an essential step that is quite often ignored, or if followed, not followed earnestly enough throughout the project.
If you have done due diligence with your requirements and the consequent functional specification, the first step in project planning is probably already done, for the most part.
We are referring to breaking down the work into small tasks in a structured way.
The philosophy remains the same as for the development of the functional spec… Break complex modules into smaller features and each feature into sub-feature(s) till you have broken them down into tasks that take no longer than 2 days each.
In fact, many of the tasks we break down run into hours or sometimes, even minutes… but that is mainly due to the nature of the task, and not because of a concerted effort to break it down to that level.
“…So break them into pieces as short as possible… no task should be longer than 2 days… if it is, break it down further.” This is actually one of the mantras in Agile development methodologies.
The project plan must include detailed tasks associated with the various stages of the software development life cycle:
- Requirements Gathering and Analysis
- Design and Development
- Testing (QA)
- Release and Deployment
Further, break the development activities into phases and/or modules, depending on the project requirements.
For each task, assign ownership, i.e., specify the resource that will do it. Also specify the estimated duration, and start and finish dates for the task. In addition, if a task is dependent on other tasks, state the dependency clearly.
Remember, the client is also an important part of the project team. As such, there are tasks that client also is responsible for. This can include approvals for deliverables, acceptance testing, sign-off, etc. These must also form part of your project plan. Provide sufficient time for such tasks in consultation with the client.
If you use Agile methodologies, do have a plan of all high level tasks that need to be completed for the release. Then, create a detailed plan for 2-week periods. The teams meet daily for 15 minutes, where each member provides updates on the previous day’s activity, picks a task for the day, and in general, mentions whether he/she is on track and if there are any issues that need the Business Analyst of the Future to find solutions for.
Since tasks are planned and executed in short spurts, Agile methodologies do away with the need for extensive documentation. Instead, user stories and related QA checks are created for the high level tasks, and the development is done in iterations to realize the objectives.
Software tools that help manage Agile projects include the freeware Tackle and the commercial Version One. Of course, there are many more that you can explore to pick the one that suits your requirements and methodologies the best.
A project plan that is not tracked (believe me, it is more common than you think it is) is completely worthless. It becomes more of a schedule or a calendar than a plan.
As a rule of thumb, track the project as often as the duration of the shortest task (daily for Agile).
A tracked plan throws up issues that may easily be overlooked and allows handling risks in a timely manner. This helps either get the project back on track or to bring the customer on board early enough about the slippages to avoid heartburn later on.
Wishful thinking that somehow things will set themselves right is just that…”wishful thinking”.
And reporting at regular, previously agreed upon intervals cannot be stressed enough. A good rule of thumb is to report as often as a tenth of the project duration. So, for a month long project (20-25 working days), reporting twice a week is good. For other projects, weekly updates are good. And at no cost should there be a gap of more than 2 weeks between these updates.
For longer duration projects (6 months or longer), you may want to have bi-monthly updates the first month or two, and then increase the frequency to weekly as the project progresses.
Whatever the communications plan you decide on, do create one as described in an earlier article. Share it with the client and stick to it. That is the only way the customer will be up to speed on the progress.
Arguably, there is no better tool to plan projects than MS Project.
Agreed! It is very complex. We thought so too in the beginning.
But after trying out various options including Basecamp, we decided to give it another try. We worked with some of its features and… believe us! even utilizing a fraction of this power-packed program adds so much value and makes it worth the investment.
If it still is difficult to make this worthwhile investment, you could try the open source dotproject. It also appears to be a great tool with all the power of MS Project and also has features such as assigning tasks to individual team members and tracking them that MS Project doesn’t.
However, it felt to us like too much to ask of each team member to learn these complex tools. May be if we gave it another try like we did to MS Project, we may find a way to use it.
Project Manager aims at making Planning, Tracking and Reporting projects easy. While we have not used it, it does sound like it will help this process get easier.
If you cannot or do not wish to purchase MS Project, Project Manager would be very useful. It is web-based and with a monthly licensing option, it will not burn a hole in your pocket either.
Web-based tools, working on the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) or PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) model, for all aspects of software development, are becoming very popular and useful, and in many respects, a must for successful software development. They don’t burn a hole in your pocket and you pay only for what you use. You do not have to worry about software installations and upgrades, either.
It is only fair on our part to provide a short step-by-step tutorial to use MS Project for basic project planning, tracking and reporting. This, by the way, is more than enough for successful project management for most projects.
“We will take a break here to allow you to go through the step-by-step tutorial.”
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Track and report project progress regularly to avoid turning your project plans into mere schedules or calendars
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