Ch 6: Tools

1
Ch 6 Tools Techniques for Keeping the Project
on Course

• Summary by Ivy Li
• 3/15/99

2
Introduction

• In Chapters 1-5, we look at problems that are
  either organizationally induced or problems
  associated with identification of needs and
  specification of requirements.
• Chapters 6 7 talk about another important
  source of project difficulties poor planning and
  control.

3
Introduction (cont.)

• Many things happen in a project that is out of
  our control, so we assume a reactive posture
  responding to difficulties after they occur.
• With planning and control, project managers can
  assume a proactive posture planning in advance
  for problems and finding solutions ahead of time.
• This chapter, Frame focused on commonly accepted
  planning and control practices used on projects.

4
The Project Plan

• A project plan is a roadmap that tells us how to
  get from A to B.
• A project plan is the launching point of a
  project. It is the beginning or a guide to future
  developments.
• Plan emerges when
• needs are defined
• requirements are specified
• predictions are made about the future
• available resources are tallied

5
The Project Plan (cont.)

• Plans are 3-dimensional, focus on
• time
• money
• human and material resources

Handled through schedules, enable us to determine
when different tasks should begin, when
milestones will be achievedetc.
Handled by budgets, how project funds are
allocated.
We can use tools such as the Gantt charts,
resource spreadsheets to best allocate our
limited resources.
6
Planning Uncertainty

• Planning --gt Future --gt Uncertainty
• Our best plans are estimates of what the future
  may hold.
• Projects with low level of uncertainty --gt we
  have a good idea of precisely how project will
  proceed --gt we can create highly detailed plans.
• Projects with high level of uncertainty --gt
  insufficient information on how things will
  proceed --gt we cannot create a high degree of
  detailed planning.

7
Planning Uncertainty (cont.)

• With high uncertainty projects, we can try phased
  planning (rolling wave approach).
• e.g. a high-risk 2 year project can be broken
  into 6 planning phases.
• Toward the end of phase 1, detailed planning will
  launch for phase 2.
• Low uncertainty projects can be complex.
• e.g. a bridge is built many times --gt routine
  with all the steps, low uncertainty --gt highly
  complex.

8
Project Controls

• Project Control is about looking at the plan,
  looking at what is actually happening on the
  project and compare the two.
• Control serves as a feedback function. The
  purpose for control is to keep the project on
  track by keeping track of the project.
• Why? There will always be variances between
  actuals and the plan. Plans are estimates, it can
  be really good but it is unlikely they will be
  perfect.

9
Project Controls (cont.)

• With high level of uncertainty, we will accept
  large variances. Because we recognize our plan
  entails a lot of guesswork.
• With low level of uncertainty, our criteria of
  acceptability are much more restrictive because
  our knowledge of how things should work out is
  precise.
• We dont spend much time on tracking if the
  tasks fall within the acceptable range. Our
  efforts are directed at reviewing tasks with
  variances outside this range. Thus, were
  practicing management by exception we focus our
  energy toward special problems and not wasting it
  on routine matters.

10
How much Planning and Control is enough?

• You cant plan too much but planning control
  have costs associated with them.
• Relationship between project costs and the costs
  of planning control
• Project Costs Production Costs Administrative
  Costs
• Admin CostsPlanning Control costs
• How much to spend on planning control then?
• Factors Project complexity, project size, level
  of uncertainty, organizational requirements, and
  user friendliness of the planning control tools.

11
How much Planning and Control is enough? (cont.)

• Project Complexity
• Greater the level of complexity, greater need to
  specify details.
• Project Size
• Formal large projects --gt detailed rules are
  needed, so maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the total project
  cost is from PC.
• Level of Uncertainty
• High level of uncertainty --gt plan will probably
  be continuously modified --gt detailed planning
  may not work.
• Organizational Requirements
• Large corporations --gt may emphasize on good PC
  --gt danger same PC procedures with a 3000
  project as with a 10 million project.
• User-Friendliness of the planning control tools
• If P C tools are difficult to learn --gt reduce
  project efficiency and drive up admin costs.

12
P C tools Time (Schedule)

• 3 main tools to schedule any projects, from
  simple to complex. They are the work-breakdown
  structure, the Gantt chart, and the schedule
  network (PERT/CPM).

13
Work-breakdown structure (WBS)

• WBS Task list
• When scheduling a project, first thing most
  people do is to generate a list of all the tasks
  that will be included.
• First, take a big-picture view of the project
• List major phases that must be addressed
• Begin adding detail to each phase (later all
  detail to detail)
• Project schedule then takes form in a top-down
  fashion. WBS focus on how project tasks fit into
  the overall project structure. (P.172 table 6.1,
  P.174, table 6.2)
• If we add cost estimates for each subtasks, it is
  a costed WBS.

14
Gantt Chart

• With Gantt Charts (variant of a bar chart), we
  can easily see when tasks should begin and end.
  Great tool for project control.
• Let us visually compare our plan with the
  actuals, very useful to determine the amount of
  schedule variance we encounter.
• P. 175 Figure 6.3 --gt tasks are listed on the
  vertical axis, and time on the horizontal axis.
  We can see the starting and ending date, as well
  as the duration of the task.

15
PERT/CPM Schedule Network

• Gantt charts doesnt show the projectwide
  consequences of schedule changes on tasks. Looks
  as if they were independent activities.
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
  and Critical Path Method (CPM) are based on flow
  charts and allow staff to examine the
  consequences on the overall project schedule of
  changing start and finish dates.

16
PERT/CPM Schedule Network

• First step to build the network is to create a
  WBS for the project. (i.e. list tasks)
• Next is to create a flow chart from the
  information contained in the WBS. (P.178 Figure
  6.4)
• Tasks are placed into boxes and laid out
  according to the sequence they should occur.
• Relationships with each other are shown with
  lines.
• Amount of time needed for the task is given in
  the upper-right-hand corner.

17
PERT/CPM Schedule Network

• PERT/CPM networks have several critical paths
  indicated by bolded lines. Critical Path is the
  path that takes the longest time to complete.
• P.179 Figure 6.4. Two paths that take you from
  Start to Prepare basket. But the upper path
  (making ice tea) takes longer, thus it is a
  critical path with no slack. However,the lower
  path can be completed in 12 minutes, so it has a
  3 minute slack.
• If tasks on the critical path falls behind, it
  will reflect in the project as a whole.

18
Resources Network Configuration

• PERT/CPM network is heavily dependent upon the
  amount of resources that can be devoted to the
  project. The more people we have, the more
  parallel activities we can conduct.
• The example on P. 178 is called an
  activity-in-node network. Each box (task)
  portrays a node.
• Another approach is the activity-on-arrow
  network. (P.181 Figure 6.5) Place tasks on arrows
  instead of boxes.
• Old-timers prefer activity-on-arrow. With the
  computer technology, it is easier to portray
  activity-in-node on computer screen.

19
Usefulness of the PERT/CPM Network for Planning
Control

• Force project staff to identify carefully the
  tasks and the precise relationships of the tasks
  to each other.
• Allow planners to develop the what-if scenarios,
  planners can determine the impact of fall backs
  on the overall project schedule.
• This enables to create more realistic estimates
  of schedules.
• Less useful as control tools because continual
  updating of the network can be a burden. Also,
  PERT/CPM do not graphically show schedule
  variances.