1. How could they manage the project?

Outsourcing companies are popping out too fast in this century. Being one of the main industries for today’s time, a lot of people would take risk and bring about self owned outsourcing business. These companies might be contractual but a lot of people get to have good experiences from trusting these contractual companies, though some might not agree. The employees are not directly employed by the companies but are contractually employed until the project has been done. There is a great deal of work out there for these companies, some of these are; graphics designing, banner making, search engine optimization, web application design, desktop applications, development and more. It is indeed one of the most viable businesses today and is somehow growing to a much bigger business in the present time. 

Select appropriate processes within the project management process groups that are required to meet the project objectives. So, in working on a project the team definitely needs to have the appropriate processes while working on the project. Choosing the right project management process groups can be a very big help because it can ease down the work of the project. It being thought carefully can lessen the burden to the work of the team. These project management groups are; initiating process group, planning process group, executing process group, monitoring and controlling process group, closing process group. 

In the initiating process group defines and authorizes the project or the project phase. By initiating process group the entry criteria are verified, including the availability of the required resources. Whatever requirements that the team has been found needed for the project or the resources that they would need to have for the project they want to finish. 

Turning over and transferring valuable information can be essential in managing a project. In doing so, the project manager can be of ease because of the team member being straight forward in asking for anything that might help, making the project in getting done as soon as possible. This can also be of help, while the project is still in the process of executing there are times that the team members would have thought through that they want to add something that would be of help for the project. So, in transferring valuable information the project manager can get a good grasp of the situation and can get everything ready for the team so that the progress of the project can go smoothly as planned. 

Planning process group defines and refines objectives, and plans the course of action required to attain the objectives and scope that the project was undertaken to address. Having a good planning process group can help gather information from many sources with each having varying levels of completeness and confidence. The planning processes develop the project management plan. These processes also identify, define and mature the project scope, project cost and schedule the project activities that occur within the project. As new project information is discovered, additional dependencies, requirements, risks, opportunities, assumptions and constraints will be identified and resolved. Significant changes occurring throughout the project life cycle trigger a need to revisit one or more of the planning processes and, possibly, some of the initiating process.

Use a defined approach to adapt the product specifications and plans to meet project and product requirements. By means of using such defined approach to adapt a product specification it would be for the better of the product that would absolutely meet the expectations of the client. To have this approach the team would be able to meet not only the expectations of the client but also the project and product requirement. That would also mean that the project has been successfully established because of the said approach. It would also be a key to the finishing or the closing of the project. 

Balance the competing demands of scope, time, cost, quality, resources, and risk to produce a quality product. Having able to balance the demand on scope, time and cost would mean the difference between succession and failure because a little mistake on either of the three can result to failure. But, being able to comply with these three can also give the possibility of finishing the project on time, with lesser cost and also lesser range of scope. Being able to balance the quality can be good for the project and it would also mean that the team has done well in developing the project. That would also show that there was good planning for the project and that it have resulted to the good quality of the project. Then, having that quality it would also satisfy and meet the expectations of the client. Acquiring reliable and equally clarified resources can help to the development of the project or the project phase because it will help to the fast progress of the project. If ever there would be changes having good resources can lessen the problem in changing the started project or the project in the process. By balancing the risk in the project on progress then it can be of quality and it would be done well. Seeing the project having lesser risk it would reflect to every process that was or will be applied for the fast progress of the project. 

The team should never develop over confidence it might cause the failure of the project. If the team underestimates the project maybe they will have to face a lot of problems along the way. Thinking of doing the project alone can’t be a good idea because a project team is composed of people that should be working together to get things done sooner. Never ever forget to have a list of possible happenings while in the midst of doing a project. It might concerning the project manager, the project team, the team members, the company, the project or whatever natural happenings. Getting ready of these happenings can prevent damage to the ongoing project. We all know that “prevention is better than cure”, so as soon as possible never forget to sight these things to be able to manage a project efficiently because the productivity of the people is definitely needed.

Executing process group integrates people and other resources to carry out the project management plan for the project. It is consist of the processes used to complete the work defined in the project management plan to accomplish the project’s requirements. This process group involves coordinating to people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with the project management plan. It also addresses the scope defined in the project scope statement and implements approved changes. 

Comply with the requirements to meet stakeholders’ needs, wants and expectations. So, having able to comply with these requirements to meet their needs, wants and expectations would also mean that the team has done well in making the project. They were able to follow the clients’ desire on what they wanted to appear on the project. The output they wanted to see or pictured out while planning the said project. 

To manage a project the team needs to be efficient, cooperative and access a proper client-worker communication. Having efficiency the project can be done successfully without wasting time or energy. It can be of good result if the project is done sooner and it would benefit the team, the company and the client. Being cooperative will make good results because the team is working thoroughly on the project by cooperating well and getting every man power they can get. Accessing a proper client-worker communication can also be of use because communication well with the client can make the work a lot easier. There might be times that the client would want changes in the making of the project so it is good to have constant communication with them. It can also result to the satisfaction of the client because the team has constantly received orders and this could help in the development of the project.

Monitoring and controlling process group regularly measures and monitors progress to identify variances from the project management plan so that corrective action can be taken necessary to meet project objectives. It consists of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The project team should determine which of the processes are required for the team’s specific project. The benefit of this process group is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan. It also includes controlling changes and recommending preventive action in anticipation of possible problems. 

In monitoring and controlling the project or the project phase the process group should be able to modify monitored error as fast as possible to be able to keep track of the project. Priorities should be set and should be well observed so that monitoring can be easily done and it wouldn’t cause a much bigger problem to the team. Also, by having full control of the project means that the process group can easily locate and correct errors that are found within the project. Gaining full control of whatever is the progress of the project would be of help because it will be a lot easier to prevent any further problems in the future or in the midst of doing the project. By continuing to monitor and taking control of the project every move or developments made in making the project can be easily observed and it will be a lot easier to inform the client whatever is the progress made by the team. They can also easily show to the client that there was a big progress in the project because every move the team has made is observed or that they can remind the team that they need to make a progress in developing the project so that the clients won’t get too anxious and overly excited that would cause to cramming in the team.

Closing process group formalizes acceptance of the product, service or result and brings the project or a project phase to an orderly end. It definitely includes the processes used to formally terminate all activities of a project or a project phase, hand off the completed product to others or close a cancelled project. When completed, this process group verifies that the defined processes are completed within all the process groups to close the project or a project phase, as appropriate, and formally establishes that the project phase is finished. 

The closing process will definitely show the end of the project, product or the service made by the team. Whether the project is successful or not the team needs to do their best to show the end product of the given project. By having the closing process it would also show that every activities that involved the project should be erased or terminated because that would show that the project has been made or done. This process group would also signify that the project is already finished whether it has met the client expectations or not. It would also mean that the contract is done unless the project resulted to fail, then that can be another story. However, if the team has finished the project then it also means that the project management in that company is effective and successful. Their process group was good enough to show finished and satisfying results. 

In managing a project the company or the project management team should be able to prepare well. They need to have process groups so that the project can progress well and it can also go smoothly. Dealing with projects either big or small there shouldn’t be biases because these projects have the same structure and processes. They undergo the same progress and requires the same efforts because the goal for doing projects is to produce quality products and be able to meet the expectations of the clients or give them satisfactory results.

2. What methodology is appropriate for this project to avoid this kind of problem?

Since project management is no small task. It has definite beginning and end, and is not a continuous process. Project management uses various tools to measure progress and track progress tasks. Projects need ad-hoc resources, as opposed to businesses that have full-time positions. There are techniques, guides, methods or certain patterns to help manage a specific project. These methodologies differ and they differ in some ways that can make project management smooth. Project management methodologies are the various ways in which a projects are initiated, planned, executed unto completion. These specific methodologies can be used in different industries and projects. Methodologies that can be suited whether the project is short and is not continuously changing, long and has certain changes along the way, having consideration in the limited availability of resources, focusing on delivering value with less waste and many more.

All projects start with an idea for a product, service, or other desirable outcome. The main purpose is to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to manage risk effectively during project execution. This is recorded in the project management plan. The execution process involves coordinating people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities of the project. The deliverables are produced as outputs from the processes performed as defined in the project management plan. The monitoring and controlling process group involves managing and tracking the project, so potential problems can be identified quickly and corrective action taken. Project closing is an important part of project management, sometimes overlooked. A project that is not closed will continue to consume resources. Closing a project means finishing all activities across all process groups, splitting up the project team, and signing off the project with the customer. Project control is that part of a project that keeps it on-track, on-time and within budget. Project control begins early in the project with planning, and ends late in the project with post-implementation review.

The Company in this case study is said to be a business process outsourcing company which accepts contractual projects. On the situation given it clearly said that the company communicates with their clients through phone and/or internet. Having only this type of communication it will make or give a great possibility that there will be miscommunication between the team dealing with the project and the client that has requested that project. Besides, through the phone and the internet there might be problems concerning the requests of the client about the project being made. The client have their own perception and the team also have their own which will be complicated if both of them don’t have a proper communication and discussion about the project. The outcome of the project that the client has been thinking all the while might differ from the final output that the team has made. So, the team should have a methodology on how to approach such problems and how to counter these possible difficulties in the midst of doing the project. 

There are various methodologies some of these methodologies are: Agile, XP (Extreme Programming), Crystal, Waterfall, FDD (Feature Driven Development), DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development), Adaptive Software Development, RUP (Rational Unified Process), Prince2 and many more others. Since we are to base on the situation the proper methodology that should be used is the agile methodology. 

What is an agile development methodology? Agile Methodology is an alternative to traditional project management, typically used in software development. It helps teams respond to unpredictability through incremental, iterative work cadences, known as sprints. Agile methodologies are an alternative to waterfall, or traditional sequential development. 

Why agile development methodology? Agile development methodology provides opportunities to assess the direction of a project throughout the development lifecycle. This is achieved through regular cadences of work, known as sprints or iterations, at the end of which teams must present a potentially shippable product increment. By focusing on the repetition of abbreviated work cycles as well as the functional product they yield, agile methodology is described as “iterative” and “incremental.” In waterfall, development teams only have one chance to get each aspect of a project right. In an agile paradigm, every aspect of development — requirements, design, etc. — is continually revisited throughout the lifecycle. When a team stops and re-evaluates the direction of a project every two weeks, there’s always time to steer it in another direction.

The results of this “inspect-and-adapt” approach to development greatly reduce both development costs and time to market. Because teams can develop software at the same time they’re gathering requirements, the phenomenon known as “analysis paralysis” is less likely to impede a team from making progress. And because a team’s work cycle is limited to two weeks, it gives stakeholders recurring opportunities to calibrate releases for success in the real world. Agile development methodology helps companies build the right product. Instead of committing to market a piece of software that hasn’t even been written yet, agile empowers teams to continuously re-plan their release to optimize its value throughout development, allowing them to be as competitive as possible in the marketplace. Development using an agile methodology preserves a product’s critical market relevance and ensures a team’s work doesn’t wind up on a shelf, never released. This is clearly an attractive option for stakeholders and developers alike.

What is the agile manifesto? In February 2001, 17 software developers met at the Snowbird, Utah resort, to discuss lightweight development methods. They published the Manifesto for Agile Software Development to define the approach now known as agile software development. Some of the manifesto's authors formed the Agile Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes software development according to the manifesto's principles.

The Agile Manifesto reads, in its entirety, as follows:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others does it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

The meanings of the manifesto items on the left within the agile software development context are described below:

Individuals and interactions – in agile development, self-organization and motivation are important, as are interactions like co-location and pair programming.

Working software – working software will be more useful and welcome than just presenting documents to clients in meetings.

Customer collaboration – requirements cannot be fully collected at the beginning of the software development cycle, therefore continuous customer or stakeholder involvement is very important.

Responding to change – agile development is focused on quick responses to change and continuous development.

According to Kent Beck, the Agile Manifesto is based on twelve principles:

Customer satisfaction by rapid delivery of useful software

Welcome changing requirements, even late in development

Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)

Working software is the principal measure of progress

Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace

Close, daily co-operation between business people and developers

Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location)

Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted

Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design

Simplicity- The art of maximizing the amount of work not done - is essential

Self-organizing teams

Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

In 2005, a group headed by Alistair Cockburn and Jim Highsmith wrote an addendum of project management principles, the Declaration of Interdependence, to guide software project management according to agile development methods.

Clearly, based on the situation the methodology that should be used is agile development methodology. The way it handles this kind of situation it is completely compatible to how the company works or how it can possible work in the company. 

Under the agile development methodology there is a certain process which is used and it is called as scrum. With scrum, projects process through a series of iterations called sprints. Rather than a full process or methodology, it is a framework. So instead of providing complete, detailed descriptions of how everything is to be done on the project, mush is left up to the software development team. This is done because the team will know best how to solve the problem they are presented. This is why, for example, a sprint planning meeting is described in terms of the desired outcome (a commitment to a set of features to be developed in the next sprint) instead of a set of Entry criteria, and task definitions, Validation criteria, and Exit criteria as would be provided in most methodologies.

Scrum relies on a self-organizing, cross functional team. The scrum team is self organizing in that there is no overall team leader who decides which person will do which task or how a problem will be solved. Those are issues that are decided by the team as a whole. The scrum team is cross-functional so that everyone necessary to take a feature from idea to implementation is involved.

Scrum projects make progress in a series of sprints, which are time-boxed iterations no more than a month long. At the start of a scrum sprint, team members commit to delivering some number of features that were listed. At the end of the scrum sprint, these features are done—they are coded, tested, and integrated into the evolving product or system. Scrum can be implemented through a wide range of tools. A key principle of Scrum is its recognition that during a project the customers can change their minds about what they want and need (often called requirements churn), and that unpredicted challenges cannot be easily addressed in a traditional predictive or planned manner. Each sprint is typically 2-4 weeks long and sprint planning is essential. Each sprint is preceded by a planning meeting, where the tasks for the sprint are identified and an estimated commitment for the sprint goal is made, and followed by a review or retrospective meeting, where the progress is reviewed and lessons for the next sprint are identified. During each sprint, the team creates finished portions of a product. The team then determines how much of this they can commit to complete during the next sprint, and records this in the sprint backlog. The sprint goals should not be changed during the sprint. Development is time-boxed such that the sprint must end on time; if requirements are not completed for any reason they are left out and returned to the product backlog. After a sprint is completed, the team demonstrates how to use the software.

While an agile approach can be used for managing any project, Scrum is ideally suited for projects with rapidly changing or highly emergent requirements such as we find in software development. With the use of agile software development as a methodology and scrum as the framework it will have good management. The team would be able to manage the projects given to them with definite accuracy even if there isn’t proper communication between the client and the company. There would also be satisfaction and the outcome of the project can meet the expectations of the clients because of the methodology that is used by the team. With this methodology the changes that the clients would request or want while the project is on progress can be easily applied or be easily changed by the team. They can also easily switch or develop the project more because of the method that they will use. By being able to do this within the given time it would do well for the project and it will make the project be done as soon as possible. And, by finishing the project as soon as possible it will only mean that they have optimized and efficiently used the given or the time they had agreed on for the finishing of the project. That being done can have a good result to the team and the company for having done the project on or before deadline.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(development)

http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/topics/scrum

http://www.attask.com/topics/project-management-methodologies

http://agilemethodology.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development