Module 3.

Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

3.

This module focuses on the systems analyst’s role as a project manager, who is
responsible for initiating, planning, executing, and closing down the systems development project.
It provides an understanding of a project manager’s role as well as the project management
process. Consequently, the techniques for reporting project plans using Gantt charts and network
diagrams will be introduced.

At the end of this module, students should be able to:

1. explain the elements of project management and the responsibilities of a project

manager;
2. identify the project success factors in project management;
3. determine the knowledge areas in project management;
4. develop a project schedule using a work breakdown structure (WBS) and PERT and
Gantt chart; and
5. discuss three techniques for monitoring and controlling a system development
project.

 Deliverable – an end product of an SDLC phase.

 Gantt chart – a graphical representation of a project that shows each task as a
horizontal bar whose length is proportional to its time for completion.
 Management – a technique of understanding the problems, needs, and controlling
the use of resources, cost, time, scope and quality.
 Network diagram – depicts project tasks and their interrelationships.
 PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique) – a technique that uses
optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic time estimates to calculate the expected time for
a particular task.
 Project – a planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a
beginning and an end.
 Project management – a controlled process of initiating, planning, executing, and
closing down a project.
 Project manager – a system’s analyst who performs project management.
 Resources – any person, group of people, piece of equipment, or material used in
accomplishing an activity.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

 Work breakdown structure – the process of dividing the project into manageable
tasks and logically ordering them to ensure a smooth evolution between tasks.

3.1 Project Management

Project management is an important aspect of the development of information systems and
a critical skill for a system analyst. The focus is to ensure that system development projects meet
customer expectations and are delivered within budget and time constraints.
Project management is organizing and directing other people to achieve a planned result
within a predetermined schedule and budget. At the beginning of a project, a plan is developed that
specififes the activities that must take place, the deliverables that must be produced, and the
resources that are [Link] project management can also be defined as the process used to
plan the project and then to monitor and control it.
Understanding the project management process is a critical success for future success.
Creating and implementing successful projects requires managing the resources, activities, and
tasks needed to complete the information systems project.

3.1.1 Project Success Factors

For each project, the most important aspect must be decided. In terms of project
management, decisions do not need to be all-or-nothing, but should be recognized, as shown in
the project triangle, that any change in one leg of the triangle will affect the other two legs.
In the project triangle, cost, scope and time are considered as the legs. The challenge is to
find the optimal balance among these factors.

Figure 1. The project triangle

On its website, Microsoft offers an interesting suggestion for project managers who have a
project at risk: Find the “stuck side” of the triangle. It was stated that in most of the projects, at least
one side of the triangle is fixed and unlikely to change. It might be a budget cast in stone, a scope
that is inflexible, or a schedule driven by factors beyond the firm’s control.

3.1.2 The Role of the Project Manager

The project manager is a systems analyst with a diverse set of skills such as management,
leadership, technical, conflict management, and customer relationship, who is responsible for
initiating, planning, executing and closing down a project. As a project manager, his/her
environment is a continual change and problem-solving.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

Whether a project involves a new office building or an information system, good leadership
is essential. In a systems project, the project manager or project leader, usually is a senior systems
analyst or an IT department manager if the project is large. An analyst or a programmer/analyst
might manage smaller projects. In addition to the project manager, most of the large projects have
a project coordinator. A project coordinator handles administrative responsibilities for the team and
negotiates with users who might have conflicting requirements or want changes that would require
additional time or expense.
Project manager typically perform four activities or functions such as:
 Project Planning that includes identifying all project tasks and estimating the
completion time and cost of each.
 Project scheduling involves the creation of a specific timetable, usually in the form
of charts that show task, task dependencies, and critical tasks that might delay the
project. Scheduling also involves selecting and staffing the project team and
assigning specific tasks to team members. Project scheduling uses Gantt charts
and PERT/CPM charts.
 Project monitoring requires guiding, supervising, and coordinating the project
team’s workload. The project manager must monitor the progress, evaluate the
results, and take corrective action when necessary to control the project and stay on
target.
 Project reporting includes regular progress reports to management, users, and the
project team itself. Effective reporting requires strong communication skills and a
sense of what others want and need to know about the project.
Overall, project managers must be effective internally (managing people and resources)
and externally (conducting public relations).
Internally, a project manager serves as locus of control for the project team and all its
activities. He or she establishes the team’s structure so work can be accomplished. The following
are some of the internal responsibilities:
 Developing the project schedule.
 Recruiting and training team members.
 Assigning work to teams and team members.
 Assessing project risks.
 Monitoring and controlling project deliverables and milestones.
Externally, the project manager is the main contact for the project. He/She must represent
the team to the outside world and communicate the team member’s needs. Major responsibilities
include:
 Reporting the project’s status and progress.
 Working directly with the client (the project’s sponsor) and other stakeholders.
 Identifying resource needs and obtaining resources.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

A project manager works with several groups of people.

 Client (i.e., the customer), who pays for the development of the new system.
Project approval and the release of funds come from the client. For in-house
developments, the client may be an executive committee or a vice president.
 For large, mission-critical projects, an oversight committee (sometimes called
the steering committee) may be formed. This consists of clients and other key
executives who have a vision of the organization’s strategic direction and a
strong interest in the project’s success.
 Users, on the other hand, are the people who will actually use the new system.
The user typically provides information about the detailed functions and
operations needed in the new system.

Figure 1 shows the various groups of people involved in a development project.

Figure 2. Participants in a system development project

Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

3.1.3 Project Management Knowledge Areas

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a professional organmizaiton that promotes
project management, primarily within the United States but also throughout the world. In addition,
professional organizations in other countries promote project management.
The PMI has a well-respected and rigorous certifcation program, and many corporations
encourage their project managers to become certified. As part of its mission, the PMI has defined a
body of knowledge for project management. This body of knowledge, referred to as the project
maangement body of knowledge (PMBOK), is a widely accepted foundation of inforamtion that
every project manager should know. The PMBOK is organized into these nine knowledge areas:
 Project Scope Management. Defining and controlling the functions that are to be included
in the system as well as the scope of the work to be done by the project team.
 Project Time Management. Creating a detailed schedule of all project tasks and then
monitoring the progress of the project against defined milestones.
 Project Cost Management. Calculating the initial cost/benefit analysis and its later
updates and monitoring expenditures as the project progresses.
 Project Quality Management. Establishing a comprehensive plan ensuring quality, which
includes quality control activities for every phase of a project.
 Project Human Resource Management. Recruiting and hiring project team members,
training, motivating, and team building; and implementing related activities to ensure a
happy, productive team.
 Project Communications Management. Identifying all stakeholders and the key
communications to each; also establishing all communications mechanisms and schedules.
 Project Risk Management. Identifying and reviewing throughout the project all potential
risks for failure and developing plans to reduce these risks.
 Project Procurement Management. Developing requests for proposals, evaluating bids,
writing contracts, and then monitoring vendor performance.
 Project Integration Management. Integrating all the other knowledge areas into one
seamless whole.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

Figure 3. Project management Knowledge Areas

As one progresses in a career, it would be wise to keep record of the project management
skills observed in others as well as those learned from own experiences. One place to start is with
the set of skills a systems analyst needs. A good project manager knows how to develop a plan,
execute it, anticipate problems, and make adjustments. Project management skills can be learned.

3.2 Project Monitoring and Control

Regardless of whether the project was planned and scheduled with project management
software or in some other manner, the project manager must keep track of the tasks and progress
of team members, compare actual progress with the project plan, verify the completion of project
milestones, and set standards and ensure that they are followed.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

3.2.1 Monitoring and Control Techniques

To help ensure that quality standards are met, many project managers institute structured
walk-throughs. A structured walk-through is a review of a project team member’s work by other
members of the team. Generally, systems analysts review the work of other systems analysts, and
programmers review the work of other programmers, as a form of peer review. Structures walk-
throughs take place throughout the SDLC and are called design reviews, code reviews, or testing
reviews, depending on the phase in which they occur.

3.2.2 Maintaining a Schedule

Maintaining a project schedule can be challenging, and most projects run into at least some
problems or delays. By monitoring and controlling the work, the project manager tries to anticipate
problems, avoid them or minimize their impact, identify potential solutions, and select the best way
to solve the problem.
The better the original plan, the easier it will be to control the project. If clear, verifiable
milestones exist, it will be simple to determine if and when those targets are achieved. If enough
milestones and frequent checkpoint exist, problems will be detected rapidly. A project that is
planned and scheduled with PERT/CPM or in WBS with Gantt chart can be tracked and controlled
using these same techniques. As work continues, the project manager revises the plan to record
actual times for completed tasks and revises times for tasks that are not yet finished.
Project managers spend most of their time tracking the tasks along the critical path
because delays in those tasks have the greatest potential to delay or jeopardize the project. Other
projects cannot be ignored, however. For example, suppose that a task not on the critical path
takes too long and depletes the allotted slack time. At that point, the task actually becomes part of
the critical path, and any further delay will push back the overall project.

3.3 Creating a Work Breakdown Structure

A work breakdown structure (WBS) involves breaking a project down into a series of
smaller tasks. Before creating work breakdown structures, the two primary chart types should be
understood: Gantt charts and PERT/CPM charts.

3.3.1 Gantt Charts

Henry L. Gantt, a mechanical engineer and management consultant, developed Gantt chart
almost 100 years ago. His goal was to design a chart that could show planned and actual progress
on a project.
A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that represents a set of tasks.
Figure 4 shows an example of a Gantt chart, that displays five tasks in a vertical array, with
time shown on the horizontal axis. The position of the bar shows the planned starting and ending
time of each task, and the length of the bar indicates its duration. On the horizontal axis, time can
be shown as elapsed time from a fixed starting point, or as actual calendar dates.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

Figure 4. A sample Gantt chart

A Gantt chart also can simplify a complex project by combining several activities into a task
group that contains subsidiary tasks. This allows a complex project to be viewed as a set of
integrated modules.
A Gantt chart can show task status by adding a contrasting color to the horizontal bar. For
example, a vertical red arrow marks the current date. With a fixed reference point, it is easy to see
that Task 1 is a way behind schedule, Task 2 is only about 80% done and is running behind
schedule, Task 3 should have started, but no work has been done, Task 4 actually is running
ahead of schedule, and Task 5 will begin in several weeks.
Gantt charts can present an overview of the project’s status, but they do not provide
enough detailed information, which is necessary when managing a complex project. Some project
managers may find that PERT/CPM charts, are better tools for managing large projects.

3.3.2 PERT/CPM Charts

The Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) was developed by the US Navy to
manage very complex projects, such as the construction of nuclear submarines. At approximately
the same time, the Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed by private industry to meet similar
project management needs. The distinction between the two methods has disappeared over time,
and today the technique is called either PERT, CPM, or PERT/CPM.
PERT is a bottom-up technique because it analyzes a large, complex project as a series of
individual tasks, just as a pyramid is built from the bottom up using individual blocks. To create a
PERT chart, first identify all the project tasks and estimate how much time each task will take to be
performed. For example, some tasks cannot start until other tasks have been completed. In other
situations, several tasks can be performed at the same time.
Once the tasks are known, their durations, and the order in which they must be performed,
calculate the time that it will take to complete the project. The specific tasks that will be critical to
the project’s on-time completion can also be identified.
An example of a PERT chart, which Microsoft calls a network diagram, is shown in the
lower screen in Figure 5. Although a Gantt chart offers a valuable snapshot view of the project,
PERT charts are more useful for scheduling, monitoring, and controlling the actual work.
With a PERT chart, a project manager can convert task start and finish times to actual
dates by laying out the entire project on a calendar. Then, on any given day, the manager can
compare what should be happening with what is taking place, and react accordingly. Also, a PERT
chart displays complex task patterns and relationships. This information is valuable to a manager
who is trying to address high priority issues. PERT and Gantt charts are not mutually exclusive
techniques, and project managers often use both methods.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

Figure 5. The top screen showing a Gantt chart with 6 tasks; and the PERT chart at the bottom
screen displaying an easy-to-follow task pattern for the same project

Figure 5 shows both chart types. The top screen is a Gantt chart with six tasks. The PERT
chart below it shows the same project, using a separate box for each task instead of a horizontal
bar. Although they both show the task patterns and flow, the PERT chart boxes can provide more
information, such as task duration, start date, finish date, and the names of resources assigned to
the task. The PERT chart in Figure 5 would be too small to view the actual details, which are
shown in the expanded text box at the bottom of the figure.

3.3.3 Identifying Tasks in a Work Breakdown Structure

A work breakdown structure must clearly identify each task and include an estimated
duration. A task or activity, is any work that has a beginning and an end and requires the use of
company resources such as people, time, or money. Examples of tasks include conducting
interviews, designing a report, selecting software, waiting for the delivery of equipment, or training
users. Tasks are basic units of work that the project manager plans, schedules, and monitors—so
they should be relatively small and manageable.
In addition to tasks, every project has events or milestones. An event, or milestone, is a
recognizable reference point that can be used to monitor progress. For example, an event might be
the start of user training, the conversion of system data, or the completion of interviews. A
milestone such as “complete 50% of program testing” would not be useful information unless it
could be determined exactly when that event will occur.
Figure 6 shows tasks and events that might be involved in the creation, distribution, and
tabulation of a questionnaire. Notice that the beginning and end of each task are marked by a
recognizable event. It would be virtually impossible to manage a project as one large task. Instead,
the project is broken down into smaller tasks, creating a WBS.
The first step in creating a WBS is to list all the tasks.
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

Figure 6. The illustration of the relationship between tasks and the events, or milestones that mark
the beginning and end of each task

[Link] Listing the Tasks. While this step sounds simple, it can be challenging because the tasks
might be embedded in a document, such as the one shown in the first version of Figure 6.
One trick is to start by highlighting the individual tasks, as shown in the second version.
Adding bullets makes the tasks stand out more clearly, as shown in the third version. The
next step is to number the tasks and create a table, similar to the one shown in Figure 3-7,
with columns for task number, description, duration, and predecessor tasks, which must
be completed before another task can start.

Figure 6. The three versions of transforming a task statement into a list of specific tasks for a work
breakdown structure
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

[Link] Estimating Task Duration. Task duration can be hours, days, or weeks—depending on
the project. Because the following example uses days, the units of measurement are
called person-days. A person-day represents the work that one person can complete in
one day. This approach, however, can present some problems. For example, if it will
take one person 20 days to perform a particular task, it might not be true that two people
could complete the same task in 10 days or that 10 people could perform the task in two
days. Some tasks can be divided evenly so it is possible to use different combinations of
time and people—up to a point—but not all. In most systems analysis tasks, time and
people are not interchangeable. If one analyst needs two hours to interview a user, two
analysts also will need two hours to do the same interview.
Project managers often use a weighted formula for estimating the duration of each task.
The project manager first makes three time estimates for each task: an optimistic, or
best-case estimate (B), a probable-case estimate (P), and a pessimistic, or worst-
case estimate (W). The manager then assigns a weight, which is an importance value,
to each estimate. The weight can vary, but a common approach is to use a ratio of B =
1, P = 4, and W = 1. The expected task duration is calculated as follows:

Figure 7. Table with columns added for task number, description, duration, and predecessor tasks,
which must be completed before another takes can start.

For example, a project manager might estimate that a file-conversion task could be
completed in as few as 20 days or could take as many as 34 days, but most likely will require 24
days. Using the formula, the expected task duration is 25 days, calculated as follows:

3.3.4 Displaying the Work Breakdown Structure

After the task durations are entered, the work breakdown structure will look like Figure 8.
Task groups can be used to manage a complex project with many tasks, just as with a Gantt chart,
to simplify the list. Note that the WBS shown in 8 is still incomplete: It does not show fields such as
Start Date, End Date, Task Name, Duration, and Predecessors—fields that can be key for project
Module 3. Project Management and the Inception Phase INSY 55: System Analysis and Design

managers. With Microsoft Project, the WBS (including some of these missing fields) might
resemble Figure 9.

Figure 8. Complete WBS with added task durations but no predecessor task information.

The predecessor tasks will determine task patterns and sequence of performance.

Figure 9. Microsoft Project Screen displays the same WBS, including task number, task name,
duration, and predecessor task.