Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
should allow the customer to articulate the goal of the project and the return they
will gain from it. In addition, alternative solutions should also be considered.
The second set of questions should focus on the problem being addressed, and
should help the engineer to understand just what the client hopes to accomplish in
his or her own words. The client should be asked to explain how they understand
the problem, and what result they expect the solution to generate. Questions
relating to the environment in which the solution will be used, including obstacles
and constraints, and the qualities required for a solution to be considered suc-
cessful, should also be posed.
The last set of questions should focus on the meeting itself. The engineer should
assess the quality and reliability of the answers by asking if the responses are
''official responses,'' as well as whether or not anyone else should be consulted
about the questions that have been posed. The engineer should then double check
his or her own work by inquiring about the effectiveness of the questions being
asked. He or she will ask the client if they feel satisfied that all relevant infor-
mation has been discussed, or if any additional information is necessary.
These sorts of questions can help to establish the level of comfort required for
effective client-engineer communication, as well as to actually establish the goals
and scope of the project.
4.4 Handling Problems and Change
Project planning is used to create a model of what a project's development process
is supposed to look like. We have discussed the ways in which it can be used as a
roadmap to lead a development team through a project's development life, and to
monitor a project's progress over time. What we have not yet discussed, however,
is the way in which project plans can be used as safeguards against, and warning
of, deviation within a project. As development moves forward, progress is noted
and recorded, and is then compared to the projected schedule according to plans
that were developed earlier. This practice provides a clear-cut, intuitive method for
viewing any deviations from the intended course that project encounters over its
lifetime. Detecting such changes from the plan, though, is only the first step, and is
certainly not a solution. When such deviations are found, it becomes the job of the
project manager to correct these issues and to get the project back on track.
Delays and setbacks are encountered in any schedule-based job. In many fields,
the solution involves increasing the work on a particular activity to make up for
lost time. This can often be accomplished by augmenting the number of workers
involved or by increasing the amount of time spent on the activity per day
(overtime). Software engineering, however, is not generally driven by manpower,
but by intellectual capital. The best solution, of course, is to avoid the problem all
together. Careful analysis and planning can sometimes allow a project manager to
foresee potential problems, and adjust resource allocation to prevent them. The
most important aspect of this resource allocation is the assignment of engineers
