Project Management Theory

Planning a Project Identify the problems and inefficiency of system. – Design brief Design brief: A statement that contains an outline of a situation, need or an opportunity, any conditions that apply to a problem and the future needs.” Step involved to solve the problem following the PSM – Identifying task and information required for the project – Plan various stages eg Analysis Stage Design Stage Development Stage Evaluation Stage Working out the Objective and Deliverables of the Project. Working out the scope, requirements and constraints of the project Working out the data collection methods to acquire the above information Produce a timeline of the entire project eg. Develop Gantt chart

Objective Concrete statement that describes what the project is trying to achieve. It is evaluated at the end the project manager Success based on whether the objective is achieved Eg like the aim in an experiment

Deliverables These of the physical outcomes produced by the project as all project creates these. There are two types internal and external – Internal represents the outcomes created as a byproduct of the project in action. Eg Design document, SRS. Intended use for the project team. – External represents the outcomes for the clients. Eg – Documents – Plans – Computer Systems – Software – Buildings – Aircraft

Milestones Marks the end of a package or phase of the project. Completion of a major deliverable or set of associated deliverable – It could involve signing of a document Eg signing of the SRS marks the end of the analysis phase Meeting to finalise the review of the design document mark the end of the design phase. Completed Testing Phase to mark the end of the development stage

Critical Paths Sequence of activities that MUST be completed on schedule for the entire project. The length of certain task can vary It is the Longest duration path through the project. – If an activity on the critical path is delayed by one day the entire project delay by one day. – Unless another task can be sped up

Constraints Limitations – Outside the control of the project team Eg – Resources, strict budget and out of date network system – Date constraints – produce must be rolled out by such and such – Not enough labor etc

Gant Chart