Project Planning:
Resources
Assignment
José Onofre Montesa Andrés
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Escuela Superior de Informática
Aplicada
2003-2004
Resources Assignment
• It’s the process in which we associate to each
one of the project tasks the necessary people
and materials so that tasks can be
accomplished
• Human resources are the most important
economic issues in software projects. More
important than the material resources
(Hardware and installations).
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Human Resources?
• People are not human resources. They
are human beings, with they right to be
different.
• In future enterprises
– They will have the knowledge as their main
resource,
– The organizations will be mainly made of
specialists that work accordingly to the
information they receive.
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Other important resources:
HARDWARE
• Hw costs are
decrease
continuously.
• The hardware
resources use
depends on the
quantity of people
assign to the
project.
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Other important resources:
CONSULTANTS
• They are outside
professionals.
• They support tasks
were the enterprise
has no experience.
• In complex projects
they can reach a
cost similar to the
developers cost.
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Other important resources:
Clients and users
• The user are present in every stage
of the project, mainly in analysis and
test.
• Usually they aren’t taken into
account when planning, this fault is
noticed when:
– Users complain: “We have wasted so
much time and...”
– When a user excuses himself for not
attending a meeting due to work
problems.
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In addition to the project
assignment tasks.
• In other to a team accomplish their
work it’s necessary:
– tasks themselves.
– the team maintenance tasks:
– cohesion maintenance, motivation and general willing to
achieve the task.
– To satisfy individuals needs:
– which helps the member to feel part of the team and
empowers him to do his best.
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Don´t force the plans below
what is foreseeable.
• The plans condemn the project to failure,
whatever the personnel quality or the used tools
and processes.
• If the elapsed time or budget are shortened ...
– the staff won´t be efficient,
– they won’t try harder if the goal is impossible to reach.
• Even worse, when the delays start,
– The moral will suffer and the project will probably take
more time than if it had been made in a reasonable way.
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Determining project elapsed
time.
• Points of view:
– from software developer:
• Software is the creation goal.
• Project is the way.
– from user and client
• Software: “Is what I need to reach my business
goals”
• Project: “It’s the hard time”
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Determining project elapsed
time.
• Balance:
– How much this project will
cost,
– When it will be available
for the user.
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Project temporal limits vs.
resources assignment
• A project effort of 165 person/month
• One person in 15 Years
–
–
–
–
It won’t be necessary
Opportunity costs
Out of date when delivered
It can require specialists
• 3.300 Persons in one day
– Tasks sequence
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The elapsed time must be
adjusted to:
• Business aspects,
• Development technical aspects
– maximum quantity of resources in each tasks,
• Management aspects
– development team as smallest as possible,
– avoid communication and coordination problems
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Determining the delivery time.
• Negotiation.
• Selecting an alternative
• Empirical method (Putnam and Norden).
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Negotiation.
• It’s right, commercial spirit, but
dangerous if...
– We start to negotiate without a clear
specification from the client.
– The user knows but little about present
development techniques.
– The user needs the software as soon as
possible.
– The DPC director or the project chief
negotiates with a higher hierarchical level
user.
– The users work is to contract services to
outside enterprises and they know that
the offer can always be decreased.
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negotiation (only) can lead to:
• Strong personal commitment from the project
manager.
• The developer take little participation when
fixing the timetable.
• This is an ideal situation for failure:
• Unknowing the user’s needs leads to
underestimating them.
• The manager own commitment will hardly be
supported by his subordinates.
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Selecting an alternative.
• I want to have a
funny evening...
• … Each one has his
own taste ...
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We can offer:
• Different designs…
• Different plans for a given design.
• Different points of view to development:
– In house development,
– Outsourcing,
– Software of the shelf.
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Putnam y Norden empirical
method.
• The amount of people needed in a
project depends on the moment where
we are.
Effortt   2Kate
 at
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Curve for a 165 man-month project
Effortt   2Kate
 at 2
15
Assigned
effort
10
5
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
0
Development month
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10
5
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
0
Persons
15
Development month
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We can adapted to: Maximum
quantity of people available.
Personal asignado
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
7
13
19
25
31
37
43
49
55
61
67
73
79
Meses de realización
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Boehm, defines the impossible
region,...
• Regarding the project duration, he
indicates that, from the specification to
the delivery, of a software project, it
can’t be less than
T  2,15  3 PeopleMonth
• And 99% of projects comply with it.
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Usual types of resources.
•
•
•
•
•
Work
Place of work
Equipment
Basic material for the development
office material
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Usual types of resources: work
• Development team
• Development support
• Clients y users
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Usual types of resources:
Place of work
• Meeting rooms
• Development environment:
Silent
quiet
• Data withdrawal areas
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Usual types of resources:
Equipment
• Office furniture
• Computers
• Presentations
material
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Usual types of resources:
Basic development material
• O.S., development languages,
development tools (case).
• Software manuals: initiation, user’s
manual, libraries, etc..
• Books regarding development techniques
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Usual types of resources:
office material
• Desk materials: pens, clips, staples...
• Needed material for the equipment:
printer’s ink, toner...
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Lasting of tasks
Resources
effort
Lasting
• Effort and lasting of tasks
• Assigning people to tasks
• Task type and lasting according to de
number of people assigned.
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Effort and lasting of tasks
Effort
Lasting
Assigned resources
10 days 5 weeks 2 days/week
10 days 1 week
2 full time people
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Difference between work
effort and elapsed duration...
• Re-work or defect repair on previously
completed dependent tasks.
• Holidays, weekends and public holidays.
• Consulting or coaching other teams members.
• Rostered days off.
• Non project administration.
• Non project education and team coaching.
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Difference between work
effort and elapsed duration...
•
•
•
•
•
Non project meetings.
Interruptions including phone calls.
Non project paperwork.
Wait time for meetings, results.
Switch time, e.g., the time required to
“switch” between tasks.
• It is not unusual for this factors to account
for 30% to 50% of the elapsed day.
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the more experienced people
the more affected
• They must train and teach the project
personnel in unforeseen subjects;
• They are consulted by others projects,
and
• they are usually asked to attend
meetings, presentations... which had no
relation with the present project.
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Assigning people to tasks
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Assigning people to tasks
• It’s better to have a small team with good
professionals.
• With the right people, even if tools, languages and
processes are not enough, it can be successful.
• Otherwise it seems impossible.
• But:
– If we entrust everything to few people.
– What happen if they leave the company?
• We need to balance the personnel.
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We evaluate employee-task
according to this aspects:
• The KAS, technical capability:
– Knowledge to carry out the task,
– Ability to have the task done, and
– Skills necessaries in the subject.
• The MAC, cognitive, willpower:
– Motivation,
– Assurance, and
– Commitment.
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Assigning people to tasks.
Either the person:
• Can do the job and wants to do it.
• Can do the job and is prepared to do it.
• Can do the job and isn’t prepared to do
it.
• Can be trained/instructed into doing the
job.
• Cannot do the job.
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Can do the job and wants to do
it.
• it is the ideal one
– If as part of your project, you can get a person
doing what he or she wants to do, you have
harnessed the greatest power on the earth.
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Can do the job and is prepared
to do it.
• It’s still OK.
– If what people are
asked to do doesn’t
fit in with their own
personal plans then
in the long term, I
believe that you are
swimming against
the tide.
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Can do the job and isn’t
prepared to do it.
• You’ve got a problem. The person can do
the job but won't. ... revert to either
situation 1 or 5.
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Can be trained/instructed into
doing the job.
• Then provided:
– You are prepared to put in the training time and
money.
– and you allow for training time in the project
schedule.
– and you allow for the extra management
overhead.
– and you’re prepared to run with the risk that if it
might not work out.
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Cannot do the job.
• You have a major problem.
• you need to find jobs within your project
that the person can do.
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Task type and lasting according to de
number of people assigned
• We can assign a certain number of
people to one task.
• The proportion between number of
people assigned to a task and effort has
no lineal relation.
• Assigning more people to a project when
it is in it’s half way doesn’t necessary
reduce its duration.
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Task type and lasting according to de
number of people assigned
1) Task can be partitioned perfectly.
2) Task cannot be partitioned.
3) Task can be partitioned but require
communication among the subtasks.
4) the task is complex adding more
workers lengthen the schedule.
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Duración
1) Task can be partitioned among many workers
with no communication among them.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Personas
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2) Task cannot be partitioned because of
sequential constraints.
Duración
• the bearing of a child takes nine months,
no matter how many women are assigned.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Personas
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Duración
3) Task can be partitioned but require
communication among the subtasks.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Personas
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4) If the task is complex
Duración
• the communication increases in a way
that adding more workers lengthen the
9
schedule.
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Personas
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Once the task assigned,
we’ll have
Human
resources
Assigning
PROJECT TASKS
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Tasks consistent assigning.
• Manager’s vision of the job differs
from employee vision.
• Assign the people the tasks they want.
• Work assignments with employees.
• Have a list of goals per employee.
• Meet till the assigning is clear.
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Some Conclusions
• Minimum development cost
– Time:
• Use specialists in each work area. (As much as
you can).
– Money
• Use the necessary workers to carry the tasks
and with some knowledge about the work areas.
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Some Conclusions.
• Long term minimum cost (future
maintenance and other projects)
– Less experienced workers work in the
development, with same guidance by expert
people.
– Promote each person. Identify people
objectives and made each project a step
toward their own objectives.
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It’s interesting to remember
that:
• The programmers productivity have a high
variation, it’s usual the relation 1:5.
• In one study, they find variability between 1
a 26 in the productivity level.
• This want to said...
– In the critical tasks put people with experience,
reputation and motivation.
– It´s expected that they are the more productive
ones.
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TASK CARD
Task specification
Number:
3.1.
Name:
Data Base Design.
Description: Designing the data base as ... .
Estimated Effort : 2 weeks/person
Personnel: 1 Designer …
Resources: Meeting room …
Elapsed time:
2 weeks
Deliverables:
D.B. implementation structure
…:
…
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Bibliography
• Blanchard, K., Johnson, S. “El ejecutivo al minuto”. Grijalbo
Mandadori, S.A. 1983.
• Brooks, Frederick P. The mythical man-month: essays on
software engineering. Addison-Wesley, 1995.
• DeMarco, Tom. Controlling Software Projects. Prentice Hall,
1982.
• Fergus O'Connell. "How to run successful projects". Prentice
Hall, 1994.
• Metzger, P. Boddie, J. “Managing a programming project: people
and processes” 3 ed. Prentice Hall, 1996.
• Thomsett, R. “Third Wave Project Management”. Prentice Hall,
1993.
• Yourdon, Edward. Análisis Estructurado Moderno. Prentice Hall,
1993.
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