Project Management Calculations - Essay Example

? Project Management of the affiliation with information about affiliation, research grants, how to contact.Task 1Draw the network diagram Activity Time Required Immediate Predecessor Activities EST EFT LFT LST (Days) A 4 - 0 4 4 0 B 5 A 4 9 12 7 C 4 A 4 8 12 8 D 8 A 4 12 12 4 E 6 A 4 10 12 6 F 2 A 4 6 12 10 G 13 B,C,D,E,F 12 25 25 12 H 8 G 25 33 33 25 I 7 H 33 40 40 33 J 6 H 33 39 40 34 K 8 I,J 40 48 48 40 L 13 K 48 61 61 48 M 9 L 61 70 70 61 N 4 M 70 74 74 70 O 5 B 9 14 86 81 P 12 N 74 86 86 74 Q 2 O,P 86 88 88 86 1) Explain how you determined the timing of activities and total float The Earliest Start time (EST) is 0 day for the first activity i.e. activity A in this case. For the following activities, EST is equal to Latest Finish Time (LFT) of the predecessor. The Earliest Start time (EST) = Latest Finish Time (LFT) of the predecessor Earliest Finish Time (EFT) is calculated by adding duration to Earliest Start Time (EST). Earliest Finish Time (EFT) = Earliest Start Time (EST) + Duration Latest Start Time (LST) is calculated by adding float to LST of the critical activity in the group. Latest Start Time (LFT) = Latest Start Time (EST) of critical activity + total float Latest Finish Time (LFT) is calculated by adding duration to LST of the activity. Latest Finish Time (LFT) = Latest Start Time (LST) + Duration Total Float is calculated by subtracting The Earliest Start time (EST) and duration from Latest Finish Time (LFT). Total float = LFT - EST - duration 2) Explain how you determined the project duration and the critical path In order to calculate the project duration, we first need to identify critical path. A critical path is the one that holds series of dependable activities which as whole gives the longest time to complete the project and these activities within critical path are called critical activities. In other words, it is series of activities with “Zero total Float” (Newell, 2005). In our case, the critical path is: A -> D -> G -> H-> I -> K -> L -> M -> N -> P -> Q After this, project duration is calculated by adding the duration of activities in critical path. In our case, the project duration is calculated as Total duration of A + D+ G+ H+ I+ K+ L+ M+ N+ P+ Q=88 days Activity Time Required Immediate Predecessor Activities EST EFT LFT LST (days) A 4 - 0 4 4 0 B 5 A 4 9 12 7 C 4 A 4 8 12 8 D 8 A 4 12 12 4 E 6 A 4 10 12 6 F 2 A 4 6 12 10 G 13 B,C,D,E,F 12 25 25 12 H 8 G 25 33 33 25 I 7 H 33 40 40 33 J 6 H 33 39 40 34 K 8 I,J 40 48 48 40 L 13 K 48 61 61 48 M 9 L 61 70 70 61 N 4 M 70 74 74 70 O 5 B 9 14 86 81 P 12 N 74 86 86 74 Q 2 O,P 86 88 88 86 PROJECT DURACTION 88 DAYS   Critical Path 3) If the project starts on the Monday 7 January 2013, what is the earliest date it can be completed using a 5 working day week? Assume no holidays. If the project starts on the Monday 7 January 2013 On the basis of 88 days of total project duration, the earliest date when the project can be completed is the 8th of May, 2013. The date is calculated by counting 88 days from 7 January, 2013 excluding Saturday and Sunday. 4) If the following happened what would be the effect on the duration of the whole project? a) Activity B is delayed 1 day. Activity B is not a critical activity and has total float of 3 days, 1 day delay during activity B will not affect the duration of the whole project. b) Activity P is delayed 1 day. As activity P it is a critical activity, a 1 day delay during activity P will increase the duration of the whole project by 1 day, thereby making it to 89 days. c) Activity O is delayed 2 day. Activity B is not a critical activity and has a total float of 72 days, 1 day delay during activity B will not affect the duration of the whole project. 5) Limitations of network diagrams The main limitation of a Network diagram is: do not clearly show time line for a project, it is difficult to update, do not lead to easy distribution and the tools can be expensive to acquire. TASK 2 Abstract The project management main goal is delivering a project within the time and budget expected which satisfy the client. The purpose of this paper is describing the activities required to successfully manage a project in the initiation stage. Specifically the project is related to the opening of a new building in a SME company of design and supply of Signage . Results reveal that the at this stage the project manager has to outline several activities in order to analyze the feasibility of the project. This paper emphasizes the importance of a realistic feasibility study . Project Management The project manager role The project manager has the responsibility to understand and to be accomplishing a work through the expenditure of resources. The main activities of a project manager are: planning, directing, organizing, controlling and coordinating. (Larry, R. 2008) Planning is the process that leads the project from that “as-is” state into the “to-be” state and it requires defining a plan by alternative evaluation. Directing involves the communication of the plan: goals, purposes, procedures. Organizing implies the coordination of all the resources need to achieve the project goal: human resources, materials, equipment, space. Coordinating is the synchronization of all activities. Project life cycle The Project Management Life Cycle is a subdivision of the project. A project can be divided into four main phases: “concept and initiation phase, design and development phase, implementation (or construction phase), and commission and handover phase” (Burke, R. 2003). The initiation phase is the first phase of the project life cycle. In this phase are include the following activities: . Develop a Business Case . Feasibility Study . Establish the Project Charter . Project Team . Project Office . Perform Phase Review It’s expected in this phase the definition of the objectives, scope, purpose and the deliverables to be produced. A project manager should also hire the project team, set up the Project Office and review the project, to gain approval to begin the next phase. In the design phase is expected the creation of a set of plans and schedules for the execution of the project. Documents like: Project Plan, Resource Plan, Financial Plan, Quality Plan , Risk Plan, Acceptance Plan, Communications Plan, Procurement Plan , Supplier contracts are typically developed in this stage. The third stage is the implementation phase. It’s related to the execution of the project and it involves several activities: Build Deliverables, Monitor and Control, Time Management, Cost Management, Quality Management, Change Management, Risk Management, Issue Management, Procurement Management, Acceptance Management, Communications Management. The last phase, the commissioning phase involves the project closure. At this stage is expected that all the activities related to the formal deliver of the project are developed: passing the documentation of the business, cancelling supplier contracts, releasing staff and equipment, and informing stakeholders of the closure of the project. Feasibility Study As said one of the activities in the initiation phase is the Feasibility Study. “It's a feasibility study that will provide recommendations on whether it could work, and if yes, how to set it up. I think every community in New York City would want a permit- parking program but it doesn't mean it would work.” ( Michael Burke) In the Feasibility Study the following topics should be discussed: . Identify the project objectives; . Assemble needed resources; . Team roles and responsibilities; . Identify customers needs ( present and future); . . Project schedule; . Stakeholders; . Financial Report. All these topics should be analyzed in order to meet the feasibility of the project statements: objectives, scope, budget, time. With this study should be understood also if the technical resources required to develop the project are available within the organization. The project objectives and activities Watson, Ldt is considering opening a new building for trading. Until now Watson has only traded from a single warehouse that also includes office accommodation ( 25,000 square metres). The Watson clients are local authorities, SME companies and more rarely global companies. By opening a new building, Watson wants to improve the relationship with the global companies by target and respond more efficiently their needs. Initially there are no proposed changes to the Watson’s staffing structure of the new building. Regarding this objective is necessary a detailed list of the main activities that will be developed along the project life cycle. The Marketplace - Identify customers' needs ( present and future) With this new project Watson wants to achieve the global companies’ needs. Therefore is necessary to research about the marketplace. In order to properly know the marketplace is important conduce the research into the achievement of the following questions: . Who are the competitors? . Which are the distribution channels? . Which are the communication channels with the global companies? . Why the global companies might choose to buy the Watson products? Marketing Strategy After classifying the marketplace is important to plan how Watson Ldt is going to market its product. First of all is necessary to identify the best type of marketing to reach the client global companies: emailing list, sales advertisements, special offerings to customers, marketing intelligence,… Using the proper type of marketing is critical knowing how Watson differentiate itself from its competitors and who the organization will target. Thinking about Marketing Strategy is important for the organizations be focused on the right target groups in order to yield the greatest return on investment. Assemble needed resources In the initiation phase is expected an analysis of the feasibility of the project. Therefor is critical the definition of the all the needed resources, its availability and time deliveries and the price. If any resource needed for the new building opening is ignored could be critical for the success of the project. The materials, equipment and manpower which are needed for the project should be identified and described. Team roles and responsibilities With the new building opening is expected the same staffing structures: one manager, two assistant Managers, three administration staff, four design and sales staff and six general operations staffs. But is important validate if the staffing structure, which is functioning in the first building, is the best team for these projects. Many factors can affect the team selection. The target of the new building trading is different than and so the activities that will be developed. So is important to consider all the activities, staff responsibilities and necessary skills in order to conclude if it’s the right team and it should be adapted. After is important to define the relationships between team members and the hierarchy. Project schedule At the initiation phase the project schedule is not intended to be detailed as it would be during the following stages. Therefore at this stage the schedule may include some targeted milestones in order to be approved. The Watson’s new building is expected to take x months from project approval to be opened . An example of milestones for this project is: Initiate Project - Date Project kickoff meeting - Date Complete office and warehouse accommodations - Date Complete team definition - Date Complete supplier contracts - Date Opening day - Date Upon approval of this project a detailed schedule should be created by the assigned project team to include all tasks and deliverables. Stakeholders Identify the right stakeholders is critical for the project success. They are organizations or persons inside and outside the company who are involved and may affect the project performance. They relate to the critical tasks. In Watson new project possible stakeholders are: In order to develop a relationship with those people/organization is important to why stakeholders involvement is important, why they could be interested to get involved with the project and how they can get participate. Regarding the project critical activities the main stakeholders should be selected. They can be employees, communities, customers, suppliers, creditors. It depends on the project needs. It’s important to emphasize that the stakeholder could be inside and outside the organizations, so the communication plan should be carefully developed especially when they are outside the organization. Financial Projections For this new initiative is expected to yield and additional costs. In the Initiation phase the financial projections should provide an expectation value about these items. It’s a very import item. The selection criteria always assents in this aspect. This section provides a description of the financial projections the new initiative is expected to yield versus additional costs. Financial projections are one key aspect of new project selection criteria. There are many ways to present these projections. The financial projections should follow some assumptions. The sales projections should remain unchanged, all the transactions are closed yearly and the milestones are performed in accordance with the schedule. Conclusions Based on the information presented in this report, the feasibility study shows the pos and cons of the project. Regarding all the topics should be discussed should be explained why the course of the activity is or not is recommended. References Burke, R. (2003) Project Management, Planning and Control Techniques. John Wiley and Sons. Campbell, G. M., & Baker, S. (2003). The complete idiot's guide to project managemen. New York: Marie Butler - Knight. Elearn Limited. (2005). Project Management. Oxford: Worldwide Learning Limited. Field, M., Keller, L. (1998) Project Management. Open University Field, M., & Keller, L. (2006). Project Management . London: Thomson Learning. Harris, J. (2004) www.gantthead.com Harrison, F. (1985) Advanced Project Management. Gower Newell, M. W. (2005). Preparing for the project management professional (PMP) certification exam. PMBOK Handbook (1992). Volume 6, Project and Program Risk Management. Richman, L. (2002) Project Management Step-by-Step. AMACOM. Richman, L (2008) Improving Your Project Management Skills. AMACOM. Turner, R. (1993) Handbook of Project-Based Management. McGraw Hill. Snedaker, S. (2005). How to cheat at IT project management. MA: Syngress Publishing, Inc. Taylor, J. (2008). Project Scheduling and Cost Control: Planning, Monitoring and Controlling the Baseline. Florida: J. Ross Publishing, Inc. Read More