Management:
A Project Team Approach
How Much Detail?
A master plan for every project Detailed plans for only the next 3 - 4 months for monitoring and resource planning On average detail tasks to approximately 2 weeks duration Make estimates realistic
Reality Estimating
We do a great job of planning and then finish late. The plan is fine. I think our people just need to be more motivated.
Efficient plans
assume full dedication to task estimate reasonable times (50%) do not multi-task focus on one thing at a time develop a bottleneck schedule add buffers to protect bottleneck monitor trends
Making the plan realistic
Layout the flowchart so you do not over-schedule resources.
6
Start DAY 6
20
Finish DAY 20
ELECT DESIGN AREA 1
RESP: ELECT DURATION 20
DETERM ELECT REQTS Start DAY 1 Finish DAY 5
ELECT DESIGN AREA 2 Start DAY 6 Finish DAY 20
REVIEW ELECT Start DAY 21 Finish DAY 22 RESP: ELECT DURATION 2
RESP: ELECT DURATION 5
RESP: ELECT DURATION 20
ELECT DESIGN AREA 3 Start DAY 6 Finish DAY 20
RESP: ELECT DURATION 20
INSTEAD OF WORKING ON ALL THREE AT SAME TIME, ALLOW THE RESOURCE TO DECIDE ON THE SEQUENCE OF WORK: the result is more productivity and efficiency. 6
DETERM ELECT REQTS Start DAY 1 Finish DAY 5 ELECT DESIGN AREA 2 Start DAY 6 Finish DAY 10 ELECT DESIGN AREA 1 Start DAY 11 Finish DAY 15 RESP: ELECT DURATION 5 RESP: ELECT DURATION 5 RESP: ELECT DURATION 5
20
ELECT DESIGN AREA 3 Start DAY 15 Finish DAY 20 RESP: ELECT DURATION 5 REVIEW ELECT Start DAY 21 Finish DAY 22 RESP: ELECT DURATION 2
Making the plan realistic
Prepare the flowchart so you do not over-schedule resources. Schedule as if resource is fully dedicated to the task, and provide the opportunity to focus on one thing at a time. Add arrows to the flowchart if necessary to ensure no overloading Those doing the work must do estimate (and measure actual performance)
high
AVERAGE
OPTIMISTIC
SAFE
RELATIVE FREQUEN low
SHORT
DURATION
LONG
Copyright2001byPersonalStrengthsPublishing,Inc.
If the goal is optimistic (or unrealistic)
We tend to estimate unrealistic task durations as well Result is that we have only a 15% chance of success And conversely, an 85% chance of failure May lose clients Reputation suffers
If there is fear of failure
Many engineers estimate each task safely to protect themselves The result is a much longer scheduled project duration than is acceptable, and We bounce back to unrealistic estimates or have them forced on us
high
4 DAYS OPTIMISTIC
RELATIVE FREQUEN low
SHORT
DURATION
LONG
Copyright2001byPersonalStrengthsPublishing,Inc.
OPTIMISTIC 4 4 4 4 4
Total 20 days
high
4 DAYS OPTIMISTIC
10 DAYS SAFE
RELATIVE FREQUEN low
SHORT
DURATION
LONG
Copyright2001byPersonalStrengthsPublishing,Inc.
OPTIMISTIC 4 SAFE 10 10 10 10 10
Total 50 days
4
4
4
4
Total 20 days
high
7 DAYS AVERAGE
4 DAYS OPTIMISTIC
10 DAYS SAFE
RELATIVE FREQUEN low
SHORT
DURATION
LONG
Copyright2001byPersonalStrengthsPublishing,Inc.
OPTIMISTIC SAFE 4 10 AVERAGE 7 7 7 7 7
Total 35 days
4
4
4
4
Total 20 days
10
10
10
10
Total 50 days
REALISTIC 7 7 7 7 7 7
BUFFER Total 42 days
Buffer size approx 20% of the path (20% x 35 = 7)
Summary
Plan before you commit to deadline Lay out schedule for no multi-tasking Estimate average times (50/50) for each activity by person doing the work If you cannot accept a 50% chance of over-run, add a buffer at end of critical path Size of buffer - approximately 20% of path being protected Add buffers to paths coming into critical path to protect the critical path
1
7
8 0
14
15 0
21
22 0
28
29 0
35
36 0
42 0 42
7
1 7
7
8 14
7
15
7
22
7
29 35
7
36
Total 42 days
21
28
1
4
5
10
11 14
14 14
4
15 28
14 18 19
6
24
4
25
1
7
8 0
14
15 0
7
1 7
7
8 14
7
15
21 22 0 21
7
28 0 28
29
35
36 0
42 0 42
7
29 35
7
36
Total 42 days
22
1
4
5 11
10
11 11
14 11 25
15
17
4
12
6
16 21
4
22
3
28
11
15
26
Add a 20% buffer to the feeding path, then work to the latest allowed dates, not the earliest possible. Use your resources on the critical path focus on the important. Do not try to start everything at once
Resource Scheduling
1. Develop the flowchart, estimate durations 2. Assign required resources to each task 3. Convert to bar-chart and add up resources required in each period 4. Define resources available in each period 1. Reschedule activities within float to balance resources required and resources available
Sample Project Resource Distribution
Task Name
DEFINE USER REQUIREMENTS ANALIZE FINANCIAL BENEFITS PREPARE DATA FLOW DIAGRAM ANALYZE SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES HUMAN IMPACT ANALYSIS REVIEW EXISTING HARDWARE DESIGN SOFTWARE SELECT AND ORDER NEW HARDW TEST AND DEBUG OFFSITE PREPARE SYSTEM DOCUMEN...