PMBook reading notes (1)

What is a project

The project is a temporary effort. Although the project is temporary, the deliverables of the project are indeed long-term. But in software projects, temporary is certain, not long-term. Temporarily because the project has a clear output since the signing of the contract, it must be delivered within the agreed time under the established budget. Deliverable results are not necessarily long-term, because IT technology innovation is relatively fast, and the results delivered at that time may be more advanced, but with the development of technology, the software becomes unusable and will be replaced.

The relationship between portfolio, program and project

Several projects form a project set, and different project sets form a project portfolio through various combinations. For better management in software companies, the same type of business is divided into groups, and the group appoints directors. Each project managed by the director often has the characteristics of a project set, the business is the same, and the personnel have the same skills. When different directors are combined and managed by department managers, there is a problem of project portfolio. The director considers the achievement of the goals of each project. Department managers often consider whether the project is in line with the company's strategy based on the overall interests of the department, and make choices in resource allocation.

What is project management

The project is divided into five major process groups, which are respectively starting, planning, executing, monitoring, and finishing.
Manage the technical actions that a project usually needs to do.
Demand research, through the research to understand the owner's expectations of the software functions, so as to clarify the functions
and customers that the software needs Communicate effectively and manage customer expectations, so that stakeholders can know the progress of the project at an accurate time, the difficulties encountered and what the customer needs to cooperate with.
Reasonable management of the constraints of the project

• The scope of the project, including functional requirements and non-functional requirements
• The quality of the project, including the availability of features
• The progress of the project, whether it can be successfully completed within the scheduled construction period, the reality is that most projects may be postponed, if it does not exceed the customer’s tolerance, deliver the product to the maximum
• The budget of the project, how to deliver the work within the established budget is also a more complicated matter, often because the project manager's level and knowledge are limited, and the cost assessment is too optimistic, which leads to unreasonable budget applications and subsequent over-budget situations.
• The resources of the project, the pure soft project mainly refers to the situation of the various personnel invested, such as development posts, test posts, designers, demand personnel, operation and maintenance personnel, etc. If you encounter technically complex situations, such as architects, technical directors And other resources also need to be invested
• Risks are ubiquitous. For example, because the organization involves financial management, the budget may be withdrawn, and failure to check and accept may result in not receiving money. Because of institutional reform, the original demand may not exist and the project may fail. , The resignation of core R&D personnel due to the company’s welfare and other factors may also cause the project to fail

There are too many uncontrollable factors in the project, and the problems are often endless, which will also interfere with the project manager’s work to effectively achieve the goals. These aspects need to be paid attention to in daily management.

In the constraints of the project, a change in one factor will often lead to changes in other factors. In reality, budget savings and advance progress are often required. These are not in line with actual requirements. There are requirements for the construction period without increasing resources. Overtime can only be arranged. As a result of overtime, personnel may leave their jobs. New recruits cannot meet the requirements of the project in a short period of time, which will often lead to more lagging progress and lower quality.

In order to cope with project changes, the development of project plans is often required to be progressive and detailed. The clearer the goal, the more detailed and detailed the plan. When the project is scheduled at the beginning, because you don’t know what the situation is on the spot, the plans are often very detailed. Roughly speaking, as the project progresses, more and more problems are encountered, and the estimated resources invested become more and more accurate. The more accurate the plan becomes. The later the plan is often accurate to the day.