Happy Holidays everyone!
So, my course is finished this weekend. I hope I did well... I am waiting for the final results. Anyhow, I plan to study on my own starting from January first, so I can write this exam in Summer.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Project Communication Plan
This plan comprises of:
Information Needs are:
Developing A Communication Plan:
•What information needs to be
collected
and when?
and when?
•Who will receive the information?
•What methods will be used to
gather
and store information?
and store information?
•What are the limits, if any, on
who has access to certain kinds of information?
•When will the information be
communicated?
•How will it be communicated?
Information Needs are:
•Project status reports
•Deliverable issues
•Changes in scope
•Team status meetings
•Gating decisions
•Accepted request changes
•Action items
•Milestone reports
Developing A Communication Plan:
1.Stakeholder analysis
2.Information needs
3.Sources of information
4.Dissemination modes
5.Responsibility and timing
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Responsibility Matrices
•Responsibility Matrix (RM)
–Also
called a linear responsibility chart.
–Summarizes
the tasks to be accomplished and who is responsible for what on the project.
•Lists
project activities and participants.
•Clarifies
critical interfaces between units
and individuals that need coordination.
and individuals that need coordination.
•Provide
an means for all participants to view their responsibilities and agree on their
assignments.
•Clarifies
the extent or type of authority that
can be exercised by each participant.
can be exercised by each participant.
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Saturday, October 6, 2012
Costs
Types of Costs
•Direct Costs
–Costs
that are clearly chargeable
to a specific work package.
to a specific work package.
•Labor, materials, equipment, and
other
•Direct (Project) Overhead Costs
–Costs
incurred that are directly tied to an identifiable project deliverable or work
package.
•Salary, rents, supplies,
specialized machinery
•General and Administrative
Overhead Costs
–Organization
costs indirectly linked to a specific package that are apportioned to the
project
•Reasons for Adjusting Estimates
–Interaction
costs are hidden in estimates.
–Normal
conditions do not apply.
–Things
go wrong on projects.
–Changes
in project scope and plans.
•Adjusting Estimates
–Time
and cost estimates of specific activities are adjusted as the risks, resources,
and situation particulars become more clearly defined.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Top-Down and Bottom-Up Estimates
•Level of detail is different for
different levels of management.
different levels of management.
•Level of detail in the WBS varies
with the complexity of the project.
with the complexity of the project.
•Excessive detail is costly.
–Fosters
a focus on departmental outcomes
–Creates
unproductive paperwork
•Insufficient detail is costly.
–Lack
of focus on goals
–Wasted
effort on nonessential activities
Bottom-Up Approaches for Estimating Project Times and Costs
•Template methods
•Parametric procedures applied to
specific tasks
•Range estimates for
the WBS work packages
the WBS work packages
•Phase estimating: A hybrid
Top-Down Approaches for Estimating Project Times and Costs
•Consensus methods
•Ratio methods
•Apportion method
•Function point methods for
software and system projects
•Learning curves
Top-Down versus Bottom-Up Estimating
•Top-Down Estimates
–Are
usually are derived from someone who uses experience and/or information to
determine the project duration and total cost.
–Are
made by top managers who have little knowledge of the processes used to
complete the project.
•Bottom-Up Approach
–Can
serve as a check on cost elements in the WBS
by rolling up the work packages and associated cost accounts to major deliverables at the work package level.
by rolling up the work packages and associated cost accounts to major deliverables at the work package level.
Estimating Projects: Preferred Approach
•Make rough top-down estimates.
•Develop the WBS/OBS.
•Make bottom-up estimates.
•Develop schedules and budgets.
•Reconcile differences between
top-down
and bottom-up estimates
and bottom-up estimates
Thursday, October 4, 2012
PERT—Program Evaluation Review Technique
•Assumes each activity duration
has a range that statistically follows a beta distribution.
•Uses three time estimates for
each activity: optimistic, pessimistic, and a weighted average to represent
activity durations.
–Knowing
the weighted average and variances for each activity allows the project planner
to compute the probability of meeting different project durations.
Benefits of a Change Control System
1.Inconsequential changes are
discouraged
by the formal process.
by the formal process.
2.Costs of changes are maintained
in a log.
3.Integrity of the WBS and
performance measures
is maintained.
is maintained.
4.Allocation and use of budget and
management reserve funds are tracked.
5.Responsibility for implementation
is clarified.
6.Effect of changes is visible to
all parties involved.
7.Implementation of change is
monitored.
8.Scope changes will be quickly
reflected in baseline and performance measures.
Risk - Change Control System Process
1.Identify proposed changes.
2.List expected effects of proposed
changes
on schedule and budget.
on schedule and budget.
3.Review, evaluate, and approve or
disapprove
of changes formally.
of changes formally.
4.Negotiate and resolve conflicts
of change, condition, and cost.
5.Communicate changes to parties
affected.
6.Assign responsibility for
implementing change.
7.Adjust master schedule and
budget.
8.Track all changes that are to be
implemented
Risk Management Benefits
•A proactive rather than reactive
approach.
•Reduces surprises and negative
consequences.
•Prepares the project manager to
take advantage
of appropriate risks.
of appropriate risks.
•Provides better control over the
future.
•Improves chances of reaching
project performance objectives within budget and on time.
•Step 1: Risk Identification
–Generate
a list of possible risks through brainstorming, problem identification and risk
profiling.
•Macro risks first, then specific
events
•Step 2: Risk Assessment
–Scenario
analysis for event probability and impact
–Risk
assessment matrix
–Failure
Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
–Probability
analysis
•Decision trees, NPV, and PERT
–Semiquantitative
scenario analysis
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
(FMEA)
Impact × Probability × Detection = Risk Value
Impact × Probability × Detection = Risk Value
•Step 3: Risk Response Development
–Mitigating
Risk
•Reducing the likelihood an
adverse event will occur.
•Reducing impact of adverse event.
–Avoiding
Risk
•Changing the project plan to
eliminate the risk or condition.
–Transferring
Risk
•Paying a premium to pass the risk
to another party.
•Requiring
Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) provisions.
–Retaining
Risk
•Making a conscious decision to
accept the risk.
•Contingency Plan
–An
alternative plan that will be used if a possible foreseen risk event actually
occurs.
–A
plan of actions that will reduce or mitigate the negative impact (consequences)
of a risk event.
•Risks of Not Having a Contingency
Plan
–Having
no plan may slow managerial response.
–Decisions
made under pressure can be potentially dangerous and costly.
Opportunity Management Tactics
•Exploit
–Seeking
to eliminate the uncertainty associated with an opportunity to ensure that it
definitely happens.
•Share
–Allocating
some or all of the ownership of an opportunity to another party who is best
able to capture the opportunity for the benefit of the project.
•Enhance
–Taking
action to increase the probability and/or the positive impact of an
opportunity.
•Accept
–Being
willing to take advantage of an opportunity if it occurs, but not taking action
to pursue it.
•Contingency Funds
–Funds
to cover project risks—identified
and unknown.
•Size
of funds reflects overall risk of a project
–Budget reserves
•Are
linked to the identified risks of specific work packages.
–Management reserves
•Are
large funds to be used to cover major unforeseen risks (e.g., change in project
scope) of the total project.
•Time Buffers
–Amounts of time used to
compensate for unplanned delays in the project schedule.
•Severe
risk, merge, noncritical, and scarce resource activities
•Step 4: Risk Response Control
–Risk
control
•Execution of the risk response
strategy
•Monitoring of triggering events
•Initiating contingency plans
•Watching for new risks
–Establishing
a Change Management System
•Monitoring, tracking, and
reporting risk
•Fostering an open organization
environment
•Repeating risk
identification/assessment exercises
•Assigning and documenting
responsibility for managing risk
•Sources of Change
–Project
scope changes
–Implementation
of contingency plans
–Improvement
changes
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Estimating Projects
Estimating Projects
Importance of Estimating Time and Cost-
•Estimating
–The
process of forecasting or approximating the time and cost of completing project
deliverables.
–The
task of balancing expectations of stakeholders and need for control while the
project is implemented.
•Types of Estimates
–Top-down
(macro) estimates: analogy, group consensus, or mathematical relationships
–Bottom-up
(micro) estimates: estimates of elements
of the work breakdown structure
of the work breakdown structure
Importance of Estimating Time and Cost-
•To
support good decisions.
•To
schedule work.
•To
determine how long the project should take and its cost.
•To
determine whether the project is worth doing.
•To
develop cash flow needs.
•To
determine how well the project is progressing.
•To
develop time-phased budgets and establish the project baseline.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
WBS
*
This breakdown groups work packages by type of work within a deliverable and
allows assignment of responsibility to an organizational unit. This extra step
facilitates a system for monitoring project progress
•WBS
–Facilitates
evaluation of cost, time, and technical performance of the organization on a
project.
–Provides
management with information appropriate
to each organizational level.
to each organizational level.
–Helps
in the development of the organization breakdown structure (OBS). which assigns
project responsibilities to organizational units and individuals
–Helps
manage plan, schedule, and budget.
–Defines
communication channels and assists
in coordinating the various project elements.
in coordinating the various project elements.
•Organizational Breakdown
Structure (OBS)
–Depicts
how the firm is organized to discharge its work responsibility for a project.
•Provides
a framework to summarize
organization work unit performance.
organization work unit performance.
•Identifies
organization units responsible
for work packages.
for work packages.
•Ties
the organizational units
to cost control accounts.
to cost control accounts.
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