Identifying Requirements, Creating the Work Breakdown structure, Developing the Project Schedule, Developing a Project Cost Estimate, Planning Quality, Organizing the Project Team, Planning for Potential Risks
3. Recap
A project charter is a document that formally authorizes a
project.
It is a document usually issued by an entity external to the
project organization which provides the project manager with
the authority to apply organizational resources to project
activities.
A project charter:
Includes the business need that the project is to address
Includes the product description
Establishes the scope of the project
Names the project manager as the responsible and authorized party
Identifies the project deliverables, schedule, and budget
Is concise
Note: When a project is under contract, the signed contract may
serve as the project charter.
4. …
The purpose of the Project Charter is to document the:
Reasons for undertaking the project
Objectives and constraints of the project
Directions concerning the solution
Identities of the main stakeholders
5. Identifying Requirements
Project Management Plan
Developing a Project Management Plan
Collecting Project Requirements
Techniques for Defining the Project Scope
Project Scope Statement
6. Project Management Plan
Project management plan documents:
The project management life cycle and the processes that will be
applied to each phase.
How work will be executed to meet the project objectives.
7. Developing a Project Management
Plan
Project Management Plan is an integration of:
Change Management Plan
Configuration Management Plan
Cost Performance Baseline
Requirements Management Plan
Quality Management Plan
Process Improvement Plan
Human Resource Plan
Communications Management Plan
Risk Management Plan
Procurement Management Plan
8. …
Steps for Developing the Project Management Plan
Tailor the process to meet the project needs.
Develop the technical and management details to be included in
the project management plan.
Determine the resources and skill levels needed to perform
project work.
Define the level of configuration management to apply on the
project.
Determine which project documents will be subject to formal
change control process
9. Collecting Project Requirements
Collecting requirement is a process of defining and
documenting stakeholders’ needs to meet the project
objectives. It has a direct influence on project success.
Techniques for Collecting Requirements:
Interviews
Process of gathering information by talking to stakeholders directly
Focus groups
Designed to be conversational
A moderator guides the discussions
Facilitated Workshops
Focused sessions used for gathering information from cross-functional
stakeholders
Can be used to sort out stakeholder differences
10. …
Group Creativity Techniques
Generally used to generate and collect multiple ideas
Some of the techniques are:
Brainstorming
Nominal group technique: Ranking or prioritizing of ideas
Delphi technique: Feedback is collected on the responses collected for
requirements gathering; Feedback is anonymous
Ideas/mind mapping: Consolidation of ideas into a single map to reflect
commonality
Affinity diagram: Sorting of ideas into groups
Requirements Management Plan
Documents how requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed
throughout the project
Requirements Traceability Matrix
Table that links requirements to their origin, tracing them throughout project
life cycle
Helps in ensuring requirements approved in the requirements
documentation are delivered at the end of the project
Provides a structure for managing changes to the product scope
11. Techniques for Defining the Project
Scope
Defining scope is a process of developing detailed
description of the project and product. It is progressively
elaborating and documenting project work (Scope). It starts
with product description, and takes into account
constraints/assumptions. It identifies major project
deliverables. It develops a detailed project scope statement.
Techniques for defining project scope:
Product analysis
Includes techniques such as product breakdown, systems
analysis, requirements analysis, systems engineering, value
engineering and value analysis
Alternative identification
Techniques used to generate different approaches to execute
and perform the work of the project
12. Project Scope Statement
A project scope statement describes in detail, the project’s
deliverables and the work required to create those
deliverables. It provides a common understanding of the
project scope among project stakeholders. It may contain
explicit scope exclusions that can assist in managing
stakeholder expectations.
13. Assignment
Discuss and develop a Project Management Plan.
Discuss and develop the Project Scope Statement for the
project for which you developed the Project Charter in the
class.
15. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Work breakdown structure is the process of subdividing
project deliverables and project work into smaller, more
manageable components.
It involves deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of
the work to be executed by project teams to accomplish
project objectives. Each descending level represents an
increasing detailed definition of project work. Lower levels
are known as “work packages”, which defines work that can
be scheduled, cost estimated, monitored and controlled.
16. Applications of Work Breakdown
Structure
1. Scope control mechanism
2. Communication tool
3. Helps prevent omission of products and services
4. Helps assign responsibilities
5. Used as the basis of activity lists
6. Provides structure and coding system for integration of
costs, schedule, contracts (control points known as Control
Account is used for the same)
7. Facilitates the use of Project Management software.
Use “templates” for similar projects
21. Project Activities
Project activities are the work packages that are planned, are
decomposed into smaller components called schedule
activities to provide basics for:
Estimating
Scheduling
Monitoring and controlling the project work
22. Sequencing Activities
Method of constructing a project schedule network diagram.
Uses boxes or rectangles, referred as nodes, to represent
activities and connects them with arrows to indicate
dependencies.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
23. Types of Dependencies used in
PDM
Start (S) Finish(F)
Finish (F) Initiation of the successor
activity depends upon the
completion of the
predecessor activity
Completion of the
successor activity depends
upon the completion of the
predecessor activity
Start (S) Initiation of the successor
activity depends upon the
initiation of the
predecessor activity
Completion of the
successor activity depends
upon the initiation of the
predecessor activity
24. Estimating Project Activity
Resources
Estimating Project Activity Resources
Activity Resource Requirements
Description of the types and quantities of resources required for each
schedule activity in a work package
Resource Breakdown Structure
A hierarchical structure of the identified resources by resource
category and resource type
Example
Resource category—labour, material, etc.
Resource type—skill level, grade level
Estimating Project Activity Durations—Types
Analogous Estimating:
Uses parameters from a previous similar project, as the basis for estimating
the same parameters for future project
Uses historical information and expert judgment
Used in the early phase of a project when there is limited amount of detailed
information
25. Parametric Estimating:
Uses a mathematical model to calculate projected time for an
activity based on historical records from previous projects and
other information. (Regression Analysis, Learning Curves)
Three Point Estimates:
This concept originated with the Program Evaluation and Review
Technique (PERT) wherein estimates can be improved by
considering estimation uncertainty and risk
PERT uses three estimates to define an approximate range of an
activity’s duration:
Tm—Most likely
To—Optimistic
Tp—Pessimistic
Expected activity duration: Te = (To + 4Tm + Tp)/6
Reserve Analysis:
Time reserves or buffers get included into the overall project
schedule to account for schedule uncertainty
26. Scheduling Techniques—Critical
Path Method
Developing Schedule Techniques:
Critical Path
Is the longest duration path through a network diagram and determines
the shortest time to complete the project
Critical Path Method
Calculates the theoretical early start and finish dates, and late start and
finish dates, for all schedule activities without considering any resource
limitations.
27. Resource levelling
Is a schedule network analysis technique applied to a schedule that
has been analysed by critical path method
Can be used when shared or critical required resources are only
available at certain times, are only available in limited quantities, or
to keep resource usage at a constant level
Applied after critical path method to address a situation when
resources have been over-allocated
Example:
resource assigned to two or more activities over the same time period
Or where critical required resources are available only on certain dates or
duration or maintained at a constant level,
Can cause the original critical path to change.
Schedule Compression Techniques
Shortens the project schedule without changing the project scope, to
meet schedule constraints, imposed dates, or other schedule
objectives.
Techniques include:
Crashing—Shortening duration through overtime, bringing in additional
resources
Fast Tracking—Activities which should ideally be performed in sequence are
performed in parallel
29. Introduction to Cost Estimation
Cost estimation is a process of developing an approximation
of the costs of the resources needed to complete project
activities. It includes identification and consideration of
costing alternatives.
30. Cost Estimating Types
Analogous Estimating
Uses the values of parameters, such as scope, cost, budget, and duration or measures of scale such as
size, weight and complexity, from previous, similar project as the basis for estimating the same parameter
or measure for a current project
Is generally used to estimate a parameter when there is limited amount of detailed information about the
project
Parametric Estimating
Uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables (square footage in construction)
to calculate an estimate activity parameters, such as cost, budget and duration
Bottom-up Estimating
Involves estimating the cost of individual work packages or individual schedule activities with the greatest
level of specified detail
Three-Point Estimates
PERT uses three estimates to determine an approximate range for an activity’s cost:
Cm—Most likely
Co—Optimistic
Cp—Pessimistic
Expected activity cost: Ce = (Co + 4Cm + Cp)/6
Reserve Analysis
Contingency reserves are cost estimates to account for cost uncertainty
Project Management Estimating Software
Cost estimating software applications, computerized spreadsheets, simulation and statistical tools, are
widely used to assist cost estimating
31. Cost of Quality
Cost of Conformance Cost of Non–Conformance
Prevention costs
(Build a quality product)
• Training
• Document processes
• Equipment
• Time to do it right
Appraisal costs
(Assess the quality)
• Testing
Inspections
Internal failure costs
(Failures found by the project)
• Rework
• Scrape
External failure costs
(Failures found by the customer)
• Warranty
• Down time
Loss of business
32. Developing Quality Management
Plan
Quality Management Plan
Describes how the project management team will implement the performing
organization’s quality policy
Provides input to the overall project management plan and includes quality
control, quality assurance, and continuous process improvement approaches
for the project
Process Improvement Plan
Details the steps for analysing processes to identify activities which enhance
their value
Quality Metrics
A metric is an operational definition that describes, in very specific terms, a
project or product attribute and how the quality control process will measure it
Examples of quality metrics include on-time performance, budget control,
defect density, failure rate and test coverage
Quality Checklist
A checklist is a structured tool, usually component specific, used to verify that
a set of required steps has been performed
33. Human Resource Plan
Human resource plan provides guidance on how project
management resources should be identified, managed,
controlled and eventually released. It includes roles and
responsibilities, project organization charts and the staffing
management plan.
The key items to consider in staffing management plan are:
Staff acquisition
Resource calendars
Staff release plan
Training needs
Recognition and rewards
Compliance
Safety requirements
34. Communication Management Plan
Communication management plan addresses:
Stakeholder communication requirements
Information to be communicated, including format, content and
level
Person responsible for communicating the information
Person or groups who will receive the information
Methods or technologies used to convey the information, such e-
mail, press releases
Frequency of the communication, such as weekly, bi-monthly, etc
Escalation process
Process of updating communication management plan
Glossary
35. Sample
Type of
Information
Purpose of
Distribution
Document
Format
Method of
Distribution
Frequency
Person
Responsible
Audience
Requirements
gathering
To understand
customer
requirements
MS Word
document
Meeting and
written
communication
During
project
initiation
Project
manager
Project team
Weekly status Project status
update
MS Word
document
E-mail
communication
followed by a
meeting
Weekly Project
manager
All project
stakeholders
Executive
status
To check
progress and
discuss
corrective
actions
MS Power
Point
presentation
Meeting and
written
communication
Bi-weekly Operations
manager
Senior
executives
and
functional
heads
Knowledge
sharing
To share lessons
learned
MS Power
Point
presentation
Classroom
Presentation
Monthly Team
members
Project team
37. Steps for Identifying Risks
Determining which risks might affect the project and
documenting their characteristics
Prioritising risks for further analysis or action by assessing
and combining their probability of occurrence and impact.
Numerically analysing the effect of identified risks on overall
project objectives.
Developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and
to reduce threats to project objectives.
39. Risk Response Techniques
Strategies for Threats
Avoid: Eliminating the threat by eliminating the cause
Mitigate: Reduce probability and/or impact
Transfer: deflect, allocate
Accept
Strategies for Opportunities
Exploit: Ensure that the opportunity is realised
Enhance: Increase probability and/or impact share
Share: Allocate ownership to a third party
Accept
40. Assignment
Prepare a risk register and risk a response plan for a live
project which you have worked on.