Project Management Concepts PDF

PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS Project management, the ability to get things done, must support the higher vision of the organization the project management activities are occurring in. Projects must be in alignment with the organization’s vision, strategy, tactics and goals. Projects that are not in...

PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS Project management, the ability to get things done, must support the higher vision of the organization the project management activities are occurring in. Projects must be in alignment with the organization’s vision, strategy, tactics and goals. Projects that are not in alignment with the higher vision of the organization won’t be around long or, at best they are doomed to fall. At the launch of a project, the project manager must have inherited the vision of the project. They must understand why the project is being created and what its purpose in the organization is. It's beneficial to also know the priority of the project and its impact on the organization. A project to install pencil sharpeners throughout the company's shop floor may be important, but not as significant as the project to install new manufacturing equipment on the shop floor. In this chapter, we'll cover how the life of a project, the interest of stakeholders, and the organization's environment will influence the success and completion of projects. Moving Through Project Phases A project is an uncertain business; the larger the project, the more uncertainty. It's for this reason, among others, that projects are broken down into smaller, more manageable phases. A project phase allows a project manager to see the project as a whole and yet still focus on completing the project one phase at a time. Projects are temporary endeavors to create a unique product or service. All projects must have an end date. Between the project launch and the coveted end date, a project will pass through multiple phases. Consider a project to create a new electronic gadget. This gadget will have several phases to complete from concept to completion: product description, prototype, revision, testing, and so on. The completion of each phase brings the project closer to completion. Think of any project you may have worked on: a technology rollout, constructing a building, integrating a new service into a business. Each of these projects will have logical phases that move the project from concept to completion. The sum of the project phases comprises the project life cycle. A project life cycle is the duration of a project. Consider our project to create a new electronic gadget. Once the gadget is completed, has passed testing and regulations, the project doesn't continue-it's done. The life of the project is over and the goal of the project, to create a unique product in this case, has been met. There's no reason for the project to keep going-so its life cycle is over. 1 Project Phase Deliverables Every phase has deliverables. It's one of the main points to having phases. For example, your manager gives you a wieldy project that will require four years to complete and has a hefty budget of $16 million. Do you think management is going to say, "Have fun-see you in four years?" Oh, if only they would, right? Of course, in most organizations, that's not going to happen. Management wants to see proof of progress, evidence of work completed, and good news of how well the project is moving. Phases are an ideal method of keeping management informed of the project progression. The following illustration depicts a project moving from conception to completion. At the end of each phase there is some deliverable that the project manager can show to management and customers. Project Life Cycle Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Project Advancement Once a phase concludes, how does the project manager know it's safe to continue? Based on the size and type of the project, some form of scope verification must take place. Management and customers will want to see if the deliverable you have completed to date is in alignment with what they've expected. Let's go back to that juicy project with the $16 million budget. We know management is not going to set us loose for four years. They'll want a schedule of when we'll be spending their money and what they'll be getting in return. And when will this fun happen? At the end of a project phase. The project manager will be accountable for several things at the end of a project phase:  The performance of the project to date  The performance of the project team to date  Proof of deliverables in the project phase  Verification of deliverables in alignment with the project scope 2 The verification of the performance and the project deliverables will be key to management determining if the project (cross your fingers) should continue or not. Imagine your project with $16 million has produced a lousy deliverable, outside of the project scope, and you've blown more than a few hundred thousand more than what you said it would take to get to this point in the project. Hmmm... Do you think the project will continue? An analysis by management will determine if the project should be killed or allowed to continue. The idea of killing a project at phases is why phase completion is also called a kill point. Uh, kill point for the project, not the project manager. Stage Gates Project phases are also known as stage gates. Stage gates are used often in manufacturing and product development. A stage gate allows a project to continue after performance and deliverable review against a set of predefined metrics. If the deliverables of the phase, or stage, met the predefined metrics, the project is allowed to continue. Should the deliverable not meet the metrics, the project may not be allowed to pass through the gate to move forward. In these unfortunate cases, the project may be terminated or sent through revisions to meet the predetermined metrics. The following illustration shows the advancement of the project through phases. Project Life Cycle Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Stage Gates As a project manager, you should identify the requirements as close to the project launch as possible. With the expectations and requirements, the project manager can know what the exit criteria for a phase may be and can plan accordingly. There are few things more frustrating than to get to the end of a project phase only to learn the exit criteria you had in mind is different than what the customer was expecting. The completion of a phase may also be known as a phase exit. A phase exit requires the project deliverable meet some predetermined exit criteria. Exit criteria are typically inspection-specific and are scheduled events in the project schedule. Exit criteria can include many different activities, such as: 3   Sign-offs from the customer  Regulatory inspections and audits  Quality metrics  Performance metrics  Security audits  The end of a project phase Completing a Project Phase You know you are moving towards completion when management and customers agree with the results of a project phase. Each project will have its own logical phases to completion. Imagine you're the project manager for a project to build a new house. There'd be some very logical phases to the completion of the project to build the house: 1. Requirements What type of house are you building? What are the characteristics of the house? What are the expectations from the people that will be living in the home? 2. Design The architects and the designers would work with the requirements to create the specifications for the house in alignment with the requirements of the customer. 3. Build Within this phase, there'd be logical activities and mini- phases necessary to reach the project completion, such as the foundation, the framing, the roofing, and so on. 4. Inspect Before the home owners moved into their new home, they'd want to inspect the house for the quality of the building and confirm its functionality. 5. Operational transfer Ah, yes, the home is complete and the homeowners have moved in, approving the project and thereby heralding its end. Each phase within the preceding project has logical activities that dictate the point of the phase, the goal of each, and what the deliverables of each phase likely will be. At the end of each of the listed phases, there'd likely be an inspection and confirmation that the project is moving towards its completion. The completion of a phase allows a project to move into the next phase. Working with Project Life Cycles Projects are like snowflakes: no two are alike. Sure, sure, some may be similar, but when you get down to it--each project has its own unique attributes, activities, and requirements from stakeholders. Within each project, one attribute that typically varies from project to project is the project life cycle. As its name implies, the project life cycle determines not only the start of the project, but also when the project should be completed. All that stuff packed in between starting and ending? Those are the different phases of the project. 4 In other words, the launch, series of phases and project completion comprise the project life cycle. Each project will have similar project management activities, but the characteristics of the project life cycle will vary from project to project. Project feasibility studies can be a separate project. Completing a Project Feasibility Study The project's feasibility is part of the initiating processes. Once the need has been identified, a feasibility study is called for to determine if the need can realistically be met. So how does a project get to be a project? In some organizations, it's pure luck. In most organizations, however, projects may begin with a feasibility study. Feasibility studies can be, and often are, part of the initiation process of a project. In some instances, a feasibility study may be treated as a stand-alone project. Let's assume that the feasibility of Project ABC is part of the project initiation phase. The outcome of the feasibility study may tell management several things:  Whether the concept should be mapped into a project or not  If the project concept is worth moving forward with  The expected cost and time needed to complete the concept  The benefits and costs to implement the project concept  A report on the needs of the organization and how the project concept can satisfy these needs Examining the Project Life Cycle By now, you're more than familiar with the concept of a project's life cycle. You also know each project is different and that there are some attributes common across all project life cycles. For example, the concept of breaking the project apart into manageable phases to move towards completion is typical across most projects. As we've discussed, at the completion of a project phase, an inspection or audit is usually completed. This inspection confirms the project is in alignment with the requirements and expectations of the customer. If the results of the audit or briefing are not in alignment, then rework can happen, new expectations may be formulated, or the project may be killed. Working Through a Project Life Cycle Project life cycles, comprised of phases, move the project along. Project life cycles allow a project manager to determine several things about the project, such as:  What work will be completed in each phase of the project?  What resources, people, equipment, and facilities will be needed within each phase?  What are the expected deliverables of each phase?  What is the expected cost to complete a project phase? 5   Which phases contain the highest amount of risk? Armed with the appropriate information for each project phase, the project manager can plan for cost, schedules, resource availability, risk management, and other project management activities to ensure that the project progresses successfully. While projects differ, there are also other common traits from project to project. The following lists a few examples:  Cost and resource requirements are lower at the beginning of a project, but grow as the project progresses. Once the project moves into the final closing process, costs and resource requirements taper off dramatically.  Projects fail at the beginning, not at the end. Projects are more likely to fail near their beginning-and more likely to succeed near the end of their life cycle. In other words, the odds of completing are low at launch and high at completion.  The further the project is from completing, the higher the risk and uncertainty. Risk and doubt decrease as the project moves closer to fulfilling the project vision.  Changes are easier and more likely at the early phases of the project life cycle than at the completion. Stakeholders can have a greater influence on the outcome of the project deliverables in the early phases, but in the final phases of the project life cycle, their influence on change diminishes. Thankfully. Changes at the beginning of the project generally cost less and have lower risk than changes at the end of a project. Cost and risk Changes Duration Project Life Cycles vs. Product Life Cycles There must be some distinction between the project life cycle and the product life cycle. We've covered the project life cycle-the accumulation of phases from start to completion within a project, but what is a product life cycle? A product life cycle is the parent of projects. Consider a company that wants to sell a new type of lemon soft drink. One of the projects the company may undertake to sell their new lemon soft drink is to create television commercials showing how tasty their beverage is. The creation of the television commercial may be considered one project in support of the product creation. 6 Many other projects may fall under the creation of the lemon soft drink: research, creation and testing, packaging, and more. Each project, however, needs to support the ultimate product: the tasty, lemon soft drink. Thus, the product life cycle oversees the smaller projects within the process. This example can also be mapped to a program. A program coordinates and controls all of the projects to create the product. The Project Life Cycle in Action You're the project manager for Holly Works Productions. Your company would like to create a new video camera that allows consumers to make video productions that can be transferred to different media types such as VHS, DVDs, and PCS. The video camera must be small, light, and affordable. This project life cycle has several phases from concept to completion as shown below figure. Remember, the project life cycle is unique to The project life cycle for Project Holly Works Operational transfer Project Holly Works Proof-of-concept Feasibility study First build Camera one Prototype Manufactured Final build Adjustments and Enhancements each project, so don't assume the phases within this sample will automatically map to any project you may be undertaking. 1. Proof-of-concept In this phase, you'll work with business analysts, electrical engineers, customers, and manufacturing experts to confirm that such a camera is feasible to make. You'll examine the projected costs and 7  resources required to make such a camera. If things go well, management may even front you some cash to build a prototype. 2. First build Management loves the positive information you've discovered in the proof-of-concept phase-they've set a budget for your project to continue into development. Now you'll lead your project team through the process of designing and building a video camera according to the specifications from the stakeholders and management. Once the camera is built, your team will test, document, and adjust your camera for usability and feature-support. 3. Prototype manufacturing Things are going remarkably well with your video camera project. The project stakeholders loved the first-build and have made some refinements to the design. Your project team builds a working model, thereby moving into proto typing the video camera's manufacture, testing its cost effectiveness and ease of mass production. The vision of the project is becoming a reality. 4. Final build The prototype of the camera went fairly well. The project team has documented any flaws, and adjustments are being made. The project team is also working with the manufacturer to complete the requirements for materials and packaging. The project is nearing completion. 5. Operational transfer The project is complete. Your team has successfully designed, built, and moved into production, a wonderful, affordable video camera. Each phase of the project allowed the camera to move towards completion. As the project came closer and closer to moving into operations, risk and project fluctuation waned. Meeting the Project Stakeholders Stakeholders are those fine folks and organizations who are actively involved in the project, or will be affected by its outcome-in other words, people, groups, businesses, customers, and communities that have a vested interest in the project. Stakeholders may like, love, or hate your project. Consider an organization that is hosting a project to move all their workers to a common word-processing application. Everyone within this organization must now use the same word-processing application. Your job, as the project manager, is to see that it happens. Now, within your project, you've got stakeholders that like the project, being in favor of the project deliverable. Other stakeholders love the project-they cannot wait for all of the organization to use the same application for word processing. And, sigh, there are those stakeholders who are diehard fans of the application your project will take away from them. These folks hate your project. In high-profile projects, where stakeholders will be in conflict over the project purpose, deliverables, cost, and schedule, the project manager may want to use the Delphi Technique to gain anonymous 8  consensus among stakeholders. The Delphi Technique allows stakeholders to offer opinions and input without fear of retribution from management. Stakeholders, especially those not in favor of the project deliverable, may try to influence the project itself. This can be attempted in many ways, such as through:  Political capital leveraged to change the project deliverable  Change requests to alter the project deliverable  Scope addendums to add to the project deliverable  Sabotage, through physical acts or rumors, gossip, and negative influence What the heck is project integration management? Project integration management is the heart of project management and is made up of the day-to- day processes the project manager relies on to ensure that all of the parts of the project work together. Put simply, project integration management is the way the gears of the project work together. Within any project there are many moving parts: time management, cost management, schedule conflicts, human resource issues, iterative planning, and much, much more. Project integration management is the art and science of ensuring that your project moves forward, that your plan is fully developed and properly implemented. Project integration management requires your project, regardless of it size and impact, to mesh with the existing operations of your organization. Project integration management requires finesse, as you, as the project manager, will have to negotiate with stakeholders for a resolution to competing project objectives. It requires organization, as you'll have to develop, coordinate, and record your project plan. It requires the ability to accomplish your project plan. It requires leadership, record-keeping, and political savvy, as you'll have to deal with potential changes throughout your project implementation. And, perhaps most importantly, il requires flexibility and adaptability throughout the project execution. In this chapter we'll cover three big topics you'll have to master to pass your PMP exam, and you'll also need these skills to successfully implement projects out in the world. These topics are  Developing the project plan  Executing the project plan  Managing change control As you've learned already, all projects need a project plan-it's up to the project manager and the project team to create one. Then the project manager must work with the project team to ensure the work is being completed as it was planned. The project manager must follow all the subsidiary project plans, such 9 as the Risk Management Plan, the Schedule Management Plan, and the Communications Plan Finally, the project manager must work throughout the project to control changes across all facets of the project. Figure 1 shows the complete picture of project integration management. FIGURE 1 Project Integration Management Project integration management Project Plan uses Development Development, Execution, and Project plan execution Integrated Change Control. Integrated change control Developing the Project Plan The project plan is not a museum piece. You'll use, wrinkle, update, and depend on your project plan like a playbook for a Super Bowl coach. The project plan is developed with the project team, stakeholders, and management. It is the guide to how the project should flow and how the project will be managed, and it reflects the values, priorities, and conditions influencing the project. Project plan development requires an iterative process of progressive elaboration. The project manager will revise and update the plan as research and planning reveal more information and as the project develops. For example, an initial project plan may describe a broad overview of what the project entails, what the desired future state should be, and the general methods used to achieve the goals of the plan. Then, after research, careful planning, and discovery, the project plan will develop into a concise document that details the work involved in and expectations of the project; how the project will be controlled, measured, and managed; and how the project should move. In addition, the project plan will contain all of the supporting detail, specify the project organization, and allow for growth in the plan. Understanding the Project Plan's Purpose The project plan is more than a playbook to determine what work needs to be accomplished. The project plan is a fluid document that will control several elements: 1. Provide structure The project plan is developed to provide a structure to get the project to completion. It is a thorough, but concise, collection 10  of documents that will serve as a point of reference through the project execution. 2. Provide documentation "Noggin Plans"-the kind between your ears- are not good. A documented project plan is needed for truly successful projects they provide a historical reference and the reasoning for why decisions were made. A project plan must provide documentation of the assumptions and constraints influencing the project plan development. 3. Provide communication Project plans are documents that provide the information, explanations, and reasoning underlying the decisions made for the project. The project plan serves as a source of communication among stakeholders, the project team, and management on how the project plan will be controlled. 4. Provide baselines A project plan contains several baselines. As the project moves toward completion, management, stakeholders, and the project manager can use the project plan to see what was predicted for costs, scheduling, quality, and scope-and then see how these predictions compare with what is being experienced. Inputs to Project Plan Development To effectively develop the project plan, the project manager and the stakeholders must be in agreement with the project objectives. For this agreement to exist, the project manager works with the stakeholders to negotiate a balance of expectations and required objectives. Competing objectives is a recurring theme in project management (and on the PMP exam). Project managers must be able to negotiate among stakeholders for the best solution to the problem or opportunity. Planning Outputs Serve as Inputs The outputs of the planning processes serve as an input to project plan development. As a refresher, the processes from the planning process group are shown in Table 1 below. TABLE 1 An Overview of the planning processes Planning Process Purpose Scope Planning To create a document that will guide project decisions. Scope Definition To breakdown the project deliverables into manageable elements. The sum of the smaller elements equate to the project scope. Activity Definition To define the required activities, and only the required activities, to complete the project scope. Resource Planning To ascertain the resources required to achieve the defined activities for completing the project work. Resources include people, equipment, and materials. 11 Activity Sequencing To determine the best sequence of planned activities within the project work. Activity Duration To determine the estimated required work units to Estimating successfully complete the defined activities. Cost Estimating To determine an estimated amount of monies to complete the project work using the defined facilities, services, and goods. Risk Management To determine the risks within the project and how to Planning react to the identified risks Schedule To determine the project schedule based on the Development sequence of activities, the required resources and the required monies. The Development process reveals an estimated reflection of when all of the required work can be completed with the given resources. Cost Budgeting To determine the estimated cost of the activities to complete the project work. Project Plan To create a coherent compilation of the other planning Development processes to guide the project execution. Quality Planning To determine the Quality Assurance standards used by the organization. The Quality Assurance standards that are relevant to the project must be planned into the project. Communications To determine who needs what, when they need it, and Planning in what modality (paper or electronic, for example) they need it. Organizational To determine the project roles and responsibility. This Planning also determines the reporting structure between the project manager, the project team, and management. Staff Acquisition To acquire the needed people to complete the determined project work. Risk Identification To identify the risks, rewards, and penalties associated with the project. Qualitative Risk To prioritize the impact of the risks on the project Analysis (typically in a high, medium, and low ranking). 12 Quantitative Risk To measure and consider the probability and associated Analysis impact of the risks on the project. Risk Response To avoid, eliminate, reduce, or create a planned reaction Planning to the identified risk within the project. Procurement Planning To determine what goods and services must be procured and when they will need to be procured in the project lifecycle. Solicitation Planning To determine the possible vendors to provide the goods and services for the project. Historical Information Historical information is used as an input to project plan development-and to the planning process group--and is always as excellent source of information to confirm, or deny, assumptions. Historical information can also serve as a point of reference for identifying alternatives during the planning processes. Historical information can come from:  Previous projects  Commercially available estimating databases.  Public records  Organizational archives of past projects  Performance records of other projects  Other reliable sources Organizational Policies Consider the performing organization-the company hosting the project. The performing organization may have rules and regulations that the project must follow. During the project plan development consider the following: 1. Quality Assurance programs and their influence over the project. The project manager must consider the standard operating procedures (SOPs) the project manager is expected to follow, the expected level of quality, and the target indexes the project manager may be expected to achieve. The QA requirements must be documented in the Quality Management Plan, and its activities must be accounted for in the project schedule. 2. Human resource practices and the project manager requirements. An organization may have specific rules on how the project manager may recruit team members, release team members from the project, account for a team member's time, discipline team members, and so on. The project manager and project team must be familiar with the organization's HR practices, and the practices should be documented in the Human Resource Management Plan. 13  3. Financial controls and requirements. An organization will have requirements for the project manager to account for the budget, expenses, and cash flow projections. The project manager will likely have to forecast expenses, account for project time, and have adequate bookkeeping for any project procurement. Throughout the Execution and Control processes (and also in the Closing process), the project manager can expect financial reviews and requests for projections. EVM can assist the project manager by providing time and cost variances, estimates to complete the project work, and information on the likelihood of the project completing on time and on schedule. Project Constraints Constraints are any restriction on the project. Constraints may be the availability of project resources, government requirements, budgetary limits, and so on. All projects have at least three constraints (as shown in the following illustration): scope, budget, and schedule. This is also known as the "triple constraint" of project management. A constraint is any force that may affect when, and if, a project activity can be completed. Consider a project with a deadline-that's a time constraint. Consider a project with a preset budget (I know, that one is tough to imagine)-that's a budget constraint, and it affects staffing, quality, scope, schedule, and more. And what about a scope constraint? That's a project that has demands for the given requirements regardless of the time or cost to reach the demands. Consider a project to enforce a government regulation within Scope a manufacturing industry. The government regulation must be met, regardless of the cost to enforce it. While projects with scope constraints are not as common as projects with financial and schedule constraints they do exist. Consider smaller projects such as the “Add/Move/Change Projects". Scope constraints are imposed by projects to implement safety standards, for example, and projects to document business processes within an organization. The triple constraints of project management provide an excellent negotiation tool. No side of the equilateral triangle can change without affecting the other sides. The goal is for all of the sides of the triangle to always be even. Want to change to project end date to sooner than later? Okay, but we'll have to add more resources to get it done-which will mean more budgets. Don't have enough cash in the old budget to complete the work? Okay, we'll just reduce the project scope. The triangle is sometimes called the "Iron Triangle". Project Assumptions Ever made an assumption? Assumptions are beliefs that are considered to be true, rea1 or certain for the sake of planning. For example, a project team can make the assumption that the weather will cooperate so that the construction project will finish by a given date. Assumptions should be documented, researched, and proven true--or untrue-as part of the planning process. This is 14 part of progressive elaboration-the farther along the project moves to launch, the more detail the project needs. Applying Tools and Techniques for Project Plan Development All of the inputs to the project plan should be readily available for the project manager, because he or she may need to rely on this information for additional planning. With all of the "stuff” the project manager has to work with, it should be a snap to create the actual project plan, right? Well, not exactly. The project manager, the project team, stakeholders, and management will work together to finalize the project plan. The contributions from each include the following:  Project manager leadership, facilitation, organization, direction, and expert judgment  Project team members knowledge of the project work, time estimates, and they provide influence on the schedule, advice and opinions on risk, and expert judgment  Customer requirements, objectives, quality requirements, expert judgment, influence over budget and schedule  Management influence over budget, resources, project management methodology, quality requirements, and project plan approval Adopting a Project Plan Methodology A project plan methodology is a structured approach to developing the project plan. Methodologies can be simple or complex and based on the project type, the requirements of the performing organization, or multiple inputs. Organizations can use hard or soft tools to lead the project plan methodology. In its choice of hard tools, one organization may require the project team to create a project plan based on checklist of plan requirements, while another organization may require project teams to complete a computer-based project template. Soft tools include project meetings, business analysts to investigate and research all facets of the problem or opportunity, and subject matter experts' interviews of stakeholders and project team members. A methodology to creating the project plan can include:  Project templates  Paper and electronic forms  Monte Carlo simulations for risk management  Project simulations for expected results  Design of experiments  Project startup meetings  Interviews Rely on the Stakeholder Skills and Knowledge Stakeholders are individuals who are involved in the project creation, execution, or control; stakeholders are also the people affected by the project results. The project manager and the project team must consider the effects of the project on 15 the stakeholders, and they must also interview and involve stakeholders so that they can make use of their knowledge of the project work and deliverables. The project manager must encourage participation and contribution from all stakeholders, as stakeholders provide valuable information for the project plan. Stakeholders can include:  Sponsor  Client  End user  Team members  Functional manager  Vendors, the general public, subcontractors (and other "external" stakeholders) Employ a Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) A PMIS is typically a computer-driven system (though it can be paper-based) to aid a project manager in the development of the project. A PMIS is a tool for, not a replacement of, the project manager. A PMIS can calculate schedules, costs, expectations, and likely results. The PMIS cannot, however, replace the expert judgment of the project manager and the project team. Count on Earned Value Management (EVM) Earned value management (EVM) is a set of formulas that can measure a project's performance. EVM integrates scope, schedule, and cost to give an objective, scalable point in time assessment of the project. EVM calculates the performance of the project and compares current performance against where it should be. EVM can also be a harbinger of things to come. Poor results early in the project can predict the likelihood of the project's success. We'll cover EVM in Chapter 7. Getting to Work: Project Plan Development All the planning is done, right? Of course not. The planning processes are iterative and allow the project manager and the project team to revisit them as needed. But at what point do we push back from the planning buffet and move on with a working, feasible plan? Every project is different when it comes to planning, but a project team will continue in the planning stage until it is knowledgeable about the project work and has a clear vision of what needs to be done. Figure 4-2 depicts the evolution of the Planning to Action process for a typical technology project. Once the business and the functional requirements have been established, the planning processes move into the specifics. Recall that the business requirements establish the project vision and that the functional requirements establish the goals for the project. The technical requirements and the design plan shift the focus onto the specifics the project will accomplish. Armed with this information, the project team and the project manager create the 16 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The WBS is a decomposition of all the deliverables the project will create. With the WBS, the project planning continues into schedule development, roles and responsibilities, and task assignments. The project manager must work within the confines of the organizational structure (functional, matrix, or projectized) to assign the project team members to the work. The project manager must consider project priority, availability of tesources, and dependency of activities. The project manager must also factor in the demands of management, customers, and stakeholders for events like formal communications, quality assurance program requirements, and project status meetings. As the project plan moves toward reality, the project manager and the project team must evaluate risk, cost concerns, business cycles, procurement, and often a looming deadline. FIGURE 4-2 Final Planning Schedule WBS Design Plan Technical Requirements Functional Requirements Business Requirements Evaluating the Outputs of Project Plan Development The project manager and the project team have finished, for now, a project plan. Before the project team can set about implementing it, the plan must be approved. Let's hear that again: the project plan is a formal, documented plan that must be approved by management. Once management has signed off on the project plan, the work is truly authorized to begin. Examining the Typical Project Plan So what's in this project plan, anyway? Let's take a peek: 17 Project Charter When you think of the Project Charter, think of a formal document that authorizes the project manager to manage the project. The Project Charter comes from a manager external to the project. This manager must have the power within the organization to grant the project manager the expected level of authority within the organizational structure to apply resources (people, facilities, monies) to the project. Project Management Approach So how will the project be managed? The project management methodology is a summary of all the individual plans that comprise the project plan. The project management approach describes how the work will be monitored, measured, and controlled. The project management approach summarizes the methods for QA, EVM, and risk response. Also included is an insight to the project accounting practices, cash flow projections, and expected outcome of the project. In other words, it describes how the project should advance, what the organization is achieving through the project, and how the project will react should things not go according to plan. Project Scope Statement This document establishes the purpose for doing the project and provides a high-level product description. The product description may list elements that are included in or excluded from the project. Its intent is to serve as a reference for future project decisions on what will-and will not-be accomplished within the project. The Scope Statement provides reasons for and justification of the project deliverables. In addition, the Scope Statement should provide detailed information on what the project objectives are, how they will be measured, and the expected level of quality. Work Breakdown Structure The WBS is a decomposition of the project work. The WBS should be thorough, organized, and small enough that progress can be measured but not so granular that it becomes a hindrance to implement the work. Tasks should be fully defined, measurable, and not open-ended. A heuristic for WBS work packages is that activities should fit into the "8/80 Rule." The 8/80 Rule demands that all activities be no smaller than 8 hours and no longer than 80 hours. 18  Plan Details Within the project plan, you'll need a system to tie the activities to project team members, vendors, and stakeholders. You'll need to account for time, schedules, and cost. Specifically, you'll need cross-referencing to the WBS activities for the following:  Cost estimates (and assumptions)  Schedule estimates (and assumptions)  Project start and finish dates (all projects have an end)  Responsibility Assignment Matrix (who does what activities) Project Schedule The WBS and the network diagram coupled with the project resources will predict how long the project work should take. Your schedule should provide target dates, estimate the required resources to meet the targeted dates, and predict the project completion date. The schedule should, at a minimum, include target dates for phases and milestones. Project Baselines Baselines serve as evidence of what you've planned for. They allow you to compare what has been experienced in the project against what has been planned for in the project plan, with the differences being the variances. You'll need baselines for each of the following:  WBS-Project scope: Did you deliver what you promised?  Budget-Cost baseline: Did the project work cost what you estimated?  Schedule-Schedule baseline: Is the project on the schedule you created? Staffing Requirements Who will do the work? The project plan should list the skills required to complete the project work and should indicate when those skills are required. The project plan should also identify the required personnel's time and associated cost. Required personnel may include vendors, subject matter experts, and employees within the company who are not considered project team members. Staff acquisition is an executing process. Although the staffing requirements refer to personnel issues, don't forget to take into consideration the facilities, their schedules, and associated costs. CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PLANNING Planning is the basic function of the management. Without planning it would be rather difficult to achieve the predetermined goals. Even if 19 sometimes we do achieve the goals the analysis would reveal that with planning the same results would have been obtained more economically - either in less time or with less resource. In this lesson concepts of planning are discussed in brief, enhancing its objectives and advantages. DEVELOPING A PROJECT STRATEGY The planner /manager must develop a logical approach to the planning of a project which involves various steps or thought as follows1 Getting a ‘feel’ for the project  Study the drawing and project documentation  Assess the scale and scope of the project  Think about approximate value in relation to project time  Consider the cash finding profile- value /time relationship Assessing key project dates  Start flags/finish flags  Holiday periods  Key project stages-building watertight, etc.  Sectional or phase completion dates  Contract completion and handover date Establishing the construction sequence  Prepare a list of operations/activities which must be of significance to the construction sequence and which must have a duration and resources implication  Assess the construction sequence by:  Listing operations/ activities  Assessing operational duration in days or weeks  Considering the order of work and overlap between related operations  Considering ‘start to start’ or ‘finish to start’ relationships  Try at this stage to present the logic of the construction sequence in the form of a bar chart or linked bar chart, or preferably in the form of a simple arrow diagram, or as a series of precedence relationships. A ‘doodle diagram’ for the whole project can be useful. The project logic is important and it can be established by taking each activity in turn and by asking:  What must precede this activity  What must follow this activity  What can happen at the same time (concurrency) 1 Brian Cooke, Peter William, Construction Planning, Programming and Control, MacMillian Building and Surveying Series, London, 1998. 20   Consider sub-activities as each main activity may have a sequence of its own. For example, an operation/activity such as ‘Construct Pile Caps’ may have sub activities such as  Excavate pile cap  Cut off and trim piles  Blind base of pile cap  Fix form work to base  Fix steel reinforcement  Set bolts in base  Place concrete  Strip form work  Backfill working space Decide which programming technique to use A variety of technique are available for programming the project and these need to be considered in the light of the type of project in hand, the contractors preferences and any stipulations in the contract documentation. USE OF BAR CHARTS IN CONSTRUCTION PRACTICE Bar charts are the most used method of depicting relationships between construction operations. They are widely used in small and medium sized construction organizations where company policies dictate the programming techniques to be used. Companies of this size tend to use the programming method which works for them in practice, and which provides them with a sufficient degree of control. Medium sized companies do not often employ management personnel who sufficiently understand network analysis or precedence formats in order to apply the techniques in practice. Perhaps over the next five to ten years this situation will change, with the growing number of building graduates being produced by universities. The use of computer software such as Power Project, and other similar drag out bar charts, enables bar chart relationships to readily develop on the computer screen. Major projects within the larger construction organizations are currently being managed with the aid of such software. The software allows the master programme, stage programmes and short term planning procedures to be linked together to form a comprehensive planning and reporting tools HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF TIME CHAINAGE DIAGRAM In simple terms, the time chainage diagram is location-time referred by Cormicanis a combination of the bar chart and line of balance scheduling formats and it is from these programming techniques that time chainage principles have been developed. The time-chainage form of presentation enables the time dependencies between activities to be shown together with their order and direction of progress along with the job. These diagrams are most usefully employed as a planning tool on 21 projects such as motorways and major highway works, pipelines railway track work, tunnelling etc. Project of this nature can be viewed as mainly linear in nature. In other words construction starts at one point and proceeds in an orderly fashion towards another location. This would be typified on a highway project by activities such as fencing, drainage, road surfacing and road marking. To some extent this type of work calls for a different planning technique because bar charts would not be useful in giving locational information and precedence/arrow diagrams would not reflect the time/location relationship, which clearly exists on such projects. In this respect, most operations take place on a ‘forward travel’ basis with the gang starting at one point or chainage and moving along the job. As one activity leaves a particular location then other activities can take place. This ensures the correct construction sequence and avoids over-intensive activity in one location. USE OF TIME-CHAINAGE DIAGRAMS IN CONSTRUCTION PRACTICE Time-chainage diagrams have been widely applied on a major roadwork project and in the development of the motorway system in the UK for many years. The techniques was also used for the planning of tunnelling and fixed equipment installation on the Channel Tunnel Project and its application is discussed in Proceeding of the Institution of Civil Engineers: The Channel Tunnel (1992). Time-chainage diagrams, like their close cousin, the line of balance, are only applicable for limited types of project and therefore are not as widely appreciated in the industry as bar charts and network techniques. Nevertheless, the technique has distant attributes and advantages on projects where it is important to depict.  The order of activities or operations  Where activities are happening locationally  How activities must progress in relation to direction and distance  Time, key dates and holidays etc. PROJECT NETWORK TECHNIQUES Project network techniques cover a number of techniques, one example being the Critical Path Method. Network techniques are particularly applicable to ones off projects, and hence are of considerable use for many construction projects. For small projects, networks can be successfully analyzed by hand, but on longer projects computers can be useful, and save time in analysis, reanalysis and updating. This applies particularly when cost optimization and/ or resource allocation is being undertaken. This lesson covers elements of networks, WBS, network logic and development of network in detail. This lesson is limited to arrow diagrams, (activity on arrow) and next lesson gives details of precedence diagrams (activity on nodes). 22 USE OF NETWORKS IN CONSTRUCTION PRACTICE Net works are here to stay, albeit that development in project management software using precedence presentation formats are slowly taking over from arrow diagram techniques. As construction projects become larger and more complex to plan and manage, project managers and larger contractors will become increasingly reliant on the computer to undertake project planning tasks and use of project management software will become the norm. ELEMENTS OF PROJECT NETWORK Network is defined as the pictorial representation of a given project in the form of arrows, which form an essential element of network. Arrow represents an activity, task of operation of the work-since an activity consumes resources (material, labour, tools and equipment and also time). Arrow represents utilization of resources. However length of arrow is not drawn to scale to show the amount of resources consumed. Arrow has a directional sense, which can be represented by putting an arrowhead. This is used to indicate the general direction of flow of work. It is conventional to show arrows directing from left to right. Beginning of arrow (known as ‘tail’ of arrow) indicates start of the activity and its end (known as ‘head’) indicates completion of the activity. Beginning of completion of an activity marks a phase or stage of work. This is represented by a suitable geometrical figure like circle, triangle or rectangle. This is known as event and is an instantaneous stage of work. Even nature does not consume any resource by itself. Arrows indicating activities (and consuming resources) and Events indicating identifiable instantaneous stages (and which by themselves do not consume resources) are the important elements of project network. There is another type of activities, which do not require any resources, and which are basically imaging activities called ‘dummy’ activities. WORK BREAK DOWN STRUCTURES (WBS) Arrows of the network are joined in accordance with the interdependence of the activities, which they represent. In small and simple work this interrelationship is obvious; but in a large project it is necessary to establish it systematically. This is done by preparing ‘Work Break Down Structure’. Break down the given project into its components and component operations or activities. As a broad guideline the items of schedule of work can be considered as the operations or tasks. However it is possible to either: a. Combine a few items to constitute one operation for the network. e.g. clearing site and giving line out can be one operation. b. Single item of schedule can be split up into various operations e.g. excavation for foundation for a building can be split up and excavation for foundation of each wall can be considered as an operation by itself. Like-wise RCC work can be split into i. erection of form work ii. cutting, bending and placing reinforcement and 23  iii. pouring concrete. Each of the sub-items can be independent operation. Points to be observed in this connection are: i. What is the stage at which network is prepared? (pre-tender, pre construction, detailed network) ii. What is the nature and magnitude of the work and its importance in the project? NETWORK ANALYSIS Calculating Event time Early Event time Early event time is the earliest possible time at which the event can be reached or achieved. The event is said to be complete or reached or achieved only when all the activities leading into it are complete. When more than one activity is merging in an event, the value of the activity taking largest duration is adopted. The TE of initial event is zero. The TE of the final event, gives the minimum time required to complete the project. This is known as minimum project duration. Forward Pass The process of finding TEs of all events beginning with the initial or start event of the project and ending with the final or end event of the project is known as forward pass. Latest allowable Time Latest allowable event time is the latest time at which the event must be completed without delaying the project. For the end event of the project, the value of TE is taken as the value of TL Backward Pass To find the TL values of all the events starting from the end event and ending in the start event, we adopt the process known as backward pass. In this process we start from the end event and start deducting the duration of each activity from the TL of its head event and putting its value as TL of the tail event. In the case of a burst event, least value is adopted. The TL value of the start event will always be equal to TE value of that event i.e. zero. Critical Event All the events having identical values for TE and TL are known as critical events. Critical Activity Critical Activities are those, which fulfill the following conditions: i. Such activity must lie between the two critical events. ii. The difference between the event times should be equal to the duration of the activity. iii. Total float in the activity is zero. 24 The activities, which fulfill above conditions, are only critical activities. Critical path is the continuous chain of critical activities starting from the start event and passing through the network reaching to end event of the project. This is the chain of the activities that take longest duration and hence are known as longet chain of the activities in the project. Computation of Activity Times Early Start Time (EST) Early Start Time is the earliest possible time at which the activity can be started. It will be evident that this must be equal to TE of the start event i.e. TE(i). Now, we can write this as EST(i-j) = TE (i) Early Finish Time (EFT) Early Finish Time is the earliest possible time at which the activity could be finished. It will be obvious that this must be equal to early start plus the duration required for the completion of that activity. Now, we can write this as EFT(i-j) = EST(i-j) + Duration (i-j) Latest Alloable Start Time (LST) Latest Allowable Start Time is the latest time at which the activity must be started, so that the project will not be delayed. This can be arrived at, by deducting activity duration from the latest finish time of the activity. We can write this as LST(i-j) = LFT(i-j) - Duration (i-j) Latest Alloable Finish Time (LFT) Latest Allowable Finish Time is the latest time at which the activity must be finished, without delaying the project. TL is the latest allowable finish time for an event. Naturally LFT of the activity will be TL of the end event of that activity.. We can write this as LFT(i-j) = TL (j) LFT(i-j) = LST(i-j) + Duration (i-j) Float and Slack An event that is not critical is said to have slack. Slack is the calculated time span within which the event must occur. The term ‘slack’ is used only in referring to events. Of greater practical importance is the concept of float, the time available or an activity in addition to its duration. Non-critical activities have float. There are different kinds of float, and their measure has the form: Float = end time – start time - duration Since both the start and end events of an activity have earliest and latest times, there are four kinds of float possible. In practice only three of these are used, as follows. 25 Total float This is the time by which an activity may be delayed or extended without affecting the total project duration. Total float = latest end – earliest start - duration Free Float This is the time by which an activity may be delayed or extended without delaying the start of any succeeding activity Free float = earliest end – earliest start - duration PRECEDENCE DIAGRAMS Almost at the same time, when CPM and PERT were being used as planning and controlling tools John W. Fondhal in USA and Bernard Rays in France developed in 1961 another approach to Networking, called Activity on Node Diagram. Fondhal reported his method in ‘A Non- computer Approach to the Critical Path Method for the construction Industry’ (Technical Report No-9, Standford University) and argued strongly for the superiority of ‘ Precedence Diagram’. As he called it, over the arrow diagram. This lesson covers the history and development of this method in brief with application of precedence diagram and its analysis. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PRECEDENCE TECHNIQUES Precedence diagrams consists of a series of operational boxes representing a construction sequence, which are linked by a series of lines which represent the relationships between the operations. They were developed in the early 1970s by the Cementation Company as an alternative approach to network analysis, which could more readily be applied to works of a civil engineering nature. The finish to start limitations of arrow diagrams causes difficulties when, for instance, one activity is required to start before the preceding activity is completed. This either means dividing the preceding activity into smaller parts or introducing a dummy with a time value. This difficulty resulted in the precedence approach being developed, which introduced activity boxes rather than activity arrows. The boxes permit a number of different relationships to be expressed between activities which relates more to the real situation on a construction project. These relationships include:  Finish to Start Relationships  Start to start relationships  Finish to Finish Relationships  Start to Finish Relationship LIMITATIONS IN PERT/ CPM Some of the assumptions on which the CPM/PERT Network model is based have been criticized as inappropriate or insufficient in certain project planning and scheduling situations. For example, there is only one type of precedence 26 relationship allowed in typical PERT/CPM model, as implied in arrow diagram- ‘A job leading into a node must be completed before any job emanating from that node may begin.’ If a broad network shows that the activity of ‘Construct column foundation’ is followed by the activity of ‘construct columns’, it implies that all the column foundations are to be completed before a single column can be constructed. But the above situation is not realistic and the network gives a wrong impression. Only one column foundation is to be made ready for the construction of column over it. In the same way, there are three additional precedence relationships, which are possible over and above the original relationship. i. Start to Start: A following job cannot start until some specified days after the preceding job is started. ii. Finish to Finish: A following job cannot finish until some specified days after the preceding job is finished. iii. Start to Finish: A job cannot finish until a specified days after a related job is started. All these precedence relationship as well as a few more advantages can be adequately derived from Precedence Network. THE PREPARATION OF PRECEDENCE DIAGRAMS Activities Activities are represented by boxes, and are linked together by lines of dependency. The general direction of time flow is from left to right. Activities are assumed to start at the left-hand end of the box and finish at the right hand end of the box. When the start of an activity has more than one line of dependency it is dependent on all the activities to which it is connected, and therefore all the preceding activities must be completed before it can start. Delays/ lags When there is to be a delay/ lags between activities- hardening of concrete for example- this is shown on the link between them. 27  PROJECT MANAGEMENT WITH MICROSOFT PROJECT CONTENT MICROSOFT PROJECT: THE BASICS 1. What is project management? 2. The project triangle 3. The Microsoft Project database 4. Seeing the data you need 5. How Microsoft Project schedules 6. Putting it together 7. Getting Help CREATE A PROJECT PLAN 1. Set up a project 2. Enter and organize a task list 3. When will tasks start and finish 4. Assign resources 5. Enter costs 6. View the schedule and its details 7. Adjust the schedule 8. Save the plan along the way TRACK AND MANAGE PROGRESS 1. Tracking the actual progress on tasks 2. Tracking the actual work by resource 3. Comparing actual costs to budget 4. Balancing a resource's workload COMMUNICATING RESULTS 1. Format the schedule to look the way you want 2. Printing the project information 3. Distributing project information online 28 MICROSOFT PROJECT: THE BASICS This section provides information about basic project management and Microsoft Project concepts, and then leads you through lessons where you'll learn how to create a plan, track its progress, and communicate the results. WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT? Project management is the process of planning, organizing, and managing tasks and resources to accomplish a defined objective, usually within constraints on time, resources, or cost. A project plan can be simple, for example, a list of tasks and their start and finish dates written on a notepad. Or it can be complex, for example, thousands of tasks and resources and a project budget of millions of Rs. Most projects share common activities, including breaking the project into easily manageable tasks, scheduling the tasks, communicating with the team, and tracking the tasks as work progresses. And all projects consist of three major phases: 1. Build the plan 2. Track and manage the project 3. Close the project The more successful these phases are, the greater your chance of a successful project. The project triangle In a way you can, if you understand three factors that shape every project: 1. Time: The time to complete the project reflected in your project schedule. 2. Money: The project budget, based on the cost of the resources: the people, equipment, and materials required to do the tasks. 3. Scope: The goals and tasks of the project and the work required to complete them. This trio of time, money, and scope is the project triangle. Adjusting one of these elements affects the other two. While all three elements are important, typically one will have the most influence on your project. The relationship between these elements differs in every project and determines the kinds of problems you'll encounter and the solutions you can implement. Knowing where you're constrained or flexible makes it easier to plan and manage your project. 29 The Microsoft Project database As project manager, you have a lot to do. How does Microsoft Project help? First, it stores the details about your project in its database. And it uses that information to calculate and maintain the project's schedule, costs, and other elements, creating a project plan. The more information you provide, the more accurate the plan. Like a spreadsheet, Microsoft Project displays results of its calculations immediately. But the project plan isn't done until you enter critical information about all tasks. Only then do you see when your project will end or the dates when tasks are scheduled. Microsoft Project keeps the information you enter and the information it calculates in fields, which contain specific types of information, such as task names or duration. In Microsoft Project, each field usually appears in a column. Seeing the data you need Today, you're focused on deadlines. Tomorrow, costs. The project database contains a lot of information, but at any given time, you only need a portion of it. To get to information, use these tools: 1. Views present a subset of project information in a format that's easy to interpret. For example, the Gantt Chart displays basic task information in columns and a bar graph. 2. Tables define the columns displayed. 3. Filters focus on specific tasks or resources. Like TV channels, each view presents a different kind of information. Tables and filters fine-tune the information. Just as switching channels doesn't delete them, changing views, tables, or filters may hide information, but it doesn't delete it. It's still in the database and is still updated. How Microsoft Project schedules How does Microsoft Project schedule a task's start and finish? It takes into account many factors, including task dependencies, constraints, and interruptions, such as holidays or vacation days. Most importantly, Microsoft Project schedules each task using the formula duration = work/resource effort, where: 1. Duration is the actual amount of time that passes before the task is done. 2. Work is the effort required over a period of time to do the task. 3. Resource effort is the amount of effort resources are assigned to the task and their allocation. 30 For example, if: Three painters work two days on a task, with an effort of 8 hours per day, the work for each resource is 16 hours: (2 days * 8 hours). 1. The total effort of the resources is 24 hours per day: (3 painters * 8 hours). 2. The total work for the task is 48 hours: (2 days * 8 hours * 3 painters). 3. The duration is 2 days: 48 hours / (3 painters * 8 hours). Understanding this formula is important to understanding how changes you make to tasks affect the project schedule. Putting it together After you've created the task list and provided schedule information, your plan is built. You can see a full model of your project, including its finish date and the start and finish dates for every task. Review critical paths for potential problems. A critical path is a series of linked tasks that must be done on time for the project to finish on time. If any task on a critical path is delayed, it can end up delaying the project's finish date. Evaluate and optimize the plan until you're satisfied. Before you start your project and periodically during the project, you'll need to evaluate and adjust the project plan. Consider scope, resources, and schedule. Update Microsoft Project about the progress of tasks. In return, it'll show you an updated project plan. You can update the plan yourself, or your team can, with Microsoft Project Central or electronic mail. After the plan is updated, review it to see the effect of changes. Is the project over budget? Is a team member now scheduled to work overtime? Is your project going to end late? Getting Help This tutorial will help you get started, but you'll find additional components of Help by clicking the Home button or by using the Help menu. The Project Map. Click through the phases of a project to learn about all steps of project management, including project management concepts and practices, as well as how to use Microsoft Project. 1. What's New. See What's New to learn about new features in Microsoft Project 2000. 2. Quick Preview. Get an overview of the key parts of Microsoft Project 2000. 3. The Office Assistant. The Office Assistant can answer your specific questions, leading you to the Help topics that best answer your questions. 31 CREATE A PROJECT PLAN When you have defined project goals and thought out the major phases of your project, it's time to begin creating your plan. First, enter and organize the list of tasks to be completed, along with each task's duration. Next, add people, equipment, and materials and their costs to your plan. Then assign these resources to tasks. With this information, Microsoft Project creates a schedule. You can verify the schedule and adjust it as necessary. HOW DO YOU SET UP A PROJECT? The first steps in creating a schedule are starting a new file, designating a project start or finish date, and entering general project information. Create a new project When you start a new project in Microsoft Project, you can enter your project's start or finish date, but not both. It's recommended that you enter only your project's start date and let Microsoft Project calculate the finish date after you have entered and scheduled tasks. If your project must be finished by a certain date, enter only the project's finish date. Even if you initially schedule from the project finish date, it's best to schedule from the project start date after work begins on the project. Instructions 1 On the File menu, click New. 2 In the Project Information dialog box, type or select a start date or a finish date for your project, and then click OK. 3 Click Save. 4 In the File name box, type a name for your project, and then click Save. Tip: You can change your project information at any time by clicking Project Information on the Project menu. Enter key project information Each project has a unique set of ingredients: the tasks involved, the people who do them, and the project goal. To help remember and communicate important details, enter information about the project and refer to it when necessary. 32 Instructions 1. On the File menu, click Properties, and then click the Summary tab. 2. Enter any information you'd like about your project, such as the people who will manage it and maintain the project file, the project goal, any known limitations that may make it difficult to reach that goal, and other general project notes. 3. Click OK. Tip: To look for a menu command that doesn't appear, click the arrows at the bottom of the menu. The menu expands to show more commands. You can also expand a menu by double-clicking it. Set up the project calendar You can change the project calendar to reflect the working days and hours for everyone on your project. The calendar defaults are Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., with an hour off for lunch. You can specify nonworking times, such as weekends and evenings, as well as special days off, such as holidays. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. On the Tools menu, click Change Working Time. 3. Select a date on the calendar.  To change one day of the week for the entire calendar, for example, to have Fridays end at 4:00 P.M., click the abbreviation for that day at the top of the calendar.  To change all working days, for example, to begin working days Tuesday through Friday at 9:00 A.M., click the abbreviation (such as T for Tuesday) for the first working day of the week. Hold down SHIFT, and then click the abbreviation for the last working day of the week (such as F for Friday). 4. Click Non working time for days off or Non default working time to change the hours worked. 5. If you clicked Nondefault working time in step 3, type the times you want work to start in the From boxes, and the times you want work to end in the To boxes. 6. Click OK. HOW DO YOU ENTER AND ORGANIZE A TASK LIST? First, list the steps needed to accomplish your project's goals. Start with the large chunks of work and then break down each chunk into tasks with single deliverables. Add milestones. Finally, gather and enter duration estimates. After you enter task information, create an outline to help you see the project's structure. 33 Enter tasks and their duration A typical project is a series of related tasks. A task represents an amount of work with a clear deliverable; it should be short enough to track its progress regularly. Tasks should generally be between one day and two weeks long. Enter tasks in the order they will occur. Then estimate how long it will take to complete each task, and enter your estimate as the duration. Microsoft Project uses duration to calculate the amount of work to be done on the task. Note: Don't enter dates in the Start and Finish fields for each task. Microsoft Project calculates the start and finish dates based on how the tasks are related. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. In the Task Name field, type a task name, and then press TAB. Microsoft Project enters an estimated duration of one day for the task followed by a question mark. 3. In the Duration field, type the amount of time each task will take in months, weeks, days, hours, or minutes, not counting non working time. You can use the following abbreviations: months = mo weeks = w days = d hours = h minutes = m Note: To show an estimated duration, type a question mark after the duration. 4. Press ENTER. Tip: You can also add a note about a task. In the Task Name field, select the task, and then click Task Notes. Type your information in the Notes box, and then click OK. Note: The toolbar button you want may be temporarily hidden. It may not appear because there is not enough room to display all the buttons. Click More Buttons , and then click Task Notes. Create a milestone A milestone is a task you use to identify significant events in your schedule, such as the completion of a major phase. When you enter a duration of zero days for a task, Microsoft Project displays the milestone symbol on the Gantt Chart at the start of that day. 34 Instructions 1 In the Duration field, click the duration of the task you want to make a milestone, and then type 0d. 2 Press ENTER. Note: Although a task with a duration of 0 is automatically marked as a milestone, you can make any task a milestone. To mark a task as a milestone, click the task in the Task Name field. Click Task Information , click the Advanced tab, and then select the Mark task as milestone check box. Tip: To see all milestones, click Milestones in the Filter list. To see the entire project again, click All Tasks in the Filter list. Create a recurring task Recurring tasks are tasks that repeat regularly, such as weekly meetings. A recurring task can take place daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. You can specify the duration of each occurrence, when it will occur, and for how long or how many times it should occur. Instructions 1. In the Task Name field, click the row below where you want the recurring task to appear. 2. On the Insert menu, click Recurring Task. 3. In the Task Name box, type the task name. 4. In the Duration box, type or select the duration of a single occurrence of the task. 5. Under Recurrence pattern, click Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly. 6. To the right of Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly, specify the task frequency. 7. Under Range of recurrence, type a start date in the Start box and then select End after or End by.  If you selected End after, type the number of occurrences for the task.  If you selected End by, type the date you want the recurring task to end. 8. Click OK. Tip: To view all instances of a recurring task, click the plus sign next to the main recurring task. Structure tasks into a logical outline Outlining helps organize your tasks into more manageable chunks. You can indent related tasks under a more general task, creating a hierarchy. The general tasks are called summary tasks; the indented tasks below the summary task are subtasks. A summary task's start and finish dates are determined by the start and finish dates of its earliest and latest subtasks. 35 Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. Click the first task you want to make into a subtask. 3. On the Insert menu, click New Task. 4. In the inserted row, type the name of the new summary task in the Task Name field. 5. In the Task Name field, select the tasks you want to make into subtasks. 6. Click Indent to indent these tasks. Tip: You can indent or outdent a task quickly with the mouse. Select the task, and then position the pointer over the first letter of the task name. When the pointer changes to a two-way arrow, drag right to indent the task or drag left to outdent the task. Edit a task list As you create a task list, you will probably want to break large tasks into smaller tasks and rearrange tasks. You may want to copy, delete, or move tasks in your project. You can also easily rearrange project phases in an outlined schedule. When you move or delete a summary task, the subtasks associated are moved or deleted as well. Instructions 1. In the ID field (the leftmost field), select the task you want to copy, move, or delete.  To select a row, click the task ID number.  To select a group of adjacent rows, hold down SHIFT, and then click the first and last ID numbers of the group.  To select several nonadjacent rows, hold down CTRL, and then click the task ID numbers. 2. Copy, move, or delete the task.  To copy the task, click Copy.  To move the task, click Cut.  To delete the task, press DELETE. 3. To move the selection you cut or repeat the selection you copied, select the rows where you want to paste it. Be sure to select entire rows. 4. Click Paste. Tip: To add a new task between existing tasks, click a task ID number and then press the INSERT key. Tasks renumber automatically after you insert a new task. WHEN WILL TASKS START AND FINISH? After you create and outline your task list, it's time to address how the tasks relate to each other and to specific dates. There are many types of task 36 relationships, such as links that show one task starting as another finishes. These links are called task dependencies. Microsoft Project automatically determines the start and finish dates for tasks that have dependencies to other tasks. The advantage of dependencies or "linked" tasks is that whenever a task changes, linked tasks are automatically rescheduled. You can refine task schedules using constraints, overlap or delay tasks, and split tasks when work stops temporarily. Establish relationships between tasks To establish relationships between tasks, use task dependencies. First, select the related tasks, link them, and then change the dependency type, if necessary. The task whose start or finish depends on another task is the successor. The task that the successor is dependent on is the predecessor. After the tasks are linked, changes to the predecessor's dates affect the successor's dates. Microsoft Project creates a finish-to-start task dependency by default. Because a finish-to-start dependency does not work in every situation, you can change the task link to start-to-start, finish-to-finish, or start-to-finish to model your project realistically. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. In the Task Name field, select two or more tasks to link in the order you want them linked. To select adjacent tasks, hold down SHIFT, and then click the first and last task you want to link. To select nonadjacent tasks, hold down CTRL, and then click the tasks you want to link, in order. 3. Click Link Tasks. 4. To change the task link, double-click the link line between the tasks you want to change. The Task Dependency dialog box appears. If the Bar Styles dialog box appears, you didn't click precisely on the task link and need to close this dialog box and click on the task link again. 5 In the Type box, select the task link you want, and then click OK. Note: To unlink tasks, select the tasks you want to unlink in the Task Name field, and then click Unlink Tasks. The tasks are rescheduled based on existing links to other tasks, or constraints. Overlap tasks or add lag time between them After you've sequenced tasks by linking them, you can overlap or delay them as well. In Microsoft Project, delay tasks by adding lag time to the predecessor task, 37 and overlap tasks by entering lead time. You can also enter lead or lag time as a percentage of the task. Instructions 1. In the Task Name field, click the task you want to add lead or lag time to (it must have predecessors), and then click Task Information. 2. Click the Predecessors tab. 3. In the Lag column, type the lead time or lag time you want, as a duration or as a percentage of the predecessor task duration.  Type lead time as a negative number (for example, –2d for two days lead time) or as a percentage.  Type lag time as a positive number or as a percentage. 4. Click OK. Tip: To quickly add lead or lag time to a successor task, double-click the link line on the Gantt Chart, and then type the amount of lead or lag time in the Lag box of the Task Dependency dialog box. Set a specific start or finish date for a task You can schedule your tasks most effectively by entering task duration, creating dependencies between tasks, and then letting Microsoft Project calculate the start and finish dates for you. However, you can set a specific start or finish date for a task if necessary. Task constraints that tie tasks to specific dates are called inflexible constraints; the most inflexible constraints are specific start or finish dates. Because Microsoft Project takes constraints into account when calculating your schedule, use these inflexible constraints only when tasks must start or finish on a specific date. In the Task Name field, click the task you want to set a start or finish date for, and then click Task Information. Instructions 1. Click the Advanced tab. 2. In the Constraint type box, click a constraint type. 3. Type or select a date in the Constraint date box, and then click OK. Note: If you select a start date for a task in the Start field of the Gantt Chart, or if you drag a Gantt bar to change the start date, Microsoft Project sets a Start No Earlier Than (SNET) constraint based on the new start date. If you select a finish date for a task, Microsoft Project automatically assigns a Finish No Earlier Than (FNET) constraint. 38 Add a deadline to a task When you set a deadline for a task, Microsoft Project displays an indicator if the task is scheduled to finish after the deadline. Setting a deadline doesn't affect how tasks are scheduled. It's just a way to have Microsoft Project inform you that a task will finish past its deadline. You then have the option of adjusting the schedule to meet that deadline. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. In the Task Name field, click the task that you want to set a deadline for. 3. Click Task Information and then click the Advanced tab. 4. Under Constrain task, type or select the deadline date in the Deadline box, and then click OK. Tip: You can drag the deadline symbol on the Gantt Chart to change the deadline date. Split a task into segments You can split a task if work on the task is interrupted and then resumes later in the schedule. This is useful, for example, when you need to temporarily stop work on a task to work on another task. You can split a task as many times as necessary. Note that splitting a task into parts is not the same as entering a recurring task, a task that occurs at regular intervals, such as a staff meeting. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. Click Split Task. 3. On the task's Gantt bar, click the date where you want the split to occur and drag the second part of the bar to the date that you want work to begin again. Tip: You can remove the split by dragging a portion of a split task so that it touches another portion. How do you assign resources? You should assign resources to tasks when you want to: 1. Track the amount of work done by people and equipment assigned to tasks or monitor materials used. 2. Have more flexibility in scheduling tasks. 3. Monitor resources with too little or too much work assigned. 4. Keep track of resource costs. If you don't enter resource information, Microsoft Project calculates your schedule using only task duration and dependencies. 39 Create a resource list You can use the Resource Sheet in Microsoft Project to create a list of the people, equipment, and material resources that make up your team and carry out the project tasks. Your resource list will consist of work resources or material resources. Work resources are people or equipment; material resources are consumable materials or supplies, such as concrete, wood, or nails. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet. 2. On the View menu, point to Table, and then click Entry. 3. In the Resource Name field, type a resource name. 4. To designate resource groups, in the Group field for the resource name, type the name of the group. 5. In the Type field, specify the resource type:  For a work resource (people or equipment), set the resource type to Work.  For a material resource (consumed throughout the project) set the resource type to Material. 6. For each work resource (people or equipment), type the number of resource units available for this resource in the Max. Units field, as a percentage. For example, type 300% to indicate three full-time units of a particular resource. 7. For each material resource (supplies consumed throughout the project), in the Material Label field, type a measurement unit for the material resource, such as ton. Notes:  Resource groups can be used for sorting, filtering, or grouping tasks by resources belonging to a particular group. You can use groups to indicate the department a human resource belongs to or to specify accounting codes for billing purposes.  You cannot assign resource groups to tasks. If you want to specify consolidated resources, such as "Carpenters" or "Editors" or "Engineers," enter that as the resource name, and then assign the consolidated resource name to tasks. Tip: As you work in the Gantt Chart or other task views, you can enter additional resource names. To assign additional resources, click Assign Resources , and then type a resource name in the Name field. You can also click Address and select a resource from your e-mail address book. Change the work schedule for a resource The working hours and days off defined in the project calendar are the default working hours and days off for each resource. When an individual resource 40 works a different schedule entirely, or when you need to account for vacations or equipment downtime, you can modify an individual resource calendar. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet, and then select the resource whose schedule you want to change. 2. On the Project menu, click Resource Information, and then click the Working Time tab. 3. On the calendar, select the days you want to change. To change a day of the week for the entire calendar, click the abbreviation for the day at the top of the calendar. 4. Click Use default, Non working time, or Non default working time. When you click Use default, the selected days return to the Microsoft Project Standard calendar default, which is Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M., and 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. 5. If you clicked Nondefault working time in step 4, type the times that you want work to start in the From boxes and the times that you want work to end in the To boxes. 6. Click OK. Tip: If a group of resources has the same special working hours and days off, you can create a new base calendar for them. On the Tools menu, click Change Working Time. Click New, and type a name for the new base calendar. Click Create new base calendar to begin with a default calendar. Or to base the new calendar on an existing calendar, click Make a copy of, and then click the calendar name of the existing calendar in the Calendar box. Click OK, and then modify the days and hours on the calendar. On the View menu, click Resource Sheet, and select the new base calendar in the Base Calendar field for each resource that you want to assign the calendar to. Assign resources to tasks When you assign a resource to a task, you create an assignment. You can assign any resource to any task and change assignments at any time. You can assign more than one resource to a task and specify whether a resource works full-time or part-time on a task. If the work assigned to a resource exceeds the daily full-time allotment indicated in the resource's working times calendar, Microsoft Project displays the name of the overallocated resource in red in resource views. 41 Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. In the Task Name field, click the task to which you want to assign a resource, and then click Assign Resources 3. In the Name field, click the resource you want to assign to the task. 4. To assign a resource part-time, type or select a percentage less than 100 in the Units column to represent the percentage of working time you want the resource to spend on the task.  To assign several different resources, hold down CTRL and click the names of the resources.  To assign more than one of the same resource (such as two carpenters), type or select a percentage greater than 100 in the Units column. If necessary, type the name of a new resource in the Name column. 5. Click Assign. A check mark to the left of the Name column indicates that the resource is assigned to the selected task. 6. Click Close. Tip: You can replace one resource with another. Select the task whose resource you want to replace. In the Assign Resources dialog box, select the assigned resource and click Replace. Select one or more resources to assign, and then click OK. Fix the duration of a task As you assign more resources to a task, Microsoft Project automatically decreases the duration of the task. For example, a task with a one-day duration and one assigned resource has 8 hours of work. With effort-driven scheduling, if you assign a second resource, the task still has 8 hours of work, but its duration is reduced to half a day. If you want to change the amount of work on the task instead, you can turn off effort-driven scheduling and assign another resource. The task will then have 16 hours of work and still have a one-day duration. Instructions 1. On the View menu, click Gantt Chart. 2. In the Task Name field, select the tasks for which you want to turn off effort- driven scheduling. 3. Click Task Information , and then click the Advanced tab. 4. Clear the Effort driven check box, and then click OK. Now when you assign an additional resource, the task's duration will not change. Tip: You can turn off effort-driven scheduling for all new tasks you create. Existing tasks will not be affected. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Schedule tab, and then clear the New tasks are effort driven check box. 42 Check and edit resource assignments The Resource Usage view shows project resources with their assigned tasks grouped underneath them. Using the Resource Us