4. Project & System Definition

4. Project & System Definition

Phase B: Project Definition

4.2 Project Definition

• During Definition, the project master plan and end-item requirements and specifications are defined.

• The system requirements and specification address “what” the end-item of the project must do.

• The project master plan describes “how” project will deliver end-item that meets system requirements and specifications

• Iterative process

• Details of the specifications are defined; master plan is expanded to reflect details
• As master plan is expanded, project constraints/opportunities/resources are identified, which leads to revisions in specifications

Primary Definition Tasks

Project Master Plan

• Project master plan addresses these questions to the satisfaction of project core team (people who will do work)

• Addresses all matters about project in sufficient detail for managers to organise and direct work to meet performance, cost, and time targets and for team to begin work

• Level of detail in the master plan far exceeds level in the proposal

Common Elements of Project Master Plan

1. What? Scope Statement, Charter, or SOW

2. What? Detailed requirements

3. How? Detailed work definition (WBS or PBS and work package/work task details)

4. Who? Responsibility for work tasks

5. When? Detailed schedules with milestones

6. How much? Project budget and cost accounts

7. What if? Risk plan

8. ==How well, what, how? Performance tracking and control

9. Other elements of the plan, as needed for, • Work review and testing • Quality control • Documentation Implementation • Communication/meetings • Procurement • Contracting and contract administration

4.3 Phased Project Planning

• At the start of the project, often there are too many unknowns, so the plan must be developed in phases

• The initial plan is somewhat rough though adequate to

  • estimate project resources, time, and cost
  • explain all this to the customer

• As the project progresses,

  • the unknowns decrease
  • details of the plan are filled in
  • a more-detailed plan is created for the next most immediate
  • phase of the project

• As project moves through the successive phases and stages, detailed plans are prepared with more-specific deliverables and schedules.

• Sometimes each phase concludes with a milestone

  • The customer or management review the deliverables and project performance
  • If satisfied, they approve the deliverables and pay for work done thus far.

• They also review the detailed plan for the next phase,

  • If satisfied they authorise the next phase.

• Authorisation to begin the next phase represents a commitment by the customer and management to support the phase

• If the project has to be terminated, it is terminated at the end of a phase.

4.4 Systems Definition

• System requirements and specifications elaborate in detail on the technical performance of end-item

• Tell designers and builders what project end-item (deliverable) must be and do

• Are a translation of user requirements into technical requirements

• Users are ignorant of most system requirements

Problems with Requirements Definition

1. Incorrect Requirements: Wrong Needs

• Incorrect Definition of Needs
• Shifting or Vagueness of Needs
• Needs of Wrong User
• Conflicting Needs of Multiple Users
• Distortions of Needs by Experts

2. Imprecise or Ambiguous Requirements: (Subject to Multiple Interpretations)

• Human Language
• Deliberate Imprecision for Flexibility
• Nebulous Projects
• User’s Lack of Expertise
• Project Planner’s Oversight

3. Shifting Requirements:

• User’s Change of Mind
• Insurmountable Obstacles
• New Opportunities
• Seeking Perfection

4. Over-Specification of Requirements:

• Initiative Discouraged
• Requirements Ignored
• Insufficient Information

5. Under-Specification of Requirements:

• Chaotic project planning resulting in cost and schedule overruns

Guidelines for Defining User Requirements

1. State each requirement clearly; have both user and project staff sign-off on it

2. Assume if a requirement can be misinterpreted, it will be misinterpreted

3. Accept that changes to project are inevitable and things will not go precisely as planned

4. Include pictures, graphs, models, and other nonverbal exhibits in requirements formulation

5. Carefully monitor changes to requirements once project has begun

6. Educate both user and project staff about problems associated with specifying requirements

Requirements Definition:

• A functional requirement is a kind of system requirement. It specifies the functions the end-item system must perform to meet the user requirements

• Associated with functional requirements are performance requirements that specify the required level of performance.

Project and System Definition:

How do you keep everyone in the project focused on those requirements?

How do you develop a project plan that will be able to account for those requirements?

A. Make the system and project definition a team effort

incorporate the perspectives of everyone with a stake in the project

• customers, suppliers, functional areas such as engineering, marketing, manufacturing, customer service, and purchasing, and users and operators.

B. The more these individuals and groups have a hand in defining requirements and the plan, better the system requirements will account for their needs throughout the systems life cycle

• Common team approaches in Definition are Concurrent Engineering (chapter 13) and QFD.