Chapter 6 Flashcards
Planning process involves answering the following questions in the Project Master Plan
- What?
- scope statement, charter or statement of work - What?
- detailed requirements - How?
- detailed work definition - Who?
- responsibility for work tasks - When?
- detailed schedules with milestones - How much?
- project budgets and cost accounts - What if?
- risk plan - How well, what, how?
- performance tracking and control - other elements of plan(as needed)
- work review and testing
- quality control
- documentation implementation
- communication/meetings
- procurement
- contracting and contract admin
A project can begin…
once it has been approved and the contract is signed
Project Execution Plan
lays out details of what will happen in the project
content of Execution Plan
- scope, charter or statement of work
- management and organisation section
- management and organisation
- manpower
- training and development - technical section
- high-level user and system requirements
- work breakdown structure
- responsibility assignments
- project schedules
- budget
- quality plan
- risk plan
- health, safety, and environment (HSE) plan
- communication plan
- human resource plan
- work review plan
- testing plan
- change control plan
- documentation plan
- procurement plan
- implementation plan
scope definition
describes “breadth of project”
involves specifying the span of the project’s outputs, results or deliverables
areas to be covered by project, and not to be covered
purpose of the scope
provides a broad description of master plan/project to stakeholders
directed at the core project team, project organisation and primary stakeholders
the scope includes
- objectives of project from perspective of contractor
- requirements
- deliverables
- milestones
- limits and exclusions
what is a Statement of Work?
- description of the project, includes a scope statement
- it is associated with contracted projects
- appears in RFP, proposal and masterplan
what is included in the Statement of Work?
for contracted project work: contractor and customer agree on - definition of work required - definition of work proposed - basis for cost, schedules, and related matters
Name the 2 Statement of Works
- SOW in master plan
2. SOW in contract (CSOW)
Suggestions for Statement of work
- ensure SOW and WBS correspond
- requirements for every end-item, task and report must be clear enough so that it is possible to sign-off acceptance of results
- specify where judgement calls should be make and who should make them
- categorise specifications applicable to entire project separate from those applicable to only parts of the project
Charter
the scope document internal projects
what does the Charter include?
includes everything in the scope statement, plus
- risk limits
- customer needs
- spending limits
- key players on project team
who issues the Charter?
the senior management to legitimise the project
what is the purpose of the Charter?
gives Project Manager authority to initiate work and apply resources to project
Work definition
translates the project objectives and deliverables into specific and well defined work activities
- subdivide the project into small, well-defined work packages
Work breakdown structure
- divide project into “well defined” tasks
1. project
2. subproject
3. work package
4. activity
Well-defined tasks are the basis for
- Project schedule
- Budget
- Resource requirements
- Responsibility assignments
- Risk management
Define a Work package
A well defined activity
a Work Package contains
- comprehensive SOW
- resource requirements
- time estimates/deadlines
- cost estimates
- responsibility
- immediate predecessors, preconditions, inputs
- deliverables, outcomes
- quality assurance
- risk assessment
Approach to creating a WBS: End-item Sub-systems Approach
start with the end-item system
subdivide it first into subsystems
then subdivide it into components
then subdivide it into parts
Approach to creating a WBS: Process-Steps Approach
start by defining phases or stages in project
then subdivide each into detailed tasks
end with the defined deliverables for each
Name the two WBS formats
- tree structure
2. indented structure
Every task or work package has a unique identifier.
name identifiers
- Schedules
- Budgets
- Responsibility matrix
- Change requests
what type of approach is integrated project plan?
a systems approach to management
responsibility matrix
documents who is responsible for every work package (for all areas of the project, an well as details of that responsibility
Kinds of responsibility
P: primary lead - one, only one P per task S: secondary N: notification required A: approval required
purpose of responsibility matrix
prevents conflict
every task is accounted for
each responsibility represents mutual agreement
RACI (kind of responsibility)
R: responsible
A: accountable
C: consult
I: inform
Where is information needed for Scheduling found?
in the Work Breakdown Structure
What do you need from the WBS for Scheduling?
- lists of tasks (work packages)
- for each task:
- duration
- resource requirements
- inputs, preconditions, prior completed tasks
2 kinds of events in a project
- interface
- denotes the completion of one task and simultaneous start of one or more subsequent tasks - milestone
- represents a major project occurrence
- signifies progress
kinds of schedules
- project schedule
- to plan and review entire project - task/activity schedule
- shows tasks/activities necessary to complete a work package
advantages and disadvantages of using Gantt Charts
Pro: easy to construct and understand
Con: does not necessarily indicate the relationship among tasks
Line of Balance
- a method for planning and controlling repetitive activities that form part of unique projects
- it enables tracking progress of units and identifying situations where progress is behind or ahead of schedule
When is ‘Line of Balance’ used?
Used in projects that require a
number of identical units, where each unit involves a number of step
Advantages of ‘Line of Balance’?
- rates of progress are shown
- for repetitive work, problem areas are easily spotted
- helpful in allocation of resources to eliminate bottlenecks
- helpful in determining minimum buffer sizes
- simplicity of illustrating work schedule - easily understood by field staff and management
Disadvantages of ‘Line of Balance’?
only really applicable to repetitive work
