Systems Development Projects

Performance measures which can be used to evaluate systems development projects can take many forms.  Some of them are adherence to the timeline, staying under budget, user acceptance, and user feedback.  The first two mentions are related to the initial planning.  If the planning is not performed correctly or thoroughly enough then the project will most likely be off track and under rated.  The last two options relate to how the user perceives the product wile in construction and after it is delivered.  Ultimately if the client is unhappy with the finished product it will be hard to categorize the project as a success.  The user requirements must be obtained and followed through with in the project to ensure the success of the project.

Outsourcing in Projects

                The use of outsourcing has the potential to have a major impact on the way projects are conducted.  Many factors have to potential to come into play.  Some of them are time zones, cultures, communication difficulties and work practices.  These factors may or may not come into play.  Outsourcing does not mean the work will be done in a different country but differences across companies can still create problems.

                It is essential to have a thoroughly planned and agreed upon approach to project at hand.  Everyone involved must know what is to be done and when.  To facilitate this, regular communication is an aspect which is nonnegotiable.  This is the only way the project has a chance of success.

Module So Far

     This module so far has been informative and enlightening in many different aspects.  The areas of knowledge which are focused upon are of interest to any who is conducting any type of project, not just an IT related project.  Some of the aspects of project management would not have occurred to me if they had not been taught, or personally experienced in some cases.

     The inclusion of a real world project to manage has been enlightening, if not frustrating.  The difficulties which have presented themselves while working on the project seem to continue to present themselves.  The issue of time management and delivery dates seems to now the primary concern while in the end of this module.

Assessing Performance

            Assessing a team member’s contribution during a progress review will require the inclusion of many factors.  The amount and quality of their work should be taken into consideration.  The importance and complexity of the work completed should also be taken into consideration.  These factors will add up to create a picture of the team member’s work contribution.

            There is also the highly subjective issue of how has the team member been performing within the team.  This analysis will include factors such as communication and teamwork.  While the manager can send out surveys to illicit responses from co-workers, this information will be ultimately up to the manager to determine the team member’s effectiveness in this area.

            Both of the production and social aspects of team a team member’s performance are important and should both be evaluated.  A combination of the two evaluations should provide a fairly accurate depiction of the team member’s overall performance. 

User Involvement in Projects

            Involving the user in the project development process will leads to a greater chance of project success.  Listen to the user’s requirements is the first and possibly most important step in this process.  You must know what the user wants and what they expect.  The user involvement should not end after this point.

            The user should be involved throughout the project.  As milestones are completed, user feedback should be gained and improvements made with insight gained from them.  Also during the analysis phase it may help to observe how the user will use the envisioned system.  This will help you understand how they would like to have their system function.

            Involving the user also gives them a sense of worth and they feel like they have a stake in the project.  With their stake in the project they are more likely to assist in the project development.  Overall, once the project is completed you can both share in the success and maintain good working relationships.

My Presentation

Strength:  I believe that I had a wealth of information included in my presentation which was presented in a logical manner.

Improvement:  I believe I could improve on the delivery of my speech i.e. eliminate pauses and “ums.”

Insight:  By using note cards with simplified outline structure next time I will hopefully eliminate becoming lost in my notes.

Tips for Presenting

• Come prepared to present
• Speak in a calm and clear voice which can be heard throughout the audience
• Use your body language to convey the entire message
• Use facial expressions to help the audience stay interested
• Keep the audience involved with questions or activities
• Use note cards, it may be difficult to find where you are on an entire sheet of paper

5 Criteria for an Effective Speech

A strong and confident voice is key to an effective speech.

Content which is relevant to the audience at hand is needed.

Descriptive language is needed to help audience visualize the point.

The speaker’s credibility is essential to the audience accepting the speech.

The speech must flow with a logical progression of ideas. 

Change in the Work Place

Some aspects of the work place which may help people accept change would be an understanding that change is inevitable, a creative personality, and willingness to learn.  Employees must understand that the work environment will not remain as it is.  The work environment is fluid and will continue to change.  The last two aspects go somewhat hand in hand.  The employees who are creative will have willingness to learn the changes which will happen within the work environment.

Even if the aspects which harbor successful change are present in the work environment there is no guarantee the change will be accepted.  Personal ideals and political aspirations may try to counter and or stall change which is taking place.

System Development Enviroment

                The environment in which systems are developed can have a significant impact on the deliverables.  The ideal environment for system development would be encouraging, friendly, open, structured, creative, and collaborative.  I do realize that structured contrasts open and creative but this is where a balancing act must take place.  There must be enough freedom to be creative and develop new and innovative ideas.  However, the environment must be structured enough to ensure time, cost, and any other constraints are observed.  If the environment is too structured the project could fail for lack of creativity.  If the project is too open the project may fail for ignoring constraints.  A fine and difficult balance must be observed to ensure the success of systems development.

Fishing Gear Presentation

                I had given a presentation on fishing equipment, focusing on the rod, reel, and line.  I believe the presentation went well. However I may have stumbled at some points.  More extensive preplanning and practicing could eliminate this problem in the future.  Another short coming, I believe, was the flow.  I did not have a clear direction in where I was going and revisited some topics after leaving them.  The addition of some outline note cards may help me in the future to maintain a distinct direction in my presentation.  Even with these short comings I do believe that it was an effective presentation.

Internal Politics

       It is essential to keep internal politics in mind while producing a project.  Internal politics have the ability to derail and cause a project to fail.  How are politics able to do this?  Whether they will admit it or not people have their own personalities, egos, and agendas.  The interaction between the team members must also be taken into account.  Some people may not want work or work well with other individuals.  This must be taken into consideration while assigning teams.  However, this should not scare you away from assigning teams to establish new relationships.  These interactions and personal attributes must always be taken into consideration, as they have to ability to affect a project at any time. 

What is Failure

            It is hard to determine what exactly failure is.  If you are looking at a black and white definition of what failure is and what success is then you would also have to determine the conditions of success.  The definitions of success and failure tend to be fluid from project to project and may even be altered while the project is being produced.

            To me failure would be not meeting the goals that are determined to be success.  There can also be a more personal definition of what your goal accomplishes for the project.  A project can be successful but you can still consider your own role a failure.  Each person’s definition of failure will also vary.

Why Projects Fail

            The success of a project relies on many factors.  Some of these factors include lack of documentation, inadequate stake holder/sponsor involvement, inadequate core team involvement, lack of required skills, unclear role definitions, alteration of scope, lack of quality, risks managed improperly, and deviation from the initial project plan.  Any one or combination of these aspects has the potential to cause a project to fail.

            Documentation is an important yet all too often over looked part of a project.  Documentation allows team members, managers, stake holders, and sponsors to agree upon what is to be accomplished by the project.  It also enables new team members to join in the project by looking over the documentation.

            To complete the documentation to the satisfaction of all involved there must be interaction between all parties.  It is essential to have the input of stake holders, sponsors, and team members throughout the duration of the project.  Being involved and being heard allows them to provide input and also promotes cooperation.

            To ensure the project is a success, the team producing the deliverables must possess the required skills.  During the planning phase of the project the skills required must be determined.  If a required skill is not present on the team, a team member must acquire the skill or an addition to the team must be made.

            The definition of roles for the team, stake holders, and sponsors is an important aspect of the project.  It ensures that each person involved will know what they are responsible for and who they are responsible too.

            A project also has the tendency to be pushed beyond the initial scope.  This can lead to increased costs or extended time frame.  Documentation helps to avoid this problem.  If additions are requested, the initial project plan can be examined to determine if it is in the scope of the project.  If it is not, it could be denied or revisions could be made to the project plan.

            The quality of a project is an important aspect.  The producing team may have one idea of the quality desired, while the stakeholders may have another perception.  To alleviate these discrepancies it is essential to include all interested parties in producing the project plan.  Within the project plan, the expected quality must be thoroughly defined.

            Risks are always associated with any project.  Any identified risk must have a management plan in place.  This allows the project to move forward if there are problems that arise during the course of production.

            Overall the best way to keep a project from failing is to include all parties in the project planning.  The project plan must be as thorough as possible.  Finally, the agreed upon plan must be followed by all parties that have signed off on it.

Craig as a Project

            While looking at me as a project of a college student there are many goals that I strive to complete.  Some of these are maintaining a respectful grade point average, learning and retaining as much material as I can, graduating, and securing a desirable position after graduation.  To accomplish these goals there are many tasks that must be completed.

            To maintain a quality grade point average, I will have to set aside the required time to study, do home work, and attended group project meetings.  As I cannot foresee the exact nature of all things to come I will estimate that this will require on average at least one hour a night while school is in session.

            To ensure that I will retain as much of the material presented I will have to set aside additional time.  This time will be used to read and re-read material, do additional research, and ask questions of matters which I cannot decipher.  I will also make time to do additional research in areas that interest me.  Once again as I cannot foresee the exact nature of things to come I will estimate an average of five hours over the period of a week spent on these activities while school is in session.

            For my goal of graduation I will need to ensure that I take all of the required classes.  This will require meetings with my counselor to choose classes.  Since registration is only once per semester I will set aside two hours per semester to conduct these meetings and work out my schedule.

            My goal of securing a desirable position after graduation will require me to gain experience in the field that I intend to enter.  I have already started this with my work with TAC.  This I devote 20 hours a week to while school is in session and up to 40 hours a week while it is not in session.  In addition to this, I will also be searching for a rewarding internship.  This I will devote a summer to, or if need be, make it work during a semester.

            If I can accomplish these goals and the associated tasks during my college career I believe that Craig as a project will be a success.