Project Performance

Work Packages (Section 2)

Patrick B. Magee

Professor Jeffery Pullen

Project Estimation and Budgeting

November 01, 2014

Introduction

A work package can be defined as a subset of a project that may be assigned to a specific part for execution. Since there are lot of similarities between projects and work packages, they are always misquoted as the same (Mantel, 2012). However, work packages are defined by brief statements of activity description, activity estimates of effort and duration, activity resources of skill and expertise, activity schedule, activity budget, and activity risks. Work packages are usually assigned Work Authorization or Control Account (Kliem, 2010).

Main Changes made to the Project in Question

In this project of migrating from a legacy system to a cloud computing environment, I have made several changes to the project schedule; the main changes include the following:

· Adding sub-tacks which were not included in the earlier project schedule, these sub-tasks include the following:

· Conduct Design Review in the Analysis and Design work package

· Conduct Unit Test in the Development work package

· Review Tech Specs in the Integration work package

· Define IT needs in the Testing work package

· Define Data Elements in the Maintenance work package

· Adding additional time to the durations of some of the sub-tasks

· Adding milestones to WBS

· Assigning each work package to a specific manager

I have aligned the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in a systematic and a progressive manner such that it will be easier for the project team to deliver the project easily, in time, and as planned. Through the systematic development of the project the project team will be able to successfully follow the WBS. Once the project plan is approved, all the deliverables must be submitted on schedule. If any problems are foreseen or encountered, that will affect the schedule for the deliverables or milestones, the project team should contact the project manager. The project team should also agree with the project manager in case of any changes to the project schedule.

Costs Estimate for the Project Tasks

The Analysis and Design work package will cost about $5,000 in cost associated with direct costs, indirect costs, and costs of managing risks that are associated with the work package. The Development work package will be the most expensive part of the project and may cost the organization up to $20,000; the costs in this work package may include direct costs attributable to the project such as salaries and associated benefits, payments to subcontractors or consultants, indirect costs such as administrative costs and costs of labor. The Integration work package will also be expensive and may cost the organization $10,000; most of the costs will be associated with direct costs such as labor costs and payments to subcontractors. The Testing work package will cost approximately $5,000 due to costs mainly associated with direct costs. The Maintenance work package will cost the organization $5,000 and is tasked with making sure that the project was successful and delivered what was required.

Primary Measures for Successful Delivering the Project

In order to successfully deliver the project, several measures should be taken into account, the measures include:

· Making sure that the sub-tasks are successfully delivered in time

· Delivering the project milestones successfully

· Every project team member should be assigned a particular project deliverable, sub-tasks, or milestone

Conclusion

The use of work packages in a project plan helps tremendously in successful project completion; it helps in project cost estimation as well as in managing the project completion in a more systematic and less complex manner (Mantel, 2012). In this project it will allow the project team to understand what is expected of them and therefore be able to deliver as expected.

References

Mantel, S. J. (2012). Project management in practice. New York: J. Wiley.

Kliem, R. L., & Ludin, I. S. (2010). Project management practitionerʼs handbook. New York: AMACOM.