SIM335 Managing Projects

Unit 2: Planning and Monitoring Tools

and Techniques
 Structure
• Unit learning outcomes
• Planning and Monitoring Tools and Techniques
– Project Feasibility
– Project Life Cycle
– Project Objectives
– Planning the Project
– Sequencing Activities
– PCs and Project Management Software
– Summary
– References
 Unit 1 – Project Concepts
Unit Learning Outcome
Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

– Appreciate the requirements for control and the application of

control mechanisms.
– Ability to apply and evaluate the tools and techniques for
project management planning and control.
 Project Feasibility
• How realistic is it to expect that the project
can meet the stated objectives?
• How realistic are the project scope, budget
and time requirements?
• Are sufficient funds available to complete the
project?
• Does the organisation have the technical
expertise to accomplish the project?
• Ensure that stakeholders interest being
considered.
 Project Feasibility
• Objectives:
– To find out if a system development project can
be done.
– To examine the problem in the context of
broader business strategy.
– To suggest possible alternative solutions.
– To provide management with sufficient relevant
information.
– To allow management to make an informed
“go/no-go” decision.
 Contents of a Feasibility Study
• Elements:
– Overview
– Objectives
– General Approach
– Contractual Aspects
– Schedules
– Resource Requirements
– Personnel
– Evaluation Methods
– Potential Problems
 Contents of a Feasibility Study
• Things to be studies include:
– The present organisational system
– Problems with the present system
– Possible alternative solutions
– Advantaged and disadvantages of the alternatives
• The issues include:
– Stakeholder analysis
– Definition of clients needs
– Evaluate constraints
– Cost benefit analysis
 Contents of a Feasibility Study
• Types of Feasibility
– Technical
• E.g. is the project possible with current technology?
– Economical
• E.g. Given resource constraints, is the project possible?
– Schedule
• E.g. Will a solution be built in time to be useful?
– Operational
• Urgency of the problem
• Acceptability of the solution
• Human and social issues
 ‘Hard’ vs. ‘Soft’
• ‘Hard’ factors are:
– Easy to quantify
– E.g. Financial considerations
– E.g. Technical factors
• ‘Soft’ factors are:
– Less quantifiable
– E.g. STEPLE factors
 Product Life Cycle
• Project life cycle is a framework for dividing the
project up into more manageable phases.
• “a four phase life cycle that passes through
four phase headings: concept and initiation
phase, design and development phase,
implementation (or construction phase), and
commission and handover phase.” Burke
(2003)
 Product Life Cycle – Phases
• Concept or Initiation Phase: The first phase. Starts
the project off by establishing the need for the
project and the feasibility phase is in this stage.
• Design or Development Phase: Phase number
two. Designs the service or product, develops
schedules and plans for implementing the project.
• Implementation Phase: Phase number three.
Implements the project as per the agreed plan.
• Commissioning Phase: The fourth phase.
Confirms the project has been completed to the
design, then the project is closed down.
 Product Life Cycles
• There is no single life cycle that applies to all projects
and we discuss below three different life cycles which
might be a model for a given situation, depending on
the approach to be taken. These three life cycles are:
– A basic project life cycle, adapted from a five-phase model
described by Weiss and Wysocki (1994).
– A phased development life cycle (a sequence of mini
projects) from Jordan and Machesky (1990).
– Spiral Development cycle.
– A prototyping life cycle.
Field and Keller
(1998)
 Activity
CASE STUDY
XTC Mobile of Birmingham, England, is a manufacturer of mobile phone products. Their
Research and Development department has designed a new mobile phone that is 20% smaller
and 15% lighter than any of their competitors.

The head of marketing has asked John Bedford, XTC’s top salesman, to manage the project to
engineer and manufacture the new product. He asks John to develop a schedule and budget,
and present it to the management team the following week.

When John presents his plans to the management team, there is lots of discussion about
whether the company should start manufacturing the phone. After the meeting, the Chief
Executive Officer of the company asks John to take up the project and report directly to him.
The CEO will work to get approval of the project and will approve every cost on the project.

Question: based on the concepts we have looked at in the above chapters, what steps should
John take to make sure the project is a success. Bear in mind the following when formulating
your answers:

– Has project approval taken place?

– Is John the best qualified person to take this role on?
– Have project management concepts been followed?
 Project Objectives
• Essential that project teams have clear aims
and goals.
• “The term aim is used here as meaning what
you intend to do: a goal is the desired
outcome. Objectives focus on achieving the
aims – means to an end.”
Field and Keller (1998)
 Project Objectives
• Project objectives may have been refined from
the company objectives.
• “At the strategic level a project manager may
have no input at all. However, as the key
strategies are identified and increasingly
refined through iteration, strategies can turn
into programmes of change, and the tactics of
realising these strategies can become
projects.”
Field and Keller (1998)
 Project Objectives
• Objectives should cover
– What is to be done?
– How it is to be done
– How much will it cost?
– When will the project be finished?
• Objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, agreed,
realistic and time-limited)
– Specific: should define the project and what it will and will not do.
– Measurable: objectives should be laid down in measurable terms.
– Agreed: the key people involved (PM, clients and customers) in the
project must agree the project objectives.
– Realistic: the objectives agreed must be achievable.
– Time limited: define how much time is available and cost each
element of that time allocated.
• (Activity): What would happen if a project was not clearly
defined?
 Planning the Project
• Proper planning is essential for project success.
• Planning and control go hand in hand.

• “Planning is an important component of the planning

and control cycle, because the planning process not
only establishes what is to be done, but also smoothes
the way to make it happen. Planning is all about
thinking forward in time... The planning process
communicates planning information to the project team
and stakeholders, and obliges them to “sign on” and
pledge their support...”
Burke (2003)
 Breakdown Structures
• Different types of BS
– CWBS: Contractual WBS
– OBS: Organisational WBS
– RBS: Resource WBS
– BOM: Bill of Materials
– PBS: Project Breakdown Structure
 Work Breakdown Structure
• Breaking the project down into more manageable
pieces is known as creating a work breakdown
structure (WBS).
• A WBS defines the work to be completed in the
project.
• It is a graphical representation (diagram) of the project
showing its component parts.
• The work at all levels of the WBS should be defined in
terms of results, or deliverables, it is intended to
achieve for:
– It gives better control of scope.
– It gives a more stable plan.
– It gives more visible control.
 Creating a WBS
• When creating a WBS for the first time, the following
information should be available:
– Activity.
– Activity Title.
– Duration of Activity.
– Successor Activity.
– Personnel.
– Direct Costs.
– Predecessor Activity.
• Use the categories that make up the project:
– The WBS diagram does not have to be symmetrical.
– Every box is a summary of the boxes in levels below it.
– The final box in each level must end in a deliverable.
– The lowest level activities are called work packages, this is lowest
detail you wish to describe and control.
– All the boxes must equal the complete project.
 Simple Approach for Creating
the WBS
• Gather Project Team
• Provide Team Members with Pad of Sticky-
Notes
• Team Members Write Down all Tasks They
can Think of.
• Sticky-Notes Placed and Arranged on Wall
An Example of WBS
 Organisational Breakdown
Structure
• The OBS gives a division of responsibility.
• It emphasizes the clear allocation of
responsibilities.
• Most software systems also have a link
between the WBS and the OBS.
 Sequencing Activities
• One of the most important parts of project planning is
determining the logical flow of all the project activities.
• It establishes the logical relationship between the
activities using a network diagram.
• A network diagram shows the activities and the logical
relationships among those activities.
• The method used to determine this relationship is
called the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM).
• The PDM method was developed from the activity on
node (AON) method.
 Relationships
• Two basic relationships:
– Activities in series: activities are carried out one after another.
– Activities in parallel: activities can be performed at the same time.
• To create a network diagram for you should use the following
steps:
1. For each activity, work out the relationships with other
activities. That is, determine where each activity depends on
other activities.
2. List the activities into a logical sequence.
3. For those activities that are not dependent on each other a
separate path should be formed.
4. Each activity must be dependent on the activity that
immediately goes before it.
5. Go over the sequence to make sure it is logical and makes
sense
 PERT and CPM
• Late 1950s
– Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
• Lockheed Aircraft/US Navy
• Probabilistic activity durations (Stochastic)
– Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Rand Corporation/Du Pont
• Deterministic activity durations
• Activity
– task or set of tasks
– use resources
• Event
– state resulting from completion of one or more activities
– consume no resources or time
– predecessor activities must be completed
 PERT and CPM
• Milestones
– events that mark significant progress
• Network
– diagram of nodes and arcs
– used to illustrate technological relationships
• Path
– series of connected activities between two events
• Critical Path
– set of activities on a path that if delayed will delay completion
of project
• Critical Time
– time required to complete all activities on the critical path
Table 2-1 A Sample Set of Project Activities
and Precedences

Task Predecessor
a --
b --
c a
d b
e b
f c, d
g e
Figure 2-1 Stage 1 of a Sample
AON Network
Figure 2-2 Stage 2 of a Sample
AON Network
Figure 2-3 A Completed Sample
AON Network
Figure 2-4 Stage 1 of a Sample
AOA Network
Figure 2-5 Stage 2 of a Sample
AOA Network
Figure 2-6a A Completed
Sample AOA Network
 Figure 2-6b A Completed Sample AOA
Network Showing the Use of a Dummy Task
Figure 2-7 Information Contents
in an AON Node
Figure 2-8 The Critical Path and
Time for Sample Project
Figure 2-9 Information Contents
in an AON Node
Figure 2-10 The Critical Path
and Time for Sample Project
 Calculating Activity Slack
• Slack or Float
LST - EST = LFT - EFT = Slack
Figure 2-11 A Modified Version
of MS Project Network
 Gantt Chart
• Gantt charts are bar charts that display a
schedule of all the activities.
• Named after Henry Gantt who invented them
in the First World War.
• Easy to see the relationships between the
activities and time.
Figure 2-12 A Gantt Chart of
a Sample Project
 Figure 2-13 A Gantt Chart of Sample Project
Showing Critical Path, Path Connections, Slack,
EST, LST, EFT, and LFT
Figure 2-14 A Gantt Chart of a Day Care Project
Showing Expected Durations, Critical Path,
Milestone, and Resource Requirements
PCs and Project Management
Software
• The computer is now an integral part of the
project manager’s information and control
system.
• Software is used by mangers to plan and
control projects.
• There is now complete acceptance of project
management software to help project teams
with their tasks.
• Project management software cannot control
or manage the project.
 Summary
• Feasibility study helps us identify whether the proposed
project is likely to be successful.
• Project planning starts with the project lifecycle and
project feasibility to test whether the project is feasible
or not.
• The stages in the life cycle model are apt to run into
problems.
• The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) breaks the
project down into manageable chunks.
• Critical Path Analysis (CPA) gives us a structure
approach to planning.
• Project planning can be likened to a modeling exercise.
 References
• Burke, R. (2003) Project Management, Planning and
Control Techniques. John Wiley and Sons.
• Field, M., Keller, L. (1998) Project Management. Open
University.
• Jordan, E.W. and Machesky, J.J. (1990) Evaluation,
Design, and Implementation, Boston, MA, PWS-Kent
• Richman, L. (2002) Project Management Step-by-
Step. AMACOM.
• Weiss, J and Wysocki, R. (1994) 5 Phase Project
Management:APractical Planning and Implementation
Guide. Addisn-Wesley, Reading, Mass.