ch 17 PP: Flashcards
Projects
unique, one-time operations
specific set of objectives
limited time frame
Performance Goals
respect schedule
respect budget
respect performance
Project Phases
- project initiation
- planning and scheduling
- execution and control
- closeout
Project Manager’s Responsibilities
Work
Quality
Human Resources
Time
Communications
Cost
Project planning
analyzing the project into work packages & activities, estimating resources, durations, scheduling, etc
Quality planning
How project and product quality is to be assured and controlled
Communications planning
Determining the nature of information needed by stakeholders and how to satisfy these needs
Purchase planning
What to purchase, specifications, supplier evaluation and selection, awarding contracts
Risk
occurrence of events that have undesirable consequences
Risk management
- Identify potential risks
- Analyze and assess risks
- Work to minimize occurrence of risk
- Establish contingency plans
Project Management Tools
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Gantt chart
CPM/PERT
Software (e.g. Microsoft Project)
WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
A hierarchical listing of what must be done during a project
Establishes a logical framework for identifying the required activities for the project
Establishing a logical framework for identifying the required activities for the project steps?
- Identify the major components of the project
- Identify the major subcomponents
- Break down subcomponents into work packages
- Break down each work package into a list of the activities that will be needed to accomplish it
Project Scheduling
Determining the timing of activities of the project
PERT (program evaluation and review technique) and CPM (critical path method)
techniques used to schedule and control large projects
Precedence Network
Diagram of project activities that shows sequential relationships by use of arrows and nodes
Activity on arrow (AOA)
Network in which arrows designate activities
Activity on node (AON)
Network in which nodes designate activities
Path
A sequence of activities that leads from the starting node to the finishing node
Critical path
The longest path from start to end
determines expected project duration
Critical activities
Activities on the critical path
Path slack time
Allowable slippage for a path
length of a path – length of critical path
Deterministic
Time estimates that are fairly certain
Probabilistic
Time estimates that allow for variation
meanings of ES, EF, LS, LG
what are they used to determine?
ES: earliest time the activity can start
EF: earliest time the activity can finish
LS: latest time the activity can start
LF: latest time the activity can finish
Expected project duration
Activity slack times
Critical path
Slack can be computed in which two ways?
Slack = LS – ES
Slack = LF – EF
Critical path
The critical path is indicated by the activities with zero slack
advantages of slack time
Helps planning of allocation of scarce resources
efforts directed toward activities that might delay project
assumption that activities will be started as early as possible and not exceed their expected time
what do we mean when we say that slack time is shared?
If two activities on the same path have the same slack, this is total slack available to both
The beta distribution
used to describe the inherent variability in activity durations
The probabilistic approach involves which three time estimates
Optimistic time, (to)
Pessimistic time, (tp)
Most likely time, (tm)
Optimistic time, (to)
The length of time required under optimal conditions
Pessimistic time, (tp)
The length of time required under the worst conditions
Most likely time, (tm)
The most probable length of time required
The expected time, te ,for an activity
weighted average of the 3 time estimates
te = (to + 4tm + tp) / 6
The expected duration of a path
equal to the sum of the expected times of the activities on that path
The standard deviation of each activity’s time
estimated as 1/6th of the difference between pessimistic and optimistic estimates
The variance
the square of the standard deviation
Standard deviation of the expected time for the path
sum of variances of each activity on a path
we use the path mean & standard deviation to compute what?
probability that the project will be completed by a certain time
probability that the project will take longer than its expected completion time
independence of path durations must be respected by which conditions?
activity durations must be independent,
each activity must be on only one path
PERT/CPM: Determining Path Probabilities steps
- Determine 3 time estimates
- Calculate Expected Time (Mean)
- Calculate Activity Variance
- Calculate Critical Path Variance (sum of variances of activities on critical path)
- Calculate Z score of duration
- Find Area of Z score (Appendix B: Normal table)
- probability that time will be within specified = area probability that time will exceed specified = 1 – area
To determine the probability that the project will be completed within the specified time, what do we do?
Calculate probability that each path will be completed within the specified time
Multiply these probabilities
Simulation
Used when activity times may not be independent
Repeated sampling is used
Many passes are made through the network
In each pass, a random value for each activity selected from the probability distribution
After each pass, project’s duration is determined
After many passes, a frequency distribution of the project duration is prepared
this frequency distribution used for probabilistic estimates of project duration
Crashing
Shortening activity durations
motivations to crashing
Avoid late penalties
Monetary incentives for early completion
Free resources for other projects
Reduce indirect costs
Options to crashing
Add more personnel
More (or more efficient) equipment
Relax specifications
To make decisions concerning crashing requires information about what?
Regular time and crash time estimates for each activity
Regular cost and crash cost estimates for each activity
A list of activities that are on the critical path
Critical path activities are potential candidates for crashing
why are non critical path activities not potential candidates for crashing?
Crashing non-critical path activities would not have an impact on overall project duration
Crashing: Procedure
Crash least expensive activity on the critical path
After each crash, recalculate critical path
Crash activities on critical path one period at a time, until crash cost > benefit
if more than one critical path, crash the cheaper of
a common activity shared by the critical paths
sum of least expensive activities on each critical path
Student’s Syndrome
a student tends to delay the start of an assignment until the last possible time
Parkinson’s law
work expands to fill the time available for its completion
how to fight Student’s Syndrome and Parkinson’s law
do not disclose due dates of activities to workers.
prioritize, schedule accordingly, and do activities asap.
eliminate padding in activity time estimates
add buffer time to end of critical chain (= longest path considering constraints)
Scheduled time overrun
Scheduled time overrun = PV - EV
Planned Value (PV)
Earned Value (EV)
Cost overrun
Cost overrun = actual cost - EV
Earned Value (EV)
Gyu Project Management Softwares
Microsoft Project
Deltek (Welcom)
Deltek (Welcom) supports what
Portfolio analysis
Risk management
Planning and scheduling
Project collaboration
Complete earned value management
