project management

what must a project need to have and if it doesnt have these things it must

*time constraints *specific objectives *limited reosurces *precise boundaries

why crash a project

*to eliminate costs *or the person needs the project done in a specific amount of time *trying to find the most eon comical duration of the project, the objective is to determine the most economical duration not the shortest possible uduration

list of all activities and tasks from WBS Precedence/interdependence, technological constraints One task can the started till another is finished =finish-start dependency one task must be completed before the next task can be started

activity list

incur crash costs to avoid

administration and penalty costs

• A team member can work on several projects. • Technical expertise is maintained within the functional area even if individuals leave the project or organization. • The functional area is a home after the project is completed. Functional specialists can advance vertically. • A critical mass of specialized functional area experts creates synergistic solutions to a project's technical problems.

advantages of a functional project

• The project manager has full authority over the project. • Team members report to one boss. They do not have to worry about dividing loyalty with a functional area manager. • Lines of communication are shortened. Decisions are made quickly. • Team pride, motivation, and commitment are high.

advantages of pure projects

o We often have a fair degree of variability with our estimates of the time required to complete a task o So use 3 time estimates (program evaluation and review technique/pert) o Use three time estimates when we are uncertain about the time to perform the project activities.

cpm with 3 time estimates/pert

path length is uncertain and so is project duration

cpm with pert

direct costs increase, admin and penalty costs decrease

crashing

o We have considered the time for each activity to be fixed but in reality its possible for us to reduce the length of an activity by throwing more reousrces at it ex: the use of overtime.

crashing a project

all activities on the critical path are these these activities must be monitored closely any delay in this will result in a delay in the project overall have absolutely no slack, can not be delayed, there is no allowable vairbailtiy to the start and completion dates of these activities, no room to maneuver

critical activities

shortest time we can complete a project, its also the longest duration

critical path method

• Aspects of the project that are not directly related to the functional area get short-changed. • Motivation of team members is often weak. • Needs of the client are secondary and are responded to slowly.

disadvantages of functional project

• Each worker has two bosses: the project manager and the functional manager. Often the functional manager will be listened to before the project manager. After all, who can promote you or give you a raise? • It is doomed to failure unless the project manager has strong negotiating skills. • Suboptimization is a danger, as project managers hoard resources for their own project, thus harming other projects.

disadvantages of matrix problems

• Duplication of resources. Equipment and people are not shared across projects. • Organizational goals and policies are ignored, since team members are often both physically and psychologically removed from headquarters. • The organization falls behind in its knowledge of new technology due to weakened functional divisions. • Since team members have no functional area "home", they worry about life-after-project, and project termination is delayed.

disadvantages of pure projects

back-loaded, front-loaded

early start, ls/lf in gantt charts

the earlier an activity can be started/finished

es/ef

The functional project structure occurs when the project is housed within a single functional division.. traditional model

functional project

to find the per period crash cost

interpolation

latest an activity can be started and finished without delaying the overall completion of the project

late start/late finish

This form attempts to blend properties of functional and pure project structures. The project utilizes people from several different functional areas. The project manager decides what and when tasks will be performed but the functional managers control which people and technologies are used.

matrix project

• Communication between functional divisions is enhanced. • A project manager is held responsible for successful completion of the project. • Duplication of resources is minimized. • Team members have a functional "home" after project completion so they are less worried about "life-after-project" than if they were a pure project organization. • Policies of the parent organization are followed. This increases support for the project.

matrix project advanatgaes

o Use the activity list and make it more visual

network diagram

before a project is started one must decide the

organizational structure

a temporary endeavor involving a series of ordered tasks, requiring time and effort with a limited amount of resources undertaken to create a unique product or service

project

pklanning, directing and controlling resources (people, equipment, and material)to meet the technical cost and time constraints of a project

project management

The pure project structure occurs when an autonomous, self-contained team is created which works full time on the project.

pure project

3 types of organizational structures

pure project, functional project, matrix project

the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the completion time of the project

slack

tasks are

the building blocks of projects

o Our time to complete for any activity is then an estimated or expected time when using 3 time estimates because it has variance. o To determined the variance of the critical path sum the vairances of the acitivties that lie on the critical path

variance with pert

*tool for identifying tasks *decomposition approach-goal, tasks ,subtasks *idea of mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive to check for completeness (tool to identify the "building blocks of a project"

work breakdown structure