project management professor: dr. miguel alonso jr
TRANSCRIPT
Project Management
Professor: Dr. Miguel Alonso Jr.
Outline
IntroductionCreating a project CharterTask Definitions, Milestones, Defining TimesOrganizing the tasksPERT Charts, Critical Paths, and Gantt ChartsDetails, DetailsPersonnel Distribution, Money, and ResourcesDocumentation and Team Roles
Introduction
“Failure to plan is planning to fail” Questions that should be addressed in a
project plan What do you/team do first? What comes next? How many people? Resources? How long? Milestones? What can be completed by end of
quarter? When will it be finished? How do we know when were done?
Creating a project charter
First step in project planning is to create a project charter (project summary) Description Objectives Outcomes or deliverables Duration Community partners Stakeholders Team membership and roles Planning information
Task definitions
Once the project charter has been defined, the next step is to identify the completion tasks to achieve the objectives and outcomes
Many tasks will have to be completed for project completion
Effective plans are detailed enough to be managed Plan should allow for the following
hold members accountable Identify all needed resources, materials, funding, and
people Allow project progress to be assessed to make sure it is
on schedule Manage people and resources by shifting from one task
to another as needed for project completion
Tips for defining tasks
Use past experiences Gather data from instructors, advisors, alumni,
community parters, and stakeholders for input Include tasks associated with other tasks Example task: pg 338
Milestones
A milestone is a deadline for some deliverable Maybe subcomponents for the project, or
when all parts are available Each phase of a design project should be a
milestone They are useful as checks for the plans
progress Should not be left for the end They serve two purposes
Meet and celebrate short-term goals, good morale booster
Monitoring project progress so that if off schedule, steps can be taken to bring the project back on schedule
Defining Times and organizing the taks
Must attach a completion time to each takes Can be measured in working days In defining task times, you should budget in
lead times for components Be conservative and allow enough time for the
learning curve of a new task If a task spans several weeks, break it up into
smaller tasks Optimize the project plan by determining task
relationships and prioritizing the tasks
PERT Charts and Critical Paths
Project Evaluation and Review Technique Each task is represented by a box that
contains a brief description and duration for that task
Milestones have rounded edges Lines determines tasks that are part of a
series or can be completed in parallel Great tools for initial task completion Critical path is the longest series of tasks
Example: Mathematics in an engineering curriculum
Gantt Charts
PERT chart is good for a limited set of tasks When the tasks become numerous, a Gantt
chart is more appropriate A Gantt chart is a table where the rows
represent tasks, and the columns represent the timeline
Tasks and Milestones can be represented using different colors
Task responsibility can be included as an additional column after the file:///mnt/win_d/scans/gantt%20chart.bmp
task description
Details, Personnel Distribution, and Money/Resources Details tend to pile up at the end, especially
for a new project (unforseen circumstances) Detail as much as possible at the beginning Work must be balanced and take into account
your team members individual expertises' What resources will be used? Setup a budget
Use prior estimates Internet searches Item cost associated in addition to the items
(shipping costs, etc.)
Documentation, Team roles, and Software
Begin documenting the project from day one Include documentation milestones as part of
the project plan Makes it easier to backtrack and reassess
project tasks if needed Work reduction upon project completion Important team roles include:
Project leader or monitor Procurement Financial officer Liason
Software: Microsoft Project or Open Workbench
Semester Project Ideas
Spaghetti Bridge http://42explore.com/bridge.htm
Robot (Lego or otherwise) Catapult Rollercoaster, Hovercraft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4M9VWeIktg&feature=user
Go Cart Wii Hacks Hovercraft Trebuchet Self-balancing Robot Segway Skateboard GreenPower Science Bridge Maglev
Class Work
For your project: Create a project Charter Setup Task Definitions, Milestones, and Define
Times Organize the tasks Create relevant PERT Charts, Critical Paths, and
Gantt Charts Establish Personnel Distribution, Budget, and
Resources Establish Documentation tasks, deadlines and
Team Roles and Responsibilities