Upcoming Events (Chuck Tryon comes to town!), p. 2 What is a Volunteer?, p. 2

Work Breakdown Structure Fundamentals, Gregory T. Haugan, p. 3 Earned Schedule Analysis from EVM Measures, Walt Lipke, p. 6

Message from VP Programs, Nikki Choyce, p. 9 FWPMI Contacts, p. 10

Panama Symposium, p. 10 Registered Company Coordinators, p. 11

grassroots thought leadership  

July 2008, Vol. 2, No. 7

TM Project Landscape

What is a Volunteer?

2008 July , p. 2 Project Landscape 

Meetings… Marriott DFW South (4151 Centerport Blvd, 76155) Thursday, July 17 - 6:00p — What’s So Modern About Project Management? — presented by Chuck Tyron Thursday, August 21 - 6:00p — Building a Quality Project Part 2 — presented by Tresia Eaves (back by popular demand) Workshops…

*** SPECIAL AUGUST OPPORTUNITIES ***

Friday/Saturday Workshops with Chuck Tryon Siemens Energy & Automation (1401 Nolan Ryan Pkwy—Arlington)

• Friday, Aug 8 - 8:30a-4:30p — Modern Project Management The ability to manage projects has become a critical corporate and individual skill set. This will provide you with proven strategies, processes, templates and forms used by numerous organizations (including several Fortune 100 compa-nies) to manage their projects from Project Initiation to Project Completion. 8 PDUs • Saturday, Aug 9 - 8:30a-12:30p — Understanding Business Requirements One of the first challenges for many newly launched projects is to capture a set of business requirements to feed into product design processes. 4 PDUs

Upcoming Events

From Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

A volunteer gives a segment of their time and talent for worthwhile activities. Volunteers are the gift of life to any non-profit organization. But did you know that volunteering also benefits “you” as an individual? Let’s explore some of the benefits one receives from the act of volunteering for their local PMI chapter; • Share your skills, and learn new ones • Meet new friends and build contacts • Ensure your local chapter continues to grow and prosper • Expand your project management network • Explore career opportunities outside your organization • Brand PMI within your organization as a Registered Company Coordinator (RCC) • Build your resume from your volunteerism activities • Be part of the local chapter team • Earn PDUs for higher level volunteer positions such as AVP’s • Have fun !

While the chapter benefits from your volunteerism, motivations for volunteerism is not one-sided. Rather, volunteering is a transactional exchange between your time spent and the re-ward you reap from it. The Fort Worth chapter is a professional organization driven by volunteer professionals. Volun-teers like you help us grow! If you are interested in volunteering, please visit www.fwpmi.org and click on the Membership tab for the volunteer application. Or contact Membership@fwpmi.org for further information.

Main Entry: volunteer Part of Speech: noun

Definition: Someone who offers his or her services freely. Synonyms: voluntary

2008 July, p. 3

Editor’s Introduction: PMI’s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures 2nd Edition cites the 100% Rule which was originally published by Dr. Haugan in Effective Work Breakdown Structures, © 2002 by Management Concepts, Inc. All rights reserved. www.managementconcepts.com/pubs he WBS represents a logical decomposition of the work to be performed and focuses on how the product, service, or result is naturally subdivided. It is an outline of what work is to be performed. Development of a WBS requires knowledge of how the output or deliverable components will be assembled or inte-grated to form the final product or knowledge of what the major areas of work are. This knowledge is required whether the final product is a report, an airplane, a building, an electronic system, a computer program, a wedding, a conference, a culture change, or any other output product from a project. It is necessary either to know something about the work that is to be done or to have ac-cess to subject matter expertise in order to involve the project team and other stakeholders in development of the WBS. In this book, different algorithms for breaking down or subdividing project work are discussed. First, however, it is necessary to state an important rule that applies to all levels of all WBSs: the 100 per-cent rule. THE 100 PERCENT RULE The 100 percent rule is the most important criterion in developing a WBS and in evaluating the decomposition logic. It is as follows:

The next level decomposition of a WBS element (child level) must represent 100 percent of the work applicable to the next higher (parent) element. In Figure 1, the 100 percent rule means that the combination of the work involved in landscaped grounds + garage + project manage-ment = 100 percent of the work to be performed in the garage pro-ject. There is no project activity that does not fit within one of these categories. In a top-down subdivision, most planners would follow this rule without prompting—at least to Level 2. Note, however, that the rule applies at all levels.

Project Landscape

Figure 1: Garage Project

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

GARAGEPROJECT

ProjectManagement

LandscapedGrounds

Garage

• Driveway• Landscaping

• Material• Foundation• Walls• Roof• Utilities

• Construction• Planning• Permits• Inspections• Financing• Subcontracts

Dr. Gregory T. Haugan

Work Breakdown Structure Fundamentals The 100% Rule T

2008 July, p. 4

At the next level, the 100 percent rule means that the work in the garage element consists of work related to materials + foundation + walls + roof + utilities; there is no work on the garage itself that does not fit under one of these elements. The “walls” element is represented 100 percent by the walls and siding + windows + ga-rage door + assembly elements at Level 4. Again, these five ele-ments encompass all the work on the walls. Note that the “assembly” element is necessary to account for the work of install-ing or integrating the work of the other independent elements. Remember, the primary reason to have a WBS is to ensure that all of the work packages and activities that must be accomplished for a successful project are identified. The 100 percent rule also applies at the activity level: The work represented by the activities in each work package must add up to 100 percent of the work necessary to complete the work package. In this manner, the project manager can be reasonably assured that all the work necessary for the pro-ject’s successful completion has been planned and scheduled. This is an important rule because it helps the person developing the WBS to constantly question himself or herself on understanding the breadth and depth of the project’s work. It is recommended and common for the project team to collegially develop or at least review the WBS in detail. Subject matter experts will always look to make sure their specialty is included in the work, and they can contribute to ensure that the WBS is complete and as accurate as possible. For manufacturing projects, for exam-ple, it is useful to elicit input from manufacturing engineers or tool-ing engineers for the identification of probable subassemblies. In software projects, it is useful to elicit input from systems analysts, programmers, and database specialists. For our garage example, input from an experienced carpenter or garage-builder would be useful. Not all WBSs are based on products (as discussed in Chapter 6). The rule still applies: The sum of the work in the child elements must equal 100 percent of the work represented by the parent ele-

ment—even if the parent element is a general term like “system engi-neering” or “research.” The use of bottom-up cost estimating—estimating the costs of every activity or work package and summing the data up the WBS hierarchy into a total project cost—is based on the critical assumption that the WBS is developed following the 100 percent rule. One of the common ways to develop a WBS is from the bottom up; this is especially useful if the output product of the project is a ser-vice. All the project activities are listed first in a brainstorming ses-sion and then grouped into logical work packages or lower level WBS elements. These are, in turn, summarized into higher level elements. The 100 percent rule is followed at each level. The following questions are asked at each level: • Does the sum of the work represented by the child elements equal 100 percent of the effort summarized in each parent ele-ment?

• Is any work missing? Experience has indicated that asking these questions invariably re-sults in additional activities being added, and several iterations of the WBS structure may be performed until a sound WBS is developed. The importance of using the 100 percent rule cannot be overstated in the use of the WBS as a framework for planning. If the decomposi-tion at each level follows the 100 percent rule down to the activities, then 100 percent of the relevant activities will have been identified when it is time to prepare the project schedule. And 100 percent of the costs or resource requirements will be identified in the planning phase. ANATOMY OF A WBS There are different types of projects and, therefore, different types of WBSs, each with unique elements. All WBSs have two or more of the five types of Level 2 elements as shown in Figure 2. The first three types of elements are derived from the three types of

Project Landscape

2008 July, p. 5 Project Landscape

projects, as indicated in the definition of a project in the PMBOK® Guide: “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” For all types of projects there are one or more deliverables or outputs that are the basis for developing the WBS. The last two elements in Figure 2 are supporting ele-ments necessary to completely define the scope of a project and meet the 100 percent rule. These five types of elements are as follows: 1. Product Breakdown—The subdivisions based on the physi-cal structure of the product(s) being delivered is the most common basis for a WBS and the easiest WBS to develop. These projects have a tangible output product: software, a building, a dam, an airplane, a user’s manual, etc.; all have a natural structure. 2. Service Breakdown—Service projects do not have a tangible, structured deliverable. The output is a defined body of work done for others: conference, party, wedding, vacation trip, etc. The work breakdown is a logical collection of related work areas. 3. Results Breakdown—Results projects do not have a tangi-ble, structured deliverable. The output is the consequence of a

process that results in a product or a conclusion: cancer research, new drug development, culture change, etc. The work breakdown is a series of accepted steps. 4. Cross-Cutting Ele-

ment—This is a break-down of items that cut across the product, such as architectural design, assembly, or system test. These usually are technical and supportive in nature. There may be more than one element of this characteristic at Level 2. While there is no restric-tion, these types of cross-cutting elements are rare in service or results projects. 5. Project Management—This is a breakdown of the managerial responsibilities and managerial activities of the project. It in-cludes such items as reports, project reviews, and other activities of the project manager or his or her staff. (Conceptually, these are the overhead of the project.) Normally, there is only one of this type of WBS element, but it exists on all projects as a Level 2 ele-ment. Gregory T. Haugan, PhD, PMP, has been a Vice President with GLH Incorpo-rated for the past 19 years, specializing in project management consulting and training. He has more than 40 years of experience as a private sector consultant and a government sector official in the planning, scheduling, management, and operation of projects of all sizes and in the development and implementation of project management and information systems. Dr. Haugan received his PhD from the American University, his MBA from St. Louis University, and his BSME from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Figure 2: Generic Work Breakdown Structure

TOTALPROJECT

4. CROSSCUTTINGELEMENTS

5. PROJECTMANAGEMENTELEMENTS

3. RESULTSBREAKDOWNELEMENTS

2. SERVICEBREAKDOWNELEMENTS

1. PRODUCTBREAKDOWNELEMENTS

Level 1

Level 2

2008 July, p. 6

Editor’s Introduction: The 100% Rule described in the previous article ensures that no work is missed in the development of a project WBS and the resulting schedule. These ingredients are key to a project manager’s ability to gather Earned Schedule data, as described in this previously unpublished article.

arned Schedule (ES) is a method of deriving schedule performance from Earned Value Management (EVM) data [1]. The ES indicators are time-based, unlike the cost-based EVM schedule indicators, Schedule Variance (SV) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI) [2]. Schedule performance described by time-based measures and indicators is more understandable and offers considerable advantages over the EVM cost approach to schedule depiction. One advantage ES has over EVM is that its indi-cators, SV(t) and SPI(t), provide reliable information regardless of whether the project is late or early performing with respect to its planned performance. In contrast, the erratic behavior of the EVM schedule indicators is well known: SV = 0.0 and SPI = 1.0 at the conclusion of a late project, falsely indicating perfect performance. The ES characteristic of yielding reliable information throughout the project period of performance facilitates the ability to forecast final duration and completion date … a significant improvement to the EVM practice. The ability to make schedule forecasts without performing a com-plete bottom-up schedule analysis of the work remaining has been long desired by EVM practitioners. With ES, project managers and

customers have the ability to cross-check the bottom-up estimate of the completion date in the same way that final cost estimates are validated using the Independent Estimate at Completion (IEAC) cal-culations. The simplest expression created for duration prediction, termed the ‘short form’ equation, is IEAC(t) = PD / SPI(t), where PD is the planned duration for the project [3]. With this forecasting ca-pability, Earned Schedule offers a quantum advance in the practice of EVM and project management … ES is truly a breakthrough technique. The Earned Schedule idea is simple: identify the time at which the amount of earned value (EV) accrued should have been earned. By determining this time, time-based indicators can be formed to pro-vide schedule variance and performance efficiency information. Shown on page 7 is a graphic of the Earned Schedule concept to as-sist in the description of how the ES measure is obtained. Projecting the cumulative EV onto the performance measurement baseline (PMB), diagrammed by the red dashed horizontal line, determines where planned value (PV) equals the EV accrued. This intersection point identifies the time duration in which that amount of EV should have been earned in accordance with the schedule. The red dashed vertical line from the point on the PMB to the time axis determines the “earned” portion of the schedule. The duration from the begin-ning of the project to the intersection of the time axis is the earned schedule (ES). With ES determined, indicators can be formed. It is now possible to compare where the project is time-wise to its accomplishment in ac-

Earned Schedule Schedule Analysis from EVM Measures

Project Landscape

E Walt Lipke

2008 July, p. 7

cordance with the PMB. “Actual Time,” denoted AT, is the duration at which the EV accrued is recorded. The time-based indicators are easily formulated from the two measures, ES and AT. Schedule Variance becomes SV(t) = ES – AT, and Schedule Performance In-dex is SPI(t) = ES / AT. In general, the ES terminology follows the convention applied in the previous sentence; i.e., the ES indicators and predictors are distinguished from their EVM counterparts by appending “(t)” (see the Terminology page of at http://www.earnedschedule.com).

For the graphic shown, the measure of ES equals 5 time periods, while the time at which the EV is measured is 7 periods. From these measures, the time-based indicators may be computed as fol-lows:

• SV(t) = ES – AT = 5 – 7 = -2 time periods • SPI(t) = ES / AT = 5 / 7 = 0.71 The above calculation example was purposely created for simplicity. In actual practice, the ES measure is usually equal to a whole number of periods plus a portion of one period. The fractional portion is de-termined from a linear interpolation, which is explained in the Con-cept Description on the ES website. The preceding is an extremely brief description of the Earned Sched-ule measure and its associated schedule performance indicators. Supplementary to this introduction, there is a considerable amount of accessible ES information to aid potential users. The concept de-scription, training sources, and knowledgeable contacts are available from the ES website along with published papers, conference presen-tations and workshop material, all free of charge. Additionally, calcu-lators facilitating the application of ES are available from the Earned Schedule website. The ES Calculator v1 is very easy to use and is pre-ferred. The ES concept has demonstrated via the use of notional, real and simulated data to provide the best time-based depiction and forecast of schedule performance in comparison to other EVM data driven methods[4]. Likewise, it is notable that the ES method has rapidly propagated to several countries, including the USA, Australia, United Kingdom, Belgium, and Spain. ES is being used by major defense and commercial projects in the USA and UK. The benefit derived from ap-plication of the ES practice is recognized and included in EVM courses as well as new and yet to be released text books and project management tools. With the potential publication of the experiences and empiric study from the expanding practitioner application, cou-pled with academic research being conducted at the University of Ghent, Belgium, and elsewhere there is expectation of rapid develop-ment of the ES “Body of Knowledge.” Over its five years of existence, the ES practice has evolved and ex-panded to provide additional schedule analysis capabilities. A sched-

Project Landscape

2008 July, p. 8

ule adherence measure has been created for understanding how closely the project execution follows the planned schedule [5]. The understanding of schedule adherence has, in turn, facilitated analy-sis of the schedule network to disclose those tasks experiencing impediments or constraints and furthermore identify those tasks which will likely have rework at some future time. The ES practice and accompanying analysis methods have been shown to provide additional insight to critical path analysis as well [6]. A key point is that all of this analysis capability is derived from the EVM meas-ures and the schedule only—no additional information is required. The fundamental concept of ES, its measures and the time-based schedule indicators, are described within the emerging practice insert to the Project Management Institute Practice Standard for Earned Value Management [2]. References 1. Lipke, Walt. “Schedule is Different,” The Measurable News, Summer 2003,

31-34. 2. Practice Standard for Earned Value Management, PMI, Newtown Square,

PA, 2005. 3. Henderson, Kym. “Further Developments in Earned Schedule,” The Meas-

urable News, Spring 2004: 15-22. 4. Vanhoucke, M., S. Vandevoorde. “A Simulation and Evaluation of Earned

Value Metrics to Forecast Project Duration,” Journal of the Operations Re-search Society, October 2007, Vol 58: 1361-1374

5. Lipke, Walt. “Schedule Adherence: A Useful Measure for Project Manage-ment,” CrossTalk, April 2008, 14-18.

6. Lipke, Walt. “Applying Earned Schedule to Critical Path Analysis and More,” The Measurable News, Fall 2006, 26-30.

In 2007 Walt Lipke received the PMI Metrics SIG Scholar Award and the PMI Eric Jenett Award for Project Management Excellence for his leadership role and contribution to project management resulting from his creation of the Earned Schedule method. Walt can be reached at waltlipke@cox.net.

To the contributing editors of Project Landscape, THANK YOU! Alamo: Roxanne Jemeyson

Amarillo: Karen Taylor Austin: Kathy Nugent-Arnold, Teresa Norris Baton Rouge: Nina Renee Cloyd, Kim Chauvin, Becky Harris Clear Lake—Galveston: Elena Heffernan Coastal Bend: Walter Coumbe Dallas: Jennifer Carlisle, Nitin Kunte

Fort Worth: Barbara Sharpe, Amber Chacko Houston: Quang Ton IT&T SIG: Randy Tangco, Despina Giannopoulous Northwest Arkansas: John Solliday Oklahoma City: Harriet Ervin, Lisa DelCol, Dotti Patton Pikes Peak: Sue Brazil, Craig Sparkman Tulsa: Randy Tangco, Garry L. Booker

Project Landscape

Project Landscape Collaboration and Thought Leadership In Action

Message from VP Programs by Nikki Choyce, PMP

One of the things that I have enjoyed most working on Programs for the chapter’s monthly meetings is being able to select topics and/or speakers who represent the wide range of what project management is all about. Through the years, we have had speakers talk to us about local projects (Bass Hall, Grapevine Funnel, Cowboy Stadium, 3 Bridges Project), technical skills (Defining project scope, estimat-ing tips, risk management) and of course soft skills (leadership thinking, motivating people, conflict resolution styles).

We have also brought in people to share their projects with us who don’t consider themselves project managers like the county election regis-trar who sets up all the voting locations over-night or the person in charge of staffing the Van Cliburn event and provide housing for all the participants (all of which are volunteers). All of these people in a variety of businesses and walks of life have stories to share regarding their projects. After all, everything is a project! It’s simply a matter of finding out who to talk to about it.

2008 July, p. 9 Project Landscape 

2008 July, p. 9 Project Landscape 

I share this story with you for two reasons. First, I hope that you will plan on joining us for an upcoming monthly meeting. Because of the subjects covered, there is surely a topic that is of interest to you! The programs meet the criteria for one PDU for those who need an extra incentive and of course it also gives you the opportunity to network with other profes-sionals in the DFW area. Second, I want to invite you to get more involved. We are always looking for fresh ideas for future programs. If you would like to be a part of our team, please contact me (programs@fwpmi.org) or look for me at an upcoming meeting. Programs and topics should reflect the interests of Fort Worth and the FWPMI membership.

We look forward to you joining us on July 17th as Chuck Tryon travels from Oklahoma to speak to us. He will present What’s So Modern About Project Management. Mr. Tryon also returns for two workshops August 8 & 9.

Hope to see you soon,

Nikki

Bass Hall

3 Bridges Project Main Street ArtFest

Van Cliburn Medal

2008 FWPMI Board of Directors 1st Annual PMI Panama 

Project Management Symposium October 2, 2008             

President Dick Walz, PMP president@fwpmi.org

Past President Jonathan Overton, PMP

VP Programs Nikki Choyce, PMP programs@fwpmi.org

AVP Programs Patsy Haines, PMP

VP Education Matt Solodow, PMP education@fwpmi.org

AVP Education Sandy Harris, PMP

VP Finance Victor Mercado, PMP finance@fwpmi.org

AVP Finance Lisa Gray, PMP

VP Marketing John Bartkus, PMP marketing@fwpmi.org

AVP Marketing Open position

VP Membership Lorraine Leonard, PMP membership@fwpmi.org

AVP Membership Lynn Robbins, PMP Jan Moye, PMP

VP Communication Barbara Sharpe, PMP communications@fwpmi.org

AVP Communication Vince Chacko, PMP

RCC (Registered Company Coordinators) Program Educating members and potential members about PMI Tom Sheives, PMP rccprogram@fwpmi.org

2008 July, p. 10 Project Landscape 

Come see the “Most Significant

Construction Project in the World!”

Registration - $225 PMI Members - $195 Students - $125

Media Partner 

Mr. Jorge Quijano  Executive Vice President Panama Canal Authority Engineering and Programs Management  Department,  Responsible for $5.25 billion  expansion program  

 “Panama Canal Expansion Program           —Status & Plans” Program

Construction Management  & Technology Tracks 

TO REGISTER OR FOR  SPONSOR INFORMATION 

www.pmipanama.org/symposium Or contact Tom Sheives (U.S.)   

tom@BetterProjectResults.com    817‐465‐1318  CALL FOR SPEAKERS OPEN UNTIL JULY 15 

      

Mr. Jhan Schmitz  Senior Vice President, CH2M HILL  Program Manager,  Panama Canal Authority  

“Managing post‐crisis and disaster relief pro‐grams ‐ Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, Asian         Tsunami” 

Privat Panama Canal Tours

2008 Registered Company Coordinators

The Fort Worth Chapter Registered Company Coordinators (RCCs) help the Chapter with membership and chapter marketing activities within their organizations. Organiza-tions with at least 50 employees and five PMI chapter members may establish an RCC. Interested in volunteering as an RCC for your company? Submit a volunteer appli-cation on the www.fwpmi.org website under the Membership tab to get more informa-tion.

RCC Program Chair — Tom Sheives, PMP rccprogram@fwpmi.org

American Airlines Jim Leefers Jim.Leefers@aa.com

Siemens Randy Killam Randy.Killam@siemens.com

Texas Health Resources Gerald Stanford GeraldStanford@TexasHealth.org

Jacobs Carter Burgess Kim Arnold Kim.Arnold@jacobs.com

Sabre Don Springer Don.Springer@sabre.com

IBM Corp & Global Mark Nixon MNixon@us.ibm.com

Verizon Ernest Kish Ernest.J.Kish@verizon.com

City of Fort Worth Eric Epperson Eric.Epperson@fortworthgov.org

Radio Shack Sandy Harris Sandy.Harris@radioshack.com

Fidelity Investments Rachael Cooksey rachael.cooksey@fmr.com

Alcon Laboratories Open Position

Lockheed Martin Open Position

Tarrant County Open Position

BNSF Railroad/Railway Open Position

2008 July, p. 11 Project Landscape