Things to be considered while planning a Software project – Part 2

In the previous posts we learnt importance of project planning, things considered in project sizes of different size. In this post, we will discuss some basic questions that must be answered before you make plans for project.

Who has the requirements authority? Someone must be responsible for defining the requirements to get approved by the necessary parties. In a small project team, the client will have the authority over requirements and design. Big staff projects have committees or divisions which may include high-level authority and low-level authority. In a solo-superman project, the single person has the entire control on requirements.

Who has the design authority? There must be someone to define the design of work. Usually, designs are negotiated between different parties. Different designs are there to fulfill a set of requirements. The design processes are controlled and ideas are developed by a team or an individual. Another team provides feedback and assistance to the first team’s work.

Who has the technical authority? The technical authority defines which approach must be used, and these definitions are co-related with design, requirements and budget. In many organizations, technical authority has more power than requirement or design authorities. Usually, all theses different authorities maintain a collaborative relationship in most organizations.

Who has budget authority? Every project team has some department which makes decision on the allotment of the resources to a project. This authority provides money for the project requirements.

How often the requirements and designs are reviewed? Planning involves all these authorities. It requires lot of efforts to keep all authorities in sync during the project.

Requirements can be communicated in different ways. If you are communicating it in a written form, please make sure that the right information has been documented and right people are sharing it. Here are some tips on how to document various requirements and plan information accurately.

Marketing requirements document: This document describes the existing business opportunities in the world and how projects can make use of such opportunities. Some organizations use this document as reference for decision making.

Vision/Scope document: Vision document explains project goals, high-level requirements, features and dates for projects.

Specifications: They define the questions related to the project from the design perspective. Specifications detail the end result of project work/the work to be done. They are derived usually from a set of requirements.

Work Breakdown Structure: WBS narrates how the work has to be done by the project team. It provides details on sequence of activities, the responsible person for each activity and how to track all activities etc.

Things to be considered while planning a Software project – Part 1

In the previous post we discussed the importance of project planning and took note about the important activities in software project. In this post we will discuss different the things to be considered in software project on the basis of project size.

Projects are of different types. The nature of requirements and design made varies based on several criteria. Projects differ in their team size, authority relationship, organizational structure etc.

Small contract team: In this type of project team, the client hires a team of 5 to 10 programmers and one manager to develop a software application. A contract is drafted to specify their commitments to each other and the relationship lasts till the contract ends up.

Big staff team: Example for this type of project team will be an organization with more than 100 employees who need to work on a new version of an application. It can be a product sold to the public or something used internally.

Solo-superman: This includes a simple project handled by a single person. In such project all the project activities are accomplished and handled by a single person.

Things to be considered while planning a Software project -Intro

Any project needs proper planning. However, the planning structure of a project depends on the complexity of the project. In this post, we will discuss some points to be considered while planning a software project.

Gives an Opportunity...
Project planning provides an opportunity to highlight the assumptions, review the decisions, and clarify the agreements between people and organizations. Good planning saves the time spent on the project work. Most common and obvious questions raised before staring a project are ‘What do we need to do?’ and ‘How will we do it?’. Proper project planning answers these questions. The first question specifies to the aspect of gathering requirements and the second one specifies to designing of the project.

In a software Project...
A requirement, is a written description of a criterion that work is expected to satisfy. It is easy to understand requirements and they can be fulfilled in various ways. Specifications are plans for developing something that satisfy the requirements. In any software development project, the three activities namely gathering requirements, designing, and implementing are of greater significance.

You’ve got mail – How to write emails that ‘get things done’- Part 3

In this post we will discuss some more points to be considered during email communication.

Don’t Assume. Stop assuming that people read anything that you send to them. They may be getting tons of mails each day and many might be important as yours. If you think your issue is more important than others, you have to put more energy to get it done.

Avoid unimportant information. Avoid information that is unimportant to the reader. Make it clear in the first two lines about the subject of the email. Don’t write emails that focus on the contributions of others. Write emails in such a way that the reader can understand his role in the issue from the introduction of the mail itself.

Control FYIs (For Your Information) emails. Never entertain emails which are not directly relevant to the work such as industry trends, tech updates to dominate your communication forum especially in works. You can set up a separate email alias title with industry trends or entertainment updates where the team can post cool things they find. If these kinds of emails are acceptable to everyone, ask them to set up such mails with low priority or request to add FYIs to the front of the subject line that can enable the receiver filter such mails.

Keep the mails short. If you are not able to understand something on email that you have received, don’t respond with a descriptive 1000 word questions. The best alternative is to make the information clear over telephone. Interpersonal communication is always better than emails as it can avoid confusions and conflicts. Remember, a one minute conversation is far better than a time consuming lengthy email exchange.

Avoid half-baked thoughts. Bad emails are often lengthy, poorly written and may contain many attachments along with them. Usually, people ignore such kind of emails or it becomes a great challenge for them to read them. However, the more dangerous emails are the ones which appear well-written but contain plenty of distractions, half-baked thoughts and ambiguities.

Therefore, remember that each mail you send might have a different purpose. Your emails must make sense as well as thoughtfully written with clear reasons. Shoot right emails at right times to get your things done.

You’ve got mail – How to write emails that ‘get things done’ – Part 2

In this post we will discuss some points to be considered during email communication.

Important discussions or debates take place over emails. This may include employees of multiple levels of hierarchy who exchange mails back and forth. Such emails of priority must be simple and clear. Sometimes, in such debates, your argument or points may get appreciation from leaders. Appreciation for good emails from leaders can encourage people to enhance well –written communication.

Make your emails simple, brief and direct (up to the point). Before you start shooting emails define your audience and the message you want to convey. If the email is for a senior person or leader, re-read your message before sending it. A good business email contains a specific purpose/action and a reasonable deadline associated with it. The receiver must understand the purpose of the mail, how it impacts him and what action must he take before the deadline. Such kind of emails put you in a position of power among others.

Prioritize your emails. Instead of sending hundreds of email requests for every small issue, think whether this particular email is necessary to be sent or not. Your emails should not be a burden to others to do prioritize. Thus, the simple solution is to mention only important things in your mails. Divide the issues of discussion into small groups and focus on the most important issue. If you don’t prioritize issues, the receiver may prioritize those according to his interests rather than yours. Try to resolve issues that can be done over telephone or through face-face conversations.

You’ve got mail – How to write emails that ‘get things done’

We are aware that email is an important communication channel in this high speed age of internet. As told by elders, good things donot come so easily. Emails make life problematic if they are not written well. You may send or receive tons of emails in a day. Most of us might be having issues with the emails we receive. Some times we do face issues with the mails we write.

In project management, email is an important medium of communication to most of the leaders and project managers. It is through email a leader controls most of the project communication processes. As a leader, you must encourage your team with clear thoughts and right question to ask. If the leader fails to express clarity of thoughts, it reflects the inability of the entire project team.

You cannot expect to receive good quality of emails all the times from all the employees of the organization. Quality of emails differs with the written skills of people. In general, people do not like to admit that their emails are bad instead they try to push the blame on to others. It is common that when a communication failure occurs people have the tendency to put blame on others.

Failure is not an option – Part 3

In this post let us discuss some issues which will help you to deal the project problems in a better manner. To deal the issues related to the project it a prime necessity to asses the environment you are into. Here is a rough guide to evaluate an environment in which you are into:

Ø Find out the communication styles being used such as direct or indirect, open or reserved.
Ø Evaluate how arguments are made. Their style, format, tone etc.
Ø Find out who is effective at doing what? At the same time,
look out for who is falling down and why.
Ø Find out the most valued and least valued behaviors of individuals and teams.
Ø Find out what your organization best values in an organizational culture.

Based on the above questions you can make adjustments to your own work. First assess the environment and then find out the best way to reach project goals. Here are some tactics which assist you in finding out the routes to accomplish your goals.

Know the authority first. Find out who makes decisions or influences a particular problem or issue. Get time with the person to disclose your case.

Approach the source. It is always good to find the source or actual person and talk to him/her directly rather than depending on written communication. Sometimes, people may tell things that are inappropriate for emails or any written communication.

Look for alternate communication modes. If you find problems with a communication, switch to another mode. Instead of an email, call the person over telephone. Sometimes, you may get different response for the same request while switching modes. It happens because people are comfortable in some mediums than others.

Get people alone. Sometimes, you need to get people alone, to get a frank and honest opinion.

Hunt people down. Imagine a situation in which you need to get a response in an urgent situation, and the guy doesn’t turn up on time, what would be your reaction. You can deal this situation by going immediately after the person and getting things that you want from him done. Ensure that you are polite, however make sure to hunt and get what you need.

Hide from the crowd. If you are busy in meeting your deadline or need block of time to get your things done, hide yourself from the crowd. Reply only to important things or matters, where your assistance is required.

Seek advice. Get useful advice from people on things that you need. Make use of any expertise or experience you can access from others. Respect the act of asking other’s opinions.

Stack the deck. Never attend an important meeting without knowing others opinion in the meeting. Prepare yourself and understand the arguments and counter arguments that can come up during the meeting.