Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Project Management
Barry
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INITIAL SETUP -
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can represent the relationships among the activities and milestones that make up the project. When you enter the activities you
also specify their sequence and precedence; that is, how the activities or milestones depend on each other and which must be done
before others can begin.
As a minimum, the program must be able to contain all the
project activities, and calculate and show the project's critical path.
The critical path is the sequence of activities and milestones which
must be completed on time if the project is to be completed on
schedule. Another way of saying the same thing is any delay of
any task or milestone on the critical path will delay the project.
Beyond showing the critical path, a program can be judged
by how well it depicts the precedent relationships among the activities. Some programs only allow a finish-to-start relationship
among activities, which means a subsequent activity can start only
after a previous activity is finished.
Finish-to-start is a common relationship among activities, but
you may also frequently have activities that depend on each other,
but overlap to some extent. With these activities, the finish-to-start
relationship does not accurately apply. So if you have program
that allows only for finish-to-start relationships, you must decide
either not to show the relationship as it should be or to artificially
break down the activity into subactivities so they fit into the finish-to-start mode. This means you are having to adjust your work
pattern to meet the program's needs rather than the other way
around.
The ability to handle full precedence relationships is a key
difference between programs. Determining the number and type
of precedence relationships a program is capable of should be an
important test of any software you consider. After all, you want
the software to accommodate your project management needs, not
the other way around.
on
Many of the less expensive programs have a maximum number of activities that can be entered into the program. This maxi-
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WBS CapHMz'fy
Equally important for some managers is the ability to identify activities in a work breakdown structure (WBS) format. A
WBS as it applies to project management programs is the capability of assigning ID codes to each task in the project, from the highest level main tasks all the way down to the lowest level subtasks.
An example of a partial work breakdown structure for a design
project is shown in Figure 4-1. Note: Only the electrical and mechanical subtasks are shown for illustrative purposes, In an actual
project, all relevant disciplines would be shown and in sufficient
detail to allow the PM to grasp the details of the project.
Figure 4-1. Example Partial Work Breakdown Structure
ABC Hospital Addition
Architectural
ABC.01
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A key thing to look for in a program is the degree of discrimination allowed in identifying the assigning resources. Software
programs vary widely with regard to resource management, and
it is well worth a close look to see if the program can meet your
specific needs.
The number and type of resources you can assign to a task is
the first consideration. Some programs let you identify and assign
only one or a few resources per task.
More powerful programs let you assign codes to each resource so you can further break down each type of resource; for
example, ME1 = level 1 mechanical engineers; ME2 = level 2
mechanical engineers; etc. The program can then produce reports
that are sorted based upon any given resource type or subtype.
For example, you could print out a histogram, or resource allocation chart, for all level 1 engineers assigned to Subtask ABC.05.1.
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REPORTS
Reports of the project plan and project status are some of the
most valuable tools a program can provide. A software program
can make updating project reports quick and easy. And to the
benefit of all, it is becoming the norm that programs provide both
tabular and graphical reporting capabilities.
The various programs offer a full range of reporting capabilities, but there are certain reports you will want your program to
produce:
Ganff (or &ar) c^Mrf This favorite shows each project activity
as a horizontal bar extending along the project timeline. The
Gantt chart should also show milestones (key dates) and.
preferably, planned activity progress versus actual progress.
It is helpful if the program allows for depiction of precedence
relationships among the tasks.
NefworA: DMgrafM (PERT c/Mrf) the network diagram should
show all project activities and their precedence relationships.
Acfz'uz'ft/ sc^g^M/g This report may go by various names, but
it is a tabular listing of all project activities with their earliest
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and latest start and finish dates. It also shows how much
float, or slack time, each activity has.
rcporfs At a minimum; you will want a tabular listing of all resources and their assignment to activities. Resource histograms, vertical bar charts showing assignment of
resources over time are also valuable.
*
Cosf rgporfs A detailed breakdown of planned and expended project costs is a minimum requirement. More powerful programs will calculate and graph out earned-value as
the project progresses. An earned value graph compares
project completion with costs expended. These reports will
also show the estimated cost to complete the project.
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search to find the best one for your project management needs.
Several programs which offer the project manager a balanced
combination of ease of use and power include Primavera Systems,
Inc.'s SMrgTh:^ Project Manager and Pn'map^ra Projgcf P/ann^r and
Microsoft Corporation's Mz'crosq/f Pro/ecf.
The quality of the program's training may be one of your
most important considerations. This will be true if the people who
will be using the software are not themselves experienced project
managers or familiar with project management techniques. In that
case, you will want the program to have a good training tutorial
and very clear documentation.
IN CONCLUSION
The program features discussed in this chapter provide useful criteria for comparing programs and judging their capabilities.
The most important thing is to take a hard look at your project
management requirements and determine the minimum capabilities a program must have if it is to meet your needs.
Think about what you want the program to help you with
most. Do your projects tend to be of a certain sort and have special
requirements? For example, is account management and cost control always a primary consideration? If so, you want a program
that will let you put in enough detailed cost information that you
will have full cost tracking capability.
On the other hand, after a close look at the nature of your
projects, you may realize they are primarily schedule intensive.
For example, if most of your projects involve meeting strict deadlines (and many engineering and construction projects fall into
this class), you should look first at those programs that provide
excellent schedule tracking and related reports.
The power and capacity of a program might be your driving
consideration. If you are the master scheduler for a large project
that is made up of many other projects, you will want to look at
those programs that allow unlimited tasks and speed in process-
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