07 SPM

1. The 10-Step Project Planning Overview (Step-Wise)

One-liner: A structured process from "should we even do this?" to "execute and monitor."

2. Step 0 — Feasibility Study

Should we even build this? The feasibility study answers that question before spending real money.

Content of a Feasibility Study:

• Introduction (what is this document)
• Description of current situation
• Problem description
• Proposed development
• Business and financial aspects
• Technical aspects
• Organizational aspects
• Estimated costs (development + operational)
• Envisaged benefits
• Recommendation

3. Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)

Compare expected costs vs. benefits — in money terms.

Two Steps:

1. Identify and estimate all costs and benefits
2. Express in common units (money) → calculate net benefit

$\boxed{\text{Net Benefit} = \text{Total Benefit} - \text{Total Cost}}$

Types:

4. Cash-Flow Forecasting

Maps out WHEN money goes out and comes in over the project's life.

• During development: negative cash flow (spending money)
• During operation: positive cash flow (earning returns)
• End of life: possible decommissioning costs

🏠 Analogy: Building a house — pay during construction (negative), earn rent after (positive), pay demolition at the end.

Example (4 projects, 5-year life):

5. Cost-Benefit Evaluation Techniques (4 Methods)

Method 1 — Net Profit

Total income − total cost over the project life. Ignores time value of money.

$\boxed{\text{Net Profit} = \sum \text{All Cash Flows (including initial investment)}}$

Method 2 — Payback Period

How long until you break even (recover the initial investment)?

• Prefer the shortest payback period — minimizes time "in debt"
• Limitation: Ignores overall profitability after breakeven

⏱️ Like a loan — when do I finish paying it back? Doesn't tell you how much profit you make after.

From example:

• Project 1 → payback at Year 5
• Project 3 → payback at Year 4
• Project 4 → payback at Year 4

Method 3 — Return on Investment (ROI) / ARR

How much % return per year relative to the investment?

$\boxed{ROI = \frac{\text{Average Annual Profit}}{\text{Total Investment}} \times 100}$

Example — Project 1: $\text{Avg Annual Profit} = \frac{50{,}000}{5} = 10{,}000$ $ROI = \frac{10{,}000}{100{,}000} \times 100 = 10\%$

📈 Like an interest rate on your investment. Higher = better.

Method 4 — Net Present Value (NPV)

Money today is worth MORE than money in the future. NPV converts all future cash flows to today's value.

$\boxed{PV = \frac{\text{Value in Year } t}{(1+r)^t}}$

$\boxed{\text{Discount Factor} = \frac{1}{(1+r)^t}}$

$\boxed{NPV = \sum_{t=0}^{n} \frac{C_t}{(1+r)^t}}$

Where:

• $r$ = discount rate (e.g. 10% = 0.10)
• $t$ = years into the future
• $C_t$ = cash flow at year $t$

NPV Decision Rule:

🕐 Analogy: ฿100 today ≠ ฿100 in 5 years. Today's ฿100 can be invested and grow. NPV adjusts for that.

Discount Factor Table (key values to know):

Worked Example — Project 1 at 10%:

Note: NPV and IRR together = Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) technique.

6. Step 1 — Goals vs. Objectives

Goals — the "WHAT"

• Broad, big-picture statements
• Simply stated, describes the final outcome

🎯 "ผู้เยี่ยมชมจะเชื่อว่า global warming มีอยู่จริง"

Objectives — the "HOW"

• Specific, measurable, operational
• Start with an action verb
• Support the goal
• Include quantitative measure

🎯 Goal = "อยากผอม" | Objective = "ออกกำลังกาย 3 วัน/สัปดาห์ ลด 5 กก. ภายใน 3 เดือน"

7. S.M.A.R.T. Objectives

8. Types of Objectives

9. A-B-C-D-E Method for Measurable Objectives

$\boxed{A = \text{Audience} \quad B = \text{Behavior} \quad C = \text{Conditions} \quad D = \text{Data} \quad E = \text{Era}}$

10. Types of Evaluation

11. Step 2 — Project Infrastructure

Team Roles:

Project Manager → Team Leader → Project Coordinator → Business/System Analyst → Systems Architect → Software Engineers → Testers → DevOps → QA Auditor

Standards Hierarchy:

CMMI vs. ISO Quick Compare:

12. Step 4 — WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

Break the project into phases → activities → tasks until you reach atomic work units.

Project
├── Phase 1
│   ├── Activity 1.0
│   │   ├── Task 1.1
│   │   └── Task 1.2
│   └── Activity 2.0
└── Phase N

Why create a WBS?

• Plans the process
• Designs project architecture
• Forms basis for time and effort estimation

3 Approaches:

Work Package Specification (each task must have):

Task ID, Task Name, Description, Person in charge, Resource, Preconditions, Duration, Work Product + acceptance criteria, Risks involved

13. Activity Network (PERT Chart)

Shows sequencing and dependencies between tasks.

6 Steps to create a PERT Chart:

1. Identify activities and milestones (from WBS)
2. Determine proper sequence
3. Construct network diagram
4. Estimate time for each activity
5. Determine the critical path
6. Update as project progresses

14. Step 5 — Estimation Flow

$\text{Size} \rightarrow \text{Effort} \rightarrow \text{Cost} \rightarrow \text{Duration} \rightarrow \text{Staffing} \rightarrow \text{Schedule}$

15. Critical Path

The longest path through the activity network = earliest possible completion date.

• Any delay on the critical path = project delays
• Non-critical paths have slack/float (they can be delayed without affecting the deadline)

Example:

Path A-C-G-H = 4+5+2+2 = 13 days  ← CRITICAL PATH
Path B-D-E-H = 3+3+1+2 = 9 days
Path B-F-H   = 3+4+2   = 9 days

🚦 Critical Path = the bottleneck. If task on critical path slips, the whole project slips.

16. Step 6 — Risk Management

4-Step Risk Management Paradigm (continuous loop):

$\text{Identify} \rightarrow \text{Analyze} \rightarrow \text{Plan} \rightarrow \text{Monitor} \circlearrowleft$

Risk Categories:

Risk Analysis

$\boxed{\text{Risk Exposure} = \text{Risk Likelihood} \times \text{Risk Impact}}$

• Likelihood: 1 (least likely) → 10 (most likely)
• Impact: 1 → 10

Example Risk Exposure Table:

🎲 Fix highest exposure first — not necessarily highest probability or highest impact alone.

Risk Planning — 3 Strategy Types:

Risk Monitoring Indicators:

17. Step 7 — Resource Allocation

Triple Constraints:

         Quality
        /       \
    Cost ——— Scope
       (Time)

Pulling any one leg without adjusting the others breaks quality. Increase scope without more time/cost → quality drops.

Two Types of Scheduling Problems:

Solutions:

Resource Smoothing 3 Goals:

1. Reduce peak demand
2. Reduce total resources used
3. Minimize fluctuations in demand

18. Project Planning Process (End-to-End)

$\text{Scope/WBS} \rightarrow \text{Activity Network} \rightarrow \text{Resource \& Cost Scheduling} \rightarrow \text{Master Plan}$

Risk interacts with ALL four stages bidirectionally.

WBS Effort Distribution (typical software project):

19. Big Picture Summary

STEP-WISE OVERVIEW
  Steps 0-10: Select → Scope → Infrastructure → Characteristics
             → WBS → Estimate → Risks → Resources → Review → Execute → Detail

COST-BENEFIT (Step 0)
  4 techniques: Net Profit, Payback Period, ROI, NPV
  NPV: adjusts for time value of money — accept if NPV > 0
  ROI = (Avg Annual Profit / Total Investment) × 100

SCOPE & OBJECTIVES (Step 1)
  Goals = WHAT (broad) | Objectives = HOW (specific, measurable)
  SMART: Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Reasonable, Time-bound
  A-B-C-D-E: Audience, Behavior, Conditions, Data, Era

WBS (Step 4)
  Project → Phases → Activities → Tasks (work packages)
  3 approaches: Activity-based, Product-based, Hybrid
  PERT Chart: visualizes sequence + dependencies

CRITICAL PATH (Step 5)
  Longest path through network = earliest completion
  Delays on critical path = project delays

RISK MANAGEMENT (Step 6)
  Identify → Analyze → Plan → Monitor (loop)
  Risk Exposure = Likelihood × Impact
  3 strategies: Avoidance, Minimization, Contingency

RESOURCES (Step 7)
  Triple Constraints: Cost + Time + Scope → Quality
  Time-constrained → Resource Smoothing
  Resource-constrained → Parallel Method (min slack first)

🍎 Final analogy: SPM is basically what Apple does for every product launch. Step 0 = "should we build AirPods Max?" (feasibility), Step 1 = "ship by November, target audiophiles" (scope/goals), Steps 4-5 = engineering WBS + PERT for hardware/software tracks, Step 6 = "what if key chip supplier is delayed?" (risk), Step 7 = allocate Jony Ive's design team without overloading them (resource smoothing). Same framework, different scale.

Cheat sheet for CSS323 Software Engineering — Chapter 9: Software Project Management A project without a plan is just a wish. 📋