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WEEK 4Introduction to Project Management

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Communication Plan ObjectivesObjective is to determine:

◦Who needs to know what?

◦How will they be told?

◦When will they be told and how

often?

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Communication Plan Example

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SCHEDULING

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Purpose of SchedulingShows relationships of each activity

to others in the whole projectIdentifies the precedence relations

among activitiesEncourages the setting of realistic

time and cost estimates for each activity

Helps make better use of people, money, and material resources by identifying “critical bottlenecks” in the project

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In any project there will be 1or more bottlenecks that can spoil the successful

completion of the project.◦ i.e. getting the resource you need, failing to

complete a “critical task” on time One of the important responsibilities of a PM is to ID

the bottlenecks of the project and to figure out how to eliminate them or minimize their impact.

When you eliminate a bottleneck, it often frees up time

When you build a project plan, schedule the tasks conservatively to help insure you can complete them on time.◦ i.e. If you think it will take 60 days for a contractor to

complete a task, schedule 90 days to ensure that the total project will come in on time

BOTTLENECKS

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Common tools

Gantt charts

Project calendars

Milestones charts

Critical Path Method (CPM)

the sequence of project activities which

determines the shortest time possible to

complete the project.

Program Evaluation and Review Technique

(PERT)

a method to estimate TASK DURATION ,

using optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely

time frames

Scheduling Techniques

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TimeJ F M A M J J A S

Design

Prototype

Test

Revise

Production

Sample Gantt Chart

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ALL the tasks that determine the end date in your project schedule.

The critical path is the longest PATH, through the “AON” NETWORK (Activity On Node-explanation on 2nd slide from this one—slide # 13) Longest path of planned activities to the end of

the project Longest time in (days/weeks/months) To be started and completed exactly as

scheduled to ensure the project is completed by a certain date

ONE activity can NOT be done before the previous activity is completed

CRITICAL PATH

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CRITICAL PATH cont. The critical path is the shortest possible TIME

in which the ENTIRE project can be completed• BECAUSE all activities are CONTINGENT upon a

PREDECESSOR (a PREVIOUS “ACTIVITY” getting completed)

Any DELAY in ANY of the “CRITICAL PATH” ACTIVITIES DELAYS the project

All “Critical Path” activities have to be in sequence”

“Critical” does NOT refer to how important the task is, but rather the IMPACT the SCHEDULING of these tasks has on the FINISH date of the project

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CRITICAL PATH SUMMARYDIFFERENCE BETWEEN:1. The entire PROJECT completion date versus 2. the "AON" network:

The critical path is the SHORTEST possible TIME

in which the ENTIRE project can be completed.

Every “CRITICAL” activity must be completed.

The critical path is the LONGEST PATH through the

"AON" network.

◦ You need to add up all the activity times (days/weeks/ months). Whichever path is the longest (takes the most time) is the “Critical Path”.

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FRAME OF HOUSE

FOUNDATION WALLS ROOF

PIPES IN HOUSE

SHOWER STALL

SHOWER HEAD

DRY WALLERS

Activity on Node (AON) Explained

FLOORING

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RESOURCE PLANNING

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RESOURCE PlanningQuestions to be answered when planning

resources:◦What needs to be done?◦Who or what can do the work?◦ Is this resource available?◦How will this resource affect schedules

and costs?◦RACI (Responsible, Accountable,

Consulted, Informed) Chart

◦Estimating would be completed here but we are not going to get into this in this course

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Activities 1-4

PM Director

Service Mgr

Legal Dept

A1 R A

A2 A C I

A3 RA (responsible & Accountable)

I C

A4 A R C

R = Responsible

A = Accountable (or Approve)

C = ConsultedI = InformedProject

Manager does not necessarily have a role in every activity

RACI Chart

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RACI ModelSteps in a RACI process

◦Identify all the activities◦Identify the roles◦Complete the cells accordingly

(R,A,C,I)◦Resolve overlaps & gaps

Every process should contain only one “R”

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INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTDo PRECEDENCE TABLE:

BLACKBOARD > WEEKLY LESSONS > Week #4-Planning Phase Part 2 > PRECEDENCE TABLE "DIGITAL ACTIVITY"

GROUP Work ActivityEach group is to create the following for the

“INTERNATIONAL Fundraiser”:(1) Communication Plan, (2) Precedence

Table (3) AON: Activity On Node and Critical Path (4)RACI Chart

R = ResponsibleA = Accountable (or Approve)C = Consulted I = Informed

R = ResponsibleA = Accountable (or Approve)C = Consulted I = Informed

COMMUNICATION PLAN

RACI

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GROUP Work Activity cont.

1.“Communication Plan” will become page #2 of the MS WORD

portion of your Group Assignment (page #1 is your “Cover Page”)

2.“Precedence Table” will become slide #5 in your PowerPoint Presentation) (slides #3 & #4 will be the “Risk Identification Plan” covered in Week 05,) 19

GROUP Work Activity cont.

3. “AON: Activity On Node” AND “Critical Path” will become slide #6 in your PowerPoint Presentation)

4. “RACI Chart” will become page #3 of the MS WORD portion of your Group Assignment

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G

E

F

H

CA

Start

DB

“Arrows” Show Precedence Relationships

AON

5 W3 W

4 W

2 W

2 W

BUILD INTERNAL COMPONENTS

2 W

4 W

3 W

MODIFY ROOF & FLOOR

POUR CONCRETE & INSTALL FRAME

CONSTRUCT COLLECTION STACK

BUILD HIGH TEMP BURNER

INSTALL POLLUTION CONTROL SYSTEM

INSTALL AIR POLLUTION DEVICE

INSPECT & TEST

Example of a “PRECEDENCE TABLE”:

(“Smoke Stack)

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Quiz Time

Hybrid / HomeworkRead Chapter 3Complete all activities required

while reading chapter 3Complete the Fill in the Blank

exercise for Chapter 3Complete the Multiple Choice for

Chapter 3

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