1. Introduction to Project Management
Week 4

2. 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?

3. Communication Plan Example

4. scheduling

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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 nd 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

11. 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

12. 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”.

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

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

15. Resource planning

16. 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

17. RACI Chart R = Responsible A = Accountable (or Approve) C = ConsultedPM
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

18. 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”

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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