PROJECTSCHEDULING

WhatisPROJECTSCHEDULING?
Whyitisimportant?
Whatarethesteps?
BasicConcepts.
Whatshouldwedowhenmanagementdemandsthatwemake
adeadlinethatisimpossible?
BasicPrinciples.
Whataretimelinechartanditsexample.
HowtotrackOOproject?
Earnedvalueanalysis.
WhatisPROJECTSCHEDULING?
9 Youveselectedanappropriateprocessmodel.
9 Youveidentifiedthesoftwareengineeringtasksthathave
tobeperformed.
9 Youestimatedtheamountofworkandthenumberof
people,youknowthedeadline,youveevenconsidered
therisks.
9 Nowitstimetoconnectthedots.Thatis,youhaveto
createanetworkofsoftwareengineeringtasksthatwill
enableyoutogetthejobdoneontime.
9 Oncethenetworkiscreated,youhavetoassign
responsibilityforeachtask,makesureitgetsdone,and
adaptthenetworkasrisksbecomereality.
Whyits Important?
9 Inordertobuildacomplexsystem,many
softwareengineeringtasksoccurinparallel.
9 Theresultofworkperformedduringonetask
mayhaveaprofoundeffectonworktobe
conductedinanothertask.
9 Theseinterdependenciesareverydifficultto
understandwithoutaschedule.
9 lts alsovirtuallyimpossibletoassessprogress
onamoderateorlargesoftwareproject
withoutadetailedschedule.
Whatarethesteps?

9 Thesoftwareengineeringtasksdictatedbythesoftware
processmodelarerefinedforthefunctionalitytobebuilt.
9 Effortanddurationareallocatedtoeachtaskandatask
network(alsocalledanactivitynetwork)iscreatedina
mannerthatenablesthesoftwareteamtomeetthe
deliverydeadlineestablished.
BasicConceptofProject
Scheduling
9 Anunrealisticdeadlineestablishedbysomeoneoutside
thesoftwaredevelopmentgroupandforcedonmanagers
andpractitioner'swithinthegroup.
9 Changingcustomerrequirementsthatarenotreflectedin
schedulechanges.
9 Anhonestunderestimateoftheamountofeffortand/or
thenumberofresourcesthatwillberequiredtodothe
job.
9 Predictableand/orunpredictablerisksthatwerenot
consideredwhentheprojectcommenced.
9 Technicaldifficultiesthatcouldnothavebeenforeseenin
advance.
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9 Humandifficultiesthatcouldnothavebeenforeseenin
advance.
9 Miscommunicationamongprojectstaffthatresultsin
delays.
9 Afailurebyprojectmanagementtorecognizethatthe
projectisfallingbehindscheduleandalackofactionto
correcttheproblem.
WhyShouldwedowhenthe
managementdemandsthatwe
makeadeadlineimpossible?
9 Performadetailedestimateusinghistoricaldatafrompast
projects.
9 Determinetheestimatedeffortanddurationforthe
project.
9 Usinganincrementalprocessmodel,developasoftware
engineeringstrategythatwilldelivercriticalfunctionality
bytheimposeddeadline,butdelayotherfunctionality
untillater.Documenttheplan.
 Continue.

9 Meetwiththecustomerand(usingthedetailedestimate),
explainwhytheimposeddeadlineisunrealistic.
9 Becertaintonotethatallestimatesarebasedon
performanceonpastprojects.
9 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.
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6. Definedoutcomes:Everytaskthatisscheduledshould
haveadefinedoutcome.
7. Definedmilestones: Everytaskorgroupoftasksshould
beassociatedwithaprojectmilestone.Amilestoneis
accomplishedwhenoneormoreworkproductshasbeen
reviewedforqualityandhasbeenapproved.
 Timelinecharts

9 Whencreatingasoftwareprojectschedule,theplanner
beginswithasetoftasks.
9 Ifautomatedtoolsareused,theworkbreakdownis
inputasatasknetworkortaskoutline.
9 Effort,duration,andstartdatearetheninputforeach
task.Inaddition,tasksmaybeassignedtospecific
individuals.
9 Asaconsequenceofthisinput,atimelinechartis
generatedalsocalledgantt chart.
9 Atimelinechartcanbedevelopedfortheentireproject.
Alternatively,separatechartscanbedevelopedforeach
projectfunctionorforeachindividualworkingonthe
project.
ExampleforTimelinecharts
HowtotrackOOproject?

TechnicalMilestone:OOAnalysiscompleted
9 Allclassesandtheclasshierarchyhavebeen
definedandreviewed.
9 Classattributesandoperationsassociated
withaclasshavebeendefinedandreviewed.
9 Classrelationshipshavebeenestablishand
reviewed.
9 Abehavioralmodelhasbeencreatedand
reviewed.
9 Reusableclasshasbeennoted.
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TechnicalMilestone:OODesigncompleted
9 Thesetofsubsystemshasbeendefinedand
reviewed.
9 Classesareallocatedtosubsystemsandreviewed.
9 Taskallocationhasbeenestablishandreviewed.
9 Responsibilitiesandcollaborationshasbeen
identified.
9 Designclasseshavebeencreatedandreviewed.
9 Thecommunicationmodelhasbeencreatedand
reviewed.
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TechnicalMilestone:OOProgramming
completed
9Eachnewclasshasbeenimplementedin
codefromthedesignmodel.
9Extractedclasseshavebeenimplemented.
9Prototypeareincrementhasbeenbuilt.
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TechnicalMilestone:OOtesting
9ThecorrectnessandcompletenessofOO
analysisanddesignmodelshasbeen
reviewed.
9Aclassresponsibilitycollabaration has
beendevelopedandreviewed.
9Testcasesaredesigned,andclustertesting
iscompletedandtheclassesareintegrated.
9Systemleveltestshavebeencompleted.
 Earnedvalueanalysis

9 Thebudgetedcostofworkscheduled(BCWS)is
determinedforeachworktaskrepresentedintheschedule.
9 TheBCWSvaluesforallworktasksaresummedtoderive
thebudgetatcompletion,BAC.Hence,
BAC=(BCWSk)foralltasksk
9 Next,thevalueforbudgetedcostofwork
performed(BCWP)iscomputed.
9 ThevalueforBCWPisthesumoftheBCWSvaluesforall
worktasksthathaveactuallybeencompletedbyapointin
timeontheprojectschedule.