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by Karl E Wiegers
Practical Project Initiation: A Handbook with Tools
Practical Project Initiation: A Handbook with Tools
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Preface
Acknowledgments
I. Project Management Fundamentals
1. A Project Management Primer
Set Your Priorities
Analyze Your Skills Gaps
Define "Quality"
Recognize Progress
Learn from the Past
Set Improvement Goals
Start Slowly
Practice Activities
2. Project Management Good Practices
Laying the Foundation
Practice #1: Define Project Success Criteria
Practice #2: Identify Project Drivers, Constraints, and Degrees of Freedom
Practice #3: Define Product Release Criteria
Practice #4: Negotiate Achievable Commitments
Planning the Project
Practice #5: Write a Plan
Practice #6: Decompose Tasks to Inch-Pebble Granularity
Practice #7: Develop Planning Worksheets for Common Large Tasks
Practice #8: Plan to Do Rework After a Quality Control Activity
Practice #9: Manage Project Risks
Practice #10: Plan Time for Process Improvement
Practice #11: Respect the Learning Curve
Estimating the Work
Practice #12: Estimate Based on Effort, not Calendar Time
Practice #13: Don’t Over-Schedule Multitasking People
Practice #14: Build Training Time into the Schedule
Practice #15: Record Estimates and How You Derived Them
Practice #16: Use Estimation Tools
Practice #17: Plan Contingency Buffers
Tracking Your Progress
Practice #18: Record Actuals and Estimates
Practice #19: Count Tasks as Complete Only When They’re 100 Percent Complete
Practice #20: Track Project Status Openly and Honestly
Learning for the Future
Practice #21: Conduct Project Retrospectives
Practice Activities
3. Just Too Much to Do
Background
Constructing the Model
Using the Model
Practice Activities
II. Preparing for Success
4. Success Criteria Breed Success
Step 1: Define Business Objectives
Step 2: Identify Stakeholders and Their Interests
Step 3: Identify Project Constraints
Step 4: Derive Project Success Criteria
Practice Activities
5. Are We There Yet?
How Do You Know When You’re Done?
Possible Release Criteria
Defects
Testing
Quality Attributes
Functionality
Configuration Management
Support
Precise Release Criteria with Planguage
Marketplace Expectations
Making the Call
Practice Activities
6. Know Your Enemy: Introduction to Risk Management
What Is Risk?
Why Manage Risks Formally?
Typical Software Risks
Dependencies
Requirements Issues
Management Issues
Lack of Knowledge
Outsourcing
Risk Management Components
Risk Assessment
Risk Avoidance
Risk Control
Documenting Risks
Risk Tracking
Risk Management Can Be Your Friend
Learning from the Past
Practice Activities
7. Chartering a Course for Success
Why Charter?
What a Charter Is Not
What Goes in the Charter?
Project Description
Business Objectives and Success Criteria
Stakeholders
Vision
Scope
Assumptions and Dependencies
Constraints
Milestones
Business Risks
Resources
Approving the Charter
Using the Charter
Practice Activities
8. Lessons Learned from Tool Adoption
General Lessons for Tool Adoption
Lessons from CASE Tool Adoption
Fitting Tools into Your Culture
Practice Activities
III. Living with Reality
9. Negotiating Achievable Commitments
Making Project Commitments
Negotiating Commitments
Separate the People from the Problem
Focus on Interests, Not Positions
Invent Options for Mutual Gain
Insist on Using Objective Criteria
Documenting Commitments
Modifying Commitments
Your Personal Commitment Ethic
Practice Activities
10. Saving for a Rainy Day
Selling the Skeptics
Send in the Reserves
How Big Is Your Buffer?
Critical Chain Project Management
Practice Activities
11. Stop Promising Miracles
Wideband Delphi
Planning
Kickoff Meeting
Individual Preparation
Estimation Meeting
Assemble Tasks
Review Results
Completing the Estimation
Wideband Delphi Evaluated
Practice Activities
IV. Measuring What Happens
12. A Software Metrics Primer
Why Measure Software
What to Measure
Creating a Measurement Culture
Make It a Habit
Tips for Metrics Success
Start Small
Explain Why
Share the Data
Define Data Items and Procedures
Understand Trends
Practice Activities
13. Metrics Traps to Avoid
Trap #1: Lack of Management Commitment
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #2: Measuring Too Much, Too Soon
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #3: Measuring Too Little, Too Late
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #4: Measuring the Wrong Things
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #5: Imprecise Metrics Definitions
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #6: Using Metrics Data to Evaluate Individuals
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #7: Using Metrics to Motivate, Rather Than to Understand
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #8: Collecting Data That Isn’t Used
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #9: Lack of Communication and Training
Symptoms
Solutions
Trap #10: Misinterpreting Metrics Data
Symptoms
Solutions
Practice Activities
V. Learning Continuously
14. Learning from Experience
Best Practices
Worst Practices
Lessons Learned
Practice Activities
15. Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Retrospective Defined
The Retrospective Process
Planning
Kickoff
Information Gathering
Issue Prioritization
Issue Analysis
Results Reporting
Retrospective Success Factors
Define Your Objectives
Use a Skilled and Impartial Facilitator
Engage the Right Participants
Prepare the Participants
Focus on the Facts
Protect Privacy
Identify the Action Plan Owner
Action Planning
Practice Activities
References
A. About the Author
Index
About the Author
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