3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

In this section we present tools for project planning and project management.

	These tools are considered to be very helpful to project managers, aiding in the planning and implementation
	of the projects.

In any project, careful planning and preparation is needed at the outset.

	In order to plan and prepare effectively to achieve the required targets, project management methods are
	used.

	Project management methods are used to assist in the planning and managing of all project tasks and
	activities especially complex ones.

	Project management techniques and project planning tools are useful for tasks of possible variable and
	different outcomes.

In these tasks risks, problems, and failures could exist.

	Then, project planning tools are used to plan and assess options, organize activities and resources, and
	deliver a successful result.

Throughout each project management knowledge area, there are many used tools and techniques.

Table 1 lists some popular tools and techniques in the nine project management knowledge areas.

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

Table 1: List of tools and techniques used in project management

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

Project management software

	Project management software is an integral and important requirement for any successful software project
	planning and implementation.

They deliver software project management capabilities successfully.

	The Project Management Center is a Web site that provides an alphabetical listing of and links to hundreds of
	products that help manage projects.

Some project management tools provide basic project management features.

Most of these tools allow project managers to create Gantt charts.

Some project management tools handle larger projects, multiple users, and multiple projects.

	They can produce Gantt charts and network diagram; assist in critical path analysis, project tracking, resource
	allocation, status reporting, and many other capabilities. Examples include Microsoft Project, Artemis,
	PlanView, Primavera, and Welcom.

	Some project management tools also referred to as enterprise project management software provide
	enterprise functions that combine individual project information to provide an enterprise view of all projects,
	integrate with enterprise database management software, and are accessible via the Internet.

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

		Examples include Niku's Workbench, Primavera's TeamPlay, and Microsoft enterprise version of
		Project Server 2003.

Project management metrics

Projects produce outcomes, benefits, and results.

Hence, these outcomes, benefits, and results should be measured to demonstrate success.

	Project management metrics are in-process or project execution measures that are collected, analyzed and
	used to drive project process evaluation, enhancement, and improvement.

They enable software engineers to gain an insight into the performance of the project processes.

A project management metric is an attribute that is measured to evaluate the status of a project deliverable.

It could also be a 'numerical value' that is calculated from numerous sets of data.

	Project management metrics help to identify trends in the engineering process with which true improvements
	can be made over time, without relying on personal judgments.

	Project metrics require time and effort and hence, project management metrics are used to measure the
	project attributes for the following reasons:

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

Measure the quality of the product.

Assess the productivity of the human resources.

Assess the efficiency of the new methods.

Used as the basis for estimation.

Help justify the needs for new tools.

		Project metrics are collected with a well-defined plan for future actions to use those metrics to drive
		project process improvements.

Provide clear project status information about project schedule time, and cost.

Identify areas for project process enhancement and improvement.

Demonstrate the results of process improvement.

Collect project metrics to analyze trend or provide history and estimate parameters.

The use of metrics assists work progression and the interaction with other project members

		Metrics allow the project to be an iterative process where a sense of direction is developed in order to
		achieve efficiency.

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

Project management metrics are needed in the following project areas:

Pace and productivity assessment of projects.

Time of the project and how the project is going against schedule.

Scope of the project and how the project's scope is kept in line with expectations.

Quality performance trends tracking and how are quality problems being reviewed and fixed.

Project deliverables description.

Project resources and how much time is being spent on the project.

Project deliverables evaluation.

Project costs management and how the project is going against budget.

	The following is a list of project management metrics that focus on the performance of project management
	portfolio:

Total capacity:

Total capacity measures the number of potential hours the project's staff is available to work.

Total capacity is equal to the total available hours minus the overhead hours.

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

Utilization rate:

			Utilization rate measures the percentage of time that members of the project are assigned to
			specific jobs within the project.

Utilization rate is equal to the total capacity divided by total available hours multiplied by 100%.

If the overhead hours value is zero, then, utilization rate is 100%.

Available hours:

			Available hours measures number of hours that are not yet to be allocated for the project's
			members.

			The team leaders, or the project management are responsible for the identification of members
			who have available hours and allocate them with work.

Downtime:

Downtime measures number of hours people are unallocated.

Example cases include:

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

				A project team member has available hours and these hours are not assigned or allocated
				to any other task or project.

				A project team member is assigned a task and given full time hours but is incapable of
				starting this task due to another team member who is yet to finish his task (which needs to
				be finished for the next task to commence).

Actual vs. targets work allocation:

			Actual vs. targets work allocation measures how well you are allocating work versus your target
			allocation.

Estimated vs. actual project budget:

Estimated vs. actual project budget measures how well you are allocating project budget.

			If the total project budget exceed their target budget, it could mean that budget is exhausted and
			no more budget could be allocated or no more work could be assigned.

Estimated vs. actual project deadline:

			Estimated vs. actual project deadline measures how well the project is progressing in regards to
			the time schedule.

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

			If a project is running beyond its deadline, this affects other projects scheduled to be started once
			the project in question is finished, due to resources being unavailable/occupied.

Rework:

Rework measures the rate of the redundant/redone work.

			It indicates the efficiency of doing the project work by the project team members. The lower the
			rate of rework the more efficient and effective the project is.

Defects:

Defects measures the rate of defected outcomes and results of the project.

Similar to the Rework rate, the lower the defects rate the more efficient the project will be.

Service-level agreement commitments vs. actual:

			Service-level agreement commitments vs. actual measures the abidance to the agreement
			between the project customers and project developing enterprise.

3.2 Project Management Tools and Techniques

Client satisfaction:

Client satisfaction measures how the project is accepted in the market.

Project benefits realization:

Project benefits realization measures the exploitation of the project by customers and clients.

			The business benefits of the project are tracked to ensure they are realized as proposed in the
			project proposal and plans.