Project Management Work Breakdown Structure Lecture Notes

Project Management o Projects  Project:  Unique, one-time operations designed to accomplish a specific set of objectives in a limited time frame  Examples:  Product development  Producing a special event  New construction  Operations:  Work done to sustain the business o PMI 10 Knowledge Areas: o The Triple Constraint of Project Management  Project’s Triple Constraints (Key Metrics)  Scope (Performance Objectives)  Quality  Time  Cost o Project Success  There are several ways to define project success  The project met scope, time and cost goals  The results of the project met its main objective  E.g., its scope  The project satisfied the customer/sponser o Project Life Cycle o Project Manager  Project Managers work with the project team and other stakeholders to meet project goals  The project manager is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the project  Project Manager required skills and competencies:  People skills  Leadership  Listening  Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent  Strong at building trust  Verbal communication  Strong at building teams  Conflict resolution, conflict management  Critical thinking, problem solving  Understands, balances priorities o Key Tools  Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)  Network Diagram  Gantt Charts o Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)  A hierarchical listing of what must be done during a project  Establishes a logical framework for identifying the required activities for the project  1. Identify the major elements of the project  2. Identify the major supporting activities for each of the major elements  3. Break down each major supporting activity into a list of the activities that will be needed to accomplish it o Work Breakdown Table o Network Diagram  Network diagram  (precedence) Diagram of project activities that shows sequential relationships (by use of arrows and nodes)  Activity on node (AON)  Network in which nodes designate activities  Activity on arrow (AOA)  Network diagram in which arrows designate activities o Network Conventions (AON) o Network Conventions (AOA) o Project Network Diagram: Activity on Node (AON) o Project Network Diagram: Activity on Arrow (AOA) o Gantt Chart o Critical Path Method (CPM)  An analytical tool that provides a schedule to complete the project in minimum time.  Project length  Starting and ending times for each activity  Identification of the critical activities:  Activities that are critical to timely project completion - the ones whose delay necessarily delays the project.  Identification of the non-critical activities:  Activities that can be delayed without delaying the project  & the amount of slack time available when scheduling these activities.  Path  Sequence of activities from the Start node to the End node  Critical path  The longest path; determines shortest (expected) project duration  Critical activities  Activities on the critical path  Slack  Allowable slippage for a path - difference between the length of path and the length of critical path o Project Network: Activity on Node (AON) o Gantt Chart: o Example: o Early Start, Early Finish  Forward Pass through the network diagram -> finding ES and EF  Early Start (ES)  The earliest time an activity can start  Assumes all preceding activities start as early as possible  For nodes with one entering activity (arrow)  ES = the entering EF  For nodes with multiple entering activities (arrows)  ES = the largest of the entering EF  Early Finish (EF)  The earliest time an activity can finish  EF = ES + t  Gives the shortest project completion time (minimal duration) o Example: Forward Pass (ES, EF) o Late Start, Late Finish  Backward pass through the network diagram  finding LS and LF  Late Finish (LF)  The latest time the activity can finish and not delay the project  For nodes with one leaving activity (arrow)  LF = leaving LS  For nodes with multiple leaving activities (arrows)  LF = the smallest of the leaving LS  Late Start (LS)  The latest time the activity can start and not delay the project  LS = LF – t o Example: Backward Pass (LS, LF) o Slack and the Critical Path  Slack:  Allowable slippage for a path; the difference the length of path and the length of critical path  Slack can be computed:  Slack = LS – ES  Slack = LF – EF  Critical Path  Indicated by the activities with zero slack o Example: Slack (LS-ES, LF-EF) o Example Solution: o Using Slack Times  Slack times provides managers with information for planning allocation of scarce resources  Control efforts can be directed toward those activities that are most susceptible to delaying the project  Activity slack times are based on the assumption that all of the activities on the same path will start as early as possible and not exceed their expected time  If two activities are on the same path and have the same slack, this will be the total slack available to both o Critical Path Method (CPM)  Advantages:  Provides a graphic display of activities sequencing  Identifies:  Project length  Critical activities  Activities’ slack  Disadvantages/Problems:  Time estimates may be inaccurate  Focuses on critical path; important activities may be omitted o Time-Cost Trade-Offs  Activity time estimates are made for some given level of resources  It may be possible to reduce the duration of a project by injecting additional resources  Motivations:  Avoid late penalties  Monetary incentives  Free resources for use on other projects o Time-Cost Trade-Offs: Crashing  Crashing  Shortening activity durations  Use additional funds to support additional personnel or more efficient equipment  Project duration may be shortened by increasing direct expenses (e.g., additional personnel, more efficient equipment), thereby realizing savings in indirect project costs (e.g., facilities, supervision, incentives) o Crashing o Crashing Decisions  Making decisions concerning crashing requires information about:  1. A list of activities that are on the critical path  Critical path activities are potential candidates for crashing  Crashing non-critical path activities would not have an impact on overall project duration  2. Time:  Regular time and crash time (shortest time) for each activity  3. Cost:  Regular cost and crash (additional) cost for each activity o Crashing: Procedure  General procedure:  1. Crash only activities on the critical path/s  2. Crash the project one period at a time  3. Crash the least expensive activity (that is on the critical path)  4. When there are multiple critical paths, find the sum of crashing the least expensive activity on each critical path