February 25, 2012 7:38 PM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project teamA project team decided to run the complete project lifecycle – initiation, development and deployment – without any involvement of a quality person. Does it mean the project team is totally ignorant about the quality factor in a project? Or does it mean that they are overconfident about...
August 22, 2011 4:52 PM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project measurement,
project metrics,
project milestones,
Project Plan,
project team,
Software ProjectAny project has some basic requirements like project committee, stakeholders, sponsors, requirements, initiation, team formation, plan and milestones identification, project development, execution, implementation, handover, and finally project closure. What it means is that each of...
August 22, 2011 4:47 PM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project manager,
project team,
Software ProjectA customer is supposed to be quite cooperative and involved throughout the project. A project is supposed to be completed well in time complying with all the requirements specified by customer. Customer requirements specified in the beginning of a project are supposed to be...
May 25, 2011 11:20 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project team,
Software Project,
software team,
team management1. Proactive And Intuitive: Alternatively imagine of a team that wakes up only when the water has reached till neck height will take four times of efforts to resolve the same issues. That means a proactive approach is always good with a good flavour of intuitive power. Being...
May 23, 2011 10:49 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project team,
Software Project,
team managementBest part in a team versus an individual is that a single person will think only with his brain having no discussions, brainstorming, alternatives and different perspectives. A team comprises of different heads, having different ways of thinking and tacking situations. In a group...
May 18, 2011 12:20 PM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project team,
Software Project,
team managementImagine that you start your new venture. This venture has no scope of any recruitment in the beginning and there is only a small office with you to start your operations. Gradually there is an ample scope of expansion of business, more office space, recruitment of staff etc. during...
April 13, 2011 10:12 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
process management,
project management,
project performance,
project team,
Software ProjectHow many of us will agree that whether it is project development team, testing team or implementation team, the title line applies to all. On road we all sort of people. People who are so disciplined that they never violate any traffic rules can be termed as category one people....
April 5, 2011 9:48 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
development plan,
project management,
Project Plan,
project team,
Software Project,
Test PlanTop sheet of a test plan must specify the project name, ID, detail etc. for which it is being prepared. At the bottom of cover page of a test plan do not forget to mention the creator’s name, usually it would be quality lead or head depending on...
March 16, 2011 10:29 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project team,
Software ProjectIf you don’t know where you want to go, in which direction, to what destination; probably your sitting on wheels is useless. Equally harmful is if there is somebody else sitting on wheels and you are sitting beside taking charge of directing him to reach the right destination. If...
March 11, 2011 12:40 PM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project team,
Software ProjectSize and age of an organization does matter in certain key areas related to employee’s retention, growth, satisfaction, attraction for new good candidates in time of requirement of recruitment and so on. Though these two are not the only factors that matter for above points...
January 31, 2011 10:41 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project team,
Software ProjectPresence of some particular teammates in their team makes a big difference in terms of team momentum, tempo, confidence and quality of delivery along with high rate of delivery. Some team members are self starters and self goers while others need ignition from others. But there is...
January 19, 2011 11:45 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Product backlog,
project management,
project team,
Software Project,
team management
1. Product backlog is dynamic in nature.
2. Product backlog needs regular analysis, planning, and re-planning.
3. Product backlog cannot be allocated to development team as a whole.
4. Product backlog subcomponent cannot be given to any of the team members.
5. Prioritizing and...
August 31, 2010 10:01 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project manager,
project team,
Software ProjectWithout a vision, project can never be managed. Without management a project has all chances to go out of control. To have full control over the project during all its phases certain visionary tools are required to overcome obstacles. Different teams are engaged during different...
August 5, 2010 11:50 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
delivery process,
development process,
process management,
project governance,
project management,
project metrics,
project optimization,
project team,
project traceability,
software development,
Software Project,
team managementDelivery Process: Delivery rate and delivery volume is directly proportional to productivity of various teams. Delivery of product depends on rate of development and testing, delivery of implementation depends on speed of implementation and so on. A process for delivery will focus...
June 14, 2010 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project team,
Software ProjectProject performance encompasses performance of each individual member of each team working for a project. Each team members requires an environment around him that facilitates him to work towards his goals.
The components of an environment for a team member...
May 26, 2010 12:14 PM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project monitoring,
Project Plan,
project progress,
project quality,
Project Status,
project strategy,
project target,
project team,
Software ProjectProject Management is involves strategy, plan and intuition. A project may be complex to manage if project targets are not indentified properly. It may be simple to manage if project targets are identified, risks perceived correctly and risk mitigation plan is made a important...
April 29, 2010 11:46 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project budget,
project composition,
project estimation,
project management,
project resource,
project team,
software development,
Software Project,
software release,
team compositionNo project can be started without estimations. The estimations are to be done about the resources, manpower, team compositions, budgets, releases, development and so on. Estimating software is not an easy task. Production estimations are simpler as compared to service delivery...
April 22, 2010 8:12 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
management control,
project budget,
project delay,
project management,
project manager,
project monitoring,
Project Plan,
project strategy,
project team,
Software ProjectAround 50% of software projects either overshoot the timeline/ targets, cross the stipulated budget, or do not satisfy customer regarding the features and functionalities. The plan overshoot is definitely deciding factor for the budget overshoot. These delays not only affect...
April 21, 2010 7:18 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business analyst,
Project Development,
project implementation,
project management,
project requirement,
project rework,
project team,
requirement analysis,
requirement study,
software development,
software implementation,
Software Project,
software requirement,
software rework
As per study software development team on an average spends almost 40% of their time on rework. The rework requirements may arise by way of – development team revisiting their code and finding out some lacunae; Quality control test/ bug report; or requirements fine tuning at customer end during...
March 11, 2010 6:29 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project manager,
project team,
Software ProjectYou have many projects running in your organization. You have to compete with peers, competitors, time, money and yourself to manage these projects to finish in time. There are clashes in priorities among various project timelines....
February 14, 2010 8:30 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
product development,
product owner,
project management,
project teamProduct development requires day to day interactions and query solving of the development team related to the product. The customer presence is not extensive and hence most of the product related queries have to be resolved by the project manager.
The business analyst...
February 14, 2010 8:18 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Product ownership,
Project Development,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
software productIt is not difficult to answer who is the product owner. Obviously the answer is – “customer” who is paying for the product. Ownership always consists of two aspects, in all circumstances, everywhere in the world. The two aspects are “joys” and the “pains”. I...
February 5, 2010 1:21 PM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project charter,
project definition,
project deliverables,
project management,
project objective,
Project Plan,
Project Risk,
project scope,
project team,
project vision,
Risk Management1. Project Definition: Either don’t define your project or define it in most ambiguous manner so that even if you read it again, you are not able to make anything out of it. Don’t define Project Charter comprising of project vision, project objective, project scope and project...
January 22, 2010 11:12 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
culture,
developer,
performance,
project management,
project team,
recognition,
Software tester,
trainingThere is no end to learning. Still water becomes contaminated and harmful for use. Continuous flowing water keeps it fresh and pure. Similarly if your developers and testers or for that sake anybody in the organization keeps performing the same functions without any...
December 24, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project manager,
project team,
Software ProjectThe following applies to complete Project proceedings at any stage with internal teams, management, customer users, customer management and so on. Be it project meetings, briefings, development, documentation, implementation, testing or whatever – you have to be alert, awake and open to capture...
October 28, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Project,
project management,
project meeting,
project team,
Software Project18. All meetings related to the project must be fruitful for its continuous progress and timely actions.
17. Duration of the meetings should be optimum to cover all major concerns and immediate actions required.
16. Meetings should bring all participants close to break the barrier between...
October 16, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Project,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
software,
Software ProjectInvolve all stakeholders throughout: This does not mean that all people involved in the project have to keep them available full-time during the project but it means that the knowledge about the project, project progress, shortcomings, bottlenecks etc. should be continuously shared...
October 9, 2009 6:29 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
developer,
implementation,
Project Lifecycle,
project phase,
project team,
software development,
software product,
Software Project,
software testing,
testerPhase I: There is nothing called ‘off the shelf” product. It is all ‘made-to-fit’ technique. You specify your requirements and that too at a broader level. For micro level leave a red-mark at areas that need to be looked into at the time of building of software. The more red-marks will mean...
September 25, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Development,
implementation,
live run,
project closure,
project execution,
project feedback,
project initiation,
project management,
project milestone,
project phase,
Project Planning,
project progress,
project task,
project team,
QC,
sign-off,
Software Project,
test report,
testing,
UATA project starts with initiation phase and ends up with project closure report. Then afterwards there is post project feedback (after a considerable amount of time given to the customer to get conversant with the product) and warranty support followed by support contracts over a period of time. ...
September 7, 2009 11:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business knowledge,
customer feedback,
customer meeting,
product meeting,
project failure,
project feedback,
project management,
project manager,
project meeting,
project team,
software product,
Software Project,
team feedback,
team member,
technical depth,
technical knowledgeProject Failure: First failure will downgrade the level of next project to be given to the project manager. Not only this, but it will also trigger hidden cameras in the organization that start monitoring each and every step of project manager. These hidden cameras could be top management or some...
July 17, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business analyst,
developer,
development team,
HR,
implementation team,
people management,
product,
product build,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
Q-tag,
QA,
QC,
quality,
quality building,
quality culture,
Software Project,
stakeholder,
testing teamPeople are not wrong, processes are. People in an organization do what they are told to do. Organizations who hit on people at the time of failure are not doing the right thing. It is the process that is to be blamed not the person with Q-tag. As long as quality is considered to be the child of...
July 15, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Bug,
bugs report,
business analyst,
development team,
implementation team,
product approval,
project implementation,
project management,
project management framework,
project methodology,
project team,
Q-tag,
QA,
QC,
Quality-tag,
re-testing,
software build,
software implementation,
Software Project,
stakeholder,
team,
test report,
testing,
testing teamIn any software development and implementation company there is always a need of quality assurance and quality control people who own the responsibility of setting the right methodology and framework for development and implementation (QA), bugs identification and product approval (QC). Usually...
July 8, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Project Development,
project implementation,
project management,
project manager,
project monitoring,
Project Plan,
Project Planning,
project team,
software development planning,
software product,
Software ProjectAt the birth (inception) of a new software project the project manager is puzzled and confused just trying to gather and understand customer requirements. He starts like a wanderer in the dark islands of customer for collecting various requirements and understanding their business norms. The moment...
June 22, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
build phase,
project management,
project manager,
project phase,
project quality,
project team,
project walkthrough,
quality,
Software Project,
stakeholder,
User ManualAs already has been discussed, User Manuals play a crucial role in any software project and are the solid bonding between product, users, customer management and vendor project team. The stronger this bond is the more comfortable and happy each stakeholder will be. Each player has to play a crucial...
June 17, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
analytic,
business scenario,
durability,
feel and look,
implementation team,
key user,
live run,
post implementation,
product support,
product training,
project implementation,
project sign-off,
project support,
project team,
reliability,
report,
sign-off,
Software Project,
software project management,
software training,
stability,
stakeholder,
training team,
usability,
user feedback,
User ManualThe product owners or stakeholders might be many in a software project, but the real frontrunners who drive, run and use the software product post implementation are the key users and other users. It is their feedback that matters most. They must be the most comfortable lot on usability,...
June 8, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
functional lead,
on-site development,
project completion,
project delay,
project implementation,
project management,
project organization,
project quality,
project team,
QC,
quality,
software development,
software implementation,
Software Project,
software quality,
technical lead,
tester,
testingIdeally, in a software project, for an offshore customer, the requirement gathering phase should be given an extra care to understand to a maximum extent so that the product developed and tested when ready for implementation at customer site requires no development. Practically, it is very...
May 11, 2009 10:12 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business critical change,
business requirements,
Business Rules,
business study,
change management,
customer management,
customer requirements,
project cycle,
Project Development,
project implementation,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
software development,
software implementation,
Software Project,
software requirementsChange management is a subset of project management. In any software project change is to be managed during the whole cycle of development and implementation. Requirements once specified by customer at the business requirements study phase does not mean that there will be no change in requirements...
April 20, 2009 10:05 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business need,
business study,
implementation phase,
implementation plan,
implementation process,
post implementation,
process owner,
project closure,
project failure,
project implementation,
project lead,
project management,
project manager,
project ownership,
project sign-off,
project success,
project team,
reconciliation,
Risk Management,
Risk Plan,
software training,
transaction entry,
UATThe customer project manager has to take the lead and ownership of product as soon as it is launched at customer site for implementation. The UAT, training and implementation process can only be effective in case customer project team gets fully involved into each and every activity of the...
April 17, 2009 10:03 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
implementation plan,
project implementation,
project lead,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
Risk Management,
Risk Plan,
software implementationThe vendor project manager has to work as a consultant to the customer project manager rather than taking the full command at customer site during implementation phase. From vendor side, it is the responsibility of the project manager to highlight the risks (in terms of user’s availability,...
April 16, 2009 9:40 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
implementation plan,
project closure,
project lead,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
software acceptance,
software implementation,
Software ProjectProject managers (the customer end and the vendor end) have to work hand in hand during the implementation stage of a software project happening at customer site. The key responsibility of both the project managers working on the project is to ensure successful implementation and project...
March 26, 2009 10:22 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
HARE,
Organization culture,
Organizational discipline,
project manager,
project organization,
project team,
Software Project,
software team,
TORTOISELet me start with the classic story –
This refers to the team of a Project Manager. The team size may vary from project to project and organization to organization, but the story remains the same. Story is quite short and interesting. A Project manager assigns different set of tasks to his...
March 23, 2009 10:30 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
ascending approach,
best result,
brainstorming,
cornerstone,
experience,
innovation,
knowledge,
linchpin,
organizational interest,
product and quality,
product knowledge,
product quality,
project management,
project manager,
Project Plan,
project team,
QA,
QC,
quality,
quality dependence,
quality issue,
quality manager,
quality strength,
recession,
scarcity of business,
smart weapon,
software business,
software organization,
Software Project,
software team,
team culture,
team management,
thinking,
win-win situation,
wisdomDue to recession, there is scarcity of business and projects for software organizations. In such a situation, the projects in hand (and the forthcoming ones) have to be handled very carefully for a win-win situation. To attain that, there are certain smart weapons that a project manager needs to be...
March 9, 2009 10:28 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
1. organizational self evaluation,
Code repository,
continuous improvement,
customer expectations,
customer feedback,
customer request,
empowerment,
innovation process,
off-site project,
on-site project,
organizational goals,
post implementation,
process integration,
product release,
project implementation,
project management evaluation checklist,
Project Management Methodology,
project manager,
project metrics,
project overrun,
project team,
Risk analysis,
Risk Plan,
roles and responsibilities,
software bug,
software development,
software implementation,
software project management,
software testing,
test case repository
1. Does a formal Project Management Methodology exist in your organization?
2. Are you using some metrics to check if this is the right methodology?
3. What is the degree of improvement required in your current methodology to meet your customer expectations?
4. What are your...
