Homework

1. Reply to Discussion ( Minimum 200 Words)

The project planning phase includes developing a project schedule to follow during the life of the project. Developing a project schedule requires both a scientific and artistic touch. You have to be able to reflect what is written on the work breakdown structure (WBS) and also have the political background for the politically driven aspects of the project. There are key sources to help develop a good schedule like the scope statement, the work breakdown structure (WBS), historical information, and expert judgements. The scope statement has important information on the project deliverables, as well as any assumptions and/or constraints that were noted. The work breakdown structure identifies every task that needs to happen for the project to finish. Any historical information on previous projects would help create a good schedule, especially the "lessons learned" sections of previous projects and it's always good to run ideas through the senior functional and technical, and/or managerial personnel to get feedback on the current project at hand. To develop a schedule you have to develop a network layout or diagram of the work breakdown structure work packages because ultimately the tasks in the network are the work packages, and the work packages have to be accounted for in the schedule. In developing a good work schedule it is also important to consider risks and develop strategies to deal with any identified risks that may occur.

The project plan is important in a project because it the formal document that guides the execution of a project. The project plan coordinates all of the various processes and documents used to manage and control a project. It can help generate subsidiary plans and allows for risk management to be discussed because risks are identified during this time. Planning helps prevent future problems and poor planning can cause a number issues later on such as unanticipated risks, insufficient detail, or inadequate time for design or rework of components to the project.

Top down or bottom up are two different estimation techniques used. These two techniques can also be used to build a work breakdown structure. The top down approach is less accurate because it really depends on experience and analogy. The bottom up approach starts at the task level, and "rolls up" to the final project costs. It seems the bottom up method is more commonly used for both developing the work breakdown structure as well as estimating project costs.

 

2. Reply to Discussion ( Minimum 200 Words)

· What is are the key steps in developing a project schedule?

· Network diagrams

· Gantt charts

· Mileston charts

· Why is project plan important in a project?

· As the text describes, unexpected difficulties can arise and its better to have them expected than unexpected. By planning and discussing, we would be able to possibly gauge the impact of what one of those difficulties could bring to the project. Another point is that you could pick a design that is not user friendly. This is a huge issue with the overall impact of the project especially if the project will be customer based. The user experience needs to be friendly and suitable for a vast majority. Another I would like to highlight is inadequate time for the design. That is really important because if the product is rushed, it may not have been able to get the best results possible and when it comes to business that can become costly.

· Discuss two types of Estimation techniques.

· Resource requirements - This establishes what will be needed in order for the project to be completed and should already have been determined prior to the estimation process.

· Historical Information - This covers a range of things that were previously discovered on prior projects that are similar to what the team is trying to do. This can highlight prior expenses, methods used, files that have research into the matter and other important pieces. The background research is important to the projects development.