Project Scope and Time Management

1.1 Identify and analyse the main project scope and time management issues at
Macon, Inc. (10)

Project scope describes what the project will accomplish, what it will deliver, what it will produce and
where work packages start and finish. So it includes only the work
required to complete the project successfully. Thus, it suffices to say, that project scope management is
primarily about defining and controlling what is and what is not part of a project

Develop test equipment for the tyre industry to meet customer needs. It involved the electrical and
mechanical engineering departments who were the custodians of the product.

Engineering would design a product and then hand it to production to assemble it.
Production ultimately assembled the product and shipped it out to the customer.

Projects were delayed and blame shifted between departments. One project failed
as the result of a project leader who failed to control scope. Each day the project
would fall further behind because work was being added with very little regard for the
project’s completion date. Project estimates were based upon a “gut feel” rather
than upon sound quantitative data. The delay in shipping dates was creating more
and more frustration for the customers. The customers began assigning their own
project managers as “watchdogs” to look out for their companies’ best interests

1.2 What action would you advise the president to take to “achieve some degree of
excellence in project management”? (15)

Change leadership style. Be more assertive.

Use problem solving techniques

PROBLEM SOLVING CYCLE

Problem solving techniques can be shown as a cycle or sequence of interrelated actions or discrete
steps, as shown in Figure 3.1.

� Define objectives
The starting point for problem solving is to define the project’s goals and objectives because problems
and opportunities can only be evaluated against these objectives. Objectives at the project level can be
expressed as achieving the project charter and the baseline plan, together with addressing the
stakeholders’ needs and expectations.
o Project charter – this outlines the purpose of the project, its objectives and how it
will be managed.
o Baseline plan – this is the roll up of all the planning and control documents. These
documents include the scope of work, specifications, time planning, procureme nt planning, resource
planning, quality planning, risk planning and communication
planning.
� Identify the problems or opportunities
Sensing and identifying problems is a skill and an art usually gained from experience. Problems and
opportunities can be identified using the following techniques:
o Progress meetings and progress reports – The discussions should identify
potential problems
o Non Conformance Report (NCR) - When the quality control department find
work that does not achieve the required condition as set out in the project quality
plan, they raise a NCR. The NCR initiates a process to correct the problem.
o Situation appraisal – The following questions should be raised- What is wrong
with the current solution? What would happen if we did not address this
problem? In appraising the situation, and with the help of stakeholders, specific
challenges that help shape the problem can be identified.

Solve the problem

This involves a combination of structured and unstructured methods for example:
o Sense making – This is an important part of problem solving. It is how we make
sense of situations, how we determine what it means to us, and what it means to
the project. As we review information about the problem, we internalize the
knowledge and this forms part of our developing an understanding of the problem.
It is useful to ask questions like: What? Why? When? How? Where? Who?
o Breaking down the problem – Sometimes the problem can be too big to solve in one go. The level of
uncertainty that might be involved in the larger problem can make it unachievable. Choosing a goal that
involves less uncertainty, or a level of
uncertainty that is manageable, makes it achievable. In defining the problem, it
should be written down in clear and concise terms that specifically states: what the
expected benefit will be, the objectives and measures and the mandatory
constraints.
o Brainstorming – This is also called a “mind shower”. The process is usually used
with a group, but can also work as a solo technique. Essentially the brainstorming
process follows a series of steps as follows:
� Gather all participants and allow all to get into the right frame of mind.
� Ensure that there is a writing space that can be seen by all participants
� Brief all participants on the purpose of the session.
� As the team members call out their ideas, write them down in the writing
space.
� Group the ideas according to similarity and themes, without discarding any
ideas at this stage.
� Consider the ideas on their merits and develop or combine with other ideas
to design the most suitable approach to solving the problem.
o Configuration management system – A project’s configuration management system is designed to
formally consider proposed changes to the scope of work. This enables all the nominated responsible
people and stakeholders to consider the
proposals, make comments, suggestions and recommendations. These are the
project’s checks and balances to prevent rogue ideas slipping through – ideas which

Change from group to team strategy

HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE RESULTS?

Katzenbach and Smith (1993 cited in Burke and Barron 2007:164) provide a series of suggestions for
how teams can develop their performance.
� Themes and identity – Teams often adopt a theme or mission that establishes or conveys meaning
about their purpose and identity. It is important that the themes have richness in their meaning to the
team
� Enthusiasm and energy level – Teams both work and play hard and with enthusiasm, they put in
extra time (without being asked) in order to achieve their goals, and to outsiders, the energy and
enthusiasm within the team are easily recognized.
Event-driven histories – Teams develop stories about their successes and failures that begin to
define how they perceive themselves and their performance. Events are generally unplanned and have
a galvanizing effect, especially building on effective responses to failures as well as to successes.
These stories help propel team performance.
� Personal commitment – When there is strong commitment to one another’s development and
success, there is always enrichment of the team’s aspirations and sense of purpose. This trait is most
prevalent in a high performing team and cannot be dictated from outside the team.
� Performance results – Effective teams need clearly established measures of performance that set
expectations. These measures are the drivers for the team and indicate how their effectiveness can be
assessed.

QUESTION 2 (50)

The table below gives the duration estimates in days for a construction projection.

2.1 Determine the expected completion time for each activity. (10)

Refer to page 55 of tutorial (PERT Technique)

a = optimistic time
m = most probable
b = pessimistic
ta = 4 + 4(7) + 10
6
=7

Tb = 2 +4(9) + 10
6
=8

Tc = 2 + 4(5) + 8
6
=5

Td = 16 + 4(19) + 28
6
= 20

Te = 6 + 4(9) + 24
6
= 11

Tf = 1 + 4(7) + 13
6
=7

Tg = 4 + 4(10) + 28
6
= 12

Th = 2 + 4(5) + 14
6
=6

Ti = 5 + 4(8) + 17
6
=9

Tj = 2 + 4(5) + 8
6
=5

2.2 Construct an AON network for the activities of this contract. (10)
2.3 Determine the critical path for the project by calculating the slack for each
activity. (15)
SLACK = LS - ES (or) LF – EF

Activity LS ES Slack
A 1 0 1
B 0 0 0
C 8 8 0
D 14 13 1
E 13 13 0
F 24 24 0
G 19 13 6
H 34 33 1
I 31 31 0
J 40 40 0

Critical path = all slack equalling 0

BCEFIJ is the critical path
2.4 Your project is running behind schedule and crashing is the only option available.
The following table contains the project data.

Normal Crashed
Activity Duration Cost (Rands) Duration Cost (Rands)
(Days) (Days)
B 3 R1500 2 R2000
C 5 R3500 4 R5000
E 4 R6800 3 R7500
F 5 R2500 3 R6000
I 7 R4200 6 R5400
J 4 R2000 3 R2700

2.4.1 Determine the cost per day to crash each of the activities. (10)

Crash cost per period = (Crash Cost – Normal Cost)

(Normal Time – Crash Time)
 Normal Crashed
Activity Duration Cost Duration Cost Crash
(Days) (Rands) (Days) (Rands) cost per
day
B 3 R1500 2 R2000 R500
C 5 R3500 4 R5000 R1500
E 4 R6800 3 R7500 R700
F 5 R2500 3 R6000 R1750
I 7 R4200 6 R5400 R1200
J 4 R2000 3 R2700 R700
R20500 R28600

2.4.2 Calculate the total time and the cost involved. (5)
Crashed project cost = normal cost + cost of crashed activities
= R20 500 + (1xR500) + (1xR1500) + (1xR700) + (2xR1750) +
(1xR1200) + (1xR700)
= R20 500 + R6 350
= R26 850

Total time = 2 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 6 + 3 = 21 days

QUESTION 3 (25)
With the aid of an example, critically discuss how making cost and schedule trade-
offs may accelerate project duration.
Crashing (pg 72). – focus on tasks that can complete quickly at little or no cost.
Shorten tasks that are less costly.

Project Crashing and Time-Cost Trade-Off

The project manager is frequently confronted with having to reduce the scheduled
completion time of a project to meet a deadline. In other words, the manager must
finish the project sooner than indicated by the CPM/PERT network analysis. Project
duration can often be reduced by assigning more labour to project activities, in the
form of overtime, and by assigning more resources (material, equipment, and so on).
However, additional labor and resources increase the project cost. Thus, the
decision to reduce the project duration must be based on an analysis of the trade-off
between time and cost. Project crashing is a method for shortening the project
duration by reducing the time of one (or more) of the critical project activities to less
than its normal activity time. This reduction in the normal activity time is referred to
as crashing. Crashing is achieved by devoting more resources, usually measured in
terms of dollars, to the activities to be crashed.
The General Relationship of Time and Cost

In our discussion of project crashing, we demonstrated how the project critical path
time could be reduced by increasing expenditures for labor and other direct
resources. The objective of crashing was to reduce the scheduled completion time to
reap the results of the project sooner. However, there may be other reasons for
reducing project time. As projects continue over time, they consume indirect costs,
including the cost of facilities, equipment, and machinery, interest on investment,
utilities, labor, personnel costs, and the loss of skills and labor from members of the
project team who are not working at their regular jobs. There also may be direct
financial penalties for not completing a project on time. For example, many
construction contracts and government contracts have penalty clauses for exceeding
the project completion date.

In general, project crashing costs and indirect costs have an inverse relationship;
crashing costs are highest when the project is shortened, whereas indirect costs
increase as the project duration increases.