Introduction to Project Management Week 4

Communication Plan Objectives Objective is to determine: Who needs to know what? How will they be told? When will they be told and how often?

Communication Plan Example http://ethelemmons.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/communication.jpg

scheduling

Purpose of Scheduling Shows relationships of each activity to others in the whole project Identifies the precedence relations among activities Encourages the setting of realistic time and cost estimates for each activity Helps make better use of people, money, time, and material resources by identifying “critical bottlenecks” in the project

BOTTLENECKS In any project there will be 1or more bottlenecks that can spoil the successful completion of the project. i.e. getting the resource you need, failing to complete a “critical task” on time One of the important responsibilities of a PM is to ID the bottlenecks of the project and to figure out how to eliminate them or minimize their impact.

BOTTLENECKS cont. When you eliminate a bottleneck, it often frees up time When you build a project plan, schedule the tasks conservatively to help insure you can complete them on time. i.e. If you think it will take 60 days for a contractor to complete a task, schedule 90 days to ensure that the total project will come in on time

Scheduling Techniques Common tools Gantt charts Project calendars Milestones charts Critical Path Method (CPM) the sequence of project activities which determines the shortest time possible to complete the project. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) a method to estimate TASK DURATION , using optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely time frames

Sample Gantt Chart Time J F M A M J J A S Design Prototype Test Revise Production

CRITICAL PATH Longest time in (days/weeks/months) ALL the tasks that determine the end date in your project schedule. The critical path is the longest PATH, through the “AON” NETWORK (Activity On Node-explanation on 2nd slide from this one—slide # 13) Longest path of planned activities to the end of the project Longest time in (days/weeks/months) To be started and completed exactly as scheduled to ensure the project is completed by a certain date ONE activity can NOT be done before the previous activity is completed

CRITICAL PATH cont. The critical path is the shortest possible TIME in which the ENTIRE project can be completed BECAUSE all activities are CONTINGENT upon a PREDECESSOR (a PREVIOUS “ACTIVITY” getting completed) Any DELAY in ANY of the “CRITICAL PATH” ACTIVITIES DELAYS the project All “Critical Path” activities have to be in sequence” “Critical” does NOT refer to how important the task is, but rather the IMPACT the SCHEDULING of these tasks has on the FINISH date of the project

CRITICAL PATH SUMMARY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN: The entire PROJECT completion date versus the "AON" network: The critical path is the SHORTEST possible TIME in which the ENTIRE project can be completed. Every “CRITICAL” activity must be completed. The critical path is the LONGEST PATH through the "AON" network. You need to ADD up all the activity times (days/weeks/ months). Whichever path is the longest (takes the most time) is the “Critical Path”.

Activity on Node (AON) Explained FOUNDATION WALLS ROOF PIPES IN HOUSE SHOWER STALL SHOWER HEAD DRY WALLERS FRAME OF HOUSE FLOORING

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT Do DIGITAL ACTIVITY" PRECEDENCE TABLE: BLACKBOARD > WEEKLY LESSONS > Week #4-Planning Phase Part 2 > PRECEDENCE TABLE "DIGITAL ACTIVITY"

Resource planning

RESOURCE Planning Questions to be answered when planning resources: What needs to be done? Who or what can do the work? Is this resource available? How will this resource affect schedules and costs? RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) Chart Estimating would be completed here but we are not going to get into this in this course

RACI Chart R = Responsible A = Accountable (or Approve) C = Consulted PM Director Service Mgr Legal Dept A1 R A A2 C I A3 RA (responsible & Accountable) A4 R = Responsible A = Accountable (or Approve) C = Consulted I = Informed Project Manager does not necessarily have a role in every activity Activities 1-4

RACI Model Steps in a RACI process Identify all the activities Identify the roles Complete the cells accordingly (R,A,C,I) Resolve overlaps & gaps Every process should contain only one “R” http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_raci.html

GROUP Work Activity Each group is to create the following for the “OTTAWA BASED CHARITY Fundraiser”: (1) Communication Plan, (2) Precedence Table (3) AON: Activity On Node and Critical Path (4)RACI Chart R = Responsible A = Accountable (or Approve) C = Consulted I = Informed COMMUNICATION PLAN RACI

GROUP Work Activity cont. “Communication Plan” will become page #2 of the MS WORD portion of your Group Assignment (page #1 is your “Cover Page”) 2. “RACI Chart” will become page #3 of the MS WORD portion of your Group Assignment

GROUP Work Activity cont. 3. “Precedence Table” will become will become page #4 of the MS WORD portion of your Group Assignment “AON: Activity On Node” will become will become page #5 of the MS WORD portion of your Group Assignment 5. “Critical Path” will become will become page #6 of the MS WORD portion of your Group Assignment

Hybrid / Homework Read Chapter 3 Complete all activities required while reading chapter 3 Complete the Fill in the Blank exercise for Chapter 3 Complete the Multiple Choice for Chapter 3