Project Management

MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES A means of managing and controlling a project to get results. MBO is: ·        Performance improvement system ·        Focused on output (results) not just activity ·        An agreement between supervisor and individual to meet same goals ·        A method of checking progress ·        Can be tied to employee evaluation and compensation ·        Works well for relatively simple projects What does a good MBO plan contain? a.       Mission Statement (we will cover this later) b.      Goals Statement c.       Problem Analysis d.      Objectives e.       Impact Indicators (measuring sticks) f.        Action Plan g.       Review and Feedback Process h.       Evaluation Process i.         Formal Commitments (Shared Ownership) j.        Relate with Resource Support System Benefits: ·        Avoids Activity trap ·        Know Expectations ·        Better Understanding of Whole Organization ·        Improved Employee Motivation ·        Improved Communications ·        Eliminates Non-essential Activities ·        Provides Means to Improve Job Performance

Basic System 1.      Set Goals 2.      Jointly agree on action plan with subordinates 3.      Everyone works toward achieving goals 4.      Periodically review results (exception sheet) 5.      Update goals 6.      Repeat cycle

When agreeing to accept the action steps involved in an MBO system one should be sure that all of the following three attributes are transmitted with each action step. Failure to transmit and failure to accept all will result in a job misunderstanding.

PERT – “Program Evaluation Research Task” (Used for control of complex projects with many interdependent steps) Approach: Analyze the project and specify the basic approach to be used Break project down into reasonable # of activities Estimate time to perform each activity Place the activity in sequence of time, taking into account that certain activities must be performed sequentially while others can be performed simultaneously If a completion date is specified, the diagram is adjusted until this constraint is satisfied.

CONSTRUCTION OF “GANTT” BAR CHART ·        This shows 5 activities ·        To be completed in 15 weeks ·        Some activities start later (some dependence?) ·        At week 3, activity A is ahead of schedule, activity B is behind

Disadvantages of Gantt bar chart ·        Does not explicitly show the dependency relationships among activities ·        Can’t calculate the effect on the whole project of delays in one activity ·        Difficult to detect time line slippage especially on activities with long duration ·        Sub-parts of activities can not be tracked

PROJECT NETWORK

PROJECT NETWORK

TIME-SCALED NETWORK Critical Path Critical Path: longest path through the network (in example B-1, C, D-3 = 15 weeks) Delay: ·        Any delay in activities on critical path extend the project ·        Delays in D-1, D-2 path can be up to 2 weeks without affecting total project

Class Example