ERD

It is a data modeling technique that creates a graphical representation of the entities and the relationships
between entities with an information system.

Planning
Proposal, BRD (Scope, Baseline)

Requirement Analysis
TRD (workflows), FSD (wireframes, mockups), Technical Design document

Traceability Matrix
It is a document usually in the form of a table that correlates any two baseline-d documents that require a many
to many relationship to determine the completion.

BRD
A business requirement document details the business solutions for a project including the documentation of
custom needs and expectations
 To gain agreement with stakeholders
 To provide the foundation
 To provide input into the next phase for the project
 Sets high level business goals if the organization

Iterative Development
Iterative development prescribes the construction of initially small but even large portion of a software project to
help all those involved to cover important issues early before problems or faulty assumptions.

SDLC
It is a structure imposed on the development of software products.
Used to design, develop, and test high quality software that meets or exceeds customer expectations, reaches
completion with time and cost estimates.

Planning and Requirement Analysis

Fundamental stage of SDLC, members of the team interact with inputs from the customer. Information is used to
plan the basin project approach.

Defining Requirements
Clearly define and document the product requirements and get them approved from the customer. Done
through SRS – consists of all the product requirements to be designed and developed during the project life cycle.

Designing the Product Architecture

Based on the requirements specified in SRS, usually more than one design approach for the product architecture
in proposed and documented in a DDS – design document specification. Defined all the architectural models of
the product along with its communication and data flow representation

Building or Developing the Products

Actual development starts and the product is built, the design is performed in a detailed and organized manner
and code generation can be accomplished without much hassle.

Testing the product

Testing activities and usually involved in all stages of SDLC. Here testing refers to the stage where product defects
are reported, traced, fixed and retested until the product reaches the quality standard defined in the SRS.
Deployment/ Maintenance
Product released, feedback taken, suggested enhancements, maintenance.

SRS
The main purpose of the document is to state all the functionality of the software and to declare those
functionalities that are not provided by the software but can be provided if asked for in the future. Thus at the
time of submission of the project there would be no uncertainty.

Dataflow Diagrams
A DFD is often used as a preliminary step to create an overview of the system which can later be collaborated.
DFDs can also be used for the visualization of data processing.

Usecase
In software and systems engineering, a use case is a list of steps, typically defining interaction between a role
(known in unified modeling language as an actor) and a system to achieve a goal. The actors can be a human an
external system or time.

Wireframes
Wireframes are forms of prototype or interface that are though not proper interfaces but the images define the
system functionalities.

BRD
The primary aim of the business requirement document is to definitely describe the aspects of the software to be
produced and define the route adopted to execute the assignment in accordance with set expectations and
plans. This document feeds from the verbal interaction with the client. This document will assist the
implementation team when constructing the design of a technology solution document or TRD.

1) Project Overview
Background, why is this needed, what is the project about, services/advantages of the project,
solutions/benefits.
2) Introduction to the Project
About the company/project, company history.
a) Document Purpose: Aim of BRD, define aspects of project
b) Intended Audiences: Business owners, data architects, application architect, and technical architects.
3) Scope
Objective behind the development of project, features and benefits.
a) Functionalities: Each function is mentioned in a point form, each interface, mechanism, tabs are
defined, any content management or search optimization is mentioned, and roles are mentioned.
b) Role wise Portal or Interface:
User -> search, home page (header, search, footer etc.)
Admin -> all admin functionalities
Corporate -> corporate account management, profile management
Applicant -> sign up/in, account management
c) CMS
d) Mobile version
4) Non-functional Requirements
Language, screen resolution, browser support, prerequisites.

Operational Manual
1) Introduction (introduction, scope, intended readers)
2) Prerequisites
3) Installation (services, configuration utility, setup, output, UI installation, verification)
4) Running the application
Functional Requirement Document
1) Introduction (purpose, scope, background, assumptions and constraints)
2) Methodology
3) Functional Requirements (DFD, data modeling, user requirements, functional requirements)
4) Other Requirements (hardware, security, audit etc.)
5) Appendix (Glossary)

TRD
The primary aim of technical requirement document is to document the requirements for the system. This
documents feeds from the business requirements specified and will assist the implementation team when
constructing the design of a technology solution. All parameters and components of the solution are described
and illustrated where possible. Each requirement is explicitly defined and enumerated to facilitate traceability
back to the requirement later during the development process and acceptance testing.

Project Management Life Cycle

a) Initiation
a) Develop a Business Case
b) Undertake a Feasibility Study
c) Establish the Project Charter
d) Appoint the Project Team
e) Set up the Project Office
f) Perform Phase Review
b) Planning
a) Create a Project Plan
b) Create a Resource Plan
c) Create a Financial Plan
d) Create a Quality Plan
e) Create a Risk Plan
f) Create an Acceptance Plan
g) Create a Communications Plan
h) Create a Procurement Plan
i) Contract the Suppliers
a. Define the Tender Process
b. Issue a Statement of Work
c. Issue a Request for Information
d. Issue a Request for Proposal
e. Create Supplier Contract
f. Perform Phase Review
c) Execution
a. Build Deliverables
d) Monitoring and Controlling
a. Perform Time Management
b. Perform Cost Management
c. Perform Quality Management
d. Perform Change Management
e. Perform Risk Management
f. Perform Issue Management
g. Perform Procurement Management
h. Perform Acceptance Management
i. Perform Communications Management
e) Closure
a) Perform Project Closure
b) Review Project Completion
Project Plan
A project plan is a formal document designed to guide the control and execution of a project.

A project plan is used for the following purposes:

 To document and communicate stakeholder products and project expectations
 To control schedule and delivery
 To calculate and manage associated risks

The project plan typically covers topics used in the project execution system and includes the following main
aspects:
 Scope management
 Requirements management
 Schedule management
 Financial management
 Quality management
 Resource management
 Stakeholder management
 Communications management
 Project change management
 Risk management

10 Steps To Creating A Project Plan

1) Explain the project plan to key stakeholders and discuss its key components.
2) Define roles and responsibilities.
3) Hold a kickoff meeting.
a. Business vision and strategy (from sponsor)
b. Project vision (from sponsor)
c. Roles and responsibilities
d. Team building
e. Team commitments
f. How team makes decisions
g. Ground rules
h. How large the group should be and whether sub-groups are necessary
4) Develop a Scope Statement.
a. Business need and business problem
b. Project objectives, stating what will occur within the project to solve the business problem
c. Benefits of completing the project, as well as the project justification
d. Project scope, stated as which deliverables will be included and excluded from the project.
e. Key milestones, the approach, and other components as dictated by the size and nature of the
project.
5) Develop scope baseline.
a. Identifies all the deliverables produced on the project, and therefore, identifies all the work to be
done.
b. Takes large deliverables and breaks them into a hierarchy of smaller deliverables. That is, each
deliverable starts at a high level and is broken into subsequently lower and lower levels of detail.
c. The lowest level is called a "work package" and can be numbered to correspond to activities and
tasks.
6) Develop the schedule and cost baselines.
a. Identify activities and tasks needed to produce each of the work packages, creating a WBS of
tasks.
b. Identify resources for each task, if known.
c. Estimate how long it will take to complete each task.
d. Estimate cost of each task, using an average hourly rate for each resource.
 e. Consider resource constraints, or how much time each resource can realistically devoted to this
project.
f. Determine which tasks are dependent on other tasks, and develop critical path.
g. Develop schedule, which is a calendarization of all the tasks and estimates. It shows by chosen
time period (week, month, quarter, or year) which resource is doing which tasks, how much time
they are expected to spend on each task, and when each task is scheduled to begin and end.
h. Develop the cost baseline, which is a time-phased budget, or cost by time period.
7) Create baseline management plans.
8) Develop the staffing plan.
9) Analyze project quality and risks.
10) Communicate.

Schedule Compression
Schedule compression is the name given to the techniques that are used when a person wants to shorten the
duration of the project without changing the scope of the project.

Fast Tracking
Fast tracking is the process of performing tasks in parallel so as to be able to finish the project sooner.
Overlapping tasks in this way leads to an increase in the risk of rework.
Fast tracking can only be applied if the activities in question can actually be overlapped.

Crashing
Crashing is the process of adding resources to one’s project so as to be able to finish it faster. It involves a
financial cost in most cases.
Crashing is the technique to use when fast tracking has not saved enough time on the schedule.

Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle is an important concept in marketing. It describes the stages a product goes through from
when it was first thought of until it finally is removed from the market. Not all products reach this final stage.
Some continue to grow and others rise and fall.

1) Creation – Ideation, creation

2) Introduction – researching, developing and then launching the product
3) Growth – when sales are increasing at their fastest rate
4) Maturity – sales are near their highest, but the rate of growth is slowing down, e.g. new competitors in
market or saturation
5) Decline – final stage of the cycle, when sales begin to fall

Gold-Plating
Gold plating in PM is the act of giving the customer more than what he originally asked for.
It means intentionally adding extra features or functions to the products which were not included in the scope
statement.

Consequences of Gold-Plating
 Increasing the cost of project
 Scope inflation
 Increasing risks
 Raising the expectations of the over-satisfied customer
 Customer backlash
Avoiding Gold-Plating
 Never allow team member to add extra features without approval
 As a PM you should also avoid it
 Establish and encourage good communication among the team members
 Keep proper checks on the project’s progress.

Scope Creep
Scope creep is also known as requirement creep, which refers to the uncontrolled and undocumented changes in
the project’s or product’s scope.

Scope creep happens in the project for the following reasons;

 Due to interference from client
 Due to an incomplete scope statement
 Due to poor change control system
 Due to miss-communication among the team members
 Due to reasons external to organization; market condition, regulatory requirements, or technological
advancements.

Avoiding Scope Creep

 Never allow changes without proper review and approval
 Establish a communication channel between you and client. Don’t let them talk directly to your project
team member
 Prepare a solid and complete scope statement
 Establish a robust change control system
 Establish and encourage good communication among the team members
 Keep proper checks on the project’s progress.

Critical Path
The critical path is the longest sequence of activities in a project plan which must be completed on time for the
project to complete on due date. An activity on the critical path cannot be started until its predecessor activity is
complete; if it is delayed for a day, the entire project will be delayed for a day unless the activity following the
delayed activity is completed a day earlier.
The critical path is very useful in helping to manage any project. When the critical path has been identified, it can
clearly be seen where effort cannot be compromised. If any of the activities on the critical path change, the end
date of the project will be affected.

Waterfall Methodology
Waterfall methodology is a sequential design process. This means that as each of the eight stages (conception,
initiation, analysis, design, constriction, testing, implementation and maintenance) are completed, the developers
move on to next step.
Once a step has been completed, developers can’t go back to a previous step – not without scratching the whole
project and starting from the beginning.
There’s no room for change or error.
 Feasibility
 Plan
 Design
 Build
 Test
 Production
 Support
Advantages of Waterfall
 It stresses meticulous record keeping. Having such records allow for the ability to improve upon the
existing program in the future.
 With the Waterfall methodology, the client knows what to expect.
 Waterfall’s strong documentation allows for minimal project impact in case of employee turnover.

Disadvantages of Waterfall
 Once a step has been completed, developers can’t go back to a previous stage and make changes.
 Heavily rely on initial requirements.
 In case of any change, project has to start from the beginning.
 The whole project is tested only at the end.
 If the client realizes that they need more than they initially thought, and demand change, the project will
come in late and impact budget.

When to use Waterfall

 When there is a clear picture of what the final product should be
 When clients won’t have the ability to change the scope of the project once it has begun
 When definition, not speed is the key to success.

Agile
Agile software development is a group of software development methods based in iterative and incremental
development where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration.
Agile came about as a solution to the disadvantages of the waterfall methodology. Instead of a sequential design
process, the agile methodology follows An incremental approach.
Developers start off with a simplistic project design, and then begin to work on small modules.

Advantages of Agile Methodology

 Allows changes to be made after initial planning
 It is easier to add features that will keep you up to date with the latest developments in your industry.
 At the end of each sprint, project priorities are evaluated.
 The testing at the end of each sprint ensures that the bugs are caught and taken care of in the
development cycle.
 Because the products are tested so thoroughly with Agile, the product could be launched at the end on
any cycle.

Disadvantages of Agile Methodology

 With a less successful project manager, the project can become a series of code sprints. If this happens,
the project is likely to come in late and over budget.
 As the initial project doesn’t have a definitive plan, the final product can be grossly different than what
was initially intended.

When to use Agile Methodology

 When rapid production is more important than the quality of the product
 When clients will be able to change the scope of the project
 When there isn’t a clear picture of what the final product should look like
 When you have skilled developers who are adaptable and able to think independently
 When the product in intended for an industry with rapidly changing standards

Planning Meeting
Product owner checks backlog items to be worked on.
Refinement Meeting
Refine backlog between developers

Scrum Call
Between GD, TW, QA, Developers (What did you do, what will you do, impediments)

Sprint Review Meeting

Product owner checks the work according to every story, task, PBI.

Retrospective Meeting
Development team! What should be started, what should be stopped, what shall be continued, what was done
well, what did not go well, what can be improved and how.

Earned Value Management

To assess schedule and cost performance throughout any project.

EVM Advantages
 Guess work can be reduced
 Forecasting can be done
 Status reporting on the basis of time and cost
 Brings culture of transparency

EVM Disadvantages
 Measures quantity
 Time required for reporting is high
 Good for large projects only
 Tells about execution not planning

Planned Value
Approved budget for the work schedule to be completed.
Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled.

Earned Value
Approved budget for the work actually completed by the specified date.
Budgeted Cost of Work Performed.

Actual Cost
Cost actually incurred for the work completed.
Actual Cost of Work Performed.

Cost Variance
This is the completed work cost when compared to the planned cost. CV is computed by calculating the
difference between the earned value and the actual cost.
CV = EV – AC

Schedule Variance
This is the completed work when compared to the planned schedule. Schedule variance is computed by
calculating the difference between the earned value and the planned value.
SV = EV – PV
Risk
Risk is an uncertain event that can have an impact on the success of the project.

Risk Analysis
Risk analysis is a technique used to identify and assess factors that may jeopardize the success of a project or
achieving a goal.

Risk Management
Risk management is defined as identification, assessment and economic control of those risks that endanger the
assets and earning capacity of a business.

Risk Management Plan

Risk management plan is a document that a project manager prepares to foresee risks, estimate impacts and
define responses to issues. It also contains a risk assessment matrix.

Risk Actions
 Avoid – change plans to circumvent the problem
 Control/Mitigate – reduce impact or likelihood through immediate steps
 Accept – take the chance of negative impact, eventually budget the cost (contingency budget line)
 Transfer – outsource risk to third party that can manage the outcome. Done financially through contacts.

Risk Management Steps

1) Identify
2) Analyze
3) Plan and Schedule
4) Track and Report
5) Control
6) Learn

Ways to avoid becoming a risk yourself

 Stop negotiating everything
 Be an active listener
 Don’t try to change company culture
 Focus on transparency
 Don’t let your ego take control
 Know the value of emotional intelligence

Lean
Lean is a methodical approach to streamlining both manufacturing and service processes by eliminating waste
while continuing to deliver value to customers.
A Lean process:
 Is faster
 Is more efficient and economical
 Delivers satisfactory quality

Lean is achieved by removing “Waste,” which is activity not required to complete a process.
Advantage of Lean
 It saves costs
 It saves time
 Easier monitoring
 Improved customer relationship management
 Less interruptions
 Increased sustainability of the business
 Pleasant working atmosphere

Disadvantage of Lean
 Negative perception by staffs
 Unbalanced economies

Six Sigma
Six Sigma is simply a method of efficiently solving a problem. Using Six Sigma reduces the amount of defective
products manufactured or services provided, resulting in increased revenue and greater customer satisfaction.
Six Sigma identifies the cause(s) of your problem to efficiently develop effective solution(s).

Advantage of Six Sigma

 Six Sigma is customer driven
 3.4 defects per one million products or service processes
 Six Sigma addresses the entire process behind the production of an item or completion of a service,
rather than just the final outcome.
 It is proactive rather than reactive

Disadvantage of Six Sigma

 Because Six Sigma is applied to all aspects of the production and planning process, it may create rigidity
and bureaucracy that can create delays and stifle creativity
 Its customer focus may be taken to extremes, where internal quality-control measures that make sense
for a company are not taken because of the overlying goal of achieving the Six Sigma-stipulated level of
consumer satisfaction. For example, an inexpensive measure that carries a risk of a slightly higher defect
rate may be rejected in favor of a more expensive measure that helps to achieve Six Sigma, but adversely
affects profitability.

Headless Chicken Projects

Projects often fail at the beginning not at the end. It’s just that we get to know about it later.
Due to improper analysis, communication.

Abilene Paradox
Inability to disagree leads to agreement.
Silence means consent.