Decision points - Repurposing Function Points for Decision Making

Decision Points

Function Point Analysis

for Project Decisions Management?

Can we repurpose

A MetroNorth Roundtable Presentation

14 slides. 35-40 minutes.

Why so manystart-ups?

After 20 years of trying to manage projects…

Why are you interested in decision making?

Hello. My name is David

Size

Complexity

CostTime

What are function points?

…and a tool for examining the mean, medium, and mode.

A way of estimating…

There are several approaches to function points.

Some are standards

Systematic simplification to

How do function points work?

See http://www.ifpug.org

5things

Identify atomic units of full-stack functionality and ratio the average effort required across team functions

What would I do?

This works pretty well in web development

1 Point

Product ownerProject manager

UXdeveloper

BackenddeveloperQA

Release & Operations

Sr. management & other teams

Contingency reserve

Art

DBAMarketing & documentation

What is a function point ratio?

Product ownerProject manager

UXdeveloper

BackenddeveloperQA

Release & Operations

Sr. management & other teams

Contingency reserve

Art

DBAMarketing & documentation

What is a function point ratio?

}Time

}Functionality

{Cost

? ? ?

What does this have to do with decisions?

Decisions are often chaotic, caustic, and costly

Many decisions looked at together

often lack consistency

Why is good decision making hard?

Plan Monitor Control QA

How can decision making be less risky?

Processization is often doable.

The logic of

function point

estimation maps well to

estimating

decision

makingWhat is the basis for estimating a decision?

What is a natural unit of decision making?

Activity ➞ Decision ➞ Decision ➞ Activity

Atomic decisions are simpler to count

Activity

Can decisions can be broken down for estimation?

…may be an input or output

…may require inputs or outputs

…may have dependencies

Decisions usually have regular iterations

Is decision making workflow regular?

Resolution stages

Workflow steps

Physical deliverables

Why don’t we see ads like “full stack decision maker skilled in Java, Python and consensus building”?

How can decision roles be ratioed?

Decision ownerProject manager

Informationgatherer

ConsensusbuilderSME

Escalation authority

Implementation team

Other stakeholders

Senior management

FinanceDocumentation

How do role ratios map to workflow?

Decision ownerProject manager

Informationgatherer

ConsensusbuilderSME

Escalation authority

Implementation team

Other stakeholders

Senior management

FinanceDocumentation

}Defines decisionPromulgates it Assigns rolesCollects criteria

}Solicits feedbackUpdates alternativesOrganizes voting or DelphiNegotiatesUpdates consensus status

} Interprets decision

In summary

FP is systematic simplification for estimates

Decisions are costly and need process

FP matches decision making, sometimes

Decisions have inputs, outputs, etc.Decisions canhave roles Decisions can have workflow

Therefore, we can ratio decisions

and use FP to estimate

Thank You!

Was that convincing?

http://www.linkedin.com/in/evisioner [email protected]

David Kershaw, PMP