JP2006235872A - Project management apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a project management apparatus that enables a project manager to evaluate the progress status of a project not subjectively but objectively. <P>SOLUTION: Output documents registered in a document management DB 210 are evaluated according to management indices registered in advance in a project management index DB 160, evaluation results similar to the evaluation result and measures taken in the projects from which the similar evaluation results have been derived are read out from a project evaluation result DB 170, and measures against problems that the current project faces are provided for a project manager, so that the project manager can understand the status of and make decisions on the project according to the evaluation results and proposals. The project manger can thus evaluate the progress status of the project not subjectively but objectively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a project management apparatus that can objectively evaluate the progress of a project without depending on the subjectivity of the project manager.

  In recent years, the scale of software has increased as functions of various products have increased. On the other hand, it is required to shorten the development period until the product is released to the world. Therefore, development of software and other products is expected to improve developer skills and production line productivity. Furthermore, each project responsible for developing each product is also required to improve the quality and efficiency of the product by improving the project management method.

  Generally, in a project, a methodology that defines the work contents and procedures to be executed is first created. Project personnel work together in accordance with the methodology. A plurality of personnel are assigned work assigned to them by a manager (project manager or the like) who manages the project, and the progress of the work is adjusted. Therefore, the manager must evaluate the progress of the project from an objective standpoint and give instructions to each project staff member.

  Specifically, the manager is required to have a project management ability that accurately grasps the status of an ongoing project and can quickly respond to the situation. Further, as described above, the project management method is not left to the individual subjectivity, but it is necessary to evaluate the project from an objective standpoint and to improve the efficiency of the progress.

  Indicators for managing projects include scheduling, cost, product quality, developer skills, risk management, etc. It is important to manage these appropriately.

  In Patent Document 1, a document management database for managing a reference document to be referred to when a project is executed and an output document to be created, and an empty entity of the output document to be created in each process of the project at the time of project planning. A project management system having a project information management database for managing the progress of the project, registering the registered empty entity and link information to the reference document in association with the process, Programs and recording media have been proposed.

In Patent Document 2, a high-level manager detects a project with an indication that the planned cost / period is exceeded at an early stage, and uses the history of the project to better understand the current situation of the project. A project management system has been proposed in which project status know-how and countermeasure work can be improved by reusing project management know-how, which is an effective countermeasure method.
JP 2003-141320 A JP 2003-196447 A

  However, the above invention has the following problems.

  The project management system, program, and recording medium described in Patent Document 1 are designed to facilitate the management of document creation in a project by linking a document created in the project with the progress management of the project. It is not possible to objectively evaluate the progress and provide information according to the situation.

  The project management system described in Patent Document 2 allows a high-level manager to detect a project with an indication that the planned cost / period has been exceeded at an early stage, and to better understand the current state of the project using the background of the project status. The project manager evaluates the project by reusing project management know-how, which is an effective countermeasure method, and the evaluation is largely based on the subjectivity of the project manager who manages the project. It is impossible to quickly grasp the progress status and collect information according to the status.

  In addition, generally, commercially available project management tools often evaluate a project by analyzing a difference with respect to a schedule and performing a gradual evaluation based on the subjectivity of the project manager, and the project cannot be objectively evaluated from various aspects.

  In addition, project managers do not have the use to objectively evaluate projects, but manage based on intuition and experience gained from past projects. Similarly, there was no way for senior managers to accurately and objectively understand the status of the project.

  Therefore, the present invention evaluates an output document registered in the document management DB based on a management index registered in advance in the project management index DB, and derives an evaluation result similar to the evaluation result and a similar evaluation result. Project management system that reads out measures taken in a project that has been taken from the project evaluation result DB, provides the project manager with measures against problems facing the project, and can objectively evaluate the project status without depending on the subjectivity of the project manager The purpose is to provide.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a project management apparatus having a project progress evaluation means for evaluating the progress of a project, and includes a project management index database for storing a management index for evaluating the project and the project progress evaluation means. A project evaluation result database that stores the evaluation result of the project and the work performance of the project that has received the evaluation result in association with each other, and the project progress evaluation means is referred to and created when the project is executed Collection means for collecting documents, evaluation means for evaluating the documents collected by the collection means with the management index stored in the project management index database, and the evaluation result similar to the evaluation result by the evaluation means And said work A reading means for reading the results from the project evaluation result database, and having a determining means for determining a countermeasure to be taken by the project from the work record read by the reading means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the project management device according to the first aspect, a project information management database for managing an empty entity of the document, and a project progress for registering the empty entity of the document in the project information management database And the project progress evaluation means includes an acquisition means for acquiring an empty entity of the document registered in the project information management database when evaluating the progress of the project. The collecting unit collects the document by using an empty entity of the document acquired by the acquiring unit.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the project management apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the work performance is a measure taken for the project in response to the evaluation result, and the determination means is most often employed. The measures are determined as measures to be adopted by the project.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the project management apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the work performance is a result of measures taken for the project in response to the evaluation result, and the determining means It is characterized in that the above countermeasure is determined as a countermeasure to be adopted by the project.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the project management apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the result is information relating to success or failure of the countermeasure, and the determining means calculates a success rate of the countermeasure, and the success The measure having a high rate is determined as a measure to be adopted by the project.

  The present invention evaluates an output document registered in the document management DB based on a management index registered in advance in the project management index DB, and an evaluation result similar to the evaluation result and a similar evaluation result are derived. Read the measures taken in the project from the project evaluation result DB, provide the project manager with measures against problems facing the project, and the project manager uses the evaluation results and proposals to grasp the current status of the project and make decisions be able to. Therefore, the project manager can objectively evaluate the progress of the project regardless of the subjectivity of the project manager.

  The configuration and operation of the project management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  First, terms used to describe the project management apparatus according to the present embodiment are defined.

  A project is an action / action that has a specified duration and outcome and aims to meet it.

  A task represents a logical unit of work that constitutes a project. Tasks can be divided into smaller tasks.

  A job is a further division of a task and represents the smallest unit of substantial work. Jobs cannot be split. One task may represent one job. Tasks and jobs are sometimes called processes.

  The project manager is an administrator who manages tasks / jobs of the entire project.

  The task leader is an administrator who manages tasks / jobs assigned by the project manager.

  The (work) personnel are workers in charge of tasks / jobs.

  The reference document is a standard, a procedure manual, a design document, etc. necessary for the task / job work, and includes an output document from the task / job in the previous process and a document as a product of a similar project.

  The output document (product) is a document created as a task / job work result, and is also a project product. An output document may be created by referring to the reference document. Or, it may be created by diverting the output of similar projects.

(1) Outline of the System FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of a system to which a project management apparatus according to the present embodiment is connected. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a project management center 700 including a project management apparatus 100 and a document management apparatus 200, a business office 300 having a project manager for managing a project and a worker for performing actual work, a satellite office 400, A computer owned by the development consignment company 500 is connected by a network 600 such as the Internet or an intranet.

  One or more of these offices 300, satellite offices 400, and development consignment companies 500 exist depending on the scale of the project, the location where the personnel are, and the like, and are connected to the project management center 700. Management of documents and progress status will be performed.

  The project management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment manages the progress of a project and documents created by each task / job in association with the schedule, and the document management apparatus 200 creates a document created by the project and a reference document to be referenced. Manage etc.

  Further, the project management apparatus 100 and the document management apparatus 200 are not installed in only one place of the project management center 700, but may exist in any one or each of the business office 300, the satellite office 400, and the development consignment company 500. Good. In this case, the documents managed by the document management apparatus 200 are only those created by the business office 300, the satellite office 400, or the development consignment company 500, and if the reference is a person with the access authority, Make it visible from others. The project management apparatus 100 is also installed in the same manner, but the project management apparatus 100 that integrates the entire project and manages the progress must also be provided.

  In addition, when the project management center 700 is installed in an ASP (Application Service Provider), the devices (100, 200) need only exist at one place. The complexity is reduced.

  Hereinafter, the system will be described on the assumption that the project management center 700 is installed at one place, and the ASP is accessed from the office 300, the satellite office 400, or the development contract company 500 by a terminal.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the project management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 2, the project management apparatus 100 includes at least a project definition unit 110, a project information management DB (database) 120, a project template DB (database) 130, a project progress registration unit 140, a project progress status evaluation unit 150, and a project management index. It has DB160 and project evaluation result DB170.

  The document management apparatus 200 includes a document management DB (database) 210, and registers and manages the contents (entity) of a document group managed by the project management apparatus 100. The document management DB 210 may be any database management system, file server, or information stored on the Web as long as it can be linked from a reference document or output document referenced by the task / job of the project information management DB 120. Also good.

(2) Project definition The project definition means 110 is based on general project items (project name, project manager name, project start date, end date, usage template, etc.) input from the screen as shown in FIG. Define the project.

  In general, in product development such as software, there are predetermined processes such as planning, design, programming, and testing. Each process includes a standard document to be referred to, a procedure manual, and a design document for a previous process. In the output document created in each process, a procedure manual and a design document necessary for the next process are generated. For example, managers with little project experience may not be familiar with the software development process, the documents necessary for each process, and the relationships between documents. These issues can cause project delays. Therefore, for example, in the case of a software development project, for “package software development”, “individual order software development”, etc., tasks (large processes), reference documents required for each task, output documents, and procedures to refer to By using a template in which documents and standards are defined, the risk of project delays due to differences in experience can be minimized. These templates include not only software development but also several templates for defining the development process of various projects such as building and machine development, sales strategy, etc., the development procedure, and the resulting documents. It is prepared. You can also customize this template for new projects.

  By selecting a template similar to the project to be executed this time from the project template DB 130 at the time of project definition, a task defined in the template and its schedule are created in the project information management DB 120. The document created here is only bibliographic data (for example, document name, creator name, department name, creation date, completion date, progress status, modification date, distribution destination, document file list, etc.) The document is registered in the document management DB 210. Here, the document file list indicates a file storing text contents (stores text, graphics, images, etc.) and is initially empty. Further, link information to the document registered here is registered in the project information management DB 120 in association with each task / job.

  In addition, the documents created by each expanded task and the reference documents to be referred to when creating the documents (requirements specifications, design specifications, amount of source code, quality of deliverables, test digest, software defects The number of discoveries, personnel skills, man-hours, costs, etc.) are registered in the project information management DB 120 in association with each task / job of link information to the document management DB 210 of the document management apparatus 200 in which the entity is registered.

  The project definition unit 110 creates default documents (reference documents and output documents) necessary for the project based on the template selected previously. However, it is necessary to modify and add according to the development of tasks / jobs. Defined output documents and associated reference documents. When these documents are diverted from similar projects or output documents in the previous process, link information to the entity of the documents is registered in association with the corresponding task or job in the project information management DB 120. When a new output document is created, bibliographic data and its empty entity are registered in the document management DB 210, and a link to the registered document is sent to the corresponding task or job in the project information management DB 120. Register in association.

  As described above, when the project is planned, the project definition unit 110 also creates a plan of documents to be created in the project, so that the progress status can be listed from the project planning stage, and the project management can be performed. Can be done easily.

  The access authority range (reference only, reference and write permission, copy permission, etc.) for the document created or referred to in the above-described job / task is stored in the project information management DB 120 as the authority given to the role of each person in the project. When each person accesses a document registered in the document management DB 210, the project information management DB 120 is checked based on the role of the person, and access to the document is permitted within the permitted authority. Since this access right is not set for each document in the document management DB 210 for managing the document contents, but is set as project management information, the access right for the document management DB 210 is changed even when a worker is changed. There is no need.

(3) Project progress The work staff displays the progress status of the project for the person in charge to be described later, confirms the progress, confirms the contents of the reference document, and creates an output document. The project progress registration unit 140 registers in the document management DB 210 an output document created by diverting an existing document from a reference document in the document management DB 210 or a template of a corresponding procedure manual / related material from the project template DB 130 or a similar project. .

  The work person registers the progress for the person in charge and the result of the document in the project information DB 120. A document created outside the plan is also registered as an output document for the corresponding job each time.

(4) Evaluation of the project progress status The project progress status evaluation means 150 evaluates the reference document and output document registered in the document management DB 210 based on the management index registered in advance in the project management index DB 160, and the evaluation The evaluation result similar to the result and the measures taken in the project from which the similar evaluation result is derived are read from the project evaluation result DB 170, and the measures against the problems encountered by the project are provided to the project manager. The project manager uses the evaluation results and proposals to grasp the current status of the project and make decisions.

  Further, according to the project management apparatus according to the present embodiment, the project evaluation is executed based on the management index, and the past project evaluation results and the countermeasures are stored in the project evaluation result DB 170 in the project evaluation result DB 170. Data and knowledge for evaluating the project are accumulated each time the project is evaluated. Therefore, by performing many evaluations, it can be evolved into a device that can provide a countermeasure for a problem occurring in the project more appropriately.

  Here, a specific process for evaluating the progress of the project by the project progress evaluation means 150 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As described above, the project management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment stores all evaluation results of past projects in the project evaluation result DB 170.

  As a project manager progresses, a project manager may be forced to choose from several options for a problem. At that time, the project management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment automatically derives an optimum selection for the problem on behalf of the project manager.

  For example, suppose that measures A, B, and C are considered as measures when implementing a measure against a certain risk. The project management apparatus 100 automatically selects a countermeasure that seems to be optimal from those countermeasures and presents it to the project manager. At that time, it is characterized by referring to past data as a reference for automatic selection.

  When the project management center 700 receives a project evaluation request from the business office 300, the satellite office 400, or the development consignment company 500 through the network, the project management apparatus 100 starts project evaluation. First, the project progress evaluation means 150 acquires the project management information stored in the project management DB 120 based on the role of the business office 300, the satellite office 400, or the development consignment company 500 (step S401). Based on the information, access to the document (reference document, output document) managed in the document management DB 210 is permitted (step S402). Next, the project progress evaluation means 150 reads the management index used for project evaluation from the project management index DB 160 (step S403), and executes the evaluation of the project related to the document permitted to be accessed based on the management index. (Step S404). When the project evaluation is completed, the project progress evaluation means 150 reads a past evaluation result similar to the evaluation result from the project evaluation result DB 170 (step S405). At that time, measures taken for the project from which the past evaluation results are derived are also read out simultaneously. Next, the project progress evaluation means 150 detects the most frequently used countermeasures for the read past evaluation results, and the countermeasures and evaluation results are detected as the office 300, the satellite office 400, or the development consignment company. 500 (step S406).

  Specifically, it is assumed that there are a plurality of measures taken according to past evaluation results similar to the evaluation results (for example, there are measures shown in Table 1). The project progress evaluation means 150 counts the number of times each countermeasure from countermeasure A to C is adopted, and proposes the countermeasure that has been adopted most frequently. According to Table 1, Measure B is proposed because Measure B is most frequently used. According to this processing, options such as option C that have a small number of adoption records and cannot guarantee reliability can be eliminated.

  Finally, the project progress evaluation means 150 stores the provided evaluation results and countermeasures in the project evaluation result DB 170 (step S407).

  In the process shown in FIG. 4, the project progress status evaluation unit 150 proposes, for example, the most frequently adopted measures in the office 300, the satellite office 400, or the development consignment company 500 in Table 1. However, the project management apparatus 100 monitors the trend of a project that has taken a countermeasure against a problem, and adds information related to the result (success or failure) to the evaluation result and the countermeasure and stores the information in the project evaluation result DB 170. Then, when the project progress evaluation means 150 proposes measures (step S406 shown in FIG. 4), the success rate of each measure taken against the read past evaluation results is calculated, and the success rate is calculated. It is good also as a structure which proposes a high countermeasure.

  For example, countermeasure A is selected in two projects, and one succeeds, so the success rate when option A is selected is 50%. Similarly, measure B is 335 and measure C is 100%. In this case, the countermeasure C has the highest success rate, and the project management apparatus 100 proposes this countermeasure to the office 300, the satellite office 400, or the development contract company 500. According to this process, the project management apparatus 100 can propose a measure with the highest success probability.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the system with which the project management apparatus which concerns on this embodiment was connected. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the project management apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is an example of a project definition input screen. It is a flowchart of the process which evaluates a project progress condition.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Project management apparatus 110 Project definition means 120 Project information management DB
130 Project Template DB
140 Project progress registration means 150 Project progress status evaluation means 160 Project management index DB
170 Project evaluation result DB
200 Document Management Device 210 Document Management DB
300 offices 400 satellite offices 500 development contractors 600 networks 700 project management center

Claims (5)

In a project management apparatus having a project progress evaluation means for evaluating the progress of a project,
A project management index database for storing a management index for evaluating the project;
A project evaluation result database that stores the evaluation result of the project by the project progress evaluation means and the work result of the project that has received the evaluation result in association with each other;
The project progress evaluation means is:
A collection means for collecting documents referred to and created during the execution of the project;
Evaluation means for evaluating the document collected by the collection means with the management index stored in the project management index database;
Reading means for reading out the evaluation result similar to the evaluation result by the evaluation means and the work results from the project evaluation result database;
A project management apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines a measure to be taken by the project from the work result read by the reading unit. A project information management database for managing an empty entity of the document;
Project progress registration means for registering an empty entity of the document in the project information management database;
The project progress evaluation means is:
When evaluating the progress status of the project, it has an acquisition means for acquiring an empty entity of the document registered in the project information management database,
The project management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collection unit collects the document by using an empty entity of the document acquired by the acquisition unit. The work results are measures taken for the project in response to the evaluation results,
The project management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the countermeasure most adopted as a countermeasure to be adopted by the project. The work results are results of measures taken for the project in response to the evaluation results,
The project management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines the countermeasure that has the best result as a countermeasure to be adopted by the project. The results are information relating to the success and failure of the measures,
5. The project management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the determining means calculates a success rate of the countermeasure, and determines the countermeasure with a high success rate as a countermeasure to be adopted by the project.

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