Project Management

Final student lecture in RAL series
 ‘Port & cigars after the meal?’

What is project management
 Text book definition
 Relevance to big science

Examples of projects
 PhD thesis
 Detector R&D
 e.g. Calorimetry RD
 Detector construction
 e.g. ATLAS SCT

Project management concepts & tools
 Scope, Cost, Time
 Risk
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Who needs project management - Eurotunnel?
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Who needs project management - Eurofighter?
85. MoD's memorandum stated:[129]
Typhoon (formerly Eurofighter) is an agile fighter aircraft
that will serve as the cornerstone of the RAF's future fighting
capability…..
The in-service date for Typhoon (defined as the date of
delivery of the first aircraft to the RAF ) was achieved in
2003—some 54 months late. The current forecast cost of
Typhoon is £19,018 million, compared to £16,670 million
approved at Main Gate.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Who needs project management - ATLAS?
 There are scientific & technical uncertainties with scientific projects.
 Large projects with many partners or stakeholders are difficult to control
 It is “not acceptable” to screw up large projects involving public money
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
What is project management?
..if you have no idea start with
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management

Project management is the discipline of organizing and managing
resources in such a way that these resources deliver all the work required
to complete a project within defined scope, time, and cost constraints. A
project is a temporary and one-time endeavor undertaken to create a
unique product or service. This property of being a temporary and a onetime undertaking contrasts with processes, or operations, which are
permanent or semi-permanent ongoing functional work to create the same
product or service over and over again. The management of these two
systems is often very different and requires varying technical skills and
philosophy, hence requiring the development of project management.

The first challenge of project management is ensuring that a project is
delivered within the defined constraints. The second, more ambitious,
challenge is the optimized allocation and integration of the inputs needed
to meet those pre-defined objectives. The project, therefore, is a carefully
selected set of activities chosen to use resources (time, money, people,
materials, energy, space, provisions, communication, quality, risk, etc.) to
meet the pre-defined objectives.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
What is project management?
Scope
Risk
Time
M. Tyndel,
Cost
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Risk

Consider what the risks are & document
 A “risk register”

Analyse the impact
 Documented in risk register

Mitigate
 Have an escape route

Control
 Regular reviews & reporting

Note – Auditors like to ‘quantify risk’
 Definition = probability x impact
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Example 1 – PhD thesis

Scope
 Gain PhD - become qualified as a researcher

 Further ones education through post-graduate courses
 Undertake original research and publish results
 Pass final exam (“viva”) to gain PhD
Time
 Externally imposed constraints
 Total time = 3 ( or 4 years)
 Course work for 1 year in first year
 Research time ~ 18months can depend on several factors

1. Others providing equipment, data ….
2. Having the required knowledge and expertise etc
Cost
 Well defined for this example with
 Salary agreed in advance for the 3 years
 Research tools (computing, lab space, travel…) provided by the University

Risks
 Having an “inadequate supervisor” or an “inappropriate” project
 Not knowing how much work is needed to complete research
 Personal issues – illness
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
PhD example - Gantt

Gantt – A tool to list tasks, show dependencies & make resources explicit
 Tool = Microsoft Project
ID
Task Name
Duration
1
PhD start
0 mons
Mon 02/10/06
2
Lectures
9 mons
Mon 02/10/06 1
3
Technical project
4
1rst year exam/review
5
Physics analysis
6
Write-up
12 mons
0 mons
18 mons
21 m ons
Predecessors
Mon 19/03/07 2FS-3 mons
Fri 31/08/07 1FS+12 mons
Mon 03/09/07 4
Mon 26/11/07
7
Introduction
8
Technical project
3 mons
Mon 18/02/08 3
9
Analysis
4 mons
Mon 19/01/09 5
Final corrections
2 mons
Mon 11/05/09 9
Mon 06/07/09 6
10
1 mon
Start
11
"Float"
3 mons
12
PhD complete
0 mons
M. Tyndel,
Mon 26/11/07 3SS+3 mons,5SS+3 mons
Fri 25/09/09 11
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
PhD example – Gantt/Critical path

Critical path analysis – shows in red the tasks which determine the end date
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
PhD example Gantt/Resource summary
Q4
Year 1
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Year 2
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
200%
200%
300%
Year 3
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
200%
100%
100%
Year 4
Q1
Q2
Q3
100%
100%
Q4
Year 5
Q1
Q2
Q3
300%
250%
200%
150%
100%
50%
Peak Units:
100%
Me
M. Tyndel,
Overallocated:
200%
200%
100%
Allocated:
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Q4
PhD example - summary

This project is relatively “simple” because of the small number of independent
tasks and people involved.

In “project management speak”
1. Analysed the project and split it into work-packages (WP)
2. Estimated the time needed for each WP and the overall time
3. Documented the project to enable the stakeholders to agree to the plan
 Stakeholders are – the student, the supervisor/university and the funding
agency/PPARC
4. Estimated the resources needed
 ~5 fte years of student effort (3 years available!)
 The full economic cost would = salary, equipment, computing, travel (typically 2-3 x
salary)
5. Introduced contingency by planning to complete the work early
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
PhD example - summary

Risks:
 Analysed the risks (examples)
 An “inadequate supervisor” or an “inappropriate” project
 Probability low; impact high
 Action: Review at end of first year
 Research can be open-ended i.e. difficult to estimate how much work is needed
 Probability high; impact medium
 Actions:
2 research topics for thesis (1 technical; 1 analysis)
Agree to restrict scope of research to time available
Avoid “mission creep” i.e. stop investigating at appropriate time
Factor in a time contingency
 Personal issues – illness
 Probability low; impact medium
 Action: None planed – escape route would be to apply for more funding
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
return to Wikipedia
Project Management Activities

Project Management is composed of several different types of activities such as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
M. Tyndel,
Planning the work or objectives
Analysis & Design of objectives
Assessing and controlling risk (or Risk management)
Estimating resources
Allocation of resources
Organizing the work
Acquiring human and material resources
Assigning tasks
Directing activities
Controlling project execution
Tracking and Reporting progress
Analyzing the results based on the facts achieved
Defining the products of the project
Forecasting future trends in the project
Quality Management
Issues Management
Issues solving
Defect prevention
Project Closure meet
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Wikipedia
Project management artefacts

Most projects, to be successful, must adequately document objectives and deliverables. These documents
are a mechanism to align sponsors, clients, and project team's expectations.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Project Charter
Business case / Feasibility study
Scope statement / Terms of reference
Project Management plan / Project Initiation Document
Work Breakdown structure
Change Control Plan
Risk management plan
Communications Plan
Governance Model
Risk Register
Issue Log
Action Item List
Resource Management Plan
Project schedule
Status Report
Responsibility assignment matrix
Database of risks
Database of lessons learned
Stakeholder Analysis
These documents are normally hosted on a shared resource (i.e., Intranet web page) and are available for
review by the project's stakeholders. Changes or updates to these documents are explicitly outlined in
the project's configuration management (or change control plan).
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Project control variables
Wikipedia

Project Management tries to gain control over variables such as risk:
1. Risk is defined as potential points of failure. Most negative risks (or
potential failures) can be overcome or resolved, given enough planning
capabilities, time, and resources. According to some definitions (including
PMBOK Third Edition) risk can also be categorized as "positive--"
meaning that there is a potential opportunity, e.g., complete the project
faster than expected.
2.
Customers (either internal or external project sponsors), external
organizations (such as government agencies and regulators) can dictate
the extent of three variables: time, cost, and scope. The remaining
variable (risk) is managed by the project team, ideally based on solid
estimation and response planning techniques. Through a negotiation
process among project stakeholders, an agreement defines the final
objectives, in terms of time, cost, scope, and risk, usually in the form of a
charter or contract.
3.
To properly control these variables a good project manager has a depth
of knowledge and experience in these four areas (time, cost, scope, and
risk), and in six other areas as well: integration, communication, human
resources, quality assurance, schedule development, and procurement.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Example 2 – Calorimetry R&D for Linear collider

Scope
 Develop ‘active pixel sensors’ as a tool for a ‘particle flow’ approach to calorimetry
 Break down the project into work-packages
1.
2.
3.
4.

Time

Defined by requirement for concept to be proven for LC TDR in 2010


Physics requirement and specification
Active pixel design
Active pixel evaluation
Evaluate prototype calorimeter module in test-beam
Limits scope of R&D
Cost
 Cost = procurement, manpower (measured in fte) and travel

Risks
 Failure or delay in any one work-package causes the project to fail
 Procurement costs exceed estimates
 Management contingency (held by PPARC)
 Insufficient or loss of expert manpower
 Regular progress reviews
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Particle Flow Algorithm for calorimetry
HCAL
ECAL
Tracker
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Active Pixel Sensors for Calorimetry


CMOS active pixel sensors are fully integrated sensors and electronics
RD project is to develop a device which is sensitive to tracks and has very fine
granularity:
 Provide calorimetry in the usual way by counting tracks
 and all single tracks to be identified and measured precisely
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Example 2 RD for silicon sensors for CALICE
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Example 2 – CALICE example

Project Management activities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
PPARC requirements
Planning the work or objectives
Project description and plan
Analysis & Design of objectives
Assessing and controlling risk
Risk register
Estimating resources
Grant resource request with FEC
Allocation of resources
Defined resource sharing between WPs & institutes
Organizing the work
Set up both a WP & an institute organisation
Acquiring human and material resources
Assigning tasks
Directing activities
Some combination of - PI, Spokesman, PM
Controlling project execution
Tracking and Reporting progress
Regular reporting to Over-sight committee
Analyzing the results based on the facts achieved
Defining the products of the project
Forecasting future trends in the project
Quality Management
ISO 9000 for engineering
Issues Management
Issues solving
Defect prevention
Project Closure meet
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
CALICE example - summary

Differences from Example-1 (PhD)
 Scope of project is initially defined from within project
 Scope can be modified by funding body
 Project is explicitly broken into sub-projects or work-packages
 Different people in the individual work-packages
 Understand interfaces between work-packages
 Introduce reviews to monitor and control work-packages
 Several institutes/groups involved
 Needs an organisational structure
 Needs a decision taking mechanism
 Project resources are controlled externally (but managed internally)
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Example 3 – The ATLAS Silicon Tracker (SCT)

Scope
 Design and build tracker for a general purpose detector for LHC
 Again scope was initially defined from within the ATLAS project

 Scope evolved and was modified on the basis of R&D
 Scope modified in the context of overall detector optimisation
 Scope modified by resources and expertise available.
Time
 Schedule evolved over the first few years

 Bottom-up: Time needed to develop technical solutions specifically for SCT
 Top-down: Constraints from the LHC framework
Cost
 Total funding & resources available were a complicated constraint
 Funding from 11 separate funding agencies

 Individual profiles and procedures to be followed
Risks




M. Tyndel,
Technical e.g. at start-up no radiation sensors or readout available
Organisational – many work-packages and funding agencies
Financial – no margin for cost over-runs
People: Maintaining coherence with a large team over a long time
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
SCT tracker projects – difference from above examples

Scale of the projects
 Physically large
 ~ 105 separate components
 Technically complex
 Many R&D programs – sensors, ASICs, Readout, Materials….
 But with strong interfaces
 Resources required
 £20M of purchases
 ~2,000 fte of in-house effort from 40 institutes

Management complex
 Reporting to 11 funding agencies and to the overall ATLAS project
 Taking technical decisions between 40 institutes (200 physicists)
 Sub-dividing and organising work
 People!
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Example 3 – The ATLAS Silicon Tracker
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Tracker Design Choices

Design choices are fixed by physics
requirements.
 Sounds simple but, in general, an
increase in performance improves
the physics and an increase in
performance costs….

Performance variables include:
 Number , size & position of the
detecting elements
 Measurement precision
 Transparency of the tracker
(%X0)
Cost & constraints include:
 Resources – finite and fixed
 Time available - fixed
 Technology available (or likely to
be available) - constraint
M. Tyndel,
100.0%
Performance

Resource constraint
120.0%
80.0%
60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
0.0%
0
0.5
Graduate Lecture – Project management
1.5
1
2
2.5
Cost
Feb 21st , RAL
Example-1 System choices : Layout & material

System optimisation
 1. No. of measurements fixed = 4
 2. Layout to get evenly spaced points
with barrel/endcap split at 450
 3. Opted for 4 perfect, hermetic layers.
 4. Detailed design was “Bottom-up”
starting from sensors/ASICs

Advantages:
 Minimised silicon area
 Provided overlaps for alignment

Cost:
 Complexity of the design &
assembly
 High cost of perfect components
(>99%)
 High cost of building ‘perfect (i.e.
99% good channels)’ modules
 Complexity of services
M. Tyndel,
Graduate
Lecture – Project
“Let no one ignorant
of geometry
enter”management
– Plato
Feb 21st , RAL
Example-2 Technical choices : Sensors


In 1990s no sensors had the required
performance:

GaAs investigated because of
anticipated radiation tolerance

MSGCs investigated because of
anticipated lower cost

Silicon strip options considered
 n-in-p (inversion)
 double-sided (material, cost)
 p-in-n
 DC coupled
 AC coupled
 6” wafers or 4” wafers
 Oxygenated
Close collaboration with industry was the
key to success.

Sensors with strip yield close to
100% & delivered to agreed schedule
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Example-3 Technical choices : ASICs


In 1990s no proven radiation hard
technology available with the
required performance.
 Analogue
 de-convolution to get speed
 Digital
 2 chip-set
 Binary
 2 chip set
 Bi-CMOS ABCD
 ABCD3-T
During 1990s may radiation hard
foundries closed and there was the
great discovery that deep sub-micron
processes were radiation hard.

Production of ASICs on
specialised process was ‘tough’
and yield ~ 26%
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
ATLAS SCT tracker
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
ATLAS SCT Schedule
1997: resources fixed
Evolution of schedule end-date
complicated decision making
st , RAL
“The
success of most things depends
onLecture
knowing
how long
it will take to succeed”
M. Tyndel,
Graduate
– Project
management
Feb –21Montesqui
CMS tracker assembly organisation
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
People
Once upon a time there was a Red rowing team.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
This Red team agreed to hold an annual rowing race
with a Green team. Each team would contain 8 men.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Both teams worked really hard to get in the best shape.
On the day of the first race, both teams were ready to win.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
FINISH
The Green team won by 1 mile!
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
The Red team was crushed in their defeat, but they were determined to
win the race next year. So they established a panel of auditors to
observe the situation and ascertain if there were any differences
between the teams.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
After several weeks of detailed intelligence gathering, the auditors
could find only one difference; the Green team had 7 rowers and 1
captain...
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
… and the Red team had 7 captains and 1 rower!
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Un-perplexed by the raw data, upper management showed unexpected
wisdom: they hired a consulting company to analyze the data and suggest a
solution that would enable the Red team to win next year.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Like sharks getting the scent of reorganization blood, upper
management wasted no time in restructuring the Red team into
4 Captains, led by 2 Managers, reporting to 1 Senior Director with a
dotted line to the rower. Besides that, in a blaze of unrestricted
inspiration, they suggested they might be inclined to improve the
rower’s working environment by a non-monetary reward and
recognition scheme if there was improved performance by the
rower.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
FINISH
The next year, the Green team won by 2 miles.......
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
The Red team upper management immediately fired the rower
based on his unsatisfactory performance.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
After several months the consultants came to
the conclusion that the ratio of captains to
rowers was the problem in the Red team.
Based on this analysis a solution was proposed:
the structure of the Red team has to be
changed!
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
A bonus was paid to the Captains, Directors, and Managers for the
strong leadership and motivation they showed during the preparation
phase and as an incentive for them to find a better rower for the
next race.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
The consulting company prepared a new analysis of the
restructuring activity, which showed that the strategy
was good, the motivation was great, the restructuring
was executed correctly, but the tool used (which was not
included in the original data) was sub-standard and had to
be improved.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Currently the Red team management is having a new boat designed;
and to demostrate fiscal and HR dexterity for stockholders they also
outsourced the rowing to India.
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
Summary - Project Management

‘Port and Cigars’ analogy
 PM lecture concludes the main meal
of a series of lectures on
experimental techniques.
 An opportunity to hear the words
and to reflect on what is needed to
achieve project.
 “…and now you’ve heard it before”
 I hope that
1. it gives you confidence to learn by
trying
or
2. It encourages you to take a real
course
e.g. http://www.prince2.com/whatisp2.html#processmodel
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL
..but it is more fun to look at Wikiquotes











"The more you plan the luckier you get. "
"If it can go wrong it will - Murphy's law. “
"Anything that can be changed will be changed until there is no time left to change
anything.“
"Work expands to fill the time available for its completion - Parkinson's law.“
"A minute saved at the start is just as effective as one saved at the end."
"A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning."
"Activity is not achievement."
"The sooner you get behind schedule, the more time you have to make it up.“
"Any project can be estimated accurately (once it's completed)."
"There's never enough time to do it right first time but there's always enough time to go
back and do it again."
M. Tyndel,
Graduate Lecture – Project management
Feb 21st , RAL