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PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND TRACKING, RESOURCE ESTIMATEAlberto AimarIPT Group, IT DivisionCERN, Geneva, SwitzerlandAbstractParticipants of software projects often live in a permanent state of agitationand worry (or their supervisors do). This is mainly due to the ignorance of thefactors determining success, or failure, of a project.In order to reduce these uncertainties, and be able to improve plans andestimations, a minimal effort in getting the project and its people organized iscrucial. General project management and monitoring techniques can be adapted toprojects of any size and time-scale. This document highlights the keyelements in planning and tracking small projects, and suggests practices thatcan be of immediate benefit to the reader. 1. INTRODUCTIONProject management is an activity that is performed during the whole of the software lifecycle. Thereare three fundamental aspects involved in the management of a project: •  the organization of the project and of the resources; •  the human aspects among the members of the project and the relationship with the projectenvironment; •  the project application field and the technology used during the project. The presentation and this summary will give an overview of the first two elements, the latter oneis related to the specific project and depends on the application developed and its architecture(modularity, distribution, application logic, etc.). The suggestions contained in this paper are intended for projects of all sizes, even one-memberprojects and you are encouraged to try these suggestions, little by little in your daily work and in yourcurrent projects. There is nothing magic (or evil) in project management, just the attempt to organizeour work better in order to get to the project goal with a smaller effort. Do not wait for a big project tomanage: before driving a bus filled with fifty people, your are expected to be able at least to drive yourown car!2. WHAT IS A PROJECT?All companies or even individuals and, more in general, all organizations perform on-going activitiesthat are there to create products or to provide services that are the reason for their business. While theseorganizations keep performing the same regular operations, producing the same products and providingthe same services, they do not engage in any project. A “project” is synonymous of “change” in theseregular trends in an organization. Projects are launched to start new activities, produce new artifacts or improve the current products andservices. Projects are temporary organizations created to achieve a precise common goal. Theytypically involve people(who), resources(what) and tasks(how) to perform to achieve the defined goal(why).Examples of projects are: building a HEP experiment, preparing a talk for the CSC, a holidaytrip, creating a new software application, etc. On the contrary, activities like running an HEPexperiment or research activities are not projects. Research activities are not projects in themselves,they can be defined in term of projects but the research part, as such, is not a project. 2.1 Project and product lifetimeA project is a temporary organization even if it creates a new product/service that will continue wellbeyond the life of the project. The separation between the phases in Fig. 1 must not be taken as being“carved in stone”. In fact, changes to the definition of the product can always be done, even after thestart on the project, but they must be controlled with predefined procedures and with a clearunderstanding of their cost. But these phases must exist in order not to proceed to the development of the product in aconfused and uncontrolled way. Before a project is started the product must be studied in detail and while the details becomeclearer a “project plan” can be conceived (Fig. 1).Fig. 1 Difference between project and product lifetime. The product study is the crucial part of the definition of the product: if it is too imprecise theproject will be under constant rescheduling and change, if it is too long the project will start too late andno changes will be possible. Once the plan is detailed enough and the “project life” starts, then theleading and scheduling activities take place for the whole life of the project. When the project ends, the“product life” starts and activities such as support and maintenance start. They are not part of theproject, their definition can be one of the project tasks (or of other projects) but their execution is not inthe project. 2.2 Project and product management rolesThe product and the project have also very different management aspects. Figure 2 shows therelationships among the individuals (or organization bodies) from the launch until the execution of aproject. Fig. 2 Project management roles. The “product owner” is the one that wants the product and s/he decides if the product is worthbuilding by studying three factors such as: the costs involved, the value of the product and the risk thatdefinition planning leading scheduling support PRODUCT LIFE PROJECT LIFE PRODUCT STUDY PROJECT PLAN maintenance project product valueriskcostPRODUCT OWNER PROJECT OWNERPRODUCT MANAGER- requirements- accept planPROJECT LEADER- make plan- assign tasks- leadqualityschedulebudgetthe costs will be greater that the value. When the product is considered worth building the owner willask a “product manager” to define it in detail (like an architect for the building of a house). Togetherthey will contact a “project owner” that will take charge of building the product. The project owner will decide if s/he can build the product in term of the following factors: budgetallocated for the project, schedule for the production and quality required by the client. If thedevelopment of the project is convenient for the owner s/he will appoint a “project manager” that willdefine and lead the project. The project manager will discuss a project plan with the product managerfor the aspects concerning the product (quality, features, etc.) and with the project owner for theresources (people, equipment, budget, etc.). 3. PROJECT SCHEDULINGThe project scheduling activities have one unique purpose: the definition of the “project alignment” ofthe tasks to perform. In order to do this the project manager receives or has defined previously:•  the tasks to perform and their dependencies (order, priorities, etc.);•  the resources available and their constraints (other commitments, holidays, etc.).As result of the scheduling activity the project manager must produce:•  the project time table •  the assignments of the resources.Fig. 3 Project alignment without and with the resources alignment.A graphic representation of a project plan is usually a Gantt chart (see [1]) that distributes the tasks overtime and assigns the resources to the tasks. The constraints of the resources are very important for thecorrect scheduling of the project tasks. In Fig. 3, for instance, the dependency between tasks wouldallow the execution of a task (“taskA”) at an earlier time but the need to have the resources available(“rsr2” and “rsr3”) forces the task execution to a later moment.Fig. 4 Project target date ignoring and considering resources constraints.After the definition of the plan (Fig. 4) if the delivery date is:•  in the “go area” then the delivery date is after the date resulting from the scheduling; in thiscase the resources allocated are sufficient; •  in the “warning area” it means that with the resources constraints it is not possible to respectthe delivery date; but with more resources the goal is achievable; rsrc1rsrc2rsrc3rsrc1rsrc2rsrc3taskAtaskAstop area warning area go areatimetable IGNORING resources constraintstimetable CONSIDERING resources constraints•  in the “stop area”, where only the dependency of the tasks are considered, then there is nochance of achieving the success of the project: the goal must be reduced.4. PROJECT TRACKINGThe project tracking is the activity of the project manager in which s/he follows the project in order totake actions, if they are needed. Tracking means to:•  collect the data of the project; •  see what has been performed and has still to be performed; •  produce a progress status report periodically; •  estimate the time to complete and take the necessary actions if this time is beyond thescheduled delivery date. 4.1 Project progressThe progress status must be calculated for each task. There are three types of progress that can becalculated: technical progress (produced/total units), effort progress (actual/estimated effort), durationprogress (actual/estimated duration). The technical progress is the one that allows the tracking of theproject, for this reason it is necessary to find the right units to measure each task (product units, parts ofproduct, dollars spent, etc.) and to define as many milestones as possible. Milestones are mandatory forreal tracking. The effort and the duration progress allow the project manager to judge: how did s/hecorrectly estimate the effort needed, in terms of resources or of time needed. The global completion of the project is then derived from the weighted combination of theprogress (pr1, pr2, pr3, etc.) of the individual tasks. Usually the weight (w1, w2, w3, etc.) is based onimportance, complexity or budget of each task (total progress = pr1 w1 + pr2 w2 + pr3 w3 + etc.).4.2 The Milestone Trend ChartThe Milestone Trend Chart (MTC) in Fig. 5 displays the periodical recalculations of the milestonescompared with the initial estimates and shows the trend of the project (the milestones are met whenthey “cross” the diagonal line on the chart) and the accuracy of the estimates (if the milestones do notmove vertically on the chart).5. PROJECT PLANNINGScheduling and tracking are activities that can be performed only after a project plan has beenspecified. A plan is not a wishful prediction, it is a plan accepted by all parties involved in themanagement of the project and of the product. With a plan one will, especially at the beginning, fail by30-40%; without a plan one will not get the product at all, one will not get the product desired and notwithin the budget one was supposed to spend.5.1 Plan definitionBefore the definition of the plan only the following are known: 1-the initial status: the intention toproceed in the building of the product; 2- the final status: the product that does not yet exist, but hasbeen identified during the requirements phase and the product study. How do you plan how to go from the initial to the final status? •  Do brainstorming, involve the members of the projects, really consider all aspects andpossible problems•  Identify all the details. I really mean it: “think of ALL the details you can imagine!” andfind all deliverables, actions, tasks, internal milestones, training needed, skills required, etc.•  Define the milestones and the actions, then link the milestones with the actions that lead tothem.•  Remove all actions that do not lead to milestones (it can happen, during the brainstormingsolutions are proposed and then discarded).•  Build the network of actions (usually in several graphs like the one in Fig. 6). Fig. 5 The Milestone Trend Chart. Fig. 6 The Milestone-Action network. S 1 2 3S 1 2 3S 1 2 3time t0time t1time t2MilestoneprogressS123S123S123timetime estimateS123launching decisionsystemarchitecturesystem designcomponent 1productioncomponent 1verifiedcomponent 2 verifiedcomponent 3verifiedsystemsintegrationsystem(product)component 2productioncomponent 3productionmilestoneaction6. STRUCTURED PROJECT MANAGEMENTThe structured project management method is proposed by Fergus O’Connell [1] and drives the projectmanager, in human motivation and in project organization, by suggesting the pragmatic and consistentexecution of ten steps. I will briefly go through all the steps described in the book, but this reference isreally worth buying and using daily if you want to be a successful project manager.Step 1. Visualize the goalThis first step is crucial and not obvious: one has to identify the goal as precisely as possible. Alltechniques mentioned previously (brainstorming, daydreaming, etc.) are valid; make a checklist of allthe deliverables. Share your vision with your team, build it with them, make it a common goal.Of course there will be changes! What is important is that these changes are controlled, studied,and their impact must be considered in the project plan. A project plan is always function of fourfactors: functionality, delivery date, effort and quality. Any change in one of these factors influences theothers: for instance one cannot add a feature and keep the other three unchanged, they must be re-evaluated.Step 2. Make a list of the jobs to be doneMake a check list of the tasks to perform and for each of them define: •  resources required (equipment, products, services) and skills required (hiring or training); •  identify the milestones and the tasks, the dependencies among tasks and high-risk tasks; •  write down who is responsible for the task.Two comments: 1- In order to do and maintain this list, use a planning tool, even a bad one isbetter than none. 2- Is this a pain in the neck? You bet, yes it is! But it is in this step that you “decide” ifyour project will succeed or fail!Step 3. There must be one leaderThe leader is not the one that takes the reward for all that happens in the project and talks to the bosses.S/he is the one that is responsible for getting the project done; nothing more (or less) than that. S/he isthe one that measures the pulse of the project and that also give the impetus to the project; the leadermust be a role model for the other project members and must be able to accept full responsibility and beready to share the success of the project. One leader will not ensure success. More that one leader will ensure trouble, fights and surefailure. For this reason make sure that all roles are clear and do not hesitate to delegate part of theproject if you trust the people and if you can make sure that they are adequate leaders of sub-projects.Step 4. Assign people to jobs Each job now has a name and it is defined (step 2). The people in the team need to find their ownprofessional goals in the projects; for this reason you must estimate with them the complexity and thetasks. Make sure they are as committed as you are or that at least they understand that they will benefitfrom participating in the project. Do not forget people’s expectations about training and personaldevelopment (10%), their other commitments and their project management time (10%). Step 5. Manage expectations and allow margins for errors One fact you know for sure: your plan is definitely not right! Therefore add a special task called“contingency” (about 20%); actually mature organizations require this task: it would be crazy to thinkthat we can foresee the future with higher precision. If you cannot add an explicit contingency, thenhide it with specific and slightly cryptic tasks. Contingency can be in any of the four variables (functionality, delivery date, effort and quality)and when you discuss the project really show all the details of your plan and be ready to discuss all thevariables, but do it calmly and with the people that want the product. If you feel that you cannot do theproject with the means that are given to you, the best you can do is to state it, explain your reasons andsee if you can reduce the features expected in the product. Step 6. Appropriate leadership styleUse an appropriate leadership style. This means that you must be the model of behavior for themembers, reduce meetings to the strict necessary and deal with individual problems in private. Followpeople closely only if necessary but give more and more freedom when you trust them, acknowledgetheir goals and that you care about them as much as you expect them to care about the project. Step 7. Know what it going onBe always informed of what happens inside and around your project: you must know it before it spreadsin the project team. Good signs are fun, common vision, few crises, and external positive feedback. Badsigns are low morale and personal clashes, external rumours, missed milestones or forgotten tasksshowing up.Step 8. Tell people what is going onPrepare regularly a status report and at least answer these questions: Is the project on schedule? Hasanything new been added? What actions and changes have been performed?Inform the people inside the project via a detailed status report, They must know exactly what isgoing on, why changes take place and what problems arise. In this way they will feel you trust them andyou will often receive useful suggestions and solutions from them.Inform the people outside the project. Provide them with a clear summary and do not hidechanges or problems, they will find out anyway from rumours or missed deliveries. If you inform themyou will be judged as being a responsible project manager, if you hide things now you are looking forbigger problems later, when it will be too late. Step 9. Repeat steps 1 to 8How often do you perform the previous steps? Every month? Every week? Every day? Yes, everymonth, every week and every day!You are always checking milestones, looking ahead for problems, refining the job lists, followingthe morale of the team and so on. Software engineering is still a very young engineering field andcannot be compared, for instance, with civil engineering where there are formulas to calculate how longit takes to build a wall of a given size or to put a pillar in place. For this reason we need to follow ourproject always and very closely.Step 10. The prize: the goal is achieved! Here the project ends. But not your work. You have to recollect all your memory and data in adocument. You must trace what went right and what went wrong. What surprises occurred? How muchcontingency did you use? Were people expectations achieved? Were your customers satisfied? Whatdid you learn? And one question that is the most important for me: “would these people still work withme in my next project?”. 7. CONCLUSIONS This was a quick overview of the technical and human aspects involved in project management. Try thesuggestions above in your current project (even if you are the only project resource!). Define carefullyyour project goal and plan, schedule your work, track your progress and keep track of the project status.Make the effort of trying some of the ten steps, you will greatly benefit from them. 8. RECOMMENDED READING[1] F. O’Connell, How to Run Successful Projects II- the Silver Bullet. Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-239856-7.[2] R.J. Graham, R.L.Englund. Creating an Environment for Successful Projects.Jossey Bass, ISBN 0-7879-0359-0.[3] M.W.Drafke, S. Kossen. The Human Side of Organizations.Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-321-01405-7.

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