Step 04: Stage Schedule and Budgeting
Description
Objective

To

- develop a time schedule and budget for the next stage of the project,

In a way that

- defines the tasks necessary to carry out the next stage of the project,

- determines the best approach to completing each activity,

- identifies the tools for performing the project work,

- identifies actual resource requirements,

- determines task and resource dependencies,

- creates an estimate for the cost of the stage,

- creates an estimated completion date for the stage,

So that

- a schedule is available to guide the next stage and to use as a benchmark by which progress on the project can be monitored and controlled.

Overview

An overall project schedule is required to determine complete project timescale, resource requirements and costs. A more detailed schedule is required to manage and control the project. This more detailed schedule is developed progressively through the project by producing a schedule for the next stage during Project Initiation and towards the end of subsequent project stages.

The overall project schedule provides a overview of the activities in the stage. These activities need to be further defined to the point where all necessary tasks have been identified. This should use the same approach as for developing the overall project schedule. That is, using a proven process, or developing the process if one does not exist.

Once this has been done it is necessary to estimate the resources required for the stage. This should cover all personnel resources required, both full and part time, and other types of resource such as office space and equipment. A time line and cost estimate for the stage can then be developed.

The development of the stage schedule is an iterative activity during Project Initiation. The other steps carried out in Project Initiation will affect the schedule.

For single stage projects, the stage plan is both the project and stage plan.
Task .010 Determine Next Stage Activities
Based upon the project and stage objective, scope, constraints and assumptions, tune the stage work breakdown structure to:

- Add new steps and/or tasks,

- Remove unnecessary steps and/or tasks,

- Merge steps and/or tasks,

The project plan identified the probable steps within the stage. Now is the opportunity to reassess the steps and their associated objectives and products. Removing steps and tasks may increase project risk. Document these risks and identify proposed countermeasures, which may include additional quality assurance tasks.

Determine the products to be produced by each step. Start at the end of the stage with the final deliverable, and work forwards to the beginning. Describe the objective, outline and content of each product. Validate the final product against the project and stage objective.

Within each step, identify the tasks or activities required to produce the step products. A task will have the following characteristics:

- Reference

- Name

- Description

- Input

- Output or product

- Technique (optional)

- Tool (optional)

- Role / responsibility assignment

- Resource / responsibility assignment

- Effort estimate

In this task define the Task Reference, Name, Description, Product, Techniques and Tools.

Record all assumptions and issues identified.

Software Guidelines
Task .020 Determine Product Workflow
Chart the sequence of stages and steps to reflect the intrinsic and architectural dependencies inherent in the project.

An output or product of one task will usually be the input to another, and this will be the primary driver in determining the task dependencies and workflow.

Determine whether the successor task references (throughput) or updates (entry requirement) the input product.

Some inputs may be sourced from outside the project. Identify these External Inputs (e.g., Long Range System Plan, Standards, Project Initiation report of another project, etc.).

Review the dependencies determined by the task inputs and outputs. Review the dependency types between the tasks. Tasks are not necessarily finish-start, but may be in parallel or phased. Where appropriate, define lags (both positive and negative) between tasks. Remove any step dependencies. It is recommended that the dependencies be kept simple and reduced to a minimum, otherwise the schedule will be very difficult to execute and will probably be abandoned.

Ensure that all dependencies with other projects are identified. Examine other Project Initiation Reports to assess interproject dependencies.

Record all assumptions and issues identified.

Software Guidelines
Task .030 Estimate Effort
Stage schedule estimates will be determined as effort time (or work). Determine the total effort per task. Remember to include peer review and revision time if such activities are not identified as specific tasks. It is recommended that you estimate in units of an hour. Avoid estimating tasks to less than one hour. It is advisable to estimate in units of 4 hours. No task should be longer than 80 hours.

By combining small tasks and including a detailed description of the task it will be possible to simplify the schedule merely by reducing the number of tasks in the Gantt.

The task effort estimates will be apportioned to individual roles and resources in the next task.

Record all assumptions supporting the estimate in the task description. This is very important because it will enable you to recreate and substantiate the estimate. It will also ensure that you have thoroughly thoughout what is to be done, and that it is communicated clearly to the Team. Estimating takes time, but it will validate the tasks, products, techniques and assumptions.

Aggregate the task estimates and compare against the original top-down step and stage estimates. If the detailed estimate is substantially different from the original top-down estimate it may be necessary to refer to the Project Board and consider revising both the project and stage plans.

Software Guidelines
Task .040 Allocate Resources
Assign roles and their associated responsibility to each task. In order to avoid overwhelming the plan with complexity focus on the "produce", "consult" and "review" responsibilities. The "approve" responsibility will generally apply only to the Project Board. The responsibilities are defined as follows:

- Produce: to create the product of the task. Usually applies to Project Team Members like Business Analysts, Systems Analysts and Programmers. The schedule will be simpler to balance if only a single role is assigned per task.

- Consult: provide information required to produce the task. Usually applies Coordinators and Key Resources.

- Review: review the product for correctness, accuracy and completeness. Usually applies Coordinators and Key Resources.

- Approve: official signoff. Usually applies to the Project Board.

Assign resources to the roles and responsibilities.

Apportion the total task effort estimate to the resources. As a tip, the schedule will be much easier to balance if the task effort estimate is apportioned entirely to the a single "produce" resource. Therefore this estimate should include time for the other "consult" and "review" resources, e.g., Client review, DBA review. Although this is a simplification, it is still applicable if the non-project team costs are excluded from the plan, since the estimates are primarily for the Project Team. The "consult", "review" and "approve" resources still need to be assigned to tasks, albeit at zero work, in order for them to be included in the schedule.

Define by task the resources availability (unit). The scheduler will calculate task duration as effort / unit.

Software Guidelines
Task .050 Prepare Stage Schedule
Develop an initial schedule of project activities.

Determine the proposed stage start date and use the scheduler to calculate the step and task start and end dates. Validate these dates against the project constraints.

Review the project objective, constraints and control factors before attempting to balance the plan. Deadline, resource utilization and costs can be adjusted as follows:

- Modify dependencies,

- Modify dependency type (finish-start, lag, etc.),

- Modify tasks and therefore the effort estimate (avoid arbitarily reducing estimates),

- Assign more resources (task duration will theoretically be reduced if more resources are applied to the task),

- Reassign more proficient resources,

- Provide productivity enhancing tools,

- Train and coach team members,

- Motivate team members,

- Increase resource availability.

Modify task descriptions and assumptions to record all the adjustments to the plan. Failure to do this will result in a mismatch between the original plan and the current schedule, and reduce the probability of project success.

Software Guidelines
Task .060 Prepare Stage Budget
Determine staff costs at the task level. This is a function of the resource work and chargeable rate. The Process Manager will supply standard hourly rates for both Internal Staff and External Contractors.

Determine non-staff costs for the stage by category. The categories are:

- Hardware & Network

- Software

- Project Training, training the project team to execute the project

- Installation Training, training the clients, operations, etc. to use the application

- Miscellaneous, includes supplies, copying of training materials, accommodation, subsistence, travel, or other costs which cannot be classified above.

Software Guidelines
Task .070 Baseline Stage Schedule
Once a satisfactory balanced stage schedule and budget has been achieved, baseline it. This will retain a record of the original start and end dates, work and duration estimates, and staffing costs

Actual progress will be monitored against this baseline.

Software Guidelines
Task .080 Create Stage Schedule Products
Produce and collate the project schedule documents at the step and task level:

- WBS Description Report,

- Products Report,

- Resource Report,

- Baseline Stage Estimates,

- Baseline Resource Work

- Cost Workbook,

- Gantt chart,

- PERT chart,

- Resource Usage

- Project Summary Report

Software Guidelines.
Task .090 Review Stage Schedule Products
Conduct a product review of the Stage Schedule Products with the Process Management Group to ensure that the scope meets the business needs and that all technical standards are met.

Communicate the plan to the Project Board since it is a "contract" stating what is to be done, how, when and by whom. If the Project Board accepts the plan, then they are committed to supply the resources, both client and technical.

The Project Board will assign a project or stage start date for the schedule when they authorize the project to proceed. This may require some minor adjustments to the schedule.

Communicate the plan to the Project Team since it defines exactly what is to be done. Hopefully they will have been heavily involved in producing the plan so there should be no surprises and they will have already bought in to it.
Step 05: Project Organization
Description
Objective

To

- select and prepare the people whose involvement will be necessary for the project to succeed,

In a way that

- clearly identifies roles and responsibilities,

- ensures that the best individuals to fulfill roles and responsibilities are selected,

- identifies training required to enable individuals to fulfill their roles and responsibilities on the project,

- gains the appropriate allocation of resource time to the project,

- ensures that all major interest groups are appropriately represented,

- updates the project and stage schedules in line with available resources,

so that

- the project benefits from having a group of people who can operate in an integrated fashion and who understand exactly the roles they must play in contributing to the success of the project.

Overview

Once the objectives of the project have been identified and a work breakdown structure developed for how to meet these objectives, it is necessary to plan for the people involvement on the project.

An important step in this planning is to identify the required roles and responsibilities. This methodology provides a standard set of roles and responsibilities for a project and it is necessary to review this list and customize it for the particular project.

The Project Board is the most senior level of Project Organization and has the responsibility of ensuring the continued integrity of the project from all points of view. The structure of the Project Board reflects the tripartite responsibility that exists in any project, namely the Business, Customer, and Technical interests. The Board should be prepared to recommend termination of the project if necessary.

The Stage Manager is recruited by the Project Board to ensure the successful completion of the stage products, on time, within budget and to the specified quality standards within an agreed tolerance.

The Stage Manager may be recruited from any area concerned with the project, or may be from outside the immediate organization. The Stage Manager may need help with the business, customer, or technical aspects of the project. This help is provided by appointing a co-ordinator for each of these areas. This ensures that the main interests being served by the project are properly represented at the working level, e.g. through participation in quality reviews. This also provides continuity in the day to day coordination of the project especially where there are to be changes of Stage Manager.

There are likely to be a number of key individuals within the organization that have an interest in, and can facilitate the project. They will receive regular progress reports on the project, and will be invited to attend Project Board meetings.

The time commitment required for the project will vary for each role and responsibility identified. It is important that the individuals selected to carry out the various roles can devote the time that the project requires.

Once the roles, responsibilities, and time requirements for each activity are defined, it is possible to assign individuals to perform the activities. It will often be necessary to assign individuals to the project who do not have all the skills required to perform their roles. Therefore, it is necessary to identify what additional training these individuals require.

Individuals then need to be made available for their involvement on the project.
Task .010 Identify Key Personnel
Review the project Scoping Diagram. Identify those business areas that are within scope or directly interface with the scope boundary and list them in the "Business Area" column of the Project Assignment Worksheet. Project Organization members will be selected from these groups. Do not forget to include development and operations.

- Which areas will be directly impacted by the project?

- Which areas are not impacted today but may be impacted in the future?

- Which areas will the project team have to depend on for information about the way things are done today?

- Upon which groups will the project depend for success?

Identify the key personnel for each area and list them in the "Person" column of the Project Assignment Worksheet. Do not allocate roles in this task, just list any personnel you think should be involved in the project.
Task .020 Recruit Project Board
Assemble a senior management team which will direct and be accountable for the project and gain management commitment. Ensure that those senior Managers with a significant interest in the successful outcome of the project are properly represented.

Generally identify the lowest level person for each Project Board role. Work up the organization chart until a person is found who can make the decisions "stick".

Project Sponsor:

- Which client executive will champion the project and sell it to the rest of the company?

- Who is responsible for funding?

- Who will be the link between the project and the company strategy team?

- Who is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the project?

There may be several candidates, but there is only one Project Sponsor!

Client Representative:

- Who will represent the clients most affected by the delivered project?

- Who will ensure that the project is aligned to the client business need?

- Who will provide client resources for the project?

- Who will remove any barriers present in the client area?

Ideally there should be only one client representative, but there may need to be more than one because no single person has authority over all the client areas within project scope. However, the more Project Board members, the more difficult it is to schedule them and obtain decisions.

Technical Representative:

- Who will provide technical resources for the project?

- Who is ultimately responsible for the technical quality of the project products?

- Who will remove any barriers in the development and operations area?

Ensure that the Project Board members understand their responsibilities and the time commitment that they are making to the project. Document the responsibilities to be performed by the Project Board.
Task .030 Recruit Stage Manager
Identify a suitable manager for the next project stage, bearing in mind the nature and importance of the activities involved.

- Who will manage the project on a day-to-day basis for this stage?

The person selected must be made available for the time required by the project. It is suggested that it takes up to 15% of a Stage Manager's time to plan, control, review, coach, etc. each team member. A project team of 6 people is almost a full time job. There must be a recognition by the Stage Manager and the Project Board that project management takes time, that it is an investment in project success, and not a cost. The Stage Manager is not necessarily from development. Sometimes the best person to manage the Project Initiation and Installation stages of the project is a client.

Document the responsibilities to be performed by the Stage Manager.
Task .040 Recruit Project Coordinators
Identify the need for coordination and control activities throughout the project. These are supporting roles to the Stage Manager. They may be filled by the Stage Manager if the project is relatively small. They may also be filled by Key resources.

Planning Co-ordinator:

- Who will help the stage manager create the plans, capture actual work and costs, update plans, etc.

- Who is experienced with using the project scheduling tools?

- Who has strong administrative skills?

- Who has a detailed knowledge of the development project management standards?

Client Co-ordinator:

- Who will assist in obtaining detailed information about how a client area works?

- Who knows how the client area is organized?

- Who can assist in identifying the best Key Resource from a particular client area?

Technical Co-ordinator:

- Who can facilitate the identification of project tasks required to produce the required products?

- Who is skilled in the techniques used to create products?

- Who can ensure the technical quality of products?

- Who can assist in identifying the best Key Resource for a particular technical issue?

Clearly define these co-ordination and control activities and identify and brief suitable personnel to carry them out. Document the responsibilities to be performed by the Coordinators.

Estimate the time required to perform these roles, and ensure that the individuals selected have the necessary time available.
Task .050 Recruit Key Stakeholders
Identify other people who are critical to the success of the project. They are management level personnel who will be affected by the project, but are not the primary decision makers. Clearly define who these people are and what their responsibilities are to the project.

- Who could slow down the project if they opposed the approach or project?

- Who might informally assist the Project Board in evaluating objective, scope, solution and financial viability?

- Who is not on the Project Board, but leads a client area included on the Project Assignment Worksheet?

- Who has people in their area whose jobs may be impacted by the implemented project?

- From whom is political buy-in required?

Document the responsibilities to be performed by the Stakeholders.

Estimate the time required to perform these roles, and ensure that the individuals selected have the necessary time available.
Task .060 Recruit Stage Teams
If there is confidence that the Project Initiation will result in an immediate authorization to proceed to the next stage then perform this task now. If not, then it will be performed after the Project Board authorizes the project to proceed as part of the next stage planning.

There are two types of team members, client and technical. People assigned to team member roles will usually fulfill the "produce" responsibility for tasks.

Team members may change from stage to stage as different skill sets are required.

Identify appropriate personnel required for the stage, define the team structure and, if necessary appoint Team Leaders.

Ensure that the time commitments required for the project are defined and understood by team members and their management, if appropriate. Document the responsibilities to be performed by the Team members.

The appointment of the Team Leaders and Stage Teams completes the process of delegating responsibility for the work down through the now established Project Organization structure.
Task .070 Recruit Key Resources
If there is confidence that the Project Initiation will result in an immediate authorization to proceed to the next stage then perform this task now. If not, then it will be performed after the Project Board authorizes the project to proceed as part of the next stage planning.

Identify any additional technical or business specialists required to support the project. These roles contribute to the creation of products by providing information about the business and reviewing the products. They generally fulfill the "consult" and "approve" responsibilities. They will include both client and technical personnel. Individuals assigned to a Key Resource role may also have project co-ordinator responsibilities, but will not be team members. Key Resources may change during the project depending on the skills required by the WBS.

Business Key Resources:

- Who will use the application?

- Who will provide the client information to create the products?

- Who can ensure that the business requirements are correctly understood?

- Who can ensure that all the business requirements are captured?

- Who will assist in establishing and confirming the business case?

- Who has specialist skills required at this stage (legal, audit, Health & Safety, etc.)?

Technical Key Resources:

- Who can ensure that technical products meet the technical standards?

- Who has specialist skills required at this stage (DBA, Communications, Networks, Back-ups, Security, etc.)?

Clearly define the responsibilities of these resources and estimate the time required by these Key Resources over the duration of the project. Document the responsibilities to be performed by the Key Resources.
Task .080 Determine Training Requirements
Assess the capabilities and skills of all those identified as part of the Project Organization.

Based upon this assessment establish a training plan to acquaint the project team members with the methodologies, technologies, and business areas under study.

It may the first time that some clients have been involved in a development project so it is important that they are adequately briefed as to the project management and development process, and especially their roles and responsibilities. The Project Organization step is intended to ensure that the clients, development and operations are working as a single team on the project, and that artificial organizational barriers are removed.

Update the project schedule to incorporate scheduled training activities.
Task .090 Create Project Organization Chart
Using the Project Assignment Worksheet, allocate the identified personnel to one or more roles.

Ensure all key individuals are assigned an appropriate role, but don't overwhelm the project with too many people.

Produce a Project Organization Chart defining reporting and communication lines between all parties involved in the project.
Task .0100 Review Project Organization
Conduct a product review of the Project Organization to ensure that the proposed organization reflects all participants needed to achieve the project objective.