Measuring Performance

What are the types of performance measures that could be used for assessing systems development projects?

There are many types of measures which can be used as assessments throughout the project's development life cycle. During the Initiation Phase, measuring a potential project's ability to meet organizational functions and business plans help to prioritize if that project should be developed.

In the Planning Phase, performance measures will be detailed in the Project Plan so that expectations are clearly defined. These measures will maintain the progress of the project and if they are meeting time constraints. Measures include deadlines for deliverables and status reports.

During the development phase, performance measures should play an important role in the project to control for risks and factors that could greatly affect the final product. Involving users and their feedback should be used as performance measures so that the designs of the system and its eventual implementation will be user-friendly and accepted. 

The Implementation Phase is the most difficult since the project moves from paper to production. The intense phase focuses on programmers, hardware, and software coming together. Performance measures should include all testing types for the code(s), the compatibility among new and existing hardware and software, and user's feedback as they test the new system.

Finally, the project close-down goes beyond the system to include the people who were involved in its development. A Lessons Learned document will provide performance measures from team members, and their insights can help with future projects in how to handle challenges or provide creative ideas.

Cultural Competance

How will the use of outsourcing impact the way in which a project is managed?
Our technology has greatly impacted not only in how businesses are able to make partnerships from around the globe, but has also had societal implications which are being made aware as countries and cultures are brought together. While technology crosses physical boundaries, there are still inherent perceptions, expectations, and experiences which challenge a project manager's ability to lead and manage a project.

The risks of leading diverse people who come from different backgrounds greatly increases a project's exposure to failure but it can't be avoided. Outsourcing can have significant financial benefits and obtain specific expert knowledge that may be critical to a system's function, and it means that the project manager has to understand the contextual change that comes with these benefits.

Cultural competance is a critical skill for a project manager to develop because it will help with team motivation, moral, and communication. Understanding how a norm for one culture might be aversely perceived in another affects relationships among the team members. As my professor states, "Technology doesn't fail; it is people who fail". If people fail to understand the impact of culture on a person's values and actions, then a project will fail.

Team Evaluation

During the progress review, how might the project manager asses the contribution of each member of the project team?
Assessing each member's contribution is important because people who take on extra responsibilities want to be noticed for their efforts. Although it may not be directly said, having some sort of recognition for their work makes people feel valued, and this goes back to job satisfaction. A project manager can use a variety of methods to asses a member's contribution but ince the question is about individual contributions, Peer Evalutions will help the project manager learn how team members interacted with each other during the project's life cycles.

The expectations people have when they work together are absolutely different than in informal settings. Peer evaluations will give inside knowledge as to how other members viewed the individual's committment to the project, prioritizing and organizational skills, collaborative efforts, and reliability. Since projects mean relying on others to achieve a single goal, developing trust and respect is important for meeting deadlines, budgets, and quality. While there should be other assessments used when evaluating an individual's contributions, peer reviews are often tell-tale signs of how that individual will positively or negatively affect future projects.