By Robert Cassella IUustrated by Erik Hansen

O Copyright 2003 Robert Cassella. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Printed in Wctoria, Canada

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Cassella, Robert, 195 1 - Project management skills for kids I Robert Cassella ; illustrated by Erik Hansen.

ISBN 1-4120-0764-X 1. Project management-Juvenile literdture. I. Hansen, Erik, 1962- 11. Title.

HD69.P75C37 2003 j658.4'04 C2003-903842-4

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Project Management Skills for Kids is a book for students and their parents and teachers that shows how LO plan, manage and execute a Project.

The idea for this book came froin mny frustration trying to help my daughters with the projects they were assigned in school or in their extracurricular activities.

I want to show kids some simple and logical ways they can organize and finish a project - and develop fundamental skills they can use throughout their school years to plan, manage and organize work and to solve problems.

In my opinion, learning how to plan, manage and execute work is at least as important as the work itself.

edicated to my daughters, Sarah and E

Table of Cantents

Introduction to Project Manageinent

Planning Your Project

Pc'lanaging Your Project

Executing Your Project

Notes for Parents 2nd Teachcrs

Glossary of Terms

Introduction to Project - Management

Introductiozl. ta ect Management

What is a Project?

What is Project Management?

Project Management Processes

Projects are special and different ... they are not 'I-eplar' scliool \vot-k and t h q

wuaJly require more effort.

Projects have a definite beginning and end ... there is Iinlited amount of time to do

a lot ofwork.

Projects create a finished prodt~ct ... a I-csearch paper or an or-alpresentation

or a model.

Every Project is ullique ... ~zortnall~~, no one does the sane Project hvice and no hvo pco!$e\vili do the sa~neProject the same way.

What i s Project Managment?

Project Management is a 'systems approach' to planning and managing the processes that create a finished product ... such as a research paper or a craft item, for example.

Project Management Skills help you to accomplish complicated tasks on time and to specification.

You call complete a Project without planning and managing your activities but it y& be a lot more difficult!

What is a System?

A system takes inputs ...

... to produce an output

Pmject Management

Tn the Planning process, you develop a Project Plan and a Project Schedule.

In the Managing process, you evaluate your progress based on the Specifications and Schedule.

In the Executing process, you produce intermediate and final products.

Planning Your Project

Pkmning Your ect

M a h g a Project Plan.

'Freaking Down' a Product

Making a Project Plan

iVriting your Project Plan makes you think about what you are going to do and how you arc going to do it.

The Project Plan includes: Tht: Scope of the Project

Assumntions hlade I

Resources Needed for the Project

Constraints That Can Affect the Project

Assessment of h s k s That Might Affect the Project

Organization of the Project Team (if it is a team project)

The Scope of the ect

Your project scope statement re-states facts that you have been given:

%.hat must be done Write a six page research paper on UFOs ...

how it must be done ... that presents two different explanations of their existence ...

what ol?jecti\7es or specificatioils inust bc met ... The paper must use four sources, be typed double-spaced and use the MLA style guide. An outline and a rough draft must be turned in on Day 12 and Day 25.

Assumptions

You ~-2.ill not have all the facts that you need to do your Project ... so you must make logical assumnptions.

'Assumptions' are used in place of facts

references I will need.

12

that you don't T~uve.

How can you figure out what resources you will need?

By breaking down your finished product into activities, task and steps, you can estimate what resources you will need.

resources.

another way of saying

Finished Product, Activities and Tasks

Activity, Tasks and Steps

Thinli Zhnut It

Draw a Picture

steps n 1 Li,t thc Part5

Dur-tition 2 days 2 days 1 day

You can csti~nate h 6 a long it will take you to complete each Actisity.

Product

Research Paper

Model

Product Bm~k Down

Resources

Project SeheduIe

Your Project Schedule shows: what you must do (activities)

groups of simdar tasks (phases)

what order you must do them ill (sequence)

the time needed to complete a task (duration)

when they must be done (mileston

The next two pages show three ways to schedule the activities, phases and inilestones of your Project ...

Days

1 Day 21: Deliver thc hlodcl 21

%at If It's a 'Team" Project2

Someone has to be in charge of the Project.

Everyone has to have sornc responsibility for the Project's output.

Each person's xvork must contribute to the Project's success.

Managing Your Pmject

Managing Your HZ

'Front Loading' Your Work

Assessing Risk

What are Specifications?

Tnspecting Your i%'ork

increases Risk!

1/4 of avdable time 3/4 of available time

Assessing Risk!

Ir\rhat Can Go Wrong? = &'hat if someone else borrows the book I need?

What if I wait too long to start working?

\Vllat if the dog eats my paper?

What if my model doesn't work right?

Avoiding Risk

Can I Do Something What Can I Do About It?

Front-load the wo

ksks

P m j ~ t Specifications understand the

'Specifications' are the Req~lirements or Objectisre for the Project that are given to you.

These Specifications are used to write your Scope statement and to make your Project Schedule.

Usually, Specifications are based on: Time: Such as the dates that products are due.

Quality: Such as hou7 a bibliography must be written.

Quantity: Such as the nunlber of pages or sources.

Conditions: Such as 'all work must be done in scho

29

Inspecting Your Work

You must check or test your o\wl work to make sure you are meeting the Specifications.

Ask yourself these questions: Is the product ready on time?

Is the product as good as it should be

Does the product meet all requirements?

Have all the conditions been met?

and to fix if it needs Inore ~vork.

30

Remember to allow yourself time to inspect your product

Executing Yclur Project

Executing Your Project

While you do the work on your Project, keep in mind: the scope

the schedule

the specifications

If you find that your work is going slower (or faster) than you had planned, adjust the schedule.

Notes for k ~ n t s and Teachers

Help your student to succeed by: talkng about the ideas in this book

providing attainable specificatioi~s

requiring milestones to be met

rcvie~ing the quality of the work

letting them do the work themselves

Glossary

Assumption: A presumption you make in place oP a fact you don't have.

Activity: A part of a product; an Intermediate Product.

Constraint: Something you need but don't have enough of.

Duration: The amount of time you estimate to complete a task.

Estimate: An educated guess of how much of a resource you need.

Fjnal Product: The otltput of a project.

Front-Loading: Doing the planning work early in the project.

Glossary

Inspection: Checking or testing to make sure a product meets specifications and does what it's supposed to do.

Intermediate Product: The output of a project phase; an Activity.

Level of Effort: The amount of work you need to do to accomplish something.

Milestone: An important date; the day that a product has to be finished.

Phase: A group of tasks that produce an Intermediate or Find Product.

Process: The effort and procedures that transform inputs into a product.

Glossary

Product: The output of a process.

Product Breakdown: Breaking a product into activities, tasks and steps.

Project: A short term effort to produce a unique product.

Quality: How 'good' a product must be.

Risk: The possibility that something might go wrong.

Resource: An input to a process.

Scope: The 'What,' 'How' and 'How \%'ell' of a project.

Glossary

Schedule: The sequence and timing of activities.

Sequence: The order in which activities take place.

Specification: A required standard that must be met.

Step: Part of a task.

System: The way that resources are made into products.

Task: Part of an activity.

ISBN L4L2007b4-X