PMP EXAMINATION PREP CHAPTER 6 SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT. PMP Exam Prep

Transcription

1 PMP EXAMINATION PREP CHAPTER 6 SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT PMP Exam Prep

2 PROJECT SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT Page 223 Schedule Management Process : Contains 6 of the 49 total processes Plan Schedule Management Define Activities Sequence Activities Estimate Activity Durations Develop Schedule Control Schedule

3 PROJECT SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT A reminder on how the processes and groups interrelate

4 PLAN SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT PROCESS Page 223 Plan Schedule Management: Involves documenting how you will plan, manage and control the project to the schedule baseline, and how you will manage schedule variances. Answers questions like: Who will be involved? What approach will we take to plan the schedule of the project? What processes and procedures do we need to create the schedule?

5 PLAN SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT PROCESS Pages Schedule Management Plan: Key Output from the plan schedule management process. Part of the project management plan Specifies the following: Scheduling methodology and software to be used Rules for how estimated will be stated A schedule baseline A threshold for acceptable variance Performance measures Identification of schedule change procedures Formats and frequency of project reporting

6 DEFINE ACTIVITIES PROCESS Pages Define Activities Process: Involves taking the working packages created in the WBS and decomposing them into the activities that produce the work package deliverables. Involving the teams in the process helps define the activities completely and accurately and therefore makes work estimates (created later) more accurate. Rolling Wave Planning For large projects or multi-phase projects. Done through progressive elaboration, plan activities to the detail needed to manage the work just before you start that part of the project. Milestones Significant events in the life of the project Not work activities Have no duration Used as checkpoints to control the project

7 SEQUENCE ACTIVITIES PROCESS Pages Sequence Activities Process: Taking the activities and sequencing them in the order in which they will be performed. Leads to the creation of a network diagram primarily done through the precedence diagramming method (PDM) Four types of logical relationships between activities: Finish to Start (FS)- An activity must finish before it s successor can start Start to Start (SS) An activity must start before its successor can start Finish to Finish (FF) An activity must finish before the successor can finish Start to Finish (SF) An activity must start before the successor can finish

8 SEQUENCE ACTIVITIES PROCESS Page 227 Sequence Activities Process: Types of Dependencies between activities: Mandatory (hard logic) inherent in the nature of the work Discretionary (soft logic) The preferred approach by the organization, though other ways could be done External Based upon the needs or desires of a party outside the project (govt., suppliers, etc.) Internal Based upon the needs of the project, which may or may not be under the control of the project team. Lead vs. lag Lead can be used to indicate that an activity can start before its predecessor is complete Lag time inserted between activities for some purpose

9 ESTIMATE ACTIVITIES DURATIONS PROCESS Pages Estimate Activities Durations Process: Takes place after the activities have been defined and sequenced. Inputs necessary to this process: Activity List and attributes Assumptions/Constraints log Lessons Learned Register Resource Breakdown Structure categories of resources needed for the project Resource Requirements Project Team Assignments Resource Calendars when resources will be available Risk register

10 ESTIMATE ACTIVITIES DURATIONS PROCESS Page 231 Estimate Activities Durations Process: The Role of the Project Manager in the estimation process: Provide the team with enough info to do the estimation Give guidance on how refined the estimates should be Perform sanity check on the estimates Prevent estimate padding Formulate a reserve discussed more later Record assumptions used in the estimation process to have for review later

11 ESTIMATE ACTIVITIES DURATIONS PROCESS Pages Estimate Activities Durations Process: Estimation Methods One-Point Estimating Based upon expert judgment, estimator submits one estimate Can lead to padding Typically does not take into account risk and uncertainties Can cause credibility issues May make those doing the estimating seem unreliable if there is significant variance one way or the other Analogous Estimating Utilizes expert judgement and historical info to predict the future. Parametric Estimating Creates a mathematical equation from historical records, industry, requirements etc. to create estimates.

12 ESTIMATE ACTIVITIES DURATIONS PROCESS Pages Estimate Activities Durations Process: Estimation Methods (continued) Three-point estimating Analyzing what could go right (opportunities) and wrong (threats) for each activity. Optimistic (O) Pessimistic (P) Most Likely (M) Triangular Distribution Take a simple average of the three estimates ((O)+(P)+(M))/3 Beta Distribution (weighted average) puts more faith in the most likely estimate ((O)+4(M)+(P))/6 Bottom-up estimating Requires an accurate WBS, estimate effort at the work package level and then roll up the WBS.

13 ESTIMATE ACTIVITIES DURATIONS PROCESS Pages Estimate Activities Durations Process: Data Analysis Two forms of analysis: Alternatives Analysis- When estimates are not acceptable, this analysis is used to examine the variables that impact the estimates. Evaluate all options on the project constraints. Reserve Analysis The establishment of a reserve to account for risk on the project. Contingency reserves for schedule, added to the schedule baseline, tries to handle the known unknowns Management reserves not part of the schedule baseline, additional funds and time to handle the unknown unknowns Reserves PM has necessary info to reliably calculate additional time/funds Padding Team members arbitrarily add time to estimates

14 DEVELOP SCHEDULE PROCESS Develop Schedule Process: Pages Schedule Network Analysis creates the schedule model and finalizes project schedule Critical Path Technique The longest path (duration) through a project, determines the shortest time in which the project can be finished. Float (Schedule Inflexibility) Total Float total time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project Free Float amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of it s successors. Project Float amount of time a project can be delayed without delaying the externally imposed completion date Note: activities on the critical path have ZERO float. Calculation: Float = Late Start (LS) Early Start (ES) Float = Late Finish(LF) Early Finish (EF) Critical Path Example pp

15 DEVELOP SCHEDULE PROCESS Pages Develop Schedule Process: Schedule Compression Attempts to address a common problem on projects an unrealistic timeline for completion; can assist a project manager determine if a date can be met and if not what can be changed to meet the date. Fast Tracking involves taking critical path activities that originally planned to be done sequentially and having them done in parallel. Usually ends up in: Rework Increased Risk Increased focus on communication Crashing Adding or adjusting resources in order to compress the schedule by maintaining scope. (the trading of time for money) Usually results in: Increased cost Increased risk

16 DEVELOP SCHEDULE PROCESS Develop Schedule Process: Pages Data Analysis/ Simulation What if change the assumptions of work activities to see if durations can change Monte Carlo Analysis: Software is used to simulate the outcome of project based upon three-point estimates Probability of completing on a specific day Probability of completion with a specific cost Probability of an activity residing on the critical path Indication of overall project risk Resource Optimization Finding ways to adjust the use of resources Resource Leveling Where resources are limited, lengthen schedule increase cost. Resource Smoothing Form of leveling, however, only level within the limits of float time an activity can be delayed

17 DEVELOP SCHEDULE PROCESS Pages Develop Schedule Process: Outputs of Develop Schedule - Project Schedule result of the planning processes and the schedule network analysis Project Activities Due Dates Milestones Network Diagram Schedule Baseline Version of the schedule used to manage the project; what team performance is measured against. Schedule Data Encompasses all of the data used to build the schedule model (milestones, activities, duration estimates, dependencies, etc.) Change Requests Changes that necessitate change to the schedule. Project Document Updates All necessary updates to process documents regarding schedule.

18 CONTROL SCHEDULE PROCESS Pages Control Schedule Process: Control Schedule Taking corrective and preventative action on a regular basis in a project to make sure to keep performance in line with original planning; identifying things that are causing changes and influencing the root causes of the changes. Activities undertaken: Re-estimating project components as needed Formally analyze how the project is doing (Earned Value Measurement discussed later) Adjust future parts of the schedule to deal with delays. Optimize resources and/or schedule as needed Identify the need for changes including corrective and preventive actions. Enforce the change control process Re-estimating The process of re-evaluating the level of effort after change as occurred (if necessary).

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