Mark Roman, B.Math, M.B.A., P.M.P.
Chief Information Officer

Introductions
Project Management Fundamentals
Project Management Methodology
Project Management Knowledge areas:
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Scope
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Schedule
Estimating
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Cost
Documentation
Quality
Resources
Communications
Risk
Procurement
Project Governance
Summary
2

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Who are you?
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Favourite project
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Worst project
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Expectations from the seminar
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Preferred focus
3

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What is a project?
What is project management?
Why manage projects?
Where do projects come from?
Project process model
How to improve the project management process
Project management knowledge areas

5
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•
•
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service
Temporary = Definite beginning & end
Unique = product or service is different in some way from existing products or service
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A means to respond to requests that cannot be addressed through an organization’s normal operational limits
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A funded ephemeral event that delivers value
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The way work gets done in a growing number of companies including ABB, Hewlett-
Packard, US West, Motorola, etc.
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Building blocks in the design and execution of an organization’s strategies

6
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Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
Managing the work of projects:
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Competing demands for:
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Scope
Time
Cost
Risk
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Quality
Stakeholders with different needs and expectations
Project management is a process
When you have a standard process, you can continuously improve it

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Imagine running your institution without financial accounting management …
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No documented processes
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No understanding of processes
No common language
No standards
No data collection or reporting
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No knowledge management
No educational requirements
… no success
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Running projects without project management leads to the same result
7

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PM Solutions, “Value of Project Management Survey,”
Value of Project Management
Customer satisfaction
Resource productivity
Product quality
Meeting delivery dates & budgets
Alignment to business strategy
Time to market
Profitability
0%
55%
37%
58%
79%
53%
32%
20% 40%
66%
60% 80% 100%
8

Organizations only do two things …
Processes
Ongoing day-to-day operational work.
Projects
Activities with a fixed start and finish.
… organizations use projects to execute change.
9

Defining objectives, and authorizing and funding the project
Defining course of action to achieve the objectives
Coordinating resources to carry-out the plan
Monitoring progress and acting on variances
Formalizing acceptance and bring it to an end
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Processes overlap
Not discrete
Variations in activity level over time
All project managers do these processes – knowingly or not. They may do them well or they may do th em wretchedly, but they always do them.

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Level 5: Optimized
Level 4: Managed
Level 3: Defined
Level 2: Repeatable
Level 1: Initial
• Continuous process improvement based on quantitative feedback
• Piloting innovation
• Integration with institutional systems
• Detailed measures of process and quality collected
• Project management process quantitatively understood and controlled
• Project management process documented, standardized, & integrated
• All projects use a standard process for project management
• Simple PM processes established to track cost, schedule, & functionality
• Process discipline in place to repeat earlier success
• PM awareness but no effective usage
• Ad hoc and chaotic PM process
• Success requires heroes
Time

Systems
Development
Methodology
Project Management Methodology
Business
Process
Analysis
Methodology
Product
Development
Lifecycle
Methodology
Other
Methodologies
13
Templates
Lessons Learned
Best Practices
Process Models
Standardization
Quality Audits
Benchmarking
Industry guides

Organisation Type
Functional Weak Matrix Balanced
Moderate Project
Character
Project Manager’s
Authority
Full Time Staff
Assigned to
Projects
Project Manager’s
Role
Common Project
Manager Labels
Minimal
None
Part time
Project
Coordinator
Limited
25%
Part time
Project
Leader
50%
Full time
Project
Manager
PM Admin Staff Part time Part time Part time
Strong Matrix Projectized
High Total
75% 100%
Full time
Project
Manager /
Program
Manager
Full time
Full time
Project
Manager /
Program
Manager
Full time
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15
Executive
Sponsor
Steering
Committee
PMO
Director
Project
Manager
Project
Team
• Enterprise-wide influence
• Spearheads systemic organization change
• Owns the results of strategy
• Funding decisions
• Selects, prioritizes, & evaluates the corporate project portfolio
• Escalation for strategic project issues
• Responsible to ensure promised benefits are realised
• Pan-organizational project oversight
• Corporate-wide resource allocation
• Ensures project management processes are executed consistently
• Process owner and resource manager
• Individual project management
• Execute projects that are closely coupled with corporate & departmental goals
• Manages the day-to-day tasks necessary to move the project through all its phases
• Executing the day-to-day tasks necessary to move the project through all its phases
• “Help the crowd stand out, rather than stand out in a crowd”
• Focus on the project customer
• Transcend functional specialty and silos

What are we going to do?
When is it going to get done?
How much is it worth to the sponsor?
Did we do what we said we would do?
Who is going to do it?
What do we say to who at what time?
What can we do to avoid failure?
How do we work with outsiders?
How will we work together?
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The science of project management
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Planning
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Scheduling
Cost control
Administration
Detailed technical tasks
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The art of project management
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Leadership
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Negotiation
Motivation
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Team-building
Facilitation
Innovation
17

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What are some good ideas for projects?
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Brainstorm potential projects
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Reasonable
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Do-able
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Valuable
18

19
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Who owns the project?
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Project manager?
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Users?
Project staff?
Sponsors?
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The secret to great project management is to never own the project
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As a project manager, you are the conduit through which the dreams of your sponsor(s) and stakeholders flow

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Should all organizations manage projects the same way?
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Can project management be applied to aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and marketing the same way?
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Value in consistently applying same principles, as long as those principles make sense
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Initiation
Project
Flow
Needs Develop
Project
Charter
Document
Planning Execution
Plan
Project
Document
Revisions
Implement
Plan
Progress
Closure
Shutdown
Project
Final Product
Asset Maintenance
Maintain
Asset
Support Work
Steering
Committee
Role
Control
Mechanisms
Review
Charter
Approval
Not Needed
Reject
Portfolio assessment
• Priorities
• Risk
• Strategic fit
Review
Plan
Approval
Not Sufficient
Reject
Status reporting
Fiscal budget
Risk plan
Scope
Resource plan
Schedule
Quality plan
Communication plan
Vendor management
Monitor
Status
Approval
Not Successful
Cancel
Issue log
Change control
Review
Deliverable
Accepted
Benefit
Realization
Not Accepted
New Project
Work
Continue
Execution
Initiate
Next Phase
Base budget
Support resources
Benefit measures

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Why write a project charter?
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Content (template)
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Evaluation criteria
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Steering committee process

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Project charter is required for new projects
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Purpose of project charter
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Business case to justify the project
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Document project parameters
Guide project development
Acquire formal authorization to proceed to the next step in the project
Authorize the use of resources to develop detailed project plan
Sufficient information to help the steering committee make their decision
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Standard template
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Generally brief: 3 to 5 pages
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Purpose of project
Benefits
Project owners
In scope
Out of scope
Constraints
Assumptions
Options
Resourcing
Milestones
Work breakdown structure
Person days needs
Users
Risks
Costs
24

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Two project hurdles:
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Does the project meet any of the institution’s strategic goals?
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If yes, how well does it meet those goals?
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Submitted a few days before meeting to all members
Author(s) attend meeting to answer questions (not present contents)
Steering committee will decide one of the following:
Approval to plan:
Approval to execute:
Approval to spend the resources necessary to develop a detailed project plan (large, complex projects)
Approval to proceed with project execution (small, inexpensive, quick projects)
Approval in principle: Approval in principle to proceed with the project subject to certain conditions. These conditions require follow-up with the steering committee before proceeding with project plan development or project execution.
On hold:
Rejection:
Approval in principle with the project concept, but further work is put on hold until certain conditions are met. No work is to proceed on the project until steering committee judges needed criteria are met.
The project charter does not meet the project evaluation criteria and all work will halt on the project.

Low priority and less than 20 days and low impact and not complex
Schedule request by project office
No additional resources required
Review request by project office
High priority, or more than 20 days, or high impact, or complex
Review of project charter by steering
Submit new request by functional area
Approval
Review of charter by budget committee
Additional resources required
Review of project charter by steering
Rejection
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Resources available
Start work by team
Resources not available
Hold request
Approval
Develop project plan
Rejection
Cancel project or revise charter
Approval
Develop project plan
Rejection
Cancel project or revise charter
Cancel project or revise charter

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Develop a project charter
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Sell your idea
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Justify project
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Convince others
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Steering committee is the other members of the seminar
28

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Linking projects to strategy
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When you have more projects than money and resources, how do you choose?
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Dimensions of the problem:
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Strategic priority
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Return
Risk
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Fit, utility, and balance
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Purpose
Benefit
Initiative 1
Project C
Project B
Project A
Strategy
Purpose
Benefit
Initiative 2
Project E
Project D
Project F
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
High
High
• Decommission of CP6
Risk
Medium
• Internal Summary Reporting
• Automate Portfolio Requirements
• Class Scheduling
Priority
Medium • Fixed Assets and Capital Budgeting
• Investment Management
• Remote Cheque Requisition
• OUAC Upgrades
• Accept Payment for Tuition over the
Web
• Automated Average Calculation for 105
Applicants
• Direct Deposit for Student Refunds
• Enhancing Student Service over the
Web
• Transfer Articulation in DARS
• Automated Equivalency and Load into
DARS
Low • Automated Travel Expense Claims
• Admissions through Web and eCommerce
• Receiving EDI Transcripts
• Document Management + Imaging
• Workflow
• Offline Database & Query Facility
• Banner Parking Management
• Archiving Solutions
Low
• Interface Purchase Requisitions
• Electronic Gradebook
• Interface Library and A/R
• Interface Campus Card with OC
Transpo
• Document Imaging for FAST Reporting
• Direct Deposit for Travel Expenses
• Document Finance Processes
• Remote Access
• eCommerce (e.g. application fees)
• Remote PO Requisitions
• Intranet for Banner Finance
• Test Environment for Millennium
• Registration Enhancements
• Electronically Import OSAP Data
• Connect Single Sign-on
• User Friendly JV Form
• Force Password Change
• System to Support Paul Menton Centre
• Benchmark Other Institutions
• Link Web Audit to Course Calendar &
Registration
• Banner Web for Alumni Research &
Implement
31

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What is a project plan?
Scope planning
Schedule planning
Budget planning
Quality definition
Resource allocation
Communications strategy
Risk management
Vendor relationship

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Document used to used to:
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Guide project execution and control
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Document project planning assumptions
Facilitate communication amongst stakeholders
Define key management review activities
Provide a baseline for project measurement and control
Second stage of approval process for steering committee
Changes over time as project circumstances dictate
Scaleable
Sufficient level of detail for:
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Steering committee to commit resources
Project manager to run the project
33

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All the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully
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Major project scope management processes:
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Planning: written scope statement
Definition: dividing deliverables into smaller, manageable components
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Verification: formalizing acceptance of the project scope
Change Control: managing changes to project scope

35
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What is a WBS?
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Identifies all the tasks in a project
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Each task is one measurable unit of work
Once you can schedule, budget, and assign resources for each task in the list, you have defined the total scope of the project
Understand the whole project by understanding its parts
Used to develop and confirm common understanding of project scope
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How do you get there?
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Hierarchical decomposition
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Start at the top level of project deliverables
Continuously sub-divide deliverables into smaller more manageable components
Stop when you can assign adequate cost and time estimates
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The definition of adequate changes as the project progresses
Engage SME’s in the development through facilitated sessions

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Sample work breakdown structure (WBS), U.S. Department of Defense
36

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Sample work breakdown structure (WBS), software development
37

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Rules of thumb for adequate level of detail
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8/80 rule
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No task should be less than 8 hours or more than 80 hours (1 to 10 days)
Reporting period rule
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No task should be longer than the time between 2 status reporting dates
Smaller is better
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Smaller tasks are more certain, so estimates are more accurate
Smaller tasks can be assigned to less people, improving accountability
Smaller tasks are easier to track progress
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Why develop a WBS?
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Detailed understanding of scope of work
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Basis for monitoring progress
Facilitates accurate cost and schedule estimates
Clarifies work assignments
38

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Changes are inevitable
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Requires management process:
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Document every change request
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Description
Why requested
Who requested, who will do
Action taken
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Assess impact of change
Formally approve/reject
Communicate cost, time, resource effects
Track all activity in change log
39

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Develop a work breakdown structure for your project
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Do at least the first three levels
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Is it understandable?
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Can you explain the key work elements to others?
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Is It useful for dividing the work load across project team members?
40

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Ensure the project is completed on time
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Major scheduling processes:
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Definition: activities to be performed
Sequencing: dependencies amongst activities
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Duration: time needed to do activities
Schedule Development: create the schedule by analyzing activity sequences, durations, and resource needs
Schedule Control: managing schedule changes

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Using tasks from WBS:
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Identify dependencies amongst tasks
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Develop sequence or order of precedence that the tasks must follow
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Mandatory dependencies
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 Hard logic that forces a particular series of steps to be followed in order
Discretionary dependencies
 Preferred logic that suggests a desired series of steps to be followed
External dependencies
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 Relationships between project activities and non-project activities
Milestones
 Checkpoints where a series of dependent tasks converge and terminate
As you structure your WBS tasks into a sequence of steps, you will prefer to diagram their relationships
Don’t worry about time or resources yet

Regardless of resources, the tasks must be executed in the same order
42

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Four types of scheduling dependencies:
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Finish-to-start
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Initiation of successor depends on completion of predecessor
Normal sequence of events
S F
S F
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Finish-to-finish
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Completion of successor depends on completion of predecessor
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Sometimes tasks must be co-terminus
S F
S F
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Start-to-start
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Initiation of one task depends on initiation of another task
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Sometimes tasks need to start at the same time
S F
S F
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Start-to-finish
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Completion of one task is dependent on initiation of another task
S F
S F
43

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Activity On Node diagram:
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Arrow Diagramming Method:
44

45
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Once you have logically sequenced your tasks you can estimate cost and duration of each task
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For each task develop:
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Schedule estimate:
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The time needed or full duration required to complete the task. For example, it may take two days to paint the room, but 5 days to decide on the color – so the duration is 7 days.
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Evaluate human resources available to do the job. If two people are available, and if the work can be evenly divided, then it would take 1 day to paint the room and the task duration declines to 6 days.
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Cost estimate:
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
Total labour required to complete the task
Equipment use (crane needed for 4 hours at $x per hour)
Materials needed by the task (200 bricks needed to build wall)

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What path gives you have zero flexibility?
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If tasks D, E, and F have no slack time, they are called the critical path
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Critical path is:
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Longest duration path through the network
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Minimum amount of time the project can take
Becomes managerial focus
46

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Precedence diagram and tasks durations work together to build initial schedule
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You know the order of tasks and how long they will take
47
Start
Task A
2 days
Task B
4 days
Task C
4 days
Task E
12 days
Task D
1 days
Finish

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Start at the beginning and calculate the earliest start and earliest finish for each task
Start
ES=1 EF=2
Task A
2 days
ES=1 EF=4
Task B
4 days
ES=5 EF=8
Task C
4 days
ES=5 EF=16
Task E
12 days
ES=9 EF=9
Task D
1 days
Finish

The earliest finish date for the whole project is 16 days
48

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Now you know the earliest possible finish is after 16 days

Work backwards from is latest possible finish date, calculating latest start and latest finish dates
Start
ES=1 EF=2
Task A
2 days
LS=10 LF=11
ES=1 EF=4
Task B
4 days
LS=1 LF=4
ES=5 EF=8
Task C
4 days
LS=12 LF=15
ES=5 EF=16
Task E
12 days
LS=5 LF=16
ES=9 EF=9
Task D
1 days
LS=16 LF=16
Finish
49

50
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How much flexibility do you have in each task? Subtracting the earliest start from the latest start tells you how much “float”, or slack, you have in the schedule
Start
ES=1 EF=2
Task A
2 days
LS=10 LF=11
Float=9
ES=1 EF=4
Task B
4 days
LS=1 LF=4
Float=0
ES=5 EF=8
Task C
4 days
LS=12 LF=15
Float=7
ES=5 EF=16
Task E
12 days
LS=5 LF=16
Float=0
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Task D can start as early as day 9 or as late as day 16
ES=9 EF=9
Task D
1 days
LS=16 LF=16
Float=7
Finish

51
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Next step is to assign resources
Adjust the schedule to the reality of limited resources and optimise use of staff
Adjust the schedule to keep staff busy at a reasonable rate
Over-allocation:

Too many concurrent tasks for staff available

Specialists particularly limited
Under-allocation

Too many resources for concurrent tasks to be done

Re-assignment to other projects with resultant knowledge loss
Process

Forecast resources based on initial schedule
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Identify resource peaks: where are resources working more than 40 hours/week
During peak periods, delay non-critical tasks (ones with float) to periods where there are valleys
Not all peaks may be eliminated, so re-evaluate work
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Consider overtime, adding resources, splitting task into smaller parts to spread out load across staff (add budget)
Review completion dates (add time)

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Sample project network diagram
52

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Sample Gantt chart
OUAC
HSA
EMAS
Letter generation
Transfer artic.
DARS
Interfaces e-Visions
ESIS/UAR
UGAFA
53

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Once the project is started and a baseline is created, you need to focus on where you are going, not where you’ve been
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An up-to-date project schedule serves as a radar screen for potential problems

Critical path issues created by missed deadlines
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Resource allocation conflicts created by workload estimation variances from actuals
54

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Updated Gantt chart
OUAC
HSA
EMAS
Letter generation
Transfer artic.
DARS
Interfaces e-Visions
ESIS/UAR
UGAFA
Feb. 24
55


Build the schedule for your project

Draw a Gantt chart for your WBS showing:

Tasks

Durations

Dependencies

Is it reasonable?

Does it clarify milestones and deadlines?

Can project team members use it to plan their work?
56

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Library of all project documents/knowledge

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Web site
Database
File directory
Continual update & access by all team members
Need a central person to coordinate, prune, and publish
Key components

Project charter
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Plan
Statuses
Schedule
Budget
Risk plan
Issue log
Scope documents
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66

67

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“While most project management groups are good at capturing lessons learned and storing them in some way, the step where knowledge management fails is in the transfer of that knowledge to future projects.”
69
Capture
(75%)
Store
(62%)
Retrieve
(55%)
Apply
(25%)

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Techniques used to develop approximate plan values

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Need to create realistic time & cost estimates
Every project is unique, so there is no way to build an exact estimation
New staff = unknown productivity
New product = unknown activities & complexities
New technology = learning curve and unpredictable reliability
At the beginning of a project it is difficult to foresee the volume and degree of changes
Business cases tend to over-sell the benefits and under-estimate the costs for the sake of being approved, create reality-expectation gap
Accurate estimates are most critical at the beginning of the project when mistakes are most easily corrected, but …
Accuracy improves over the life of the project as experience grows
71
Overestimates
Underestimates
Time

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Analogous estimating

Top down, using the actual costs of previous, similar projects from internal lessons learned databases or commercial databases
Parametric estimating

Use a rule of thumb, for example a 2,000 sq.ft. house will cost $200k to build so your
3,000 sq.ft. project home will cost $300k
Bottom-up estimating


Develop a separate estimate for each activity and roll them up
Most effort & most accurate
Rolling wave (phased gate) estimates

Detailed estimate for current project phase and rough estimates for future phases
Expert judgment

Leverage experience of others who have worked on similar projects
Vendor bid analysis

Send out a request for proposal and compare bids (allow for profit margin)
In all cases, the staff doing the work need to develop the estimate

Build understanding & commitment
72

73
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
During project start-up, there will be pressure to cut estimates
Once the scope is developed and , schedule and cost are estimated there will be continuous and inevitable pressure to:


Increase scope

Reaction: increase cost and/or schedule
Shorten schedule

Reaction: increase cost and/or decrease scope
Time
Cost
Scope

Lower cost

Reaction: decrease scope
At some point, these constraints will be squeezed to their limits (law of diminishing marginal returns)


“The first casualty in war is truth” …
“The last casualty in projects is quality …”
Time Scope
Quality
Cost


Ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget

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Manage projects like a start-up business
Structured budget into functional accounts

For example, allowed tracking by sub-projects or by vendors

Create accounts that are meaningful for tracking purposes
Regularly develop forecast based on actual-to-budget variance trends
Regular reporting

Report monthly on actuals against budget and forecast

Review financial data monthly to identify variances and act if necessary
75

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Project management has traditional tools for managing schedule (e.g. Gantt charts) and budget (e.g. spreadsheets)
How do you relate budget performance to schedule progress?
Earned Value Analysis attempts to do it
A little tricky to understand and difficult to communicate to stakeholders
Uses 3 measures:

Planned value:

The part of the approved cost estimate you planned to spend on the scheduled activity during the period



What you planned to spend at this point in time
Actual cost:

The real costs incurred in accomplishing the scheduled activity during the period

What you actually spent on the work completed
Earned value:


The value of the actual work completed during the period based on estimate from original plan
What you planned to spend for the work completed
76

Cost
Variance
Schedule
Variance
77


Create a budget for your project

Use estimating techniques to predict project costs

Account for timelines in schedule

Use meaningful account names

Identify key project cost elements

Where is the bulk of funding required?

Where will you source the funding?
78


Ensure that the project will satisfy the needs it was intended to meet

Major project quality management processes:



Quality Planning: identifying quality standards and how to satisfy them
Quality Assurance: evaluating if project will satisfy quality standards
Quality Control: monitoring project results for compliance and eliminating problems


Quality policy

Formal definition of quality to the organization and project

Conformance to requirements: project produces what it said it would produce

Fitness for use: product or service satisfies real needs

Prevention over inspection

Management responsible for providing resources necessary to succeed

Plan-do-check-act … plan for variances, measure them, and do something about them
80


How to develop quality policy

Product definition: expectation of what the project will produce

Standards & regulations: industry standards




Cost/benefit: how much are you willing to spend for a desired level of quality
Benchmarking: comparison of quality practices
Experiments: statistical sampling
Cause & effect diagramming: map out interactions that drive defects
81


Quality management plan:

A system designed to manage project quality

“the organisational structure, responsibilities, procedures, processes, and resources needed to implement quality management” ISO 9000
82


Develop a quality statement for your project

What overarching quality principles do want to apply?

Do you have a plan for testing?

How much quality do you want?

Are there any quality tradeoffs?
83


Make the most effective use of the people involved with the project

Major processes:



Organizational Planning: roles, responsibilities, reporting relationships
Staff Acquisition: getting the human resources needed
Team Development: developing individual and group competencies to enhance project performance


Nothing unusual about project management human resources

Use standard HR practices management practices

Organizational planning

Staff management plan: when and how resources will enter and leave project


Organizational Breakdown
Structure (OBS): which organizational units are assigned which work packages – mapping people to the WBS
Responsibility assignment matrix: specific roles by project phase

Collocation is the #1 team building best practice for projects
85





Continuous intellectual capital growth is the only sustainable competitive advantage
Exceptional educational opportunities (training, certification)
Assigning work becomes a balance between the needs of the staff and the needs of the organization
Continuous feedback based on immediate assignment completion

Separating the management of work from the management of people focuses attention on staffing issues
Project
Organization
Resource
Manager
Functional
Partner
Functional
Partner
Functional
Partner
Project
Manager
Project
Manager
Project
Manager
Pool of project staff and SME’s
86


Generation, collection, dissemination, and storage of project information

Links people, ideas, and information

Major processes:

Communications Planning: who needs what, when, and how

Information Distribution: making needed information available


Performance Reporting: status, progress, and forecasting
Administrative Closure: information to formalize completion


Who needs what information, when will they need it, how will it be given to them, and by whom

Review stakeholder’s information needs and develop a plan to satisfy those needs

Communications plan

Procedures for collecting, filing, and disseminating project information


Distribution structure to whom what info will flow (e.g. who gets status reports)
Description of the information to be distributed: format, context, level of detail, and conventions



Timetable for each type of communication
Methods of access for “pull” information
Plan for updating the communications plan
88


Weekly status of project formally documented

Written report



Simple focus on progress, issues, and next steps
Encourage realistic reporting
Bullet list for quick scanning

Results

Awareness creates greater confidence in project



No surprises
No secrets
No silver bullets

Meeting minutes are not status reports
89


Project manager reviews accomplishments, issues, and plans

Forum for:

Discussing issues



Creates shared awareness of status of all project activity
Opportunity to question anything
Debate on approach to any project activities

Identify issues requiring escalation to steering committee

Policy


Funding
Diplomatic support
90


Consistent key messaging

Demonstrate, don’t speculate

Match expectations with reality

No “rah-rah” messages

Its better to say nothing until you have something to show
91


Develop a resourcing plan for your project

What skills do you need?

When do you need them?

Do you expect any resource acquisition issues?

Develop a communications plan

Who are your target audiences?

What messages do you wish to convey?

Timing of messages?
92


Events that may happen in the future that could impact project objectives

Environmental assessment
• Ice storms and power outages
• Increasingly powerful viruses
• Terror threats
Risk assessment
• Probability of occurrence
• Impact of potential loss
• Tolerance
Continuity plans
• Triggers & symptoms
• Escalation process
• Action plans
• Redundancy/fail-over technology
Risk options
• Avoidance
• Transference
• Mitigation
• Acceptance
94


Perform risk assessment

Step 1 - Risk management plan developed


Step 2 - Risk assessment team assembled
Step 3 - Risk generation process executed




Step 4 - Risk list rationalized
Step 5 - Risks ranked and prioritized
Step 6 - Response plans written
Step 7 - Risk review process established and running monthly

Institutionalize ongoing risk assessment


Ongoing risk reviews
Execution of risk response plans if necessary
95


Step 1 - Risk Management Plan

Described how you will implement risk management

Specific contents

Risk management methodology
 Approach
 Roles


Timing
Reporting




Risk categories
Risk definitions
Response planning
Monitoring & control
Approve
Approach
Brainstorm
Risks
Review
List
Characterize
Risks
Prioritize
Risks
Response
Planning
Monitor &
Control
96


Step 2 - Risk Assessment Team

Key project leaders

Project SME’s

Risk managers

Internal auditors

External risk experts (consultants)
97


Step 3 - Risk Generation Process

Hold brainstorming sessions with full team

Use standard risk categories to generate ideas

E.g. Technology, Quality, Assumption, Schedule, etc.

Raw risks generated through these sessions
98


Step 4 - Rationalized Risk List

Remove redundant risks

Some risks are really issues

Some risks are symptoms of larger problems

Create summary risk list
99


Step 5 - Ranked Risks

Team voting by:

Impact of the potential loss
Degree of impact Financial estimate
Low
Medium
High
Very High
Less than $250,000
$250,000 to $1,000,000
$1,000,000 to $3,000,000
$3,000,000 and over

Probability of occurrence
Degree of probability
Low
Medium
High
Very High
Probability estimate
1– 25% (unlikely)
26–50% (possible)
51–75% (more likely than not)
75-100% (quite probable)
Numerical value
1
4
16
32
Numerical value
1
2
3
4
100


Step 5 - Ranked Risks (Continued)

Review by steering committee

Apply common sense to adjust unusual risks
Score
0 – 10
10 – 20
20 – 30
30 – 40
40 – 60
Grade
C
B
E
D
A
101


Step 6 - Response Plans

Write response plans for each of the risks:

Name


Description
Initiation


Triggers
Symptoms



Options
 Avoidance
 Transference
 Mitigation
 Acceptance
Action plan
Secondary risks
102


Step 7 - Risk Review Process

Regular review of each risk by project team

Review of risk list with steering committee

New risks can be added

Fully resolved risks can be removed

Ranking of individual risks may change
103


Create a risk management plan your project

Identify key risks

Probability of occurrence?

Degree of impact?
104


Acquire goods and services from an outside organization

Major processes:

Procurement Planning: determining what to buy

Solicitation Planning: documenting requirements and sources




Solicitation: obtaining quotations, bids, offers, or proposals
Source Selection: choosing a vendor
Contract Administration: managing the relationship
Contract Closeout: completion of the contract




Outsource anything that is not a core competency
Some projects are entirely implemented through contracts
Process:


Statement of work: clear detailed specification of what you want contractor to do
Solicitation document:

Bid or quotation for price based decisions


Procurement document for proposals
 IFB: Invitation For Bid


RFP: Request For Proposal
RFQ: Request For Quotation
Set evaluation criteria:





Understanding your requirements
Full lifecycle costing
Technical capability
Financial capability
Managerial strength
106


Process (continued):

Distribute solicitation document:




Qualified seller lists
Bidder conferences: meeting to clarify proposal
Advertising
Merx

Select a contractor:

Concurrent negotiations with short listed vendors


Weighting system: quantify evaluation criteria
Screening system: minimal requirement threshold



Independent estimates: external cross-check of pricing
Develop contract
Implement contract change control system
107


Pay your bills

Focused on developing long term relationships

Today’s negotiation creates setting for the next negotiation



You have to live with the vendor for the life of the project
Be honest
Everything you learned in Kindergarten applies here

Most projects have multiple vendors

Some projects exist only to coordinate multiple vendors
108


Decision making and leadership

• Sharing information (“Open the kimono”)
• Education of issues (before resolving issues)
• Mutuality-of-interest problem solving
• Approve/request policy
• Authorize funding
• Monitor progress and metrics
• Realize benefits
Projects exist to realize the aspirations of their stakeholders
• To govern the selection, development, & implementation of projects
• To continually improve the governance process
• To resolve institution-wide project issues
• To generate strategic change initiatives
110


Most important project manager leadership characteristics (PM Network):
Industry experience
6%
Technical knowledge
6%
Strategic vision
19%
Soft skills
69%
111


Typically, project managers have no one reporting to them through traditional hierarchy

Key leadership levers are:

Influence



Reporting level
Expertise
Budget control
112

113




Implementing : developing, integrating, and installing the system
Post Go-Live : managing the environment immediately after implementation
Stabilizing : improving control and management processes
Leveraging : realizing productivity and other benefits of the system

Go
Live
Date
Project
Shock
Zone
Project
Benefit
Zone
Productivity
Baseline
114

Kick off
Reality
Trough
Recognition
Go
Live
Date
Leveraging
Stabilizing
Implementing
115

116

117

118


Thank you

Course evaluations


Planning for staff transition back to original departments

Who goes where and when do they go there?

Culture shock to go back to your old process/operational job
120


If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called a project, would it?

The most incomprehensible thing about projects is that they are comprehensible.

Anyone who has never made a mistake on a project has never tried anything new.

Try not to deliver a successful project but rather try to deliver a valuable project.

You do not really understand a project issue unless you can explain it to your grandmother.

Sometimes one pays most for the project solutions one gets for nothing.
121

Title
Project Management
Author
Harold Kerzner
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
Project Management
Institute
Eric Verzuh The Fast Forward MBA in Project
Management
Radical Project Management Rob Thomsett
Textbook
Comments
Roadmap
Easy read
Pragamatic
122