Define and document business problems

Project Scope

The scope of a project may be broadly defined by: the aim (for example, to build a network for an office) the end results (for example, to ensure that the local

network is integrated into the whole company network)

the parameters that confine it (for example, the network is limited to the Sydney office)

exclusions (for example, the network will not be included in the Parramatta office).

Project Scope

Scoping a project is a vital thing to get right. The only way you can get an accurate idea of how much a project is going to cost and how long it’s going to take is to first know exactly what the project includes, and also, what it doesn’t include. That’s why you have to make sure the client is explicit about what they expect you to deliver.

Activity/Reflection

Consider a project you may have undertaken in your private life. It may have been renovating a property, or taking an overseas holiday. How well did you plan for it? Did you carefully ’scope the project‘, or did you approach it more casually? Looking back now, would you rather have scoped it more carefully than you did?

Defining scope The process of defining scope is critical to

the success of a project. Without a clear understanding of exactly

what constitutes the boundaries of a project, you cannot: properly plan, budget for or manage it.

Defining scope Before you can accurately define the scope, you need to first reach

clear agreement with the client on what constitutes the project objectives.

Once that is done, you should then have a clear idea of what is to be included in the scope of the project, and importantly, what is not to be included.

Sometimes there are multiple stakeholders, with diverse interests and expectations of a project. In this situation you have to take extra care to ensure that they effectively communicate these to you. It’s important to realise that communication is the most common obstacle to accurate scope definition. Any misunderstandings or misinterpretations are likely to lead to mistakes in the scope definition.

Project Objectives An objective is a task that will help

achieve a goal. For the goal of maximising profit, for example, there may be several supporting objectives, such as producing a competitive product, marketing that product effectively, handling order entry and billing rapidly and accurately, and managing inventory efficiently.

Project Objectives Objectives can be specified in terms of

improvements to the business’s processes and functions and what needs to be done to achieve these improvements.

Objectives are more concrete, measurable and specific than goals. They are the criteria that must be met for the project to be considered successfully completed.

Project Objectives It is important to define the objectives as

precisely as possible to provide benchmarks against which to measure the success of the new system.

For example, it would be better to state, ‘ensure that data entry errors are less than 1%’ rather than ‘improve the data capture process’.

For example Assume that your New Year’s Eve resolution for 2007 was to

save enough money to have a holiday in Europe in January 2008. With this as your goal, what objectives would you have to meet to obtain this goal?

Some possibilities might include: put $200 a month from your salary into a special savings account reduce your spending on new clothes by $50 a month only have one meal a week in a restaurant sell your car.As you can see from these suggestions, the objectives are quite

specific and can be measured to make sure that they are being met.

Types of objectives

Some common types of objectives are:

functional objectives

process improvements

operational objectives

personal and job satisfaction needs.

Functional objectives

New or changed functional requirements, for example:

new or changed reports or screens

new services to be provided

new or revised security controls.

Process improvements

These may include

changes to the way data is accessed

changes to the sequence in which things are done

changes to input and output methods

changes to the processing steps.

Operational objectives

These include performance standards to be achieved by the new system, in terms of:

accuracy

timing.

Project objectives can help you define the scope, since each objective should have at least one deliverable assigned to it.

To obtain achievable project objectives, they should be developed using the SMART method:

Objectives are well defined and clear.

You must be able to evaluate if the objectives are obtainable and how far away completion is.

You must obtain agreement on the objectives from stakeholders.

Considering resources, knowledge and time availability, can you accomplish the objectives?

How much time is needed to accomplish the objectives? This needs to be set accurately, too much or too little time may affect team performance.

Project Aims Project aims are the physical outcomes that the

client expects to be achieved at the completion of the project.

For example, the project aims for ensuring adequate security controls on a new system may include a:

facility to allocate and maintain passwords facility to allocate and maintain security

classification levels for different parts of the system.

Project Constraints The constraints on your project are

factors that will limit the options for project development. Constraints may be:

financial – for example, the project budget legal – for example, contractual provisions technical political deadlines.

Some typical constraints for an IT system might be that the system must: Function on the existing equipment Interface with the existing accounts

payable system Accept input from 15 remote sites Produce statistics for the

government on hiring practices Be operational by March 1st

Document the business problem

System BoundariesThe purpose of setting system

boundaries is to limit the area of investigation. Boundaries need to be set otherwise the scope of the project can grow. Only those systems that are part of the problem or impact the solution need to be investigated.

Some questions to ask to identify systems for investigation are: Which people or systems does the system

interact with?

What real–world objects and people does the system capture information about?

What business processes does the system support?

Create a context diagram The purpose of a context diagram is to introduce

everyone involved to all of the elements that make up the business area, i.e. real–world objects about which the existing system captures information.

The context diagram gives an overview of the whole system and shows how external entities interact with the system. External entities are the people or systems outside the system we are investigating, which interact with it in some way.

In the context diagram following:

the circle represents the system as one overall process The boxes represent the external entities with which the

system interfaces The arrows represent information flowing from the

system to the external entities and from the external entities into the system, the direction of the arrow head showing the direction that the information is flowing.

Only major data flows and external entities are shown in the context diagram.

context diagram describing a system that processes student enrolments.

The business processes that can be identified from this diagram are as follows:

A prospective student completes an application form and submits it to the enrolment office.

The enrolment office staff process the enrolment and send the student details to the relevant teaching department.

The business processes that can be identified from this diagram are as follows: The accounts department provides details

of the amount that the student is required to pay for this course and the enrolment staff create an account to give to the student.

The student pays the fee to the enrolment staff and this is then forwarded to the accounts department.

The enrolment staff give the student a timetable

The business processes that can be identified from this diagram

In this situation, the student is an external entity, because they are providing information to the enrolment system. The accounts department is also an external entity for the same reason. Both of these external entities also receive information from the system. The teaching department is also an external entity because it receives information from the system. The specific type of information is labelled on the arrows.

Since a context diagram is a simple diagram it is very easy for users with no computing skills to understand the business processes that it portrays.

Problem Statement Now that we have defined the business problem in

terms of its boundaries, scope and the objectives to be achieved

Developing a problem statement will provide you with a documented basis for the project that can be used to develop common understanding and manage stakeholder expectations.

This document will be used by management to determine whether to authorise a continuation of the project to the next stage, which will entail an analysis of the current system.

Problem StatementThe format of a Problem Statement will vary

depending on the organisation’s standards and procedures, but it should contain the following information:

System background or context Description of the problem Scope Objectives Constraints

Have a look at a sample problem statement on the web. Go to the website for The Mayfield

Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing

https://mit.imoat.net/handbook/home.htm , select Table of Contents , then 1.3 Problem Statement

What is substantiation? Substantiation at this stage means to obtain agreement from

the client that the contents of the problem statement are correct – specifically the scope and objectives of the investigation that will be performed – and may involve changes in response to client feedback.

If the report covers several different business areas then there may be more than one person who will need to check the accuracy of the contents.

It may also include an authorisation to either continue to the next phase, in this case an analysis of the problem, or to terminate the project at this point. The decision will be made by the client, based on the information contained in the report

Documentation Tools Documentation tools include any technical resources and

materials that are used to develop and support documentation.

Some tools, which can be used to create text, drawings and software specifications, include:

Word processing software, eg MS Word or Open Office Drawing software, eg MS Visio Project management software, eg MS Project Spreadsheet software, useful for analysis, eg MS Excel Systems analysis and design CASE tools, eg System

Architect. Help authoring software, eg Help Developers Kit – HDK

Project Standards

Often, during a project, you will develop standards specifically for that project. This would be done in collaboration with the other members of the project team and incorporating any existing organisational standards.

Organisation Standards Organisational standards are a set of rules or procedures

providing a guide as to how to correctly perform a specific activity or operation within an organisation. They’re also often referred to as organisational guidelines. There should be a set of standards for every type of activity within an organisation.

The major aim of organisational standards is to increase the efficiency or productivity of an organisation by following prescribed steps. The standards are also used as a benchmark from which potential improvements can be easily identified.

Organisation Standards Standards are also essential for producing and maintaining

good documentation. They make it easier to develop, use and maintain documentation.

There is great benefit in today’s business world for all documentation produced by an organisation to be consistent with the company image. ‘Corporate branding’ as it is often called or ‘corporate identity’ promotes consistency and engenders confidence in existing and potential clients.

An effective way for an organisation to create a consistent style or image, and ensure all employees follow the style requirements is to produce a style guide that is to be used in all of its documentation, to project the correct corporate image.

Style Guide A style guide is a reference document that contains a set of

formatting and layout instructions defining the business guidelines for each type of document to be used within the company.

. Style guides ensure consistency throughout the company, allowing each department to contribute to the presentation and maintenance of an organisation’s image.

Style guides can be as short as a single page that just lists variations from a commercially available guide or the main company style guide. Or, they can be lengthy in–house guides with no reference to commercial guides.

Style GuideStyle guides often contain three types of

information: process (how things are done, eg how to

create a document and get it approved for publication)

design (what documents should look like to conform to the business image)

style (standard content should be in the document, and if there is a template to use).

Industry standards Standards are set both by the organisation for

which you work and by the industry in which the business operates.

Industry standards are generally adopted by organisations to ensure that the documentation that they produce is of good quality and relevant to their specific industry. Organisations then modify these standards to incorporate their own organisational policies and requirements.

Standards Australia In Australia, most industry standards are published by

Standards Australia. They are an independent, non–government organisation.  However, through a Memorandum of Understanding, they are recognised by the Commonwealth Government as the peak non–government Standards body in Australia. They represent Australia on the two peak International Standards organisation, ISO and IEC. Their primary role is to prepare standards through an open process of consultation and consensus in which all interested parties from a variety of industries are invited to participate.

Research

Visit the Standards Australia web site at http://www.standard.com.au and take a look at some of the products and services that they provide.

Summary

The system boundaries and scope of a problem must be identified so that we have a starting point for further investigation. Objectives and expected aims must also be identified. A Problem Statement can then be produced which will contain the above details in a format based on the standards and guidelines of the business.

Today's Activities

Complete the activities and self check in

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