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Project Scheduling and Tracking (WBS Technique (Top-down ( Top-down o…
Project Scheduling and Tracking
Planning, Estimating, Scheduling, Tracking
Plan: Identify activities. No specific start and end dates
Estimating: Determining the size & duration of activities
Schedule: Adds specific start and end dates, relationships, and resources
Track: Uses monitoring and tools to determine if plans, estimates and schedules are accurate.
How to schedule
1. Identify “what” needs to be done
o Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
2. Identify “how much” (the size)
o Size estimation techniques
3. Identify the dependency between tasks
o Dependency graph, network diagram
4. Estimate total duration of the work to be done
o The actual schedule
partitioning your project
you need to decompose your project into manageable chunks
all projects need this step
divide and conquer
two main causes of project failure
how does partitioning help this?
Work packages (Tasks)
Generic term for discrete tasks with definable end results
The “one-to-two” rule
o Often at: 1 or 2 persons for 1 or 2 weeks
Basis for monitoring and reporting progress
o Can be tied to budget items (charge numbers)
o Resources (personnel) assigned
Ideally shorter rather than longer
o Longer makes in-progress estimates needed
o These are more subjective than “done”
o “4/40” or “8/80” rule ( shortest/longest duration)
o Not so small as to micro-manage
WBS & methodology
PM must map activities to chosen lifecycle
Each lifecycle has different sets of activities
Integral process activities occur for all
o Planning, configuration, testing
Operations and maintenance phases are not
normally in plan (considered post-project)
Some models are “straightened” for WBS
o Spiral and other iterative models
o Linear sequence several times
Deliverables of tasks vary by methodology
Project Elements
A Project: functions, activities, tasks
Diagram
Work Breakdown Structures
Work Break Down Structure (WBS): a check list of
the work that must be accomplished to meet the
project objectives.
The WBS lists the major project outputs and those
departments or individuals primarily responsible
for their completion.
WBS Outline Example
0.0 Retail Web Site
1.0 Project Management
2.0 Requirements Gathering
3.0 Analysis & Design
4.0 Site Software Development
4.1 HTML Design and Creation
4.2 Backend Software
4.2.1 Database Implementation
4.2.2 Middleware Development
4.2.3 Security Subsystems
4.2.4 Catalog Engine
4.2.5 Transaction Processing
4.3 Graphics and Interface
4.4 Content Creation
5.0 Testing and Production
WBS Types
Process WBS
• a.k.a Activity-oriented
• Ex: Requirements, Analysis, Design, Testing
• Typically used by PM
Product WBS
• a.k.a. Entity-oriented
• Ex: Financial engine, Interface system, DB
• Typically used by engineering manager
Hybrid WBS: both above
• This is not unusual
• Ex: Lifecycle phases at high level with component or featurespecifics
within phases
• Rationale: processes produce products
WBS
List of Activities, not Things
List of items can come from many sources
o SOW, Proposal, brainstorming, stakeholders, team
Describe activities using “bullet language”
o Meaningful but terse labels
All WBS paths do not have to go to the same level
Do not plan more detail than you can manage
Product Vs. Process WBS Diagrams
WBS Technique
Top-Down
Bottom-Up
Analogy
Rolling Wave
o 1
st pass: go 1-3 levels deep
o Gather more requirements or data
o Add more detail later
Post-its on a wall
All WBS Techniques rely upon Expert Judgment!
Top-down
Top-down
o Start at highest level
o Systematically develop increasing level of detail
o Best if
• The problem is well understood
• Technology and methodology are not new
• This is similar to an earlier project or problem
o But is also applied in majority of situations
Bottom-up
Bottom-up
o Start at lowest level tasks
o Aggregate into summaries and higher levels
o Cons
• Time consuming
• Needs more requirements complete
o Pros
• Detailed
Analogy
Analogy
o Base WBS upon that of a “similar” project
o Use a template
o Analogy also can be estimation basis
o Pros
• Based on past actual experience
o Cons
• Needs comparable project
Brainstorming
Brainstorming
o Generate all activities you can think of that need to be
done
o Group them into categories
Both Top-down and Brainstorming can be used on
the same WBS
Remember to get the people who will be doing the
work involved (buy-in matters!)
Basis of Many Things
Network scheduling
Costing
Risk analysis
Organizational structure
Control
Measurement
WBS Guidelines
Should be easy to understand
Some companies have corporate standards for
these schemes
Some top-level items, like Project Mgmt. are in
WBS for each project
o Others vary by project
What often hurts most is what’s missing
Break down until you can generate accurate time &
cost estimates
Ensure each element corresponds to a deliverable
Sequencing Tasks & Activities
Sequence the work activites
Milestone Chart
Gantt chart
Network Techniques
o CPM (Critical Path Method)
o PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique)
Gantt Chart
Gantt chart is a means of displaying simple
activities or events plotted against time or dollars
Most commonly used for exhibiting program
progress or for defining specific work required to
reach an objective
Gantt charts may include listing of activities,
activity duration, scheduled dates, and progress-todate
Diagram
Advantages:
o Easy to understand
o Easy to change
Disadvantages:
o Only a vague description of the project
o Does not always show interdependency of activities
o May not show results of an early or late start of an
activity
Network Techniques
A precedence network diagram is a graphic model
portraying the sequential relationship between key
events in a project.
Initial development of the network requires that the
project be defined and thought out.
The network diagram clearly and precisely
communicates the plan of action to the project
team and the client.
Diagram
Critical Path Method
Critical Path Method (CPM) tries to answer the
following questions:
What is the duration of the project?
By how much (if at all) will the project be delayed if
any one of the activities takes N days longer?
How long can certain activities be postponed
without increasing the total project duration?
Critical Path
Sequence of activities that have to be executed one after
another
Duration times of these activities will determine the overall
project time, because there is no slack/float time for these
activities
If any of the activities on the critical path takes longer than
projected, the entire project will be delayed by that same
amount
Critical path = Longest path in the precedence network
(generally, the longest in time)
*Critical Path Example
Schedule Compression
Fast Tracking – Work critical path activities in parallel,
instead of sequentially.
Crashing – Cost and schedule tradeoffs (Time ≈ Money)
with the end result of reducing overall time to completion
Other Ways (Less preferred but sometimes needed)
o Reduce Scope/Quality of product
o Increase resources, Reduce risks
o Say no: Sometimes schedule compression just isn’t an option
PERT example
Project Tracking
Tracking and Visibility Diagram
Percent complete
total done / total * 100 = percent done
Earned Value
Earned Value (EV) is a methodology used to control a
project
It provides a uniform measure for project progress for the
entire project or any sub-element
Provides a consistent method of project progress and
performance
Provides a basis for cost performance analysis of a project
steps
Establish a WBS to divide the project into
manageable parts
Identify the activities required for the current
project
Allocate the effort required for each activity
Schedule the activities over time and resources
Analyze/review the schedule
(continued)
Update the schedule by reporting activity progress
Enter the actual cost on the activities
Execute the Earned Value calculations
Analyze the data and make course corrections as
necessary
goals
Establish a common value scale for every task,
regardless of the type of work involved (software
projects use effort)
Total effort for the entire project is estimated
Every task is given a planned value based on its
estimated percentage of the total project effort
Completion of a task results in a credit, or an
earned value, of the value allocated to the task
Example
Total Project Effort: 1000 person hours
Task A Estimate: 15 person hours
Planned Value: 1.5
Completing task A contributes 1.5 to the cumulative
earned value total for the project
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summary
Planning, Estimating, Scheduling, and Tracking are a
continuum
Projects need to be partitioned for manageability
o Work Breakdown Structures are a great way to do this
Sequencing Tasks & Activities is vital
o Gantt Charts allow quick reference
o Network Techniques such as Precedence Network Diagrams, the
Critical Path Method, and PERT Charts are useful tools
Project Tracking is important for project visibility
o The Earned Value Technique is a key tool in this