LM6-CH4 PP

What are the three main targets of project resource planning?

Human Resources

Methodologies & Processes

Tools and Equipment

Project resource planning includes 3 main targets: [blank], [blank], [blank].

Human Resources; Methodologies & Processes; Tools and Equipment

Why should all three resource types be merged?

To form a single combined resources plan.

Who are the most important resource?

Team members.

Skilled people must be viewed as “____________]”.

human capital

During planning, what do Software Managers focus on?

The recruiting effort and timing of hiring the appropriate people.

What characteristics do the people need to successfully complete the project?

Required technical skills, experience, non-technical skills, temperament and personal traits.

If suitable recruits can’t be found, what relief may be sought?

Schedule relief, functional content reduction, or staged releases.

How much time should be added for onboarding recruits?

An extra month or so.

T/F: Temporary employees are often hired for their immediate technical skills and not their employee retention and career development potential.

TRUE

What does Table 4.1 (skills description) not include?

The timing at which resources are acquired or used.

What distinguishes direct vs indirect project activities?

Direct lead to customer deliverables; indirect do not.

What does a human resource plan matrix indicate?

Availability of needed skills at the appropriate time.

What does a people hiring matrix show?

Each human resource and the time period associated (including assimilation time); usually in the form of a bar chart

T/F: Management should monitor the morale of employees and ensure personal growth.

TRUE

Why avoid hiring at top of compensation range?

To allow raises without requiring a promotion.

Define Software Development Process

An ordered set of defined activities for defining requirements, designing, coding, and release.

Define Software Methodology

A set of rules and principles to achieve a specific goal and accomplish a specific task.

Process vs Methodology

Processes define what; methodologies specify how.

T/F: Processes are more stable, structural: they define what needs to be done; methodologies specify how the steps in a process are to be carried out.

TRUE

Why ensure team understands methodologies?

To decrease methodology wars, missed deadlines, and poor quality.

How do we determine many people are needed to complete the project?

• Consider each person’s responsibility

• Start with the initial estimate and assumption for each major task listed.

What can lack of well-understood methods cause?

Missing schedules, poor quality, demoralized teams, failures.

T/F: Many project failures have occurred when the confusion created by a lack of well-understood processes and methodologies resulting in missing schedules, poor product quality, demoralized teams, etc.

TRUE

List the SDLC phases used in planning.

Requirements processing; Design; Implementation and programming; Testing; Product release.

T/F: Project manager will determine the overall process in some form of all the SDLC phases: Requirements processing, Design, Implementation and programming, Testing, Product release.

TRUE

What must the project plan describe about SDLC activities?

Which of and how much are part of the specific project.

When is no requirements process needed?

When the project is well-defined and specifications are already reviewed and signed off.

If not well-defined, what must be established for requirements?

How requirements will be gathered, documented, reviewed, and agreed upon.

What should requirements processes include?

Management of changes and modifications; education on process and methodology.

What are candidate design process activities?

Architectural, high-level, and low-level design, analysis, review, change/impact management.

What must accompany each design activity?

A well-defined methodology and education plan.

What should implementation planning include beyond coding?

Documentation, standards, reuse management, reviews, unit testing.

T/F: In addition to code development, should include document and publication development activities.

TRUE

T/F: Standards of acquired material should match that of project’s definition.

TRUE

Why is integration of acquired software hard?

It is both a management and a technical issue.

What does test process planning include?

May not include methodology but overall test process, tools, skills, schedule; test types, owners, and order.

Define test scenario.

A description of interactions between system and external agent to accomplish a task/goal.

Define test case.

A description of a specific interaction with defined inputs and expected outputs; developed from a scenario.

Define test script.

A test case written in a language used directly by a test tool.

What activities are in product release planning?

Integration, packaging, installation; order, release, shipment management in addition to install mechanism if not predefined.

If install mechanism not in requirements, then what?

It must be specified during product release planning.

What are key cross-functional processes?

Configuration management; Outsourcing/Procurement; Quality assurance; Change management; Reporting/Escalation.

Define Configuration Management

Discipline of systematically managing changes to software artifacts.

Define Project Change Management

Structured process for managing changes to scope, schedule, budget, or objectives.

When are tools identified and prepared?

Once process and methodology are defined; should include training and installation.

T/F: Once the process and methodology are defined, tools are identified, prepared, and selected to help the team follow through efficiently.

TRUE

List common hardware resources.

Desktop computer, servers, printers, network equipment.

List common software platform resources.

Operating systems, database systems, middleware systems, browsers.

List categories of project tools.

Development, requirements, design, documentation, test, support, management & general.

T/F: Processes & Methodologies must be planned for an included as a resource.

TRUE

Define Intellectual Capital

Knowledge that is considered an asset and ultimately has financial value.

T/F: The more time and effort spent on planning, the more likely the rest of the project will flow smoothly.

TRUE

What do required resources depend on?

Deliverables, tasks, schedule, and project goals identified in a comprehensive resources plan.

T/F: Required resources depend on: deliverables, tasks, schedule, and project goals.

TRUE

What does a combined resource matrix exhibit?

Phases, requirements, design, implementation, testing, release, and support plans.

Define outsourcing vs insourcing.

Outsourcing: moving work to external sources; Insourcing: bringing external human resources to perform work.

What should a remote management plan consider?

Extra network/communications, added methodologies/processes, a leader with remote expertise, travel/meeting policies.

T/F: Tool usage preparation (training, installation) is part of ensuring the methodology can be followed.

TRUE

What is the best understood phase of process planning?

Implementation & Programming

Software Development Process Characteristics

• The steps to accomplish project‐oriented goal; often broken down into subprocesses.

• Activities chosen during the planning phase are revisited and properly positioned in the organizing/preparing phases.

• Activities become more stable, structural: they define what needs to be done, in general.

• Includes definitions of roles, subprocesses, process flow, process maps, configuration management.

Software Methodology Characteristics

Each phase of the SDLC has:

• Defined how requirements processes or design, implementation, and testing will proceed

• Typically, not fully specified in the project plan up front; are defined, specified, and introduced to the team during the organizing/preparing phase.

• Sometimes tailored to the project.

• Provide guidance for how to implement processes: standards, practices, sometimes templates, quality criteria, etc.

Why must team members understand project methodologies?

To decrease the chance for methodology wars, missing project deadlines, and producing poor quality software. 

Examples of Soft Skills / Personal Traits

• Ambition

• Level of Commitment

• Communication skills

• Amount of and type of group experience

• Sense of Urgency

• Level of Energy

• Biases

• Non-Project Interests

• Non-Project Commitments

• Organizational Capability

• Maze Brightness

What is the target of Human Resources during project resource planning?

To focus on types and number of skilled people both directly / indirectly applied to development and support

What is the target of Methodologies & Processes during project resource planning?

To ensure each SDLC phase is viewed as a process and methodologies are defined, agreed to, documented, and disseminated.

What is the target of Tools & Equipment during project resource planning?

To specify the project tools and who will use which tool