Module 15 - LinkedIn - Project Management Foundations: Schedules

Put activities in order

- Activity dependencies or links - Diagramming dependencies --- Network diagram: each activity appears in a box with name and other activity info - arrows drawn between boxes are links between activities --- Gant Chart: activities on left, time scale on the right, bars on time scale show when activities are scheduled --- Linked Activities: predecessors & successors *** Create outline (predecessor) - trigger - build template (successor) *** 2nd half of dependency type? finish-to-start (most are this way) *** finish-to-finish: finish of one triggers finish of another *** start-to-finish (does not happen very often) shift cannot finish until another person's shift starts (i.e. cashiers)

Handling lag in dependencies

- Add lag to dependency between tasks. - Lag for non-work delays (i.e. time concrete needs to cure) include note explaining all lags. - Add a new activity rather than a lag. - Don't use lag to represent buffers (i.e. risk events) - Negative Lag (also called lead): overlaps two activities DON"T USE NEGATIVE LAG

Procure resources

- Ask HR, manager or other project managers for help. - Add time to plan before project work is supposed to start. In House Resources -- Identify existing procurement process -- Finalize commitments by identifying specific people with required skills Outside Resources -- bids -- choose vendor -- signing contract

Best practices for sequencing activities.

- Avoid applying date constraints to activities unless absolutely necessary. - Don't add dependencies to summary activities. - Use the type of dependency that best models the relationship between two activities.

Specialized Approaches to Scheduling

- Critical Chain - Iterative and agile project management

The Critical Path

- Key to delivering your project on time. Changes to dates on the critical path change the project finish date. Total Float Time an activity can move in the schedule without affecting the project finish date. Zero Total Float cannot move earlier or later without affecting project finish date

Replace Resources

- Reduces over allocations - Can shorten the schedule - Additional resources must be available Considerations for Replacements - could take longer - could deliver lower quality - need support from existing people - could cost more

Project - fundamental factors

- Scope - Time - Cost - Quality - Resources

Include schedule contingency time

- Uncertainty and risk - Don't add contingency time to work package activities. Makes it difficult to manage. Add separate contingency activities. - Add for specific reasons ** learning curve ** new technology ** bad weather - Add contingency activity to the end of sequence activities. - Add buffers at the end of each phase and end of the project. - Let buffers absorb delay. - Schedule contingency time.

Methods for estimating activities

- Use past performance - Ask people who are doing the work. - Ask the experts - If there is a doubt, get a second opinion. - Delphi Method - more heads are better than one - Program Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT) - Produce optimistic, pessimistic and most likely estimates. --- good choice when a project is unfamiliar or carries uncertainty

What is a project?

- endeavor to achieve a goal - definite beginning and end - often has a budget

Deliverables

- published training - launched website

Improve schedules

1 - Get training on building schedules 2 - Institute quality reviews 3 - Launch processes to collect accurate data 4 - Leverage a project assistant

Improve schedules

1 - Get training on building schedules. 2 - Institute quality reviews. 3 - Launch processes to collect accurate data. 4 - Leverage a project assistant.

How a Schedule Helps

1 - Includes what has to get done, by whom, and in what order 2 - Shows how the project parts fit together (communication tool) 3 - Shows how the project is performing 4 - Shows what stakeholders should expect 5 - Makes managing work easy to understand & manage 6 - Reflects changes and forecasts

Methods for Steady Workloads

1 - lengthen assignments 2 - delay assignments 3 - split assignments Be sure to document the decisions and solutions you use.

Felix needs to define a delay from the finish of one activity to the start of another and the delay does not represent work. What is the best way to model this situation?

Add lag from the dependency predecessor to the successor.

Baseline the schedule.

Baseline changes become change requests. Saving a Baseline - Documents saved in a baseline folder - Edit copy of baseline document - Flag as change requests

Update progress

Best practices Choose the right update frequency - duration - complexity - risk - reporting period Set a status date for each update. What information do you collect? Duration or work? - Duration is easier to update, but does not provide as much accuracy. -- Activity name & ID -- Actual or scheduled start date -- Actual finish date if complete -- Actual duration or work -- Remaining duration or work Verify Schedule Integrity - actual start & finish earlier than status date - actual work occurs before status date - incomplete work scheduled after status date - unstarted tasks start after the status date Manage Schedule - add activities - remove unneeded activities Review Schedule - plans to resolve issues - document schedule update

Organizing Project Work

Choose one or all - Deliverable - Phase (if there are go/no-go decisions at the ends of phases) - Group (group, department or teams that do the work) Activities stay the same, regardless of how it is organized.

Pay more to shorten a schedule (if finish date is important)

Crashing - spending money to shorten duration Crashing Technique - add resources to an activity - pay overtime - charge for faster delivery - pay more for experienced people Critical Path tasks Fewer tasks to crash - keep to a minimum Find Cost-Effective Tasks to Crash - Lowest crash cost per week

Replace generic resources with people

Estimation assumptions introduce risk. Resource Information - Must know these 3 items: 1 - Ask about experience and/or productivity. 2 - Availability 3 - Allocation of project (how much of their time is committed to the project) Use Generic Resources - use average cost - save time editing assignments - more flexibility Downside - Schedule might be less accurate, harder to track.

Too Many or Too Few Critical Tasks

Factors Affecting Total Slack - date constraints - change setting to lowest total slack value in your schedule Factors Creating Gaps in the Critical Path - missing activity dependencies - date constraints - resource calendars

Santino regularly watches for early signs of schedule issues. What is the most important reason for performing this project management activity?

He can take corrective action before the issue gets out of control.

Instead ofa single tester, you have been given a team of three testers. What adjustment should you make to the activities that the testers will work on?

Increase your estimate to account for overhead. ou need to make an adjustment when you switch from a single person to a team.

Define resources in your schedule

Labor resources = Work resources - tracked by time - specify availability: FT or half time Project Cost - specify work resource cost per hour (OT rate too) - Building: Equipment & Facilities --- set up as a work resource (create calendars) Material Resources - tracked by quantity, not time - # you need x cost per unit Non-Work Resources - permits - travel - fixed-price contracts --- specify resource cost - then ready to assign to activities

Change schedule to reduce cost

Less-expensive resources - May take longer - Lengthen tasks to eliminate overtime - Shorten duration to reduce overhead cost - Evaluate changes to reduce cost

Estimate duration and work

Level of Accuracy - forecast length of project and what it will cost - go from rough, to good, to detailed (rolling wave planning) - rough estimate - mid-range estimate (+/-25%) - detailed estimate (take longest to develop), should be close to final numbers (+/-10%) - estimate activity duration or work hours - Duration estimates - need clarification by using work hours

Find schedule problems

Look for tasks that start late. Handle Late Activities - watch non-critical activities - plan to get critical activities back on schedule - research why it is starting late - resolve issues that cause delays Look for tasks that finish late. Work hours increasing beyond original estimates.

Keep an assignment variable fixed

Maintain assignment values based on how you schedule your projects. Fixed work Fixed duration - good choice if you don't assign resources to activities) - added advantage (specify to the accuracy you prefer) - specify work (tool calculates resource units needed) Fixed resource units - rarely used - work & duration take precedent - good for one person (resource unit fixed) works for her Effort Driven Scheduling - total work is fixed - meetings are not controlled by this

Fast-track to shorten a schedule.

Overlap activities so the second activity starts before the first one is finished. - Watch the predecessor for delays - Activities on critical path are candidates. - Choose activities that present the least amount of risk. - Fast-track one pair of activities at a time.

Schedule Management Plan

Procedures for developing, managing, executing and controlling the project schedule. Formal or informal 1 - Choose a method * Critical path * Critical chain * Scrum * Kanban 2 - Choose scheduling tool * Primavera * Microsoft Project, etc. 3 - Accuracy and measurement * Estimates: +/-10%? * Work effort: hours, days or weeks? 4 - Update scheule 5 - Schedule threshold (what triggers corrective action? what variance of baseline versus actual) * Document the schedule management plan details.

Project Schedule Management

Procedures for developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule. - What scheduling tool will you use? - How are you going to measure progress? - Formal & detailed? - Informal & high-level Define activities or tasks. Work that has to be done to deliver the project's results. - Starts when you define your project scope - WBS or work breakdown structure (lowest levels) are detailed items to provide deliverable Sequence Activities Extra Resources & Durations Develop a Schedule -- Baseline schedule - approved schedule with target for delivery Update your risk management plan. Control Schedule Compare original schedule to what actually transpired.

Project Goal

Publish training guide and companion website. - Launch date - July - Software release - June - Project Start Date - March

Reduce scope (last resort)

Reducing Scope = Cutting Activities to deliver the scope Fewer Tasks on Critical Path - shorter schedule - lower labor cost - cost reductions Break Work into Smaller Pieces - Essential scope in first iteration - Additional iterations for remaining scope

Balanced resource assignments variables

Resource Assignments (Work / Duration / Availability) Three Resources You Can Adjust - duration - work (effort) - person hours to complete an activity - resource availability (units) - amount of time someone is allocated to work on an activity Duration = Work / Resource Units -- Set work and duration to calculate units. -- Set work and units to determine duration.

Plan resources at a high level

Resource Plan (aka Staffing Plan) Resource Plan Identification - required skills - materials - equipment - facilities - travel - high-level estimated schedule labor (FTE - full time equivalent - 1 person FT) 1 - Review the plan to look for potential resource shortages. 2 - Review the skills & timing of resources. 3 - Work back to determine state of procurement process.

Proactively manage a schedule

Scope - shortens schedule and reduces cost - cuts least important Time - watch for schedule problems (fast track or stack) Cost - cut labor costs - reduce overhead costs - cut project scope (shorten schedule & reduce cost) - cut least important parts Resources Quality - Dont' cut quality. Risk

Best practices for sequencing activities

Sequencing Activities 1 - Use finish-to-start dependencies most of the time. 2 - Avoid start-to-start and start-to-finish links (rare and confusing). 3 - Use lag ONLY to reflect passage of time. 4 - Avoid negative lag. Try using shorter tasks with finish-to-start links. 5 - Every activity usually should have at least one predecessor and one successor. 6 - Don't link to summary tasks. 7 - Eliminate unnecessary links and circular links. 8 - Avoid date constraints unless absolutely necessary. --- Must Start On and Must Finish On = Inflexible Constraints (hard constraints) --- Use when it's the only way to model when an activity will occur.

Work with remote teams

Set up schedules to reflect time zones & working times. International Teams Advantages - longer work days - provides more resources - access to a broader pool Disadvantages - communication problems Coordinating Remote Teams - conference/video calls - online meetings - communication training - diversity training

Working with part-time workers and teams

Specify availability Specify when people work. Assigning a team

Identifying activities

Starts with a work breakdown structure (WBS). 1 - Make a list of the projects high level deliverables. 2 - Look for lower level deliverables. --- Lowest level deliverables are called work packages --- Add activities not associated with deliverables: project management, supervision, reporting, communication 3 - Identify work required to produce deliverables. -- Name activities using a verb/noun combination. -- Give each activity a work code associated with WBS. 4 - Ensure activities are the right size. -- rule of thumb 8 - 80 hours (1 -10 work days) Continue Building the List of Methods - Assign to one person or a small team - Break down to durations shorter than the reporting period - Ensure activities have a beginning & end Larger Projects - work with team to break down deliverables - hand off sections to other teams - add activities from lower level teams - review the final list with your planning team

Schedule level of detail

Summary Schedule - overview of project Project Schedule - all milestones & deliverables Detailed Schedule - milestones, deliverables & activities to deliver work packages Schedule for Large Project - Training guide master --- training guide detailed schedule --- website detailed schedule

Which statement about the critical path is NOT accurate?

The critical path is the sequent of activities most important to the project customer.

Drew needs to balance a person's workload and has located another person with the skills to do some of the work. What advantage does replacing the resource on some activities have over methods for balancing workloads?

The schedule often doesn't lengthen.

Start-to-start dependencies

The start of one activity controls the start of another activity. - Lag for non-work delays - Now task is longer, review is scheduled to finish before writing is complete (in example). - Preference USE finish-to-finish dependency. - Great ONLY when activities MUST start at the same time (i.e. concrete pouring & leveling) - Identify whether the predecessor's start or finish controls the successor

If the predecessor in a start-to-start dependency ends very late, what problem arises?

The successor may be scheduled to finish before the predecessor.

Determine the critical path

Total Float = Late Finish - Early Finish OR Total Float = Late Start - Early Start Forward Pass * If an activity total float is 0 it is on the critical path -- any delay delays the project finish date * Total float >0 = can delay that amount without delaying the finish

Managing Activities on the Critical Path

When Critical Activities are Key - shortening your project schedule - keeping the finish date on track * Shorten activities on the critical path to bring the project finish date in sooner. * A shortened activity could become non-critical, making other activities critical instead. * Recalculate path before making more changes. * Document changes and rationale for making them

Adjusting level of work over time

Work Contours adding varying work levels to schedule Late Peak - work well on adrenaline - Contour increases the length of the activity - Advantage - provide a better picture of how work really gets done

Assign resources to activities.

You build an initial schedule based on guesses. Skills Needed Assign resources to work package activities, lowest level. Resource Assignments - Do not assign resources to the following: -- summary tasks -- milestones (do not have duration) Assign Work Resources & Other Types of Resources Duration = Work / Resource Units Work = Duration x Resource Units

Paulo's manager has requested a resource plan for his current project. What information should Paulo include in that plan?

all resources required, when they are needed, and high-level estimates for major sections of the project

Getting to know your organization's procurement processes, planning for the time procurement takes, and ___________ will help you get the best resources possible.

building relationships with resource managers

Zoey asks resource managers for less expensive resources for her project. She makes this choice because _____________ is more important than the _____________ for this project.

cost, schedule

Nyala has several tasks for project meetings in her schedule. Which resource assignment variable should she specify as fixed?

duration

If you're willing to accept some additional risk, ____________________ is an easy way to shorten the project schedule.

fast-tracking

Alex needs to break down his project into work packages. What do these represent in a work breakdown structure?

lowest-level deliverables

Milestones

markers you add to your schedule to measure progress & flag events - do not include effort so they do not affect project durations or labor hours - Beginning & End of Plan, Design & Construct Phases - should have clear completion criteria - name with deliverable name and status - add milestones for interim deliverables - Can flag a significant decision (whether to continue the project?) - Flag important events - Show progress to your stakeholders - They don't take any time.

If an activity sequence extends beyond its buffer, than you can start using the ______________ buffers in the same way to protect the project finish date.

phase

Maneet is building her project schedule by creating dependencies between activities. Which of the following must she define for each dependency?

predecessors and successors

Kevin is managing a project in which the finish date is crucial and the budget is set in stone. What can he adjust to make all the project factors balance?

project scope

Anika is managing a project that shows signs of drifting off schedule. Which project factor would she typically NOT adjust to get the project schedule back on task?

quality

What is the most effective way to improve the quality and integrity of project schedules?

quality reviews

Which technique is NOT an example of crashing?

replacing resources with less expensive alternatives

Work resources are best described as

resources that you assign to activities by allocating their time

Kavita develops more accurate estimates as she learns more about her project. What is this approach called?

rolling way planning

The critical path is most helpful when you are trying to

shorten the project schedule

In the project Brook is managing, a short and very important activity is scheduled to occur midway through a long activity. The same resource is assigned to both. Which type of adjustment works best to resolve the over allocation in this situation?

splitting

Dana needs to build a schedule for the project she is managing. Which item does she not need to know to build the schedule?

start and finish dates for all activities

Rafael has built an activity list for his project. What must he develop estimates for in order to build his project schedule?

types and quantities of resources

Maurice creates a baseline for his project schedule in order to help identify _______________.

variances from the approved schedule

You are developing a schedule management plan for your project. Which part of the plan determines when you will take action if the schedule goes off track?

variances from the approved schedule

Which resource assignment variable most often remains the same?

work

Which approach helps you model people's workloads more accurately?

work contours

Because milestones don't represent _______________, you can add as many as you need to your schedule.

work effort