Project plan for new software
MGT 3302, Introduction to Project Management 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
4. Develop a project plan. 4.1 Express project components of a simple project plan, including responsibility assignment matrix
(RAM), project charter, and quality plan.
6. Summarize project management techniques. 6.1 Express management techniques by using tools such as a work breakdown structure (WBS)
and responsibility assignment matrix (RAM).
Course/Unit Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
4.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 5, pp. 146–191 Unit IV Course Project
6.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 5, pp. 146–191 Unit IV Course Project
Required Unit Resources Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule, pp. 146–191
Unit Lesson In the previous unit lesson, we discussed the statement of work (SOW), the work breakdown structure (WBS), and a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM). You also learned about determining the predecessors for activities in your project. In this unit, you will learn more about creating a network diagram using our fair project activity list. As a reminder, this is the table we created for our activities. In this example, we are indicating that Activity B cannot occur until Activity A has been completed. Activity I cannot start until Activities E, N, and H are complete.
Activity Description Predecessors
A Determine some potential dates for the fair. None
B Research potential available locations for a tent and space for 300 employees.
A
C Discuss potential locations and cost. B
D Decide on a location. C
E Reserve the location. D
F Research companies that have fun day activities, such as dunking booths.
A
G Discuss potential activities and cost. F
H Reserve the activities. G
I Gather a list of all other items needed (e.g., tables, chairs, garbage cans).
E, N, H
UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE
Creating a Project Schedule
MGT 3302, Introduction to Project Management 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
J Research potential companies that will provide food, including lunch and fun fair food.
A
K Discuss food options and cost. J
L Determine a potential menu. K
M Determine a company to hire. L
N Order food. M
O Communicate fun day to all employees. I
To create an activity network, we need to add nodes first. A node is simply an activity with other information inside it or around it.
Activity Name
Activity # Person Responsible Estimated Duration
Below is an example of what one of our activity nodes might look like for Activity B.
Research potential available locations
B James 5 days
To fill in this information, we need to know how long each activity will last or the estimated duration. How does the project manager (PM) come up with estimated duration? The method can vary by PM and by organization. In some cases, it is a guess by someone who is knowledgeable. For example, an information technology (IT) software manager may know that a specific form could take approximately 2 weeks to build and test. In some cases, the PM will calculate the average between the minimum estimated duration and the maximum estimated duration. Also, the PM has to consider how many resources are available to work on the activities. For our fair project example, we will just assign estimated durations.
Activity # Description Predecessors Estimated Duration (days)
A Determine some potential dates for the fair. None 5
B Research potential available locations for a tent and space for 300 employees.
A 3
C Discuss potential locations and cost. B 2
D Decide on a location. C 1
E Reserve the location. D 4
F Research companies that have fun day activities, such as dunking booths.
A 1
G Discuss potential activities and cost. F 1
H Reserve the activities. G 2
I Gather a list of all other items needed (e.g., tables, chairs, garbage cans).
E, N, H 7
J Research potential companies that will provide food, including lunch and fun fair food.
A 1
K Discuss food options and cost. J 2
MGT 3302, Introduction to Project Management 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
L Determine a potential menu. K 1
M Determine a company to hire. L 1
N Order food. M 1
O Communicate fun day to all employees. I 1
As Gido, Clements, and Baker (2018) note, to build an activity network, we use the activity number and draw the paths. There should always be a single starting point and a single ending point. So, based on the predecessors for our fair project, our activity network would look something like the one shown below.
In the interest of limited space, we added only the activity number and estimated duration into our simplified nodes. Why is it important to know the activity durations in our network diagram? It is important because the PM needs to determine the critical path. The critical path is the minimum time needed to complete a project by the due date. In our example, we have three paths in our network activity diagram.
Path one: A to B to C to D to E to I to O
Path two: A to F to G to H to I to O
Path three: A to J to K to L to M to N to I to O So, to calculate the critical path, see the calculations below.
Path one: A to B to C to D to E to I to O = 1+5+3+2+1+2+1 = 15 days
Path two: A to F to G to H to I to O = 1+4+1+1+2+1 = 10 days
Path three: A to J to K to L to M to N to I to O = 1+7+1+2+1+1+2+1 = 16 days Therefore, our critical path is path three, and we need 16 days to complete our fair project. This means that path three has no slack time. Slack time is the amount of time a project can be delayed without risking not completing on time. There are more items that we need to add to our nodes and our activity network. We have to determine where there slack time is. To do this, we have to calculate the earliest start, earliest finish, latest start, and latest finish. With this information, our new node will look like the one below.
MGT 3302, Introduction to Project Management 4
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Research potential available locations
B James 5 days
Please review the Unit IV Project Scheduling Presentation for more information about the process of calculating the earliest start, earliest finish, latest start, latest finish, and slack time. Project Control A part of developing a project scope includes the creation of a baseline so that it is known when the project will be completed and how many resources will be needed. The PM will need to evaluate the plan to make sure that it is on track to finish on time. Thus, the project control process involves collecting data at different intervals as a performance measure and comparing planned to actual performance. If actual performance is less than planned, then we are behind schedule. Conversely, if actual is more than planned, we are ahead of schedule. Generally speaking, if we are behind schedule, then we need to make some adjustments to catch up. There may be many reasons why we are behind schedule though. It may be that a supplier or vendor was late with the delivery of materials. It may be that a material cost more than expected. It may be that we have scope creep. Scope creep usually involves adding additional requirements to the project. For example, in an IT project, it is not uncommon for users to ask to add functionality into the systems they are requesting. Obviously, scope creep has to be managed; otherwise, your project could spin out of control. A part of project control will be to update the Gantt chart found in Microsoft Project. Below is a random Gantt chart example.
As you can see, the PM has a task ID, a task name, the duration, and the predecessor. The next step would be to enter in the name of the person responsible for each task. Under project control, the PM would periodically ask the person responsible for each task how much of his or her task had been completed. At this
Slack Time
Earliest Start Earliest Finish
Latest Finish Latest Start
MGT 3302, Introduction to Project Management 5
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
time, the PM might also learn of any delays. This information is entered into the Gantt chart. Then, the PM will click on “Resource Leveling” to see if there is any impact to the schedule and to the end date of the project. In our next unit, we will cover more about resource utilization.
Reference Gido, J., Clements, J. P., & Baker, R. (2018). Successful project management (7th ed.). Boston, MA:
Cengage Learning.
Suggested Unit Resources In order to access the following resources, click the links below. The following video walks you through the creation of a Gantt chart. Doug H. (2011, September 14). Create a basic Gantt chart [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjxL_hQn5w0 Transcript for Create a Basic Gantt Chart video The following article provides details about staffing and project scheduling through resource analysis. Maenhout, B., & Vanhoucke, M. (2017). A resource type analysis of the integrated project scheduling and
personnel staffing problem. Annals of Operations Research, 252(2), 407–433. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=bsu&AN=122783079&site=ehost-live&scope=site
The following video shows how to utilize Microsoft Project to create a Gantt chart. Porterfield, T. (2016, September 22). MS Project 2013 basic Gantt chart [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4KalzZtE1c Transcript for MS Project 2013 Basic Gantt Chart video
Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. In each chapter, there are questions to “Reinforce Your Learning” found in the left margin on some of the pages. For example, in Chapter 5, questions are found on pp. 149, 150, 151, 153, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 166, 168, 170, 171, 172, and 173. Answer the questions to check your knowledge. The answers may be found starting on page 487.