Using E-Learning Software Project for Training Food Service Managers in Houston - Case Study Example

Project Risk Management: Illustration Using E- Learning Software Project for Training Food Service Managers in Houston s Instructor Date of Submission Abstract Risk management in software projects is vital for the success of such projects. A good risk management strategy is an important tool if an involved team desires to avoid project failures. The concept can help to plan the project as well as other control purposes whilst the project is under execution. This paper aims at presenting a detailed analysis plus the mitigation techniques for all risks involved during the software development cycle of an E-Learning system that is proposed for training food service managers as a way to improve the management of food establishments. Project Risk Management: Illustration Using E- Learning Software Project for Training Food Service Managers in Houston Introduction The Department of Health and Human Services in Houston is charged with the duty of working with health care providers plus the community with the intention of promoting good health and improving health services offered to citizens (Nathan, 2009). There are a number of duties that the health department is charged with. Examples of the roles include implementation of programs intended to reduce the prevalence and effect of varied communicable diseases like Swine flu and HIV, keeping track of the environmental conditions like air quality and overseeing animal control and inspecting food establishments and local restaurants to make sure that no health threats are introduced to the lives of the dinners. To operate a food service establishment, a permit would be required of the food dealers. A permit would be given to a food establishment only after it meets every requirement that has been set by Houston food ordinance. There are educational services offered to help managers or workers create and maintain safer food service operations. The services also help the workers comply with Houston food ordinance-set requirements. Education pertaining to food safety is provided using a number of ways. One way in of carrying out the exercise is the condition requiring that every manager attends classes then passes a written test centered on food safety prior to certification as a food service manager. The remaining section of the paper focuses on a detailed analysis and recommendations of appropriate mitigation techniques applicable on the risks that a project manager overseeing the execution of the E- Learning software project has to contend with Types of Software Risks Apart from roles like project planning and communication, project managers are also charged with the duty of risk management. Risks management in software projects entails identification, quantification and management of risks (Wysocki, 2013). Every project features some amount of risk. For instance, a project meant to embrace new technology would be faced with the risk of the cited technology failing to deliver as the stakeholder’s expectations whereas a very complex project would deal with issues emanating from time and cost estimation risks. A risk in a software project refers to any uncertain event with a possibility of occurrence and its occurrence can cause loss for the project (Jalote, 2002). User Participation Supposing there is a lacking involvement of the food service managers while the E-learning project is being planned, the mangers might at some later time suggest additional requirements to the system or express a need to have the system specification changed after the onset of the project. At such later stages, the suggestions and requests are likely to cause cost increases or time delays on the project being executed. In view of this risk, a project manager has to be careful about the involved team members who want to act on behalf of the users during the statement of the system specification and stress as much as possible the idea of user involvement at the initial stages of a project work. Also, there is a need for the project manager to ensure that users are up to date concerning any progress by the project. Central Government Support Support by the government would be critical for the successful implementation of the E-Learning project just as user participation is. The government is better positioned to do nearly everything to make the E-Learning project for use in the Department of Health and Housing Services to be successful. A limited or lacking support towards the E-learning software project is increases the chances of failure. Thus, the project manager will have the duty of letting the Central Government of Houston know what it means to sponsor a software project by specifying every kind of support that the central government would need to offer like financial support or any assistance in hiring the technical expertise. Unregulated Requirements Inflation The E-Learning project just like other software projects is bound to have its requirements change during the project’s life cycle. Some of the changes would be necessary while others would be worth doing away with. An example of a necessary change would be when the food service managers under training identify and propose changes after discovering that the online E- Learning system retains certificates for the food service managers who fail the online examination after training. An example of an unnecessary change would be the managers proposing that the developers redesign the online E- Learning system so that the home page constitutes recent images and videos of a previous public campaign on the need for food safety. However, in situations whereby the involved team aims at providing a perfect product and include additional features while the product is under development, resources are likely to be too committed to be availed to the ongoing project (Sudhakar, 2010). Consequently, the delivered product might not end up meeting the initially stated user specifications. A good mitigation strategy for this risk would be consider all the changes requested for then set a condition that a justification is mandatory for any additional time or cost that the implementation of the change will bring about (Phillips, 2004). Unrealistic Expectations The expectation of the food service managers on the E- Learning software project can constantly change and grow if there is no control. In case the food service managers are not kept updated about the progress that the project is making, any new resolutions and upcoming issues among the involved development team, they could anticipate a product or service that is fully different from whatever is being developed. This is likely to breed a spirit of dissatisfaction upon the delivery of the product. Some of the areas of complaint concerning the delivered product would call for re-work and this will require additional time and cost. It is therefore important that the project manager for this online system treats expectations as big risks to the project and put strategies in place to manage them while making sure that every deliverable truly meets the end user expectations. Particular measures would be one way design or test plans and signed schedules, budgets as well as system requirements. Staff Turn Over It is normal witnessing people change their jobs and the technical expertise that will be hired for the E-Learning project are not left out in this. The Project Manager for this online software project is likely to be faced with challenges of staff members moving to other jobs within the same organization or to outside organizations. An instance of such would be the Database Administrator initially designated to design and build the back end database system for use by the E- Learning software joining a new cooperation and probably serve in a totally different position. This would prompt the need to hire a new staff member while project is mid way. Introducing a resource like human labor while projects are midstream will require a training exercise and this implies delays and extra costs (Philips & Luckey, 2013). To help avoid risks of this type, the project manager would need to plan for cross training and appropriate and precise role definitions and make this known to the executive which is the central government in this case. In case there are higher possibilities of staff movement, there would be a need for an appropriate contingency plan and statement inside the risk management plan that huge number of staff movement will inevitably affect the project’s schedule and budget. Schedule Risk As per Westland, failure to address the risks associated with schedule release and project task can affect a project’s schedule (2007). Apart from affecting the ongoing project, schedule risk will also affect the Department of Health and Housing and services and the central government of Houston by extension. There are a variety of sources from which schedule based flaws can originate. Unrealistic or low estimations of the work involved in a project, lack of proper understanding of the involved work or project deliverables and setting of an unrealistic date for termination of the E- Learning software project are examples of such sources. However, the chief cause for flaw in the project schedules is to plan a project with the assumption that it will follow an optimistic path while ignoring the different types of risks that would affect the software project. Examples of the assumptions that the project manager would make is that the project will not be befallen by shortage of the required technical expertise or that the involved staff members will be under good health condition till the completion of the project. Some of the techniques that would help in counteracting schedule flaws include trying to compare the estimated and actual outcomes of previous projects, readiness to reduce project scope in cases of fixed end dates, constant analysis of risks and making changes whenever a need arises and ensuring that the created schedules are both realistic and achievable. Technology Risks Technology related risks are known to lead to performance or functionality failure. All Information Technology projects feature a certain degree of risks because of the feature of IT related projects. All project managers or sponsors should ask particular questions to help in uncovering risks caused by technology and uncertainties. Specific issues to address would include familiarity with the operating environment of the E- Learning system, the need to support different user platforms like variations in user browsers, previous experiences of the food service managers with other similar E- Learning systems, the new system’s reliance on other external systems or data sources and user interface or usability issues. Failure to address these issues is likely to lead to a product that does not meet the previously stated user requirements. The project manager needs to adjust the quality, schedule and cost estimates to cater for these varying technology based needs. Conclusion For success in the management of software or other IT projects, the project managers ought to understand the nature of the given software risks affecting the project so as to be able to plan for and implement a proper mitigation technique. This paper identifies and analyses the types of risks that the project manager overseeing the execution of the E- Learning software project will contend with alongside suggestions on the appropriate way to manage the identified risks. References Nathan-Garner, L. (2009). Insiders guide to Houston. Guilford, Conn: Insiders Guide. Karolak, D. W. (1996). Software engineering risk management. Los Alamitos, Calif. [u.a.: IEEE Computer Society Press. Wysocki, R. K. (2013). Effective software project management. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Sudhakar, G. P. (2010). Elements of software project management. New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited. Jalote, P. (2002). Software project management in practice. Boston, Mass: Addison-Wesley. Phillips, D. (2004). The software project managers handbook: Principles that work at work. Los Alamitos, Calif: IEEE Computer Society [u.a.. Phillips, J., & Luckey, T. (2013). Software project management for dummies. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Westland, J. (2007). 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