SE503 Advanced Project Management Dr. Ahmed Sameh, Ph.D. Professor, CS & IS Traditional Project Management

Traditional Approach Plan the work Work the plan Scope of work Budget Schedule Work the plan Manage the project team Deal with resources, contractors, consultants Deal with uncertainty 2/33

Project Plan - Contents Objectives (present vs. proposed situation) Benefits Project Team Organization Scope of Work Budget (detail, controls) Schedule (Network, Milestones) Resources (equipment, labor, contractors) 3/33

Project Plan - Purpose Identify objectives and key deliverables Baseline for evaluating progress Coordinate with external parties Communicate to affected parties Highlight critical issues 4/33

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 5/33

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? 6/33

Work Breakdown Strategies Divide and conquer Divide by… Geography Specialty Process flow Time (phase) Deliverables 7/33

Some WBS Issues Numbering system Hierarchy span 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? 8/33

WBS Checklist Research Design Material/Equipment Specification Purchasing Delivery/Move to job site Installation Startup/checkout 9/33

Remember… Permits/licenses Meetings Reports 10/33

WBS Format Project A Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Task A101 Task A102 11/33

Project Budget Total Cost Estimate Spending Plan Target Accuracy (5-15%) Follow the WBS and Schedule 12/33

Elements 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 13/33

Presenting 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 14/33

Spending Plan Combination of budget and schedule Period-by-period spending Cumulative spending curve Distribute indirect/other costs 15/33

Project Scheduling Time dimension of project plan Shows logical relationships between tasks Determines completion date and milestone dates Identifies critical items Core of project management 16/33

Schedule Elements Tasks (have duration) Milestones (no duration, important events) Relationships (between tasks/milestones) Time line (hours, days, weeks, months) 17/33

Network Techniques PERT/CPM Precedence Diagramming Logical relationships Immediate predecessors only Critical Path - longest path from project start to project finish. 18/33

Precedence Relationships Immediate Predecessors Finish-to-Start (standard) Start-to-Start (start dependency) Finish-to-Finish (finish dependency) Start-to-Finish (overlap) Lag 19/33

Time Estimating Single estimate Three-point estimate (PERT) Optimistic (To) Most Likely (Tm) Pessimistic (Tp) Expected = (To + 4Tm + Tp) / 6 Beta distribution, triangle distribution Inaccuracies 20/33

Estimating Exercise 24-piece puzzle Three-point estimate 21/33

Presenting 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 22/33

Project Network START node END node Tasks have Critical Path No predecessors One or more successors END node One or more predecessors No successors Tasks have Duration Critical Path Longest path from START to END Network is Directed Acyclic Compact 23/33

Project Network Structure 24/33

Example Time-scaled Logic 25/33

Network Calculations Forward pass Backward 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 26/33

Schedule Terminology Float/Slack Early Start Date Late Start Date Early Finish Date Late Finish Date 27/33

Resource Allocation Standard PERT/CPM methods assume project is time constrained Resource constrained projects are common Resources People Equipment Space 28/33

Why Bother? Avoid Under-Allocation Avoid Over-Allocation Idle time Layoffs Avoid Over-Allocation Exceeding available pool Early warning of delays Allocate Resources Across Multiple Projects 29/33

Resource 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 30/33

Resource 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 31/33

Resource 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 32/33

Summary Plan the work, work the plan Scope of work (WBS) Budget Schedule Time estimates Network techniques Resource management Homework 33/33