SE503Advanced Project

Management

SE503Advanced Project

Management

Dr. Ahmed Sameh, Ph.D.

Professor, CS & IS

Traditional Project Management

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Traditional Approach

Plan the work– Scope of work– Budget– Schedule

Work the plan– Manage the project team– Deal with resources, contractors, consultants– Deal with uncertainty

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Project Plan - ContentsProject Plan - Contents

Objectives (present vs. proposed situation) Benefits Project Team Organization Scope of Work Budget (detail, controls) Schedule (Network, Milestones) Resources (equipment, labor, contractors)

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Project Plan - PurposeProject Plan - Purpose

Identify objectives and key deliverables Baseline for evaluating progress Coordinate with external parties Communicate to affected parties Highlight critical issues

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Why Organize the Work?

Formal definition of scope– Work Breakdown Structure

Provides a basis for organizing the project– Budget and estimates– Schedule and tracking– Documentation– Personnel assignments

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Work Breakdown Process

Inputs– Project objectives– Constraints– Assumptions

Methods– Identify deliverables– Define how they will be

produced

Outcomes– Hierarchical organization– Numbering system

Verify– Are objectives met?– Any missing tasks?– Any non-value tasks?

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Work Breakdown Strategies

Divide and conquer Divide by…

– Geography– Specialty– Process flow– Time (phase)– Deliverables

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Some WBS Issues

Numbering system– Related to systems in use

Equipment numbers Account numbers Drawing numbers Project filing system

– Provides a coherent numbering system for budget, schedule

Hierarchy span– Number of subdivisions at each level– How many is too many?

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WBS Checklist

Research Design Material/Equipment Specification Purchasing Delivery/Move to job site Installation Startup/checkout

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Remember…

Permits/licenses Meetings Reports

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WBS Format

Project A– Part 1

Task A101 Task A102

– Part 2 Task A201 Task A202

– Part 3 Task A301 Task A302 Task A303

Project A

Part 2 Part 3Part 1

Task A101

Task A102

Task A201

Task A202 Task A302

Task A303

Task A301

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Project BudgetProject Budget

Total Cost Estimate Spending Plan Target Accuracy (5-15%) Follow the WBS and Schedule

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Elements of an EstimateElements of an Estimate

Material Cost– remember tax and freight (11%)

Labor Cost– Remember overtime, holiday pay, etc.

Other Costs– Permits, fees– Equipment rental, leases– Secretarial, administration, document reproduction, phone

calls, fax, overhead, profit, etc.– Contingency and escalation

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Presenting the BudgetPresenting the Budget

Report in Dollars Follow Work Breakdown Breakout

– Direct costs/Indirect costs– Labor/Non-labor– Overhead/Burden/G&A– Labor hours, breakout by craft

Indicate Uncertainty

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Spending PlanSpending Plan

Combination of budget and schedule Period-by-period spending Cumulative spending curve Distribute indirect/other costs

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Project SchedulingProject Scheduling

Time dimension of project plan Shows logical relationships between tasks Determines completion date and milestone

dates Identifies critical items Core of project management

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Schedule Elements

Tasks (have duration) Milestones (no duration, important events) Relationships (between tasks/milestones) Time line (hours, days, weeks, months)

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Network TechniquesNetwork Techniques

PERT/CPM Precedence Diagramming

– Logical relationships– Immediate predecessors only

Critical Path - longest path from project start to project finish.

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Precedence RelationshipsPrecedence Relationships

Immediate Predecessors Finish-to-Start (standard) Start-to-Start (start dependency) Finish-to-Finish (finish dependency) Start-to-Finish (overlap) Lag

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Time EstimatingTime Estimating

Single estimate Three-point estimate (PERT)

– Optimistic (To)– Most Likely (Tm)– Pessimistic (Tp)– Expected = (To + 4Tm + Tp) / 6– Beta distribution, triangle distribution

Inaccuracies

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Estimating Exercise

24-piece puzzle Three-point estimate

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Presenting the SchedulePresenting the Schedule

Gantt Chart – Activities vs. Time– No logic

Precedence Diagram (PERT chart)– Shows logic– No time scale

Time scaled logic diagram (both) Indicate activities on Critical Path

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Project Network

START node– No predecessors– One or more successors

END node– One or more predecessors– No successors

Tasks have– One or more predecessors– One or more successors– Duration

Critical Path– Longest path from

START to END Network is

– Directed– Acyclic– Compact

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Project Network Structure

StartTask

A

TaskB

TaskC

TaskD

EndTask

E

Loop-Back Relationship

Redundant Relationship

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Example Time-scaled Logic

ID Task Name Duration

1 Example Project 9 wks

2 Project start 0 wks

3 Task 1-3 2 wks

4 Task 3-6 7 wks

5 Task 3-4 1 wk

6 Task 4-6 3 wks

7 Task 2-4 2 wks

8 Task 4-5 2 wks

9 Task 1-2 2 wks

10 Task 2-5 2 wks

11 Task 1-5 2 wks

12 Task 5-6 1 wk

13 Project finish 0 wks

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9/30 10/13

10/14 12/1

10/14 10/20

10/28 11/17

10/14 10/27

10/28 11/10

9/30 10/13

10/14 10/27

9/30 10/13

11/11 11/17

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9/14 9/21 9/28 10/5 10/12 10/19 10/26 11/2 11/9 11/16 11/23 11/30 12/7 12/14September October November December

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Network Calculations

Forward pass– Use early start and early finish dates– Series (add) and parallel (max) combinations– Calculate critical path (latest early finish)

Backward pass– Calculate late finish and late start– Calculate slack (or criticality)– Identify critical tasks

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Schedule TerminologySchedule Terminology

Float/Slack Early Start Date Late Start Date Early Finish Date Late Finish Date

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Resource AllocationResource Allocation

Standard PERT/CPM methods assume project is time constrained

Resource constrained projects are common Resources

– People– Equipment– Space

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Why Bother?Why Bother?

Avoid Under-Allocation– Idle time– Layoffs

Avoid Over-Allocation– Exceeding available pool– Early warning of delays

Allocate Resources Across Multiple Projects

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Resource ProceduresResource Procedures

Identify Resources for each Task Blend Resource Needs with Schedule to

Identify Demands on each Resource Identify Options to Improve Resource

Allocation Identify Effects on Schedule/Critical Path

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Resource ConsiderationsResource Considerations

Tasks that Exceed the Planned Duration often Consume More Resources

Adding Resources to a Task does not always Reduce Duration Linearly

There is usually a Cost Involved with Changing Resource Allocations

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Resource LevelingResource Leveling

Level the Demand on each Resource Approaches

– Change task durations (shorter/longer)– Shift task start times– Split tasks

Resource Leveling Becomes Complicated Very Quickly and can Involve Multiple Strategies

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Summary

Plan the work, work the plan Scope of work (WBS) Budget Schedule

– Time estimates– Network techniques

Resource management Homework