UNIT 17: PROJECT PLANNING WITH IT

UNIT 17: PROJECT PLANNING WITH IT

P1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waterfall_model_%281%29.svg Accessed 14/09/12

 

       

Waterfall

·         Describing the typical phases of a project life cycle

Phase 1 - Requirements
Phase 2 - Design & Planning
Phase 3 - Development
Phase 4 - Testing
Phase 5 - Maintenance

Project Managing

E.G  Building a house:

Phase 1 - Requirements

·         Land

·         Planning Permission

·         Budget

·         Staff

·         Materials

·         Equipment.

·         Availability of  water

·         Availability of electricity

·         Availability of telephone

·         Access to land

·         Water drainage

Phase 2 - Design & Planning

·         Apply for planning

·         Rough sketch of plans

·         Employ architects

http://www.cognitivedesignsolutions.com/Information/ProjectMgt.htm  

http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/tiny-house-village-design-concept-house-plan.gif (accessed 20/9/12)

Phase 3 – Development

·         Site work: these are the people who will clear and grade the land

·         Foundation/slab includes carpenters, labourers and concrete finishers.

·         Framers, rough carpentry, frame up the walls, install the trusses

·         Roofing, exterior doors and windows

·         Bricklayers

·         Electricians

·         Plumbers

·         Drywall finishers

·         Cabinet makers

·         Heating installers

·         Trim and finish carpenters

·         Painters

·         Flooring installers (carpets, tiles)

Accessed 25/09/12 http://www.simplyselfbuild.co.uk/self-build-information/self-build-stages/self-build-groundworks.html

Phase 4 – Testing

·         Test electrical equipment

·         Test wiring

·         Test drainage

·         Test plumbing

Phase 5 – Maintenance

·         Regular gas services

·         Ensure smoke alarms work

·         Check security alarms

·         Painting and decorating

·         Clean guttering regularly

P2

Methodology gives you a clear direction it is like a roadmap for delivering your project it guides you towards your target & tells you what you need to do to achieve it.

Tools available to a project manager      http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-management-tools.html

•           Gantt Chart

•           Logic Network

•           Pert Chart

•           Product Breakdown Structure

•           Work Breakdown Structure

All of the above are common tools for planning a project.

Gantt chart

A Gantt chart is a popular project management bar chart that tracks tasks across time. When first developed in 1917, the Gantt chart did not show the relationships between tasks. This has become common in current use, as both time and interdependencies between tasks are tracked.

Since their first introduction, Gantt charts have become an industry standard. They are an important project management tool used for showing the phases, tasks, milestones and resources needed as part of a project.

One of the first uses was on the Hoover Dam project started in 1931.

Example of Gantt chart

Logic Network

A Logic Network shows the sequence of activities in a project across time. It shows which activity logically precedes or follows another activity. It can be used to identify the milestones and critical path of a project. It will help you understand the dependencies in your project, timescale and its workflow. This technique can reveal important information that could otherwise be overlooked.

Example of logic network

Pert Chart

The Program Evaluation and Review Technique commonly abbreviated PERT is a model for project management invented by United States Department of Defence’s US Navy Special Projects Office in 1958 as part of the Polaris mobile submarine launched ballistic missile project.

PERT is a method for analysing the tasks involved in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task and identifying the minimum time needed to complete the total project.

Example of a Pert Chart

Product Breakdown Structure

In project management, a Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) is an exhaustive, hierarchical tree structure of components that make up a project deliverable, arranged in whole-part relationship.

A PBS can help clarify what is to be delivered by the project and can help build a work breakdown structure.

The PRINCE2 project management method suggests the use of product based planning, part of which is developing a Product Breakdown Structure.

Example of PBS

Work Breakdown Structure

The United States Department of Defense (DOD) created the Work Breakdown Structure concept as part of the Polaris mobile submarine launched ballistic missile project.

A Work Breakdown Structure is an exhaustive, hierarchical tree structure of deliverables and activities that need to be performed to complete a project. Work Breakdown Structure is a common project management tool and the basis for much project planning.

Example of WBS

METHODOLOGIES – IS A GUIDE LINE SYSTEM FOR SOLVING A PROBLEM.

Here is the main definition of what project management is:

Project management is no small task.

Project management has a definite beginning and end. It is not a continuous process.

Project management uses various tools to measure accomplishments and track project tasks. These include Work Breakdown Structures, Gantt charts and PERT charts.

Projects frequently need resources on an ad-hoc basis as opposed to organizations that have only dedicated full-time positions.

Project management reduces risk and increases the chance of success.

Project management is often summarized in a triangle (see Figure 1). The three most important factors are time, cost and scope, commonly called the triple constraint. These form the vertices with quality as a central theme.

Figure 1: The triple constraint

Projects must be within cost.

Projects must be delivered on time.

Projects must be within scope.

Projects must meet customer quality requirements.

More recently, this has given way to a project management diamond, with cost, time, scope and quality the four vertices and customer expectations as a central theme (see Figure 2). No two customer expectations are the same so you must ask what their expectations are.

Figure 2: The project management diamond

A project goes through six phases during its life:

Project Definition: Defining the goals, objectives and critical success factors for the project.

Project Initiation: Everything that is needed to set-up the project before work can start.

Project Planning: Detailed plans of how the work will be carried out including time, cost and resource estimates.

Project Execution: Doing the work to deliver the product, service or desired outcome.

Project Monitoring & Control: Ensuring that a project stays on track and taking corrective action to ensure it does.

Project Closure: Formal acceptance of the deliverables and disbanding of all the elements that were required to run the project.

http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/introduction-to-project-management.html

Project manager is responsible for making sure everyone on his team knows exactly what job they have to do. They also know what other team members have to do in order to support each other.

A project managers main responsibilities are:

·         Developing the project plan

·         Managing the project team

·         Managing the project risk

·         Managing the project schedule

·         Managing the project budget

·         Managing project conflicts

People are very important for your project. These could be a choice of:

·         Directly employed

·         Freelance

·         Contractors

·         Suppliers

·         Consultants

Make sure that you don’t end up employing people you don’t need it is better to start with a smaller teem & employ more rather than have to many people.

Finance in project management is very important especially when building a house.

P3

A project has to act and react to what happens outside.

Materials costs could vary from one day to the next. This means careful monitoring in order to get the best deal.

Suppliers could go out of business, leaving you without materials i.e. a back up supplier would always be a good idea.

People you employ might not do a proper job or be off sick so staffing might become a problem. Always have in mind you might need staff at short notice. i.e. have an agency on hand as a back-up

Legal rules and regulations are constantly changing so you need to be fully aware of this at all times. It is no good doing something and then finding out you haven’t got the right licences.

Weather problems can seriously affect your house building project. Too much rain or very cold weather can delay drying out or can completely halt the work. This will have delays on everything else.

Machinery that is hired might not always turn up on time or can break down. i.e. always have another company that can supply machinery quickly as a back up

Communication

This is a very important factor. Make sure you keep all staff updated, this can be done by simple emails or regular meetings, letting them know what jobs there are to be done, who is responsible for doing them and to stick to the deadlines given. Communication also means letting everyone know about changes and if there are problems what is being done to solve them. i.e. if a delivery has not been made, then it should either be rescheduled if there is time or cancelled and ordered from another supplier.

Monitoring Progress

As your project proceeds, it will have to be monitored on several different things; this includes time, cost and performance. The system you have must be able to highlight potential problems so that you have time to get them back on track. i.e. suppliers might run out of a certain thing, you need to know this in advance so that you have time to source another supplier.

Dealing with conflict.

If conflicts do arise, which they probably will they can be dealt with in several different ways.

i.e.

·         Compromise – agree to disagree, both sides win and lose a bit

·         Confrontation – both sides work together to find a solution

·         Withdrawal – One side backs down and removes themselves from the conflict.UNIT 17: PROJECT PLANNING WITH IT

moves themselves from the conflict.