Workshop 4 Flashcards
Define project management and plan
The output of the definition phase of a project
What is the content of the PMP
The specific content of the PMP will vary per industry sector and/or organisation. The t is typical for the PMP to expand upon the information in the project business case. The detailed planning process will provide confidence that time and cost targets in the project business case a realistic and that assumptions are well founded (or not).
Is is important that the PMP confirms and sets out the agreed success criteria for the project as it is this document that will be primarily used to measure whether the project has been successfully delivered or not.
The PMP also documents how the project will be delivered and managed. This might include listing what controls are in place for the project, for example stakeholder communication and/94 issue escalation processes.
Organisational or company level policies and strategies are also likely to heavily influence how the project will be managed. Relevant information may be u clouded directly in the PMP or referenced from it.
Whilst certain aspects of the planning process will follow each other in a sequence, it should be borne in mind that the process is essentially iterative: when developing a plan it is almost always necessary to review it and revise it in the light of further information gleaned.
The decision as to when this iteration stops and the plan is implemented is a key judgement to be made by the project manager and the project sponsor.
What are the core components of PMP
- project background and objectives
- scope
- deliverables
- acceptance criteria (when the customer accepts the criteria has been met)
- success criteria (when success has been met for everyone)
- project constraints
- risks and assumptions
- critical success factors (successes that must be met for the project to succeed
- schedule/time and resource/cost baselines
- baseline (what has been agreed with the customer)
What are the other components of the PMP
- project organisation structure
- management plans, policies or strategies:
- risk
- resource
- quality
- procurement
- communication
- health, safety and environment
- human resource
- control and monitoring arrangements
- project logistics issue
- project IS/IT requirements
- change and configuration management procedures
Who is the owner of the PMP
The PMP is owned by the project manager and so is responsible for;
- the creation of the PMP
- the accuracy in its content
- keeping the PMP up to date
The project manager is unlikely to have all the skills and knowledge to create the entire PMP and therefore the team members and other stakeholders may play a significant role in its creation in terms of providing information relating to such areas as:
- risk (especially those that are more technical
in nature)
- time and cost estimates
- criteria relating to the quality and acceptance
of the deliverables
- procurement
It is part of the sponsors role to approve the PMP
Describe the project life cycle and the PMP
Reviewed at the end of the definition stage.
The primary input for the creation of the PMP is the business case created in the concept phase.
The definition phase is devoted to the creation of the PMP. This phase is characterised by a dramatic increase in the amount of information being generated, processed, shared and stored and an increase in the number of people involved in the project. Careful consideration needs to be given to the people aspects of the project at this time and the creation of the project team.
Define scope management
The process whereby outputs, outcomes and benefits are identified, defined and controlled
What is scope management concerned with?
- requirements management
- solutions development
- benefits management
- business change management
- change control
- configuration management
What is a breakdown structure
A hierarchical structure by which project elements are broken down or decomposed
Explain the product and work breakdown structures
The PBS and/or WBS are two of the most commonly used tools that help to fully define the project scope. Both tools are a hierarchical depiction of the project
The PBS focuses on all the deliverables that the project will create ( the lowest level being a deliverable)
The WBS also includes the work required to create the deliverables and can be structured upon a functional, product of life cycle basis
Explain work package
A group of related activities are defined at the same level within a work breakdown structure
Work packages and activities are defined by the use of nouns and verbs to express the activity. The work package content, degree of formality and level of detail will depend on each organisations requirements
They are likely to be more formal
- when working in virtual teams
- when teams are les experiences
And, almost without exception
-when work is allocated to a contractor external to the organisation
How do you develop a PBS/WBS
Top down
- visualise the end result
- establish major high-level products or
elements of scope which go to make up that
end result - construct an open framework to allow for
Omissions - breakdown each major element to task level
- produce the task list
Bottom up
- visualise the end result
- use post-it notes and brainstorm as a group
detailed tasks and then build them into a
hierarchy - produce the task list
What are the benefits of using a PBS and/or WBS
-forms basis of effective planning
and control
-fosters common understanding
of scope within the team
-excellent communication vehicle, providing a
structure for clarifying misunderstanding as to
what is in and out of the project scope
-can be used to discuss trade-offs and
priorities
-useful for delegating work to parties internal
and external to the organisation
-numbers system can be used to help tack and control costs
What is an organisational breakdown structure?
The OBS depicts the resources required to undertake a project. These resources are typically grouped together to form functional or management groups.
The diagram also shows the hierarchy of roles and reporting lines and may be developed to also show communication channels. They are especially valuable when deciding how to delegate work amongst the project team.
What is the responsibility assignment matrix (ram chart)
A RAM chart is used to help define and display who is responsible for the work on the project on the project. The matrix has two aces:
- work elements -what
- key roles -who
The matrix is essentially a consolidation of the WBS and OBS. Basically it is a whole does what chart’
What is the responsibility assignment matrix
A diagram or chart showing assigned responsibilities for Elemis of work. It is created by combing the work breakdown structure with the organisational breakdown structure
What are the estimating methods?
Bottom up
Comparative
Parametric
Describe the bottom up estimating method
Detailed estimate is produced for each work package and then rolled-up throughout the work breakdown structure (WBS)
Describe the comparative estimating method
Assumes that the organisation has data from previous projects that can be used to produce a credible comparison for subsequent projects. In the absence of historical data, expert judgement may be used but with care.
Describe the parametric estimating method
Requires reliable historical data to produce reliable estimates. Typical attributes used to produce estimates will include lines of software code, cost/time per square meter etc.
This technique uses statistical modelling software to produce overall estimates for time and cost
What’s re the strengths and weaknesses of the bottom up estimating method
Strengths
Accurate but depends on the development of an accurate WBS
Weaknesses
Takes time, be aware that contingency may be rolled up
What are the strengths and weaknesses of comparative estimating methods
Strengths
Quick
Weaknesses
Relies on expert judgement and/or valid comparable source data; comparisons may be invaliD
What’s are the strengths and weakness of the parametric estimating method
Strength
Widely respected within certain industries. Can provide timely estimate with limited knowledge as long as source data is available. Can be used to verify estimates created by other methods
Weaknesses
Industry norms must be kept up to date for factors such as inflation. Required significant amount of historical data in order to define adequate norms
What is three point estimating
This methods accepts the uncertainty involved in estimating and considers three values for any activity:
An estimate in which optimistic (O), most likely (ML) and pessimistic (P) values are given
The three pint estimate is calculated according to the following equation
O + (4 x ML) + P
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These three values may be used by software programmes I.e Monte Carlo simulation, to calculate the criticality of any so MGM’s task and Leo the overall project risk.
They are also used in scheduling in what is known as the program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
Define schedule management
The process of developing, maintaining and communicating schedules for time and resource.
Explain the different types of schedule management
Time scheduling
- A collection of techniques used
to develop and present
schedules that show when work will be
performed.
- The first stage is to take the WBS task list
and sort the task into a logical sequence.
Alongside this, activity durations should be
estimated. Network planning then allows the
sequence of activities to be analysed to give
an overall project duration
Activity duration
- The length of time that it takes to complete
an activity
Network diagrams
- A model of activities and their dependencies
comprising nodes and links
- This technique is sometimes referred to as
the precedence diagramming method (PDM)
or Activity-on-Node (AoN)Networks. In it,
activities are represented by boxes with
dependencies show as logic connections
between the boxes.
Network Analysis
- A collective term for the different ways in which a network diagram may be analysed including, for example, critical path analysis, programme evaluation and review technique and critical chain.
What is the calculation for network analysis
The start and finish dates of activities in the project are calculated in two passes.
The forward pass calculates the early start and early finish dates from the first task forward
The backward pass calculated the late start and late finish dates of activities from the final task backwards
Forward pass
Early start + Duration = Early Finish
Backward pass
Late finish - Duration = Late start
When a successor task on the forward pass has two predecessors, the latest ‘EF’ must be chosen. When a predecessor task in the backward pass has two successors, the earlier ‘LS’ must be chosen.
To help you remember - highest number forwards; lowest number back (big steps forward, small steps back)
Once both passes are complete, it will be possible to calculate the float for any single activity.
Explain float in relation to network analysis
Float
A term used to describe the flexibility with which an activity may be rescheduled. There are various types of float, such as total float and free float.
Total float
Time by which an activity may be delayed or extended without affecting the overall duration of the project or violating a target finish date.
Finish to start -> total float = late finish - early finish
Start to start/finish to finish -> total float = late finish - early start - duration
Free float
The amount of time an activity can be delayed or extended without delaying the start of the next activity
Free float = early start of next task - early finish of current task
Explain the critical path
A sequence of activities through a network diagram from start to finish, the sum of whose durations determines the overall duration. There may be more than one such path.
Use of critical path
The critical path is very important in projects for a number of reasons:
- To concentrate attention on activities which,
if delayed will affect project duration
- Risks associated with critical activities with
key milestones which is useful when
reporting progress
- The critical path can be aligned with key
milestones which is useful when reporting
progress
- To identify ‘near of sub critical’ activities -
those with very little float may require similar
attention to critical activities
- To identify ‘bulk work’ activities - those with
large float
- To help identify where resources can be
switched between bulk and critical activities
to maintain progress
Explain a Gantt chart
A graphical representation of activity against time. Variations may include information such as ‘actual vs planned’, resource usage and dependencies
A Gantt chart is a simple form of bar chart that is typically used to display and communicate a product to schedule. It’s primary characteristics are:
- A timeline showing project calendar
- The bar length indicates duration
- Tasks are usually positioned at earliest start
and finish dates showing any float at the end
- It is shown with it without logic connections
- The critical path is identified, typically in red
- It is the most common representation of a
project schedule
- It can also show comparison of current plan
to original plan
- It can be generated using software tool
- It can be rolled up into summary take and can
show milestones
Describe milestones
A key event selected for its selected for its importance in the schedule
Milestones are often the first stage of schedule planning. It can make sense to plan at this level first before going into too much detail
Milestone characteristics include
- They define key events in the project
(typically completion of major deliverables,
intermediate products or results)
- They mark the key decision point in the
project
- They are frequently used to monitor
payments in to contractors and/or from
customers and are also used to trigger
management approval for funding the
forthcoming phase
- They can act as motivating factors for the
team and/or suppliers (reward and
recognition may be tied to successful
achievement).
- They are good for progress monitoring
- Milestones help avoid too much detail about
low level activities
Explain resource management
The acquisition and deployment of then internal and external resources required to deliver the project
The resource planning process may amend the schedule as developed during the schedule planning process
An optimal solution will be met by iteration but it is often necessary to make a preliminary assumption about the number of resources to be used for each activity prior to time based scheduling
- The challenge for the project manager is to
ensure that
- These resources are available at the
necessary time
- The required quantity of resources we
acquired
- Appropriate resources are requested
