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Lecture 17

The document discusses project management techniques including defining a project's inputs and outputs, establishing a work breakdown structure to decompose large projects into smaller action items, and creating a project schedule by defining phases, milestones, and due dates to plan and track a project from start to completion. It also covers documenting a project using tools like Gantt charts and maintaining action items in a logbook or project management software to facilitate communication and accountability among team members.

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amrah2
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75 views

Lecture 17

The document discusses project management techniques including defining a project's inputs and outputs, establishing a work breakdown structure to decompose large projects into smaller action items, and creating a project schedule by defining phases, milestones, and due dates to plan and track a project from start to completion. It also covers documenting a project using tools like Gantt charts and maintaining action items in a logbook or project management software to facilitate communication and accountability among team members.

Uploaded by

amrah2
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture 17 - Project Management

Project Management
Project = an endeavor to create a unique product or service 

Inputs & outputs to a project
• Inputs = resources: time & materials 
• Time => complete tasks. Keyword: Schedule 
• Materials => money. Keyword: Budget 
• Output = deliverables: prototype, thesis, new house, …

Work breakdown structure


• A project is too big to address in one step
• Decomposition helps define describable and actionable chunks.
• This is called the work breakdown structure (WBS).

Two levels of detail are of interest here


• A project can be broken into phases (We know something about phases of design).
• Phases can be broken into action items ().
• An action item is a small chunk of work that is very well defined and assigned for
completion on a certain date.

Establishing a project schedule


1. Define the phases of the project
2. Define intermediate milestones
2.1. At the end of each phase and within phases if appropriate
2.2. What are some milestones in a design project?
3. Work backwards from project due date if available to assign due dates
3.1. Otherwise use a constructive approach
4. Action items are defined on a weekly basis (or other short time frame) to achieve
milestones

A project schedule is both for planning and tracking.


A project schedule has no value if it is not used after creation.

Project management documentation


• A schedule should be maintained in a format to maximize visibility and minimize effort
in maintenance
• Some options for tracking a project timeline
• MS project
• Excel
• http://www.ganttproject.biz/
• Gantt charts show a visual representation of a project timeline
• Gantt charts also show dependencies
• Action items should be noted in your logbook and should be reviewed at team
meetings. Team leader should keep a record of all action items.
• A good rule of thumb
• start a meeting by reviewing action items due
• end a meeting by handing out new action items

Why do projects fail? 
• They run out of Schedule or Budget (time or money) 
• “The death of a thousand cuts.” 
• Not usually a single catastrophic event (“the rocket blew up”) 
• Usually a sequence of small delays that add up, bleed project to death 
• Catastrophic event the night before the due date is a failure to plan for catastrophe.  

Final thoughts
• Schedules do get adjusted
• Early design tasks can be harder to schedule
• Find a balance between rigid and “winging it”
• Choose a style that is sustainable
• Accountability to the project and to the team is bottom line

Project Website - Your digital wall for documentation and project


tracking

www.mechknowledge.com

Create a login - start editing today!


Perform your information sharing and documentation on the wall.
Create and track your schedule on the wall.

Homework due Friday


Make the first edits to your project page.
Create your front page - add your names.
Create your CN, FR, DP, PV, and archive pages.
Create an initial project schedule in the table on the front page.

By Tuesday 3-23: Complete the set of customer needs and appropriately transformed
specification where appropriate.

Next meeting - Monday 3-22.

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