Management Information Systems [MOIS470] Selected Topics in Management Information Systems [MOIS470] Fall 2004 Nahed Amin MS Project

Introduction What’s Project Management? Project management is a matter of keeping scope, schedule and resources in balance Scope: the range of tasks required to accomplish project goals Schedule: the time and sequence of each task, as well as the total project duration Resources: the people and/or equipment that perform or facilitate project tasks

Steps for Managing a Project Project Definition: Decide on the goals to be accomplished Identify the major tasks Agree on the available resources Determine the schedule’s limit Project Plan: Identify all project tasks and who will do them Get work and time estimates for tasks Determine task dependencies Enter task and project constraints

Steps for Managing a Project Tracking: Track project progress comparing actual to original Review resources, scope, and schedule factors Identify problems that could knock off schedule Analyze resource requirements over project Make midstream changes to reach goals sooner Project Close: Compare original plan to actual one Analyze problems for future improvements Archive the project file

Getting Started Set clear project goals, scope and assumptions Start a new project file Enter a project start or finish date Enter project goals, scope and assumptions Save project

MS Project Building Blocks Tasks: Actual work needed to be accomplished to meet project goals can be broken into tasks The scope of a project consists of all its tasks Resources: The amount of resources can affect the project scope and schedule Assignments: Assigning resources to work on a task directly affects the time required to complete a task, and indirectly the total project time

1. Tasks Break project into tasks, phases, and milestones: Tasks: A concrete step required to meet project goal. It represents actual work to be done in the project Phases: Consists of a group of related tasks. A phase represents a major step in the project Milestones: Tasks that require no actual work. But just to indicate the beginning or end of a phase. Milestones are interim goals used to track the progress of the project

1. Tasks Create a task list: Include only tasks critical to project’s completion Add detailed enough tasks so that the time to complete each one is short compared to overall project’s length Remember tasks that occur repetitively, such as weekly meetings, status reporting, and anticipated revision work

1. Tasks Enter tasks Estimate task length: Base estimates on: Others’ experience Your experience Past records Enter every task duration only, not its start or finish date

1. Tasks Ensure to perform a logical, well-ordered task list Add milestones Order & group related tasks in tasks’ list. A straight list of tasks doesn’t indicate when one phase ends and another begins. The most common two grouping criteria: Tasks belonging to the same process Tasks to be completed in the same time period Summing up summary tasks Outline task list

1. Tasks Link tasks: Power of linking: Let MS Project calculate all dates: every task start and finish dates, project finish date See instantly how changes in start, finish, and duration of a task affect related tasks and whole schedule Determine the best task sequence: Identify dependencies of start or finish dates of a task on another one A task that must start or finish before another task is called a predecessor task A task that depends on start or finish of another task is called a successor task

1. Tasks Link tasks: Types of links: Finish-to-start (FS) Start-to-start (SS) Finish-to-finish (FF) Start-to-finish (SF)

1. Tasks Link tasks: Create links between tasks – avoid entering start or finish dates Overlap or delay tasks: Lag time Lead time

1. Tasks Add task’s constraints: Constrain a task if: The constraint reflects an actual time constraint in real world The project will be penalized for not starting or finishing by a specific date Types of constraints: As Soon As Possible (ASAP) Finish no Later Than (FNLT) As Late As Possible (ALAP) Start No Later Than (SNLT) Finish no earlier than (FNET) Must Finish On (MFO) Start No Earlier Than (SNET) Must Start On (MSO) Enter constraints

2. Resources Determine resource needs Create a resource list: A resource list includes: The name of the resource The maximum amount of time per day a resource is available to work Enter the resource list

2. Resources Determine the working times calendars: There are two types of working times calendars: A base calendar to store the planned working and non-working days and hours for a group of resources A resource calendar containing the work schedule for only one individual resource Modify the project calendar or create a working times calendar

3. Assignments Assign resources to tasks: Assigning resources to tasks provide several benefits: The schedule mirrors actual circumstances more accurately Responsibilities can be assigned for tasks Workload is monitored to make adjustments in case any resource is overloaded Pillars of task scheduling: work, duration, resources: Work: amount of effort, measured in time units put into a task by a resource. The total work for a task is the sum of all these time units Duration: amount of time between start & finish dates for a task Resources: people, equipment, office space, etc Assign one or more resources to each task

Schedule’s Evaluation & Adjustment Ensure the plan is accurate and complete Review project goals, scope, assumptions Add or delete tasks Refine task-duration estimates Check project finish date Determine if constraints are necessary Identify & correct obvious errors

Plan’s Streamlining Fine-tune schedule by making trade-offs among scope, resources, time; the three main factors that shape a project Focus on: shortening the schedule Using resources as efficiently as possible