Murray_Sittsamer_Notes
A discussion of projects and project management by
Murray Sittsamer,President
The Luminous Group LLC
31700 Thirteen Mile Road,Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334,U.S.A.
office: 248.538.8677
email: murray@luminousgroup.com
- A project is a trade-off between quality, schedule, resources
- Elements of project management
Goal Achievement
Risk Reduction
Planning and Execution
People Working Together
Evaluating and Correcting
Effective Meetings
Time Management
Cost Management
- Multiple groups involved from business, suppliers, customers, production, engineering, quality, etc.
- A combination/trade-off between targets of i) Required Performance/Quality, ii) Cost/budget limit, iii) due date/time
- Common failures of projects
Time or Schedule
Lack of decisions
Delayed responses
perfectionism
no resources
low motivation
requirement creep/changes
no urgency
Cost or Budget
increase time requirements
poor original cost estimates
no cost control
delays
expecting ideal conditions
lost learning curve
Performance or Quality
Poorly defined or unrealistic goals
Inadequate design
Poor execution
late changes
supplier issues
poor prioritization
- Schedule increase is tied to cost increase
- Project management is valuable because it,
provides structure to the design process
saves time and money
provides common language
help predict problems sooner
prioritizes and focuses energy and attention
makes projects more regular and predictable
- Project managers need many skills. They have some, but compensate for others
Responsible, positive/enthusiastic, leads, standards, achiever, discipline, listener, presenter, writer, detail/process oriented, managed, calm in pressure, factual, fast thinker, takes criticism, diplomat, reliable, delegates, motivates, creative, flexible, follows-up, educator, shares, knowledgeable, resilient, etc.
- Current industry issues
Outsourcing - low cost labor markets, other businesses
system integration
New technologies
Global Marketplace
increased quality
speed expectations
downsizing
- Fundamentals of project management i) structure, ii) behaviors, iii) tools and methods
- Anticipate problems before they become reality. The reflective questions are,
What are we trying to accomplish for the customer?
What functions and individuals are needed for the project?
What needs to happen, by when, and who will do it?
What is the best way to carry out?
How do we begin?
How do we keep things on track?
How well did we meet customers requirements?
- 8 step project management process
Define the desired outcomes : What are we trying to accomplish for the customer?
Identify team members: What functions and individuals are needed?
Determine the tasks required: What needs to happen, by when and who will do it?
Optimize the schedule: What is the best way to carry out the work?
Optimize work performance: Who needs what from whom?
Execute the plan: How do we begin?
Review the Work: How do we keep the project on track?
Complete the work: Did we meet the customers requirements?
- Project outcome worksheet
define the customer needs concisely
how will the outcomes be measured
what are key constraints - e.g., schedule, cost, resources
What assumptions have been made - what does the customer expect that has not been stated
How will the customer measure satisfaction
- Had the students complete a project outcome worksheet.
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
WBS is a breakdown of all tasks
Logical outline that conveys the organization of the project - e.g., phases, tasks, sub-tasks
Numerical task identification will help when updating durations, start dates, completion dates
- General Procedure
Break the project into major concurrent tasks
do planning for each major component
interweave the project tasks
draw a network diagram
- general rules
Task sequence must be managed
Tasks in parallel can be completed in a shorter time
Pick a suitable level of detail
Select tasks and identify the sequence
- task relationships
finish to start
start to start
finish to finish
- Schedule the work,
Estimate duration and cost for each task
Determine the "critical Path"
Schedule each task using a Gantt chart
Determine the overall project schedule and total cost.
- Critical path is the set of tasks that sets to project schedule - if it is delayed, the project is delayed - it is the longest possible time sequence of tasks through the network diagram
- Three ways to find the CP i) eyeballing, ii) forward and backward pass, iii) scheduling software
- The network diagram can be used to calculate the Early Start/Finish and Late Start/Finish for each task.
- Use a forward pass of delays to find Early Starts/Finishes - the latest delay is propagated forwards
- Use a backward pass of delays to find Last Starts/Finishes - the smallest delay is propagated backwards
- Use a Gantt chart to show relationships between tasks and illustrate task and project duration
- Dates on Gantt charts are the outcomes of planning/sequencing/time requirements.
- Reducing project time can be done by
Try to break tasks off the critical path on the Gantt chart - requires re-examination of tasks and assumptions.
Revisit the duration of tasks - other people/resources/methods can speed it up.
Add more resources to speed the critical path.
Sometimes working ahead on critical path tasks can be done, but by assuming risk.
- Getting on top of the situation
Control is part of Influence is part of the hard/impossible to control
Focus on things that can be changed
Do not put time into the uncontrollable
Be able to tell the difference
- Things that are risks for the tasks
People
Information
Resources
Time
- Anticipate and mitigate risks
identify high risk activities - new tech/knowledge/methods, complex interactions, critical path events
evaluate relative risk - impact vs. probability
work to prevent causes or implement contingencies
identify and manage long lead-time activities
- Evaluate risks
Look at the i) risky event, ii) the probability, and iii) possible effect - a combination of high probability and negative effect requires attention.
For major risks consider i) event trigger, ii) preventive action, iii) cost to avoid, iv) contingent actions, v) impact recovery costs.
- Maintain urgency
Maintain a high degree of focus from the start
Keep plans visible and meaningful
Look at both the big picture and the detail
Focus on getting ahead of schedule, not on catching up
Demonstrate importance at meetings
Set deadlines for resolution of problems.