Tuesday, 28 November 2006


Project Management Methodologies


Modern thinking leads systems developers to have a plan of their project, so that various phases can be identified and dealt with in an orderly and effective manner. There has been written criticism in the I.S. literature of planning as stifling innovative project work. Research has been carried into a number of "methodologies" for developing computer systems and over 30 of these are listed below. Some are developed "in-house" by companies for their own environment and are considered to be Commercial-in-Confidence releasing little information into the public domain. Others are developed commercially and require a licence fee before more information is released.

Methodologies - Project Management

PROMPT

Project Resource Organisation Management & Planning Techniques

A project management framework developed originally by the Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA - the civil service technical branch) in response to an outcry that computer projects were over-running on time estimated for completion and initial budgets as set in the Feasibility Study. Factors of double, treble and even ten-times were experienced. PROMPT was an attempt to set down guidelines for the stage flow through a computer project as follows:

  • Feasibility Study - to determine whether the project should be done/can be done/will work if it is done.
  • Initial Stage - where the project organisation is set up.
  • Specification Stage - in which the user specification was detailed.
  • Design Stage - where the logical and from this the physical design of the computer system was designed in detail.
  • Development Stage - The system is built and tested.
  • Installation Stage - The user accepts (hopefully) a working system.
  • Operation Stage - when the system is tuned for the work in hand.

This lead onto the development of

PRINCE

PRojects IN Controlled Environments:

Produced in 1989 by the Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) a government agency for the development and implementation of IS/IT projects.

The main features are:

  • A defined management structure.
  • A system of plans for resourcing and technical issues.
  • A set of control procedures
  • A focus on products - deliverables to the customer and project deliverables for the management of the project.

A feature in the original PRINCE methodology not seen in other methodologies was the concept of "assuring progress" from three separate but linked perspectives.

  • Business Assurance Co-ordinator known as the BAC whose function is to monitor that the project is in line with the business mission of the company, and to report back at progress meetings. This assures that the project stays in the best interests of the company and other work in other projects.
  • Technical Assurance Co-ordinator who monitors the technical aspects of the project and assures that it does not get into technical difficulties.
  • User Assurance Co-ordinator who represents the eventual user. Notice that this is done all through the project and not left (as in days gone by) to the last minute after software has been developed and hardware purchased.

All in all a sensible and workable system.

However, the PRINCE methodology developed a reputation as being too unwieldy, too rigid and applicable only to large projects. In our experience this method can and should be adapted to the company culture and project in hand, and has been used on a variety of projects, right down to single-person projects. It can work to the great advantage of managing a project, but equally people can misuse it to draw opposite conclusions. It is true that a few determined people can persuade the majority away from PRINCE.

PRINCE 2

    An upgrade to PRINCE was deemed to be in order and the development was contracted out but assured by (virtual) committee spread among a large user community. The BAC, TAC and UAC were removed in the official version, but we firmly believe that these as valuable functions and usually still include them in our project work. Most companies who adopt a PRINCE approach to project management adapt the methodology to their commercial environment and use those parts of PRINCE which "work for them". This is quite acceptable as the puritanical days of sticking rigidly to a method are seen now as undesirable and unnecessary.

    Originally developed for IT projects to minimise cost and time over-runs, now in a second revision has been made more generic for any projects in controlled environments.

    Useful web sites for PRINCE 2

    NB These links were correct as of 6 December 2005








  • PRINCE 2 Users' Group new PRINCE Users’ Group website
  • http://www.prince2.com training resources for PRINCE 2
  • http://www.apmgroup.co.uk the Assocition of Project Managers in UK
  • http://www.bcs.org/BCS/Groups/SpecialistGroups/NtoP/ProjectManagement/default.htm the Project Management Specialist Group in the UK (PROMS-G)
  • http://www.pmi.org/ the Project Managament Institute
  • http://www.spoce.com a resource for PRINCE 2
  • http://www.noggon.com/p2 another resource for PRINCE 2

PRINCE2

Projects bring together resources, skills, technology and ideas to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. Good project management helps to ensure that risks are identified and managed appropriately, and objectives and benefits are achieved within budget, within time and to the required quality.

PRINCE2 is recognised as a world-class international product and is the standard method for project management, not least because it embodies many years of good practice in project management and provides a flexible and adaptable approach to suit all projects. It is a project management method designed to provide a framework covering the wide variety of disciplines and activities required within a project. The focus throughout PRINCE2 is on the Business Case, which describes the rationale and business justification for the project. The Business Case drives all the project management processes, from initial project set-up through to successful finish.

Many organisations are employing the skills and services of external suppliers, working alongside in-house resources, to enhance their ability to deliver successful projects. PRINCE2 provides a mechanism to harness these resources and enable the team to integrate and work together effectively on a project.

Overview

PRINCE is a generic, tailorable, simple to follow project management method. It covers how to organise, manage and control your projects. It is aimed at enabling you to successfully deliver the right products, on time and within budget. As a Project manager you can apply the principles of PRINCE2 and the associated training to any type of project. It will help you to manage risk, control quality and change effectively, as well as make the most of challenging situations and opportunities that arise within a project.

  • A PRINCE2 project has the following characteristics:
  • A finite and defined life cycle
  • Defined and measurable business products
  • A corresponding set of activities to achieve the business products
  • A defined amount of resources
  • An organisation structure, with defined responsibilities, to manage the project.

PRINCE2 does not cover all aspects of project management. Certain aspects of project management (such as leadership and people management skills, detailed coverage of project management tools and techniques) are well covered by other existing and proven methods and are therefore excluded from PRINCE2.

Return to list of methodologies


IDEAL

  • Initiation
    1. Set context
    2. Build sponsorship/support
    3. Character infrastructure
  • Diagnostics
    1. Characterise current and desired states
    2. Develop recommendations
  • Establishing
    1. Set priorities
    2. Develop approach
    3. Plan actions
  • Action
    1. Create solution
    2. Pilot and test solution
    3. refine solution
    4. Improve solution
  • Learning
    1. Analyse and validate
    2. Propose future actions

Web site: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/ideal/

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BPMM

BATES Project Management Methodology

5 major planning steps as follows:

  • Project charter
  • WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
  • Work package plan
  • Project schedule
  • Project budget

Web site: http://www.bates.ca/

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Prodigy

Prescribing RatiOnally with Decision-support In General practice studY

Relating to the National Health Service and medical industry. Project management group consists of who are responsible for strategy

  • Project manager
  • Project team leader
  • PMO from the NHS Executive
  • Branch head from NHS Executive
  • SMO from NHS Executive
  • Branch head from NHS Executive

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5 STEPS

5 Steps To Ensure Project Success

5-STEPS is a structured methodology designed to assist individual project teams deliver the project on time within budget. The focus is on developing a realistic schedule for a project and then managing it.

Each step must be validated by all participants before moving to the next step.

The 5 steps are executed sequentially in this order:

  • Organise the project.
  • Structure the process model.
  • Set reasonable objectives.
  • Gain commitment.
  • Manage the project.

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SUPRA

The framework for SUPRA is similar to PRINCE and consists of the following:

  • Project organisation structure - which is broken down into:
    • Overall project level
    • Workpackage level
  • Technical plan.
  • Project monitoring and control.
  • Quality assurance.
  • Document management.

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Chestra ®

Siemens Business Services Methodology Framework

Chestra Characteristics
Chestra is a Methodology Framework for the development of integrated business solutions. The Chestra Framework covers all phases of system development. For each phase, Chestra describes:

  • a process, i.e. the activities to be performed
  • work products to be created, i.e. the produced results
  • roles, i.e. the profile and responsibilities of those who perform activities
  • tools and techniques used for ensuring quality and productivity.

The following characteristics describe Chestra:

A Business-Process-Driven Approach
Chestra claims to treat the enterprise as the sum of its business processes. The enterprise performance goals are translated into business process performance goals and the primary objective of the business process design is to change the business processes until they are able to achieve their performance goals. Then change in the domains of organization, location, application, data and technology can serve to make the business processes possible.

Communication and Partnership
Chestra encourages a cooperative partnership between developer and user by active user participation at almost every step and by maintaining consensus on a daily basis.

Anticipation of Change
The business environment and user requirements are continually changing. By focusing on broad architectures and leaving the definition of detailed requirements until the application and system design process, thereby shortening the time interval between requirements definition and delivery, Chestra delivers systems that more closely meet the user's needs on the day the systems are delivered.

Model-Based Development
Model views are created for:

  • Business Enterprise
  • Business Process
  • Location
  • Organization
  • Application
  • Data
  • Technology

Pragmatic, Results-Oriented Methods
Chestra is designed not to conform to academic theories, but to work in practice. It seeks and employs methods that get results. Any activity or work product that is unnecessary to developing business solutions will be eliminated.

Chestra Phases

  • Vision and Strategy Phase
  • Architecture Phase
  • Development Phase
  • Integration Phase
  • Deployment Phase

Other elements of Chestra:

  • Chestra Proposal Management
  • Chestra Project Management

Further details may be found at: http://www.sbs.siemens.com.au/chestra.html

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AIS

Administrative Information System

This Project Management Methodology consists of 7 components:

  • Project organisational structure.
  • Process.
  • Activities.
  • Prioritisation.
  • Resource management.
  • Change management.
  • Documentation.

Return to list of methodologies

Method123

Try this useful link which explains all there is to know about Method123;

Return to list of methodologies

Project Management Scalable Methodology

  • Integration.
  • Scope.
  • Cost.
  • Time.
  • Quality.
  • Risk.
  • Communications.
  • Human resources.
  • Procurement.
  • Multi-project overview.

Return to list of methodologies

SDPP

Schedule Driven Project Planning

RDPP

Resource Driven Project Planning

MITP

Managing the Implementation for the Total Project

  • An IBM method, part of WSDDM - World-wide Solution Design and Delivery Method

COST

Customer Ownership System Teamwork

CALS

Continuous Acquisition Life-cycle System

  • Used in Government defence departments

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Methodologies - Development Processes

There are other methods and methodologies which deal more with the actual development processes in the project. Some have been found to revolve around software development while others centre on systems analysis. Here are a few examples:

DSDM

Dynamic System Development Methodology

NIAM

Nijssen Information Analysis Method

A method to perform information analysis using explicitly a specific abstraction cycle and implicitly a decision cycle & life control cycle; but is not considered a comprehensive IS design methodology.

REMORA

A design method with explicit abstraction and control cycles and implicit decision cycles. It provides
a set of concepts, method rules and tools to define, describe and validate a complete design product.

CIAM

Conceptual Information Analysis Method

ISAC

I S. work & Analysis of Change

USE

User Software Engineering Methodology


ISDM

I.S. Design Methodology

ACM

Active Component Modelling

PCM

Passive Component Modelling

CRIS

Comparative Review of Information Systems

Set up under the IFIP (International Federation of Information Processing) WG8.1 (Working Group to look into the design and evaluation of I.S.)

[WG8.2 is concerned with the relationships and interactions between I.S. , I.T. , Organisations, & Society]

SSADM

Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology

A data driven method developed by Learmonth & Burchett Management Systems (LBMS) from an initiative in the government department of CCTA. Variants are ISDM and LSDM. This is widely used for civilian and military government IS/IT projects.

JSD

Jackson System Development

From Michael Jackson's Structured programming method 1983. A proprietary structured method for analysis and design of data processing systems and real-time systems

STRADIS

STRuctured Analysis, Design and Implementation of information Systems

(notice that the "I" stands for "Implementation")

See Structured Systems Analysis (Gane and Sarson, 1979)

I.E.

Information Engineering

A term first used by Clive Finkelstein to describe a data modelling methodology that he developed in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

This term has been developed by a number of well intentioned practitioners and theoreticians and this has led to confusion as to precisely what it now means. This is a tolerable situation when we consider that any method or methodology will be interpreted differently by every user.
This led on to...

D2S2

Systems Development in a Shared Data environment.

Formerly the CACI methodology.

ETHICS

Effective Technical Human Implementation of Computer-based Systems

This started with socio-technical analysis, objectives and organisational design: to elicit requirements and look at roles.

Theory:

  • Stafford Beer - viable systems model
  • Ross Ashby - law of requisite variety
  • Tavistock - socio-technical group research. Essentially action research in organisational design, working to help companies in industry involve their users in their designs.

References:

  • MUMFORD, E., Effective Systems Design & Requirements Engineering: The ETHICS Approach, ISBN 0-333-63908-1
  • MUMFORD, E., Ethical Tools for Ethical Change, ISBN 0-333-66946-0
  • MUMFORD,E., Tools for Change and Progress: A Socio-Technical Approach to Business Process, ISBN 90-75198-0109

Why Projects fail

Research has shown that influential reasons for projects perceived as failing are:

  • Initial estimates of time and costs were taken by management as rigid and fixed. People dod not appear to realize that estimates at the outset of a project are based on very little reliable information and as more information becomes available during progree of the project the plans need to be updated in line with reality. However, plans are not revised as more information becomes available with project progress and the original out-of-date estimates are adhered to.
  • Plans are not used correctly and effectively, that is to say updated as a project progresses and used to guide the project.
  • Project managers are not trained to acquire the necessary skill-base, subsequently the same mistakes are made over and over again.
  • The theory of project management is not taken up and put into practice. This last point can be seen in the attitude of many managers who view theory as a waste of time - and yet time has to be found to repair faults later in the programme of work.

Useful Web Sites

Here is a list of useful Project Management Methodologies www Sites

NB These links were correct as of 6th December 2005

Links for Prince are at the end of the section about Prince

Books and Texts

Of use to Project Managers and students of Project Management

  • Avison , D.E., and Fitzgerald, G., 1995, Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools, (2nd edition), McGraw-Hill, 0-07-709233-3, pp.205-211.
  • Blanchard, K.M., 1983, The One Minute Manager, London, Fontana.
  • Buttrick, R., 2000, The Interactive Project Workout: reap rewards from all your business projects, (2nd Edition), Prentice Hall.
  • Chapman, J.R., 1997, Project Management Scaleability Methodology Guide.
  • Duncan, W.,1997, A Guide to the PMBOK, PMI, USA.
  • Harrison, F.L., 1992, Advanced Project Management, Gower, 0-566-09100-3.
  • Hughes, B. and Cotterell, M., 2002, Software Project Management, (3rd Edition), London, McGraw-Hill.
  • Hughes, B. (Ed.), Ireland, R.,West, B., Smith, N. and Shepherd, D.I., 2004, Project Management for IT Related Projects, , UK, British Computer Society, ISBN 1-902505-58-1.
  • Hussain, D.S. and Hussain, K.M., 1991, Information Systems for Business, New York, Prentice Hall.
  • Kliem, R.L., 1993, The Noah Project: the secrets of practical project management, Aldershot, Gower.
  • Johns, T., 1995, The PM Method, http://www.mce.be/article/projman.html
  • Lock, D., 2000, Project Management, (7th Edition), Gower.
  • McDermid, D.C., 1990, Software Engineering for Information Systems, McGraw-Hill, 0-632-02607-3, Chapter 14, pp.265-303.
  • Nickson,D., and Siddons, S., 1997, Managing Projects, Butterworth-Heinman.
  • Ravel, S., 1996, The Royal Road for Project Control, IDPM, pp.14-15.
  • Turner, P., and Jenkins, T., 1996, Euromethod and Beyond, Thomson Computer Press.
  • Weaver, P., 1998, An Introduction to OPM and 5-STEPS.
  • Yeats, D., and Cadle, J., 1998, Project Management for Information Systems, (2nd Edition), London, Pitman.

Journals

Reference & Management Library

1 The project managerhttp://www.aliscot.com/bigdo
http://www.alwaysimproving.com/Links/performancelinks.htm

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