Lecture 1 & 2:

Week 4 & 5
What is a Project?
Defined by PMI as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or
result.
Attributes of a Project:
- Has a clear objective.
- Has a defined life span.
- Consists of a set of interdependent activities (tasks).
- Utilizes resources.
- Is unique or a one-time effort?
- Has a sponsor and/or a customer.
- Involves uncertainty (unforeseen circumstances)

Characteristics of Objectives: (SMART)

 Specific- Establish a clear, precise goalanswersix W questions
 Measurable- Measure the progress with quantifiable indicators
 Achievable- Establish a realistic goal that can be accomplished with available
resources
 Relevant-Identify the significance of the goal for all the stakeholders
 Timely-State the time and date for the completion.

What is a successful Project?

A successful project is one that achieves the following objectives:
- Completed on time.
- Within budget.
- At the desired performance level.
- Efficient and effective utilization of resources.
- Satisfies the stakeholders.
- Aligned with organizational workflow.

What is Project Management?

 Using modern management techniques to achieve predetermined goals of scope, cost,
time, quality, and participant satisfaction.
 To avoid project failures

Why use Project Management Techniques?

Importance of Project Management Techniques
- Improves overall project performance
- Reduces the time to complete projects
- Reduces project risk
- Increases quality
- Improves communication and provides an open environment for communication
- Provides standard methodologies for everyone in the organization to follow
- Ensures consistency in reporting
- Improves accuracy of project reports

Project Life Cycle:

The project life cycle describes the changes a project passes through during the life of a project.
  Defining
 Planning
 Executing
 Closing (delivery)

Project Scope Checklist:

1. Project Objective: Define the duration/budget- major
2. Deliverables: Expected outputs over the life of the Project (major deliverables)
3. Milestones: Significant event in a Project:
- happens at a point in time.
- relates to major deliverables.
- control points in the Project to make sure everything is going according to plan.
- should be clear to all parties involved.
4. Technical Requirements: Specifications that ensure proper performance (may be asserted
by institutions).
5. Limits and Exclusions: Limits of the Scope should be well defined.
6. Review with the Customer

Work Packages: A work package is the lowest level of the WBS. It is output-oriented in that it:-
Defines work (what).
- Identifies time to complete a work package (how long)
- Identifies a time-phased budget to complete a work package (cost)
- Identifies resources needed to complete a work package (how much)
- Identifies a single person responsible for units of work (who)
- Identifies monitoring points (milestones) for measuring success.

Scheduling: A schedule is the conversion of work into a timeline.

Advantages of scheduling:
- Visualization
- Evaluation of alternatives
- Assessment of required resources
- Allocation of resources to achieve goals
Some common scheduling techniques:
- Gannt or bar charts
- Networks
- Milestone charts
- Line of balance

Networks:
 Activity: a specific task or set of tasks that consume time.
 Event: the occurrence when an activity is started or completed.
 Path: a series of connected, dependent activities between any two events.
 Network: the logical sequence of all activities in a project represented by arcs and
nodes.
Approaches:
 Activity on node (AON)- An activity is represented by a node:
o Relatively easier
o Unique representation of the network
 o Used by most Project Planning Software
o Easier to implement and extend
 Activity on arrow (AOA)- An activity is represented by an arrow:
o Relatively harder
o Representation of the network is not unique
o Mostly used for PERT and CPMAB

Network Computation Process:

 Step 1: Create an activity sequence table.
 Step 2: Create the network
 Step 3: Determine activity times
 Step 4: Determine the early start and finish times
 Step 5: Determine the late start and finish times
 Step 6: Determine slack times (float)
 Step 7: Determine slack times (float)