Project Planning: Procedures, Processes, and Toolkits

UPI Study › Courses › System Analysis and Design › Free lessons › Lesson 9.3 Free with a free account

Project Planning: Procedures, Processes, and Toolkits

System Analysis and Design · Chapter 9: Project Management, Scheduling, and QualitySection 9.3 · lesson 62 of 697 min · free with a free account

← Defining the Project Management System: Examples and ApplicationsNext lesson: Project Scheduling Mastery: Techniques, Critical Path Analysis, Total Slack, and Free Slack →

Earn 3 college credits for System Analysis and DesignRecommended for credit by NCCRS · Computer Science 390 · self-paced · one payment, lifetime access
Enroll in System Analysis and Design · $250 →Download the syllabus (PDF)

In this lesson

The charter, the scope statement, estimating effort and cost, and building a budget.

  • Explain the purpose and contents of a project charter
  • Explain a scope statement, and how it differs from a charter
  • Compare analogous, parametric, function point, and COCOMO estimating
  • Explain how a budget is built from a cost estimate

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (887 words). Read along, or search it.

Project Management, Scheduling, and Quality

Project Planning

Before a project can be run, it has to be authorized, bounded, and costed. This section covers the two documents that start a project, the charter and the scope statement. Then the planning processes, four techniques for estimating effort and cost, and how an estimate becomes a budget.

Authorizing the Project

The Project Charter

A project charter is the document that formally authorizes a project to exist. It is usually issued by the sponsor, and it gives the project manager the authority to apply the organization's resources to the work. A typical charter includes the project's purpose and justification, and its high-level objectives. It names the project manager, and the authority granted to them. It gives a rough budget and timeline, and records the sponsor's approval. A charter is short and high-level by design. It establishes that the project should happen, not every detail of how. The detailed numbers come later, once more is known.

Defining the Boundaries

Charter vs. Scope Statement

Where the charter authorizes a project, the scope statement defines its boundaries, in detail. The charter is high-level. The scope statement is detailed. It describes exactly what the project will deliver, and the criteria for accepting those deliverables. It states what is explicitly excluded from the project. And it records the constraints and assumptions the plan is built on. Those exclusions matter. Imagine a stakeholder who assumes a feature is included, simply because nothing excluded it. A clear scope statement settles that question directly.

Planning Processes

Not One Activity, but Several

Project planning is not one activity, but a set of related ones, each producing a piece of the overall plan. Defining scope in detail. Developing a schedule. Estimating and budgeting cost. Planning the resources needed. Planning how the team will communicate. And planning how risks will be handled. These processes are not strictly sequential. An early cost estimate often has to be revisited once the schedule is developed. And a schedule sometimes has to be revisited once resource availability is known. The rest of this section looks closely at one piece of that work. Estimating effort and cost, and turning the estimate into a budget.

Effort and Cost Estimation

4 Estimating Techniques

Before a schedule or budget can be built, someone has to estimate how much work the project will take. Four techniques are common. Analogous estimating uses actual data from a similar past project. It suits the very early stages, when few details are known. So a team with a proposal due tomorrow, and a very similar project finished last year, would use an analogous estimate. Parametric estimating applies a statistical relationship between historical data and a measurable variable, such as cost per square foot. Function point analysis sizes a system by counting the number and complexity of its functional requirements, such as inputs, outputs, and interfaces. It can be done before any code is written, independent of the technology. And COCOMO, the constructive cost model, is a parametric model. It estimates effort in person-months, from the estimated size and a set of cost drivers, such as team experience and product complexity. In that order, the techniques generally get more precise, and more expensive to produce.

Figure 1

Estimates Narrow as Detail Arrives

That ordering is not a coincidence. Early in a project, an estimate can reasonably be off by a wide margin. The upper and lower bounds of a realistic estimate start far apart. As planning proceeds and more detail becomes available, the range narrows. So a rough analogous estimate at initiation, and a detailed COCOMO estimate later in planning, are both legitimate. Each simply suits a different point in the project. An estimate only needs to be as precise as the decision it supports.

Budgeting

From Estimate to Budget

A cost estimate becomes a budget once it is spread across the schedule, and organized around when the money will actually be spent. Building a budget takes three steps. First, aggregate the estimated costs for each piece of work into one overall project cost estimate. Second, time-phase that estimate across the schedule. The budget then shows not just the total, but when it will be spent. That time-phased budget is called the cost baseline. Third, add reserves for risk, bringing the estimate up to the total project budget.

2 Kinds of Reserve

Known Risks and Unknown Ones

There are two kinds of reserve, and the difference is whether the risk is known. A contingency reserve covers risks that have already been identified within the project's scope. A management reserve covers risks that have not been identified at all. One plans for the problems you can see coming. The other allows for the ones you cannot.

Key Terms

The Vocabulary of This Section

Let's lock in the key terms. A project charter formally authorizes a project, and grants the project manager authority to use the organization's resources. A scope statement defines the deliverables, acceptance criteria, exclusions, and constraints, in detail. The cost baseline is the time-phased budget, showing when costs are expected to be spent. A contingency reserve is budget for identified risks. And a management reserve is budget for risks that have not been identified.

Key Takeaways

What to Carry Forward

To pull this together. A project charter authorizes a project at a high level. A scope statement defines its boundaries in detail. Planning covers scope, schedule, cost, resources, communications, and risk, and each often has to be revisited as new detail emerges. Analogous, parametric, function point, and COCOMO estimating fit different points in a project, trading speed early on for precision later. And a budget is built by aggregating cost estimates, time-phasing them across the schedule, and adding contingency and management reserves.

About System Analysis and Design at UPI Study

System Analysis and Design (Computer Science 390) is a self-paced online course of 69 video lessons in 9 chapters, from the analyst's role and requirements to UML modeling, interface and database design, testing, maintenance and project management. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

Every lesson transcript is free on pages like this one, and the videos are free with a free UPI Study account. Enrolling adds a practice quiz after each lesson, the graded work and final exam that earn the credit, lifetime access, and an official transcript on completion. UPI Study has helped over 130,000 students with college credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Enroll now → Course details Download the syllabus All Computer Science courses Every course with PRO →

Compare: Software Engineering vs Systems Analysis

Why take it here

Why students take System Analysis and Design with UPI Study

From business problem to working systemSystem Analysis and Design teaches how analysts study a business need and turn it into a system design: requirements, UML and data-flow models, interface and database design, implementation and project management. It is a core course in information systems and IT degrees.
Credit at a fraction of the priceThe same 3 credits can cost $750 or more at a US college. Here it is one payment, self-paced, with lifetime access.
Finish your degree soonerTransfer credits reduce the courses you still owe, so you can graduate earlier or lighten a heavy semester.
Strengthen an applicationA completed college-level course on an official transcript shows admissions and scholarship committees you can do the work.
Study on your own scheduleNo start dates, no deadlines. Watch the lessons, practice, and take the final when you are ready.
130,000+students helped with college creditsACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Where the credit goes

Universities that work with NCCRS

System Analysis and Design carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

Find my college → Not listed? Ask Athena in the corner of this page, or book a 15-minute call.

FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Project Planning: Procedures, Processes, and Toolkits

What is the difference between a project charter and a scope statement?
A project charter formally authorizes a project, while a scope statement defines its boundaries in detail. The charter, usually issued by the sponsor, is short and high-level: purpose, objectives, the project manager's authority, a rough budget and timeline, and approval. The scope statement details the deliverables, acceptance criteria, explicit exclusions, constraints, and assumptions, which settles disputes over whether a feature is included.
What is the difference between analogous and parametric estimating?
Analogous estimating uses actual data from a similar past project, while parametric estimating applies a statistical relationship between historical data and a measurable variable, such as cost per square foot. Analogous estimating is quick and suits early stages when few details are known, such as a proposal due tomorrow. Parametric approaches, including the COCOMO model, generally take more effort but give more precise estimates.
What is COCOMO in software cost estimation?
COCOMO, the constructive cost model, is a parametric model that estimates software development effort in person-months. It works from the estimated size of the system and a set of cost drivers, such as team experience and product complexity. It suits later planning, when more detail is known, whereas a rough analogous estimate fits better at initiation.
What is the difference between a contingency reserve and a management reserve?
A contingency reserve is budget set aside for risks that have already been identified, while a management reserve covers risks that have not been identified at all. Both are added on top of the cost baseline, which is the time-phased budget showing when money will be spent. Together they bring the estimate up to the total project budget.

About the System Analysis and Design course

How many college credits is System Analysis and Design?
System Analysis and Design (Computer Science 390) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does System Analysis and Design cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 69 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does System Analysis and Design take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 69 lessons total about 9 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
When the course shows 100% complete, request the official transcript from your dashboard. It is sent to the college you name, and you can send it to more than one. Check your college first with "Find my college" on this page, or ask Athena.

Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in System Analysis and Design.

69 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

Enroll in System Analysis and Design →Download the syllabusEvery course with PRO →
System Analysis and Design
3 credits · NCCRSEnroll →