BIT 2215 PROJECT MANAGEMENT NOTES

System Design and Analysis review:

-SDLC:

1. System Investigation:

Problem Definition

Feasibility study

Fact finding

2. System Analysis

Requirements engineering

Elicitation

Analysis

Specification

Systems analysis tools

Data modeling

Process modeling

3. System Design and Coding

Physical and Logical design

Database development

Coding

4. System testing

Levels of testing, strategies and approaches

5. System Implementation

File conversion

Staff training

Changeover strategies

6. Documentation

Define documentation

Purpose of documentation

Types of documentation

System Analysis Models

These are made up of class diagrams, sequences or collaboration diagrams and statechart

diagrams. Between them they constitute a logical, implementation-free view of the

computer system that includes a detailed definition of every aspect of functionality.

This model defines what the system does-not how it does it;

It defines logical requirements in more details than the use case model, rather than a

physical solution to the requirements;

It leaves out all technology detail, including system topology.

What is a project?

• Sequence or series of tasks/activities that are: have a specific objective to be completed

within certain specifications or organized approach, have defined start and end dates,

have funding limits, consume resources (i.e., money, people, equipment)

Project Resources:

Time; Money; People; Materials; Energy; Space; etc.

The three Project Management Constraints

Time

Scope

Cost.

The Project Management Triple constraints are the keys to quality and success! These three are

interdependent and create quite a balancing act for Project Managers.

The time constraint:- is the amount of time available to complete a project. All projects have

deadlines or end dates. This may be the most difficult constraint to manage.

The cost constraint:- is the budgeted amount available for the project. Remember that cost also

translates to resources – people, equipment, and materials.

The scope constraint is what must be done to produce the project's end result – the system you

need – meeting your requirements!

These three constraints are often competing constraints:

• increased scope typically means increased time and increased cost,

• a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and reduced scope,

• a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope, or managing the project

over a longer period of time to take advantage of various funding opportunities without a

loss of continuity!

The discipline of project management is about providing the tools and techniques that enable the

project team (not just the project manager) to organize their work to meet these constraints.

Types of projects:

They can be Personal, Industrial or business: Examples

• Planning a wedding

• Designing and implementing a computer system

• Hosting a holiday party

• Designing and producing a brochure

• Executing an environmental clean-up of a contaminated site

• Holding a high school reunion

• Performing a series of surgeries on an accident victim

Who uses Project Management?

Nearly Everyone to some degree

People plan their Days, their Weeks, their Vacations and their Budgets and keep a simple

project management form known as ‘’To Do’’ list

Any Process or Means used to track tasks or efforts towards accomplishing a goal

could be considered Project Management

Terminologies

Authority: Power assigned to persons to make decisions others have to follow

Duties: Tasks a person has to take care for to fulfill effectively their role in the organization of a

project

Responsibility:

Authority granted to someone to enable them carry out the necessary task

Management : is the process of Planning, Organizing, Controlling and Measuring

Activities: in a project should be organised to produce tangible outputs for management to judge progress.Milestones: are the end-point of a process activity.Deliverables: are project results delivered to customers.

What is Project Management?

Project Management - a system of procedures, practices, technologies, and know-how that

provides the planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling necessary to

successfully manage a project by meeting project requirements within defined scope,

quality, time and constraints.

Project Management is not about fear and intimidations to bring immediate results. That is not

the Leadership style that works in project delivery.

4P’s in Project Management Spectrum People Product Process Project

People… …the most important factor in success of software project. “Companies That sensibly manage their investment in people will prosper in the long

run” . Cultivation of motivated and highly skilled software people has always been important

for software organizations. The “people-factor” is so important that has developed People Management Capability

Maturity Model (PM-CMM).

PM-CMM In simple words - to enhance the people’s capabilities through personnel

development Organizations that achieve high levels of maturity in PM-CMM have a higher likelihood

of implementing effective software engineering practices Key Practice Areas of PM-CMM

Recruiting Selection Performance Management Training Compensation Career development Organization and work design Team/culture development

People Involved in Software Process The Stakeholders

They can be categorized into one of the following Senior Managers

they define business issues that often have significant influence on business

Project (technical) managers they must plan, motivate, organize and control the practitioners

who do software work Practitioners

They deliver the technical skills necessary to engineer a product or application

Customers They specify the requirements for the software to be engineered

End Users They interact with the software after it is released for production

use

Process Owner - These are usually the unit or line managers that govern different processes or functions in an organization.

Process Sponsor - Person(s) or group that is the financier. Sometime the Excecutive

Vendor, Supplier, Consultant, Expert -Render services to the software development process either by supplying equipment, giving expert advise, guiding, training, etc

Developers, System analyst, Technical experts - This is the project team.

They own most project tasks

The Product The product and the problem it is intended to solve must be examined at very beginning

of the software project. The scope of product must be established and bounded.

Bounded scope means establishing quantitative data like no. of simultaneous users, max.

allowable response time. etc. Constraints and limitations

Software scope Scope is defined by

Context (1st step in scope determination) Functional location of the software product into a large system, product or

business context. Constraints involved

Information Objectives (2nd step) What data objects are required as i/p or o/p

Function and Performance (3rd step) What function does the software system perform on i/p to produce o/p What level of performance is required?

The ProcessCommon Process Framework Activities:

These characterize a software process and are applicable to all software projects Communication Planning Modeling

Construction Deployment

These are applied to software engineering work tasks (e.g., different product functions)

The Process Models Different process models:

Linear sequential, Prototyping, RAD, Spiral, Formal … Project manager must decide about which model to use depending on

Customers who have requested the product People who would work on project Product characteristics Project environment

Project planning begins once model is selected

Process decomposition The way a process is decomposed depends on project complexity Decomposition involves outlining of work tasks involved in each process framework

activity

The ProjectProject failure is: Not delivering the project on time, within budget, and according to scope. Also

note that failure is an event, never a person!

Why IT Projects fail

Weak business case – is this just a whim or is there a real need for the project? If so,

prove it!

Lack of senior management commitment - Senior management commitment is vital –

these are the decision-makers and hold the purse strings. You have to have their buy-in or

else you set yourself up for failure. Every project has to have a CHAMPION = senior

management sponsor!

Inadequate project planning (budget, schedule, scope, etc.): Inadequate project planning

will always present problems. You have to know what you are doing, why you are doing

it, who’s doing what, when it needs to be done and how much it will cost.

Absence of user involvement: This is a showstopper. The users will be the staff who are

going to live and breathe the system once it’s implemented. You need their expertise and

their buy-in to make the project a success. Leave them out and be ready to meet

resistance to any change you try to implement.

New or unfamiliar technology: This is always a risk. It raises risks and fears. You

always need to manage risks. So, do your homework in your planning phase to make

sure the chosen solution will work for you! You may want to perform a proof of concept

and test it before deciding to move forward into full blown design and development.

Recognize that even if it does work, there are other implications that need to be closely

scrutinized and planned for accordingly – such as training and support. Change is always

scary! It’s just human nature!

Lack of defined, clear or concise requirements: requirements must be defined (no one can

read your mind), clear (what do you really mean), and concise (I want this to do this).

Role/Responsibilities of a project manager

1. PLAN

Identify all stakeholders up front!

Develop the project plan before starting the project

Establish communications protocols- this should be written. Who reports to who,

who carries the message to whom!

Define your requirements in detail

Establish a speedy conflict resolution process- WRITTEN and part of the SOW or

Contract

Make contingency Plans – if things didn’t go wrong you wouldn’t need a PM! A

risk management plan is NOT a contingency plan. Risk is something you

anticipate! Contingency is something you must be ready to react to!

Plan a reasonable roll-out schedule. You are not just putting in a new system –

you are also changing the way you do business and this has a huge impact. Allow

time to deal with it.

2. LEAD

Ensure strong, committed management support

Connect the business goals to the IT project

The Project Manager is responsible for ensuring the work gets done – not DOING

all the work!

Establish clearly defined directions

Be proactive

Give IT and program a seat at the table- this is about OWNERSHIP!

Set clear performance expectations - for the developer, for the project team, for

your stakeholders!

Ask for technical assistance

Do not start roll-out until pilot is complete!

3. COMMUNICATE

DID YOU KNOW THAT PM’s SPEND 90% of their TIME COMMUNICATING??!!

Communicate objectives frequently – keep everyone on the same page!

Recognize different perspectives-Recognize that with the various stakeholders

(program staff, IT, workers, management) come different perspectives that are all

valuable to the project! Listen!! These reflect their concerns and interests.

Repeat them back to make sure you understand!

Check assumptions frequently -Remember those system goals and objectives we

discussed during the alternatives analysis? These need to be reiterated to make

sure assumptions stay consistent and are truly reflective of the business case.

Manage expectations of all stakeholders – need to be realistic and match the

actual work involved. Sometimes states think this will solve all your problems –

save time, money, staff, etc. These expectations, if overblown, can cause

problems. Be very honest about what the new system will or will NOT do. Don’t

give false expectations. Remember change brings a fear factor with it. Assuage

fears. Encourage success.

Share success and broadcast achievements: Broadcast achievements throughout

the project – newsletters, e-mails, announcements at meetings – too often we only

hear about the problems – theres need to hear the good as well! Use on-line

forums or even a project blog.

Invite feedback from all stakeholders throughout the project! Good or bad! Be

ready to manage it!

KEY POINT!!! A Project Manager has to be willing and able to tell the truth to

power! Remember PM’s should be empowered and this includes being the

messenger to the senior managers – the project champions!

4. MANAGE

Ensure the system design reflects sound planning: i. e. Ensure that the system design

reflects the system that you need and you can afford using your budget at this point in

time!

Hold the reins on irrational exuberance! Don’t let your project team or stakeholders

be blinded by the lights and just jump on the latest and great technology going! We’ve

all seen those “bright idea” moments whether it is in requirements definition or in

design sessions. Excitement is wonderful but we’ve all been in those sessions where

we get carried away. This can lead to adding expensive tweaks and functions that end

up causing scope creep and affecting the budget and the schedule. MANAGING

THE TRIPLE CONSTRAINTS! Don’t let your project get out of hand! If you are

going to increase scope, do it knowingly! Keep an eye on that requirements

traceability matrix!! Some of these “bright ideas” may need to become options or go

on your wish/enhancement list!

Train all staff in a timely fashion- Remember the “Getting to Go Live” session!!

Make extensive testing a priority! Don’t go cheap on testing.

Make the most of pilot testing! Make the most of pilot testing!

5. TEAMWORK-MOTIVATION

NB: A good project team can be the key to a successful project!

A good project team doesn’t mean leaving the uncooperative people out of the room –

make the extra effort to co-opt them!

Draw on all areas of expertise! You need the subject matter experts on your team!

Involve your stakeholders – encourage synergy and collaboration!

Being a team member also gives stakeholders a sense of ownership and commitment.

Good teamwork makes the Project Manager look good and the project successful!

A quote from PMBOK -- “An under-qualified project manager can destroy a contract as

effectively as an under-qualified engineer”

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT Concerned with activities involved in ensuring that software is delivered on time and on

schedule and in accordance with the requirements of the organizations developing and procuring the software.

Project management is needed because software development is always subject to budget and schedule constraints that are set by the organization developing the software.

Types of Companies where Software Projects are required: Software Factories IT Departments Entrepreneurial Companies

Types of Software Projects Software Development. Software Maintenance. Subcontract Software Project.

Project Management Process Initiating Processes Planning Processes Executing Processes Monitoring & Controlling Processes Closing Processes1. Conception/Initiation Phase

PROJECT IDENTIFICATION AND APPRAISAL: FEASIBILITY STUDY. This is the phase during which project idea germinated. The idea may first come to the

mind when one is seriously trying to overcome certain problems. This phase begins when the user perceives a problem, need or opportunity. This can

arise anywhere in an organisation, some areas are corporate planning, marketing, engineering, manufacturing sections etc.

As part of this phase, it is also necessary that the idea has merit and should be pursued. This requires investigation that usually follows the following sequence:

fact finding where data is collected from interview, background research or review of existing documentation.

definition of the problems statement where objectives are defined. determination of possible solutions without detailed investigation of the alternative but

the elements of the problem. Preliminary order of magnitude estimates are often made at this stage.

determination of screening criteria to evaluate the most promising of alternatives. selection of solutions worth undertaking a detailed analysis.

A well-conceived project will go a long way for successful implementation and operation of a project. It is quite possible that ideas may undergo some changes as the project progresses. This is understandable since at the conception stage all pertinent data are not available and also the real life scenario may undergo considerable change compared to what may have been assumed initially.a) Project feasibilityThis stage is undertaken to determine if the solution is economically viable and worth pursuing. This stage requires a lot of information and is often undertaken in the following sequence:

Pre-feasibility study that is an initial screening process using information available inside the users company.

Solicitation of information from contractors to assess project's viability (Request for Proposal).

Analysis of the viability of the progject.

The provision of information from the contract is not without cost to both parties. Contractor's undertake the risk of incurring this cost and will assess:

is the risk worth getting a head start on competitors, Whether the contractor has sufficient resources to continue with the project. If undertaking the project will be consistent for the contractors reputation. The probability and ability of the client to implement the project.

Sometimes contractors will submit a proposal with little chance of undertaking the work to be maintained on the clients bidders list for other work.

Proposals may be prepared by the contractor without the users soliciting proposals. This occurs when a contractor feels that it has a solution that may be of benefit to the user.

Feasibility Study Analyze the general requirements, costs and the functionality and services provided by

the system to be developed. Aims at determining whether a system should be developed or not Note: Feasibility study can be viewed as a project itself.

b) Proposal Preparation Proposals prepared by the contractor are separate mini projects. As time and money

are expended, top management authorisation is usually required for this process. A proposal manager is appointed and reviews the users requirements. From these

requirements it is often advisable to prepare a detailed summary of the project. The proposal team may be involved in further defining the user's requirements to

enable a proposal to be prepared. This further development often occurs with input from the user.

Once the requirements are fully determined, a statement of work or methodology is prepared. This outlines the activities in broad terms that are required to satisfy the user's requirements.

The contractor will then prepare a structure for presentation and collation of information. The proposal team must think through the entire project and a Work Breakdown Structure is devised to facilitate this process.

The contractor will then review information in the proposal and make final adjustments before submitting the document to the user for consideration.

c) Project evaluation and selectionThe selection of a model is subject to a number of criteria: Realism and consistency of comparison across multiple projects. The realities that a selection

model should consider are: facility constraints. capital or borrowing capacity of the company. personnel available to supervise the project and many others.

To have an effective selection model a company needs to compare "apples with apples". This requirement often causes companies to compare on a cost/benefit basis usually expressed in dollar terms.

Capability of being able to simulate both internal and external conditions and optimise the solution.

Flexibility to cater for a range of conditions that may affect the decision. Ease of use. Cost effective, particularly being consistent with the risks of the project.

Project selection is the first step in initiating a project. It is a systematic process of comparison of alternatives to achieve organisational objectives.

In many methods, figures will be used to select the projects worth pursuing. If numerical analysis is not possible, the principles will often still apply. It is worth going behind the formulas and understanding the logic and philosophy to fully apply these techniques.These methods generally use three parameters:

cost benefit risk.

Understanding these processes although the project manager is often appointed after selection has been made is important to allow project personnel to understand the client or parent organisation's objectives.

2. Planning and Organizing PhaseThis phase overlaps so much with the initialization/conception and also with implementation phases that no formal recognition is given to this by most organizations.

Some organisations, however, prepare documents such as Project Execution Plan to mark this

phase.

Planning is making a decision in advance. If this is not done, one will only be resolving crisis after crisis. It is, therefore, essential that this phase is completely gone through before the next phase, namely, the implementation phase starts. Many of the decisions and actions taken during this phase relate to project basics, and if the project jumps into the implementation phase without freezing the basics, the project is bound fail altogether.

A Plan: The listing or visual display that results when all project activities have been subjected to

Estimating. Logical sequencing. Time analysis.

Project planning involves identifying the products to be delivered, developing estimates for the work to be performed, establishing the necessary commitments, and defining a schedule to perform the work.

Planning begins with a statement of the work to be performed and other constraints and goals that define and bound the project (those established by the requirements elicitation stage).

The planning process takes the estimates produced by the estimation process and uses these to produce a schedule, identify and assess risks, and negotiate commitments. Iterating through these steps may be necessary to reflect real-world changes in the project environment.

This plan provides the basis for performing and managing the project’s activities and addresses the commitments to the project’s customer according to the resources, constraints, and capabilities of the project team. Project Planning involves1. Management, Technical and Quality Plan contents – the main components of the overall

project plan;

2. Planning techniques – the use of various representations of relationships between project activities and the time they will require in order to be delivered;

3. Network Analysis – the way in which these relationships can be understood and adequate control be exercised.

During this phase, deal with the following, 1. Project infrastructure and enabling services2. System design and basic engineering package3. Organisation and manpower4. Schedules and budgets5. Licensing and governmental clearances6. Finance

7. Systems and procedure8. Identification of project manager9. Project Management10. Design basis, general conditions for purchase and contracts11. Site preparation and investigations12. Rresources and materials13. Work packaging

The phase is often taken as a part of the implementation phase since it does not limit itself to paper work and thinking but many activities, including field work, are undertaken during this phase.

Types of Plans1. Quality plan- Some things when are done increase quality.2. Validation plan

- Describes the approach resources and schedule used for system validation.3. Configuration management plan- Describes the configuration management procedures and structures to be used.4. Maintenance plan- Predicts the maintenance requirements of the system, maintenance cost and effort

required.5. Staff development plan- Describes how the skills and experience of the project team members will be developed.

6. Work breakdown- Breakdown of the project into tasks, identification of milestones and deliverables.7. Project schedule- Describes the dependencies between task, the estimated time required to reach each

milestone and the allocation of people to activities.8. Monitoring and reporting techniques- Describes the management reports which should be produced i.e. looking at the plans,

looking at the actual, short comings.

Some form of network analysis is usually the preferred method of preparing a plan but some charting methods provide better visual aids and can be more effective for communication plans to project personnel.

PROJECT SCHEDULINGProject planning determines a project schedule based upon

Project constraints (delivery, staff, budget).

Project parameters (structure, size, functions). Project milestones and deliverable.

Planning and scheduling must estimate risk associated with each decision.

Project scheduling involves separating work into tasks and predicting task completion. There are parallel tasks.

Coordinate parallel tasks to optimize work force. Allow for problems.

Schedule must be periodically revised with progress.

Managers are responsible for planning, scheduling and controlling projects. Projects consist of numerous separate jobs or tasks performed by a variety of departments

and individuals. Projects are usually large and complex that the manager cannot remember all the

information pertaining to the plan, schedule, and progress of the project. Some activities are interdependent.Scheduling ToolsTwo graphical tools are useful in time charting; The Gantt chart and the PERT chart.

• Objectives of Project Scheduling– Completing the project as early as possible by determining the earliest start and

finish of each activity.– Calculating the likelihood a project will be completed within a certain time

period.– Finding the minimum cost schedule needed to complete the project by a certain

date. Activities:

i) Task Designationii) Identify all the project’s activities and determine the precedence relations among

activitiesiii) The PERT/CPM approach to project scheduling uses network presentation of the

project to Reflect activity precedence relations Activity completion time PERT/CPM is used for scheduling activities such that the project’s completion

time is minimized.

Earliest Start Time / Earliest Finish Time –Forwards Pass• Make a forward pass through the network as follows:

– Evaluate all the activities which have no immediate predecessors. • The earliest start for such an activity is zero ES = 0.• The earliest finish is the activity duration EF = Activity duration.

– Evaluate the ES of all the nodes for which EF of all the immediate predecessor has been determined.

• ES = Max EF of all its immediate predecessors. • EF = ES + Activity duration.

– Repeat this process until all nodes have been evaluated• EF of the finish node is the earliest finish time of the project.

Example of project tasks

Latest start time / Latest finish time – Backward Pass• Make a backward pass through the network as follows:

– Evaluate all the activities that immediately precede the finish node. • The latest finish for such an activity is LF = minimal project completion

time.• The latest start for such an activity is LS = LF - activity duration.

– Evaluate the LF of all the nodes for which LS of all the immediate successors has been determined.

• LF = Min LS of all its immediate successors. • LS = LF - Activity duration.

– Repeat this process backward until all nodes have been evaluated.

Slack Times• Activity start time and completion time may be delayed by planned reasons as well as by

unforeseen reasons.• Some of these delays may affect the overall completion date.• To learn about the effects of these delays, we calculate the slack time, and form the

critical path.• Slack time is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying

the project completion date, assuming no other delays are taking place in the project.

Slack Time = LS - ES = LF – EF

The Critical Path• The critical path is a set of activities that have no slack, connecting the START node with

the FINISH node.

• The critical activities (activities with 0 slack) form at least one critical path in the network.

• A critical path is the longest path in the network.

• The sum of the completion times for the activities on the critical path is the minimal completion time of the project.

GANTT CHARTS• Gantt charts are used as a tool to monitor and control the project progress.• A Gantt Chart is a graphical presentation that displays activities as follows:

– Time is measured on the horizontal axis. A horizontal bar is drawn proportionately to an activity’ s expected completion time.

– Each activity is listed on the vertical axis.• In an earliest time Gantt chart each bar begins and ends at the earliest start/finish the

activity can take place.• Gantt chart can be used as a visual aid for tracking the progress of project activities.• Appropriate percentage of a bar is shaded to document the completed work.• The manager can easily see if the project is progressing on schedule (with respect to the

earliest possible completion times).

Gantt Charts – Advantages and Disadvantages• Advantages .

– Easy to construct– Gives earliest completion date.– Provides a schedule of earliest possible start and finish times of activities.

• Disadvantages – Gives only one possible schedule (earliest).– Does not show whether the project is behind schedule.– Does not demonstrate the effects of delays in any one activity on the

start of another activity, thus on the project completion time.

3) Execution/Implementation PhaseIt is during this period that something starts growing in the field and people for the ‘first time can see the project. Preparation of specifications for equipment and machinery, ordering of equipment, lining up contractors, designing, coding, testing, checking, trial run and go live commissioning take place during this phase. As far as the volume of work is concerned, 80 -

85% of project work is done in this phase only.

This phase itself being more or less the whole project, every attempt is made to fast track, i.e., overlap the various sub-phases such as engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning to the maximum extent. This is besides starting the implementation stage itself in parallel with the earlier phases of the project life cycle. Hardly any project can afford the luxury of completing one implementation sub-phase fully before moving on to the next.

The amount of fast tracking will, however, depend on who is doing the project. If design is done by one agency and construction by another, then the scope for fast-tracking becomes very limited. If, on the other hand, design, supply and construction is contracted out as a total package, then the contractor is in a position to use fast-tracking to the maximum extent possible. It is this and many such requirements of this phase that have given birth to what is considered modern project management.

4. Monitoring and Control is a continuous phase which we have already covered in Quality Management and Risk Management

5. Project Clean-up Phase/project close up This is a transition phase in which the software built with the active involvement of various agencies is physically handed over for production to a different agency who was not so involved earlier. For project personnel this phase is basically a clean-up task. Drawing, documents, files, operation and maintenance manuals are catalogued and handed over to the customer. The customer has to be satisfied with guarantee-test runs. Any change required at the last minute for fulfillment of contractual obligations in respect of performance has, therefore, to be completed during this phase to the satisfaction of the customer. Project accounts are closed, materials reconciliation carried out, outstanding payments made, and dues collected during this phase.

The most important issue during this phase is planning of the staff and workers involved in execution of the project. All project personnel cannot be suddenly asked to go.

WHY DO WE NEED PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

It is necessary to Track or Measure the progress we have achieved towards a Goal we

wish to accomplish

We use Project Management to Aid us in Maximizing and Optimizing our resources to

accomplish our goals

Enables us to map out a course of action or work plan

Helps us to think systematically and thoroughly

Unique Task

Specific Objective

Variety of Resources

Time bound

It’s a balancing act – you’ve got a lot of things to keep going - and going well – all at once!

PM Triple Constraints

y

The Project Management Triple constraints are the keys to quality and success! These three are

interdependent and create quite a balancing act for Project Managers.

The time constraint is the amount of time available to complete a project. All projects have

deadlines or end dates. This may be the most difficult constraint to manage.

The cost constraint is the budgeted amount available for the project. Remember that cost also

translates to resources – people, equipment, and materials.

The scope constraint is what must be done to produce the project's end result – the system you

need – meeting your requirements!

These three constraints are often competing constraints:

• increased scope typically means increased time and increased cost,

• a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and reduced scope,

• a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope, or managing the project

over a longer period of time to take advantage of various funding opportunities without a

loss of continuity!

The discipline of project management is about providing the tools and techniques that enable the

project team (not just the project manager) to organize their work to meet these constraints.

1.a) Discuss the attributes of successful project management

1. Sound project management processes

2. Project tied to the organization’s business goals

3. Senior management commitment

4. Good change management: Change management process has to be defined upfront at the

beginning of the project! It should be written and agreed upon. Once you finish your

risk management plan, you need to focus on change management! It will happen! How

are you going to deal with change – it can affect scope, time, and budget. Changes can be

things that you realize must be part of the core requirements or to your core requirements.

Or they may be the start of your enhancement list! They can also be hardware changes.

5. Detailed requirements

6. Realistic schedule: Realistic schedule is not just about clients review time. It’s about

giving yourself enough time to review deliverables. You’re going to have some large,

maybe daunting technical documents to review. Make sure you allow yourself enough

time – not only to comment but also to consolidate the comments from all reviewers, to

resolve any conflicting comments, and then to deliver the comments in a professional

manner to the developer!

7. Good stakeholder relationships

8. Empowered project manager

9. Skilled and appropriate team members with defined roles and responsibilities

10. Availability of funding: Availability of funding is critical – you guys use grants and

entitlement funding – these are not bottomless pits of money. You have to estimate well

and manage your budget carefully!

Industry experts would add a few more to this list that I just want to mention –

• risk management – active risk management – don’t just write your plan and let it collect

dust, risks change and need to be managed

• using a formal development methodology - adds structure and formalizes your process

• using standard tools and infrastructure

• using an iterative process - if this meets your needs. It does help to provide a product

faster and to consistently improve the product as the project advances.

b) Outline therefore the advantages of using Project Management in Software implementations

In built Monitoring/ Sequencing

Easy and Early identification of Bottlenecks

Activity based costing

Identification and Addition of missing and new activities

Preempting unnecessary activity/expenditure

Timely Completion

Assigning tasks

Reporting

2. a) Compare and contrast Software Development Phases and Project Management processes

Each software development life cycle (SDLC) divides the work into phases and milestones

Waterfall & Spiral Code and Fix, Waterfall, Incremental, Iterative Agile

PM processes are applied to plan and manage each phase of the chosen methodology The Project Management Processes above are repeated within each Project phase

b) Hence explain the aspects of Portfolio and Program Management to show similarities and relationship of the two above

Managing Groups of Related Projects

• Portfolio Management: The centralized coordination of programs and projects that

compete for organizational resources.

• Program Management: The centralized coordination of related projects to achieve a

program objective

Relationship Between Portfolios, Programs & Projects

3. Discuss the roles of the following people in Software Project Management. Hence define and distinguish them.  SOFTWARE ARCHITECT

Responsible for the overall architecture for the software being delivered -

technologies, processes, development environment, etc

Typical Deliverables include: Business Models, Application Architecture, Process

Model Definition, Development Environment Definition

The chief technical person on the project who creates the technical “environment”

for the project guided by the principles of the overall Enterprise Architecture

Software Architect should be involved or at least consulted during the creation of

the Project Charter and plays a key role in the ongoing System & Software

Development Planning Processes

CorporateStrategy

Program Planning

Project Initiation& Planning

Execution & Control

Closure

Typical Portfolio or Program Management

Process Framework

SW Rqmts.Specification

Design Development Testing Implementation &Support

A Typical SDLCProcess

Framework

Business Requirements

System/SoftwareDevelopment Planning

Business Analysist

BA Competency Areas

3. a) What are the roles of the business/Client in an IT project?Empowerment:

A project manager has to be empowered! With empowerment comes responsibility. This means-

they are a backbone!

Empower the project manager! Give that person more than just the title – give them authority to

make decisions and trust them to do it correctly!

The Project Manager represents the project in a professional manner and stand ups for the project

when required – fight the battles that come their way! PICK THE BATTLES TO FIGHT VERY

CAREFULLY!

WORDS OF WISDOM to the PM– Think Big, Think Fast, Think Ahead

b) Discuss the management Activities within software projects cutting across all the software management process

Management activities within software projects cut across the Software Management processes:

Proposal writing. Project planning and scheduling. Project costing. Project monitoring and reviews. Personnel selection and evaluation. Report writing and presentations.

Project Management is the total of executive duties necessary for the processing of a

project.

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

Their role can be summed up as the following 4

monitoring co-workersleadership

planning andorganization

controlCycle of Projectmanagement in Management

ProjectManagement

Controlevaluating results

establishing report mechanismsinitiating corrections Planning

defining aimsgenerating strategies

putting together time framebudgeting

Organizationidentifying jobs to do

defining qualifications for jobsestablishing organizational structures

assigning responsibilities

Personalfilling jobs

capacity buildingevaluating personal

Leadershipgiving instructions

delegating authoritiesproject

representationcoordinating activities

NB: Measuring…….

Are we efficient?

Are we productive?

Are we doing a good job?

What is the outcome?

Is it what we wanted to be?

If you can’t plan it, You can’t do it

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it

PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality is the totality of characteristic of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needsProject Quality Management includes: All activities of the overall management function that determine the quality policy, objectives

and responsibilities and implements them by means such as quality planning, control, assurance and improving within the quality system.

Ie Quality Planning –Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and

determining how to satisfy them. Quality Assurance- Evaluating overall project performance on a regular basis to provide

confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards. Quality Control- Monitoring specific project results to determine if they comply with

relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.

4. Discuss quality planning under project quality management by describing the inputs, tools and outputs of quality planning

Quality Planning involves identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them.Any required changes in the product to meet identified quality standards may require cost or schedule adjustments, or the desired product quality may require a detailed risk analysis of an identified problem.

Inputs for quality Planning Project Management Plan SOW Organizational Process Assets-Organizational standard processes e.g P&Ps standard

product and project life cycles, quality policies Enterprise Environmental Factors-Governmental or industry standards e.g Regulations

Tools/Techniques for quality planning Cost-Benefit Analysis Quality planning must consider cost-benefit tradeoffs. The primary

benefit of meeting quality requirements is less rework, which means higher productivity, lower cost and increased stakeholder satisfaction.

Benchmarking- Involves comparing actual or planned project practices to those of other projects to generate ideas for improvement and to provide a basis by which to measure performance.

Design of Experiments (DOE)- Statistical method that helps identify which factors may influence specific variables of a product or process under development or in production.

Cost of Quality- COQ- Quality cost are the total costs incurred by investment in preventing nonconformance to requirements, appraising the product or service for conformance to requirements, and failing to meet requirements (rework). Failure costs are often categorized into internal and external. Failure costs are also called cost of poor quality.

Additional Quality Planning Tools- brainstorming, affinity diagrams, force field analysis, nominal group techniques, matrix diagrams, flowcharts, and prioritization matrices.

Output of Quality Planning Quality Management Plan- Describes how the Project team will implement the

performance organization’s quality policy. It provides input to the overall project

management plan and must address quality control, quality assurance and continuous process improvement for the project.

Quality Metrics- Defines what something is and how quality control process measures it. Quality Checklist- Structured tool, usually component-specific, used to verify that a set of

required steps has been performed. Quality Baseline- The quality objectives of the project. It’s the basis for measuring and

reporting quality performance as part of the performance measurement baseline. Process Improvement Plan/ Project Management Plan- Requested changes (additions,

modification,deletions) to the PMP and its subsidiary plans are processed by review and disposition through the Integrated Change Control process.

Other outputs- Quality roles list, Implementation test chart, Project Monitoring Checklist, Project Review Checklist, Operational Definition Table.

6. Discuss the quality assurance process by describing the inputs, tools and techniques and outputs of quality assurance in project management

Quality Assurance ensures that project processes are used effectively to produce quality project deliverables.

Quality Assurance activities1. Quality Audits- A structured independent review to determine whether project activities

comply with Organizational and project policies, processes and procedures. Its objective is to identify inefficient and ineffective policies, processes and procedures in use.The subsequent effort to correct these deficiencies should result in a reduced cost of quality and an increase in % of acceptance of the product or service by the customer or sponsor within the performing organization.

2. Process Analysis- It follows the steps outlined in the process improvement plan to identify needed improvements from an organizational and technical standpoint. It also examines problems experienced, constraints experienced and non-value-added activities identified during process operation.Process analysis includes root cause analysis, a specific technique to analyse a

problem/situation, determine the underlying causes that lead to it, and create preventive actions for similar problems.

SQA encompasses:(1) a quality management approach(2) effective software engineering technology(3) formal technical reviews(4) a multi-tiered testing strategy(5) document change control(6) software development standard and its control procedure(7) measurement and reporting mechanism 

There are four inputs to quality assurance process1. Project Management Plan-This is the quality management plan that’s of interest.2. Quality Metrics3. Quality Control Measurements- These are an output from the perform quality control

process, and consist of important documented measurements of quality levels and compliance.

4. Work Performance information- Quality assurance is concerned with process improvement; hence this will assist in identifying areas where process improvements are needed. The purpose here is to fix poor process areas and its knowledge.

Quality Assurance Outputs1. Requested Changes2. Reccommended corrective Actions3. Organizational Process Assets (Updates)- Updated quality standards provide validation of

the effectiveness and efficiency of the performing organization’s quality standards and processes to meet requirements. These are used during the Quality control process.

4. Project Management Plan Update.

7. Discuss the quality control process by describing the inputs, tools and techniques and outputs

The quality control tools and techniques discussed:1. Cause and Effect Diagrams2. Control Charts3. Flow-Charting4. Histogram5. Pareto Chart and Pareto Analysis6. Run Charts7. Scatter Diagrams8. Statistical Sampling9. Inspection

Cause and Effect DiagramsCause and Effect diagrams are also known as Ishikawa or Fishbone diagrams. These diagrams are used to identify the root cause (s) of potential or existing problems.

Control ChartsControl charts are used to illustrate the stability of a process. This quality control tool gauges the behavior of a process over time and when during the recorded time, if the process shows unacceptable variance, the process is deemed unstable. Unacceptable variance would be a process that shows seven consecutive readings above or below the central line. The upper and lower limits are also set for the process and are usually at 3-sigma.

Flow-ChartingFlow-charting requires you to follow the flow of a process to determine potential or existing problems in the process. You can use this quality control tool to predict potential flaws in a process.Apart from being used as a quality control tool, these diagrams are also used in risk analysis.

HistogramA histogram is a graphical representation of event frequencies. This quality control chart is also known as a column graph.

Pareto Chart and Pareto AnalysisThe Pareto Chart shows the Probability Density (depicted by the blue line) and the Distribution Function (depicted by the red line). The probability density is the probability of the occurrence of a variable

Run ChartsA run chart is a series of recorded data over time that is graphically represented. This trend will help in understanding whether there is a problem or not.

Scatter DiagramsA scatter diagram shows the correlation between two variables. Scatter plots can show the relationship between two parameters.

For example, you can use Scatter Plots to understand whether there is a relationship between team attrition and working late hours.

Statistical SamplingStatistical Sampling involves measuring a portion (sample) of the entire population instead of measuring the entire population. This can save quite a bit of time. For example, if you have to inspect 10000 units a day, then it would take forever to complete the activity. By sampling, it takes much less time.

InspectionInspection is a quality control process technique that involves reviewing products that takes place during and after the operation processes to see if it meets the defined quality norms. Conducting reviews is an example of inspection. This technique helps fix the sources of defects immediately after being detected.Basically, this technique is useful for a factory that intends to improve productivity, reduce defects and reduce re-works and wastes.

Points to note during the production process when inspection is performeda) When raw materials are introduced/ received before production.b) While products are going through the production process.c) When products are finished, inspection/ testing takes place before goods or products are dispatched to customers.

Impacts/ significance of inspectiona) Reduces end-line defects.b) Ensures quality of the products of a production line.c) Saves time and efforts of final inspection.d) Fix or reduce problems at the outset and prevents common mistakes being made repeatedly.

Quality Control  

What is quality control -- the series of inspections, reviews, and test used   throughout the develop cycle of a software product Quality control includes a feedback loop to the process. Objective  ---> minimize the produced defects, increase the product qualityTwo types of quality control:-  Quality design -> the characteristics that designers specify for an item. Includes: requirements, specifications, and the design of the system. - Quality of conformance -> the degree to which the design specification are followed. It focuses on implementation based on the design.

Implementation approaches:      - Fully automated       - Entirely manual      - Combination of automated tools and human interactions 

Key concept of quality control:      --> compare the work products with the specified and   measurable standards Quality assurance consists of:      - the auditing and reporting function of management Goal --> provide management with the necessary data about product quality.      --> gain the insight and confidence of product quality

Cost of Quality 

Cost of quality --> includes all costs incurred in the pursuit of quality or perform quality related work Quality cost includes:      - prevention cost:            - quality planning            - formal technical reviews            - testing equipment            - training      - appraisal cost:             - in-process and inter-process inspection            - equipment calibration and maintenance            - testing      - failure cost:            internal failure cost: rework, repair, and failure mode analysis            external failure cost: complaint resolution, product return and replacement, help line support, warranty work

RISK MANAGEMENT• Project risks are defined as the undesirable event, the chance this event might occur and

the consequences of all possible outcomes. It is the art and science of identifying, analyzing, and responding to risk throughout the life of a project and in the best interests of meeting project objectives

• Risk management attempts to identify such events, minimize their impact & provide a response if the event is detected

• Risk management is often overlooked in projects, but it can help improve project success by helping select good projects, determining project scope, and developing realistic estimates

Negative Risk A dictionary definition of risk is “the possibility of loss or injury” Negative risk involves understanding potential problems that might occur in the project

and how they might impede project success Negative risk management is like a form of insurance; it is an investment

Risk can be positive Positive risks are risks that result in good things happening; sometimes called

opportunities A general definition of project risk is an uncertainty that can have a negative or positive

effect on meeting project objectives The goal of project risk management is to minimize potential negative risks while

maximizing potential positive risks

Best Practice Some organizations make the mistake of only addressing tactical and negative risks when

performing project risk management David Hillson (www.risk-doctor.com) suggests overcoming this problem by widening the

scope of risk management to encompass both strategic risks and upside opportunities, which he refers to as integrated risk management

Risk Utility

Risk utility or risk tolerance is the amount of satisfaction or pleasure received from a potential payoff

◦ Utility rises at a decreasing rate for people who are risk-averse◦ Those who are risk-seeking have a higher tolerance for risk, and their satisfaction

increases when more payoff is at stake◦ The risk-neutral approach achieves a balance between risk and payoff

Risk Utility Function and risk Preference

Project Risk Analysis processes• Risk and the associated cost to address the risk, varies over the project life cycle

– For initial phase there is high chance of risk events, but low cost impact– For final phase there is low chance of risk events, but cost impact is high

• Identifying and managing risks will greatly affect project success

8. Discuss the risk management planning by discussing the four major steps to developing a risk management plan

Risk Management Steps• There are four major steps to developing a risk management plan

1. Identify all the possible risk events that could affect the project2. Assess each risk in terms of probability, impact severity and controllability3. Develop a strategy and/or contingency for responding to each risk4. Monitor and control risks dynamically

• A Risk Management Plan should be developed during the initial project phase and immediately implemented

• The plan should be reviewed & revised as needed during each project phase

Identify the project risks• Generate list of all possible risks by “brainstorming” among team members• Do not attempt to assess risk probability; that is for a later step• Focus on risk events, rather than risk consequences

– For example, “instrument does not return correct data” is a consequence of events like poor circuit design, incorrect or failed components, poor software implementation

• First focus on overall project risks, then identify specific risks• Use your WBS(Work Breakdown Structure) to help organize your risk identification

process• Seek input from sources from outside your group• Emphasize critical thinking and remember Murphy’s Laws

Assessing the risk impact• Not all risks need to be subject to monitoring and control• Use a Scenario Analysis to assess the risk event impact

– Determine all consequences and their severity if the event happens– Identify when, during the project, will the event likely happen– Estimate the probability that the risk event will occur– Determine how difficult it will be to detect the event occurrence

Ranking the risk importance• Rank risks from those that can be neglected to those that require elevated vigilance• A Risk Severity Matrix can be helpful in prioritizing risks

– Plot of event probability versus impact• Red zone identifies the most important events• Yellow zone lists risks that are moderately important• Green zone events probably can be safely ignored

• Note that the zones are not symmetrical across the matrix

– High impact low probability events much more important than likely low impact events

Risk response strategies• Mitigating risk

– Actions are taken during the project to either A) reduce the likelihood of a risk, or B) reduce the impact of the risk

– For example, testing electrical components after receipt would reduce the likelihood that “bad” parts would be used in a circuit

• Retaining risk– Usually for events with low probability but high impact when no alternate

strategy is feasible– Have a contingency plan ready in case event occurs

• Sharing risk– Multiple units associated with the project assume some portion of the risk

• Transferring risk– Risk is assumed and managed by a unit outside the immediate project– For example, risks associated with the balloon vehicle are transferred to the LA

ACES Project management

Develop a response for risks• A risk response plan identifies the primary components necessary for managing the risk

– What response strategy will be used– How will the risk event be detected and the response triggered– What plan will be put in place in response to the event– Who will be responsible for monitoring and controlling the risk

Contingency Planning• Risks associated with the technical aspects of a project can have the most sever outcomes

– Can be mitigated by building and testing prototypes of critical components– Have available backup or alternate designs that have much lower risk

• Risks associated with the schedule usually require a trade-off– Manage “slack” time to provide resources for delayed components – Bring in more people (increase costs) or reduce performance

• Risks associated with costs usually result from estimate errors and omissions– Time & cost are related; trade-off schedule delays with lower cost– “Descope” options that remove components of the project, but still allow the

primary mission to proceed

• All “budgets” (mass, power, schedule, cost) should include a reserve percentage that can be expended as risk events occur

Risk response process control• The Risk Management Plan should specify the risks, risk responses, and mechanisms

used to control the process• Need to continuously monitor for risk triggers

– Potential risk events should be identified early in a project and monitoring for such events immediately commence

• Each risk is assigned to a specific person– Has the expertise & authority to identify & response to an event

• Need environment where problems are readily reported, embraced & solved• Changes in any aspect of the project need to be documented and communicated

– Who will have the authority to approve a change– Use written form to track hardware, software & document changes– Who is notified of what changes when

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

9. Discuss project change management.    a) What is it and why is it necessary?

This is the process, tools and techniques to manage the people-side of change to achieve the required business outcome(s)

Project change management encompasses all of the processes necessary to determine where you are at compared to where you planned to be and the activities required to get back on track if those are not aligned

Successful change management is more likely to occur if the following are included1. Benefits management and realization to define measurable stakeholder aims, create a business case for their achievement (which should be continuously updated), and monitor assumptions, risks, dependencies, costs, return on investment, dis-benefits and cultural issues

affecting the progress of the associated work2. Effective communications that informs various stakeholders of the reasons for the change (why?), the benefits of successful implementation (what is in it for us, and you) as well as the details of the change (when? where? who is involved? how much will it cost? etc.)3. Devise an effective education, training and/or skills upgrading scheme for the organization 4. Counter resistance from the employees of companies and align them to overall strategic direction of the organization 5. Provide personal counselling (if required) to alleviate any change-related fears6. Monitoring of the implementation and fine-tuning as required

B. WHY IS IT NECESSARYWe apply change management for the following primary reasons: a. To ensure that the desired results from the change are achieved. We measure the success of change management by measuring the degree to which the objectives of the change (or project) are realized. b. Change Management is an enabling framework for managing the people side of change.c. We apply change management to realize the benefits and desired outcomes of change.

Additional benefits from applying change management include:a. Faster speed of adoption.b. Higher ultimate utilizationc. Greater proficiency.d. Higher engagement of the change. e. Legacy of successful change.f. Resistance and risk mitigation (lower productivity, employee turnover, negative customer impact)    b) Discuss the two perspectives of effective change management

• Organizational change management• Individual change management

Change management is the effective management of a business change such that executive leaders, managers and front line employees work in concert to successfully implement the needed process, technology or organizational changes.The goal of change management is to implement these business changes quickly to:• minimize the impact on productivity• avoid unnecessary turnover or loss of valued employees• eliminate any adverse impact on your customers• achieve the desired business outcomes as soon as possible

The knowledge and skills for managing change that you will require come from the two perspectives on change: the managers and the employees.

Organizational change management

It is the management of change from the perspective of a manager or project team. It is the perspective of “business leadership” from the “top” looking down into the organization. The focus is around broad change management practices and skills that will help the organization understand, accept and support the needed business change. The primary focus is around change management strategies, communication plans and training programs. The involved parties include project team members, human resources and key business leaders that sponsor the change.

Organizational change management provides the knowledge and skills to implement a methodology and tools for managing change throughout an organization.

– Organizations go through four stages on the way to achieving their strategic objective:

Denial Resistance Exploration Renewal

As the Organization works its way through these stages, there can be a negative impact on Productivity. This is referred to as the Productivity Dip and is portrayed below.

Individual change managementIt is the management of change from the perspective of the employees. They are the ones who ultimately must implement the change. The focus here is around the tools and techniques to help an employee transition through the change process. The primary concerns are the coaching required helping individuals understand their role and the decisions they make in the change process. In this arena, you will need to provide tools that employees can use to navigate their way through the change.There are many enablers to individual change as seen below:

    c) Outline the five building blocks of successful individual change

Change of employees or individuals can be best explained using Prosci’s ADKAR model.Prosci's ADKAR Model is an individual change management model. It outlines the five building blocks of successful change, whether that change occurs at home, in the community or at work.

"ADKAR" is an acronym based on the five building blocks:a) A Awareness of the need for change b) D Desire to participate and support the change c) K Knowledge on how to change d) A Ability to implement required skills and behaviors e) R Reinforcement to sustain the change

1. AWARENESS An individual must first understand why a change is necessary, followed by a personal decision to support and participate in the change. Yet achieving these seemingly simple building blocks is not as easy as it sounds.

"Awareness of the need for change"- and not simply "Awareness that a change is happening" For example, a change manager will need to understand the activities that drive Awareness, and at the same time, take into account those "resisting factors" or restraining forces that prevent the awareness message from taking hold with your audiences. In some cases the resisting factors are so strong, that even the best communications plan will be insufficient. Effective change management plans are designed to surface and deal with these resisting factors.

What builds Awareness of the need for change?a) Communications from othersb) Access to informationc) An eventd) An observable condition

Examples:a. Sponsor messagesb. Managers’ conversationsc. General employee communicationsd. Readily-available business informatione. Catastrophic disasterf. Gradually weakening financial performance

Potential Resisting Factors:a. Comfort with the status quo.b. Credibility of the source or sender of the message.c. Denial that the reasons for change are real d. Debate over the reasons for change e. Rumors or misinformation

2. DESIRE Once an individual has an understanding of why a change is needed (Awareness), the next step in successful change is making a personal decision to support and participate in the change.

Desire is difficult because it is ultimately a personal decision that is not under our direct control. While there are certainly ways to try and influence a person's decision to get "on board" with a change, in the end individuals must make this decision themselves.

Desire is only achieved when the individual would say to us, "I will be part of this change".

Factors that builds Desire to support and participate in a change:a. Likelihood of gain or achievement (incentive)b. Fear of consequence (risk or penalty)c. Desire to be part of something (to belong)d. Willingness to follow a leader you truste. Alternative is worse

Tactics for building Desire:a. Active and visible primary sponsorb. Strong sponsorship coalitionc. Personal engagement by coachesd. Proactive management of resistancee. Employees involved in the change process - help create the solution.Potential Resisting factors:a. Comfort or security with how things are nowb. Fear of the unknown c. Change not aligned with a person's self-interest or values d. No answer to what’s In It for Me? (WIIFM)e. Negative history with change on a personal level (low confidence of success)f. An individual’s personal situation - financial, career, family, healthg. An organization's track record with change

Implications for change management professionalsThis are tips and reflections about Awareness and Desire that can help change management professionals be more effective in implementing change.

• True Awareness can easily be overlooked.• It is easy to jump straight to Knowledge. those who are new to change management, will quickly jump to training as a way to encourage individual change• Lack of awareness has been cited as the number one reason for employee resistance.• Creating Awareness when "times are good" can be difficult.- building Awareness when an organization is succeeding is often a more difficult proposition. The old adage of "If it isn't broken, then why fix it"

Awareness and Desire can ebb and flow. Sometimes, change management professionals will

conclude that once they have created Awareness and Desire, they no longer need to reinforce these elements.

3. KNOWLEDGEKnowledge poses the fewest issues. Because organizations have a long and rich history with delivering training - most even have an entire department dedicated to training along with specialists that focus on education. However, training is not the only way to develop knowledge.

Types of Knowledge. 1. Knowledge on how to change (what to do during the transition)2. Knowledge on how to perform effectively in the future state (knowledge on the ultimate skills and behaviours needed to support the change).

Knowledge is effective when the individual already has Awareness and Desire. Each of us has been to a training program where we were not sure why we were there in the first place. Hence Without Awareness and Desire, you cannot effectively create the Knowledge that is necessary for a change to be successful.

4. ABILITY This is the stage in the process where the change actually occurs and is defined by the demonstrated achievement of the change (such that the expected performance results are achieved).

5. REINFORCEMENTIt is a natural tendency to resort to what we know. In fact, there is research emerging about how the brain function that suggests it is not just a natural tendency, but in fact physiological tendency. While making a change is difficult, sustaining a change can be even more difficult. This is why Reinforcement is such a critical component of successful change - it encompasses the mechanisms and approaches so that the new way stays in place.

Implications for change management professionals• Change does not begin with Knowledge.Without a holistic model for individual change, teams can easily fall into the trap of simply sending employees to training when a change is being introduced. This rarely drives successful change and can often have negative and lasting impacts on the employees that must bring a change to life in their day-to-day work. Training is critical, but it must occur in the context of sufficient Awareness and Desire. • Do not assume that with Knowledge comes Ability. Ensure that along with training to impart Knowledge, employees are given sufficient tools for building their own Ability including hands-on practice, support from coaches and the availability to network and work with others who have made the change successfully. • Keep a focus on Reinforcement, even when it is difficult.You only know if a change was successful if you take a step back afterward and see if employees are actually doing their jobs differently.