5.1 Principles of Project Management

So what is Project Management?

Definition:

Is the process of planning, organizing, and managing tasks and resources to accomplish a specific objective.

What is a Project Plan?It is the art of planning!

In other words:A project can be captured on paper with a few simple elements:– Need a start date– Need a end date– Need a list of tasks that have to be carried out– Need to know when your tasks should be finished– Need to have some idea of the resources (people,

machines, etc.) that will be needed during the course of the project.

Some Vocabulary Words!

Accountability •Being answerable to one's superior

in an organization for the exercise of one's authority and the performance of one's duties.

•Being answerable for results.

Action Plan A plan that describes what needs to

be done and when it needs to be completed.

Project Plans are action plans.  

Activity A task or set of tasks that are carried

out in order to create a deliverable.

Actual Cost  Incurred costs that are charged to the

project budget and for which payment has been made, or accrued.

Actual Finish Date The calendar date that work actually

ended on an activity. It must be prior to or equal to the data date. The remaining duration of this activity is zero.

Actual Start Date The calendar date work actually

began on an activity. It must be prior to or equal to the data date.

What is a task?

Task A cohesive (to come together; a connection) ,

individual unit of work that is part of the total work needed to accomplish a project.

A small part of a project. Tasks take place over a period of time and generally consumes resources.

How to effectively manage a project?1. A project must be broken down into individual

tasks.2. The tasks must be scheduled!3. The tasks must be tracked as work progresses.4. All team members must communicate to each

other concerning the status of the tasks.5. Some tasks could be done at anytime if they are

unrelated. For example: You might want to install plumbing before you finish with the roof of a house.

6. Some tasks cannot be started without another related task is finished.

For example: You would not finish the interior of a house before the roof is finished.

All projects consists of three major phases:

– Building the project plan.

– Tracking and managing the project.

– Closing the project.

Time?Time The measure of duration of the

project through the phases of its life cycle.

When does the project need to be completed? What is the date? 

What is a resource?

Resource Project input (time, money, hours of labor-

also called man-hours , equipment, materials, machinery, people, facilities, or anything else needed to perform the work of a project). An item required to accomplish an activity.

What is Scope? Scope The definition that describes the

project's product deliverables. The combination of all project goals and tasks, and the work required to accomplish them.

What is the project expected to accomplish?

Lets talk some more about Tasks!

What should tasks do?• They need to have a start and end date.• Be short, relative to the point.• Be significant! Don’t list your tasks and

“going to the library” but instead as “search literature”.

• When naming task use a verb followed by a noun. For example: “create”, “define”, “gather”, “write”, “install”, “deliver”, etc.

What are Milestones?

Milestones: A point in time representing a key

or important intermediate event in the life of a project.

They are major checkpoints or

short-term goals for a project!

How are Milestones useful?• They can be used in catching scheduling

problems early.• They can be used for measuring progress.

Remember:They are not tasks! They are events! A moment in time – they have no resources! Examples:

• Report Date• Parts Received• Prototype completed• House Weather-sealed

So, What are the duties of a Project Manager?

• He/She will keep track of each task.

• Make adjustments to the plan as needed.

• Manages the project.

• Effectively plan the project.

Can you think of anything else?

Project Development Plan

Sometime called a Statement of Work (SOW) or Work Breakdown Statement (WBS).

Definition: A narrative description of the work to be

performed, of products or services to be supplied under contract.

In other words: It’s a list of items that must be perform to successfully complete your project!

Your Assignment:

5.1.1 - Project Development Plan

Create a Project Development Plan based on the Functional Specification that you wrote for your imaginary company in Try.IT 3.7.1. Be sure to include all the steps involved in creating an application as outlined in the sample in the previous Discuss.IT module. For example, even though you have not yet learned about flowcharts and pseudo-coding (you’ll learn about these in the next section), make sure you include those steps.

5.2 Critical Path

Lets look at some definitions first!

Critical Path The series of tasks that must finish on time

for the entire project to finish on schedule.

Arrow Diagramming Method A network diagramming technique in which

activities are represented by arrows. The tail of the arrow represents the start and the head represents the finish of the activity (the length of the arrow does not represent the expected duration of the activity). Activities are connected at points called nodes (usually drawn as small circles) to illustrate the sequence in which the activities are expected to be performed. See also precedence diagramming method.

Precedence Diagramming An activity oriented system in which

activities are displayed in uniform boxes complete with activity number, start duration and finish dates. The logical relation between activity boxes is shown by logic connector lines. Lead and lag times can also be shown. The display is more effective than Arrow Diagramming and is also easier to revise, update, and program on computer. See also CPM and PERT.

Line of Balance ("LOB") A graphical display of scheduled units

versus actual units over a given set of critical schedule control points on a particular day.