Page 80 - DCAP304_DCAP515_SOFTWARE_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Software Project Management

Notes “Blogging provides a way for companies and customers to meet on common ground to
talk about what excites them and what makes them tick. It also allows them to closely
track where, and under what circumstances, their products are being talked about online.”
Each day, seventy thousand new blogs are created, informs Wibbels. “More than a million
posts are added every single day. Millions of people look to blogs for a good laugh, a
great idea, a fantastic tip, or an instant analysis.”
Blog was ‘the word of the year’ in 2004, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
But Blogger (www.blogger.com) had been launched in 1999. “Blogger provided both the
blog platform and hosting space for blogs... The world’s largest conversation began.”
Wibbels sees in blogs the rise of ‘citizen journalism’, a.k.a. ‘consumer-generated media’.
This is because blogging supports “the idea that customers and consumers are not passive
receptors of media and marketing.”

Since bloggers are able to publish text, pictures, audio and video, “often, blogs are the first
source of information for breaking events.” Like it or not, `blogs drive transparency’.
Disturbingly for mainstream TV or newspapers, “blogs create a greater sense of trust and
reputation than traditional media.” With barriers gone for consumers to get online, and
give vent to praise or criticism, “even grandma can wreck your ad campaign”.

3.7 Summary

 The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical description of the work that must
be done to complete the project as defined in the Project Overview Statement.

 An activity is nothing but simply a chunk of work. Activities turn to tasks at some level in
the hierarchy. The terms activity and task have been used interchangeably among project
managers and project management software packages.

 A work package is a complete description of how the tasks that make up an activity will
actually be done. It includes a description of the what, who, when, and how of the work.

 Breaking down work into a hierarchy of activities, tasks, and work packages is called
decomposition. Decomposition is important to the overall project plan because it allows
you to estimate the duration of the project, determine the required resources, and schedule
the work.
 The WBS can be used as Thought process tool, Architectural design tool, Planning tool and
Project status reporting tool. It is the project manager who decides on the architecture of
the WBS and the level of detail required.

 The best way to generate the WBS is as part of the Joint Project Planning (JPP) session. One
of two simple decomposition processes is used to identify the activities that must be
performed from the beginning to the completion of the project.
 These activities are the lowest level of managed work for the project manager. There are
two approaches can be used to identify the project activities.

 There are Six Criteria to Test for Completeness in the WBS. The best way to build a WBS is
as a group activity.
 To create the WBS, assemble a facilitator, the project manager, the core members of the
project team, and all other managers who might be affected by the project or who will
affect the project.

 There are many ways to build the WBS but none can be said as the correct one.

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