The
Why, What and How of a Project
The relationship between the project objective,
software development process and project tasks
The beginning of a project is very much like
the beginning of a story - a number of empty pages. The project manager's
responsibility is to outline the story that will fill the pages. The starting
point is the story capsule, which defines the objective for the project.
Project Objective
Release
version 1.0 of the system administration tool for middleware servers in
the third quarter of 1999. Version 1.0 provides the basic functions for
configuring, installing, managing and monitoring middleware servers locally
and remotely.
Creating the outline means translating the objective
into project tasks. The outline of the story takes shape by answering the
following question:
What are the activities and tasks that
produce the software product?
The following discussion suggests techniques and
tips for answering this question focusing on the engineering activities
and tasks. I will put aside the work that other disciplines, such as marketing/sales,
documentation, training, release management, etc., contribute to the product
delivery.
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The technique is the work breakdown structure
(WBS). Tips to keep in mind while creating a work breakdown structure are:
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Isolate issues
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Divide and conquer
You may be familiar with the standard definition
for a work break down structure:
A work breakdown structure
is a hierarchical decomposition of activities and tasks.
I want to offer an alternative definition, adapted
from Steven Beckmann at Achieve Communications:
A work breakdown structure
is a pyramid of objectives.
Figure 1: Pyramid of Objectives
The pyramid of objectives illustrates two important
points:
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Our objectives are the apex of what we do.
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Each level has different types of objectives that
are linked together.
As members of a project team, our responsibilities
typically lie primarily in a single level. We may be responsible for the
business development of the organization. Alternatively, we may have ownership
for what it means to realize the business objectives. Finally, we may be
responsible for putting the nuts and bolts of the software system together.
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PROJECT PRESS