Activities and Total Float Network Analysis - Essay Example

? MANAGING PROJECTS ASSIGNMENT NO TASK By XYZ ID: 000000 Management of Projects TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Title Page 1. Network diagram (using activity on node the node) 1 2. Timings of the Activities and Total Float 2 3. Project Duration and Critical Path 3 4. Project Completion Date 4 5. Effects on Project Duration with Activity Delays 5 5.1 Activity B is delayed by one day 6 5.2 Activity P is delayed by one day 7 5.3 Activity O is delayed three days 8 6. Purpose of Network Diagrams 9 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title Page 1. Network Diagram (Activity on Node) 1 2. Network Diagram (Activity B is delayed by one day) 6 3. Network Diagram (Activity P is delayed by one day) 7 4. Network Diagram (Activity O is delayed three days) 8 LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page 1 Project Completion Date 4 Task 1 1. Network diagram (using activity on node the node) (Gido & Clement 2008) 2. Timings of the Activities and Total Float It was essential to estimate the duration and sequence of activities before a network diagram could be established to calculate the total float. For this purpose, information on amount of work and number of wok periods, types and quantities of resources and their availability was important. According to (PMBOK, 2004), a better way of handling this information is by using a project calendar and an alternative resource calendar. To estimate duration of each activity, list of all activities, duration estimating databases and other historical reference data which may be commercially available, project calendar from organization process assets, constraints and assumptions from the project scope statement that may impact amount and duration of work, estimates of resource requirements for each activity; human resources and material and equipment requirements are critical inputs to the process of estimating activity durations (Lock, 2007). Estimation of costs and identification of risks associated with each activity help is determining the activity durations with more accuracy closer to actual. Then from the information gathered above, techniques like parametric estimation, analogous estimation, three point estimation and reserve analysis could be used to more precisely estimate the duration of activities (Lock, 2007). In parametric estimation, a mathematical model based on historical records using regression analysis or learning curve is created when there is no information as to on what basis estimation is to be based. Analogous estimation uses a similar previous activity as basis to estimate the future activity. It is more widely used to estimate project durations rather than duration of a single activity when there is no much information regarding project is available. The probability of completing a project or activity on a single date is too less; therefore, in three point estimating, an optimistic, a pessimistic and most likely estimate is made for each activity and then activity duration is calculated either as average of these three or using a formula. When reasonable estimates of the project activities have been made, then reserve analysis is conducted to cater for risks of time and cost by adding contingency reserve and management reserve. The next process is to sequence activities into how the work would be performed considering their internal and external dependencies. The outcome of this process is a network diagram or a project schedule network diagram. In this report, we have used Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) or Activity on Node where nodes are used to represent activities and arrows show their dependencies. In our case study, we have used finish to start relationship while constructing the network diagram to show dependencies between the activities. Now to calculate the total float, critical path method was used. Once the duration of activities have been determined, dependencies between activities have been established and network diagram has been created the next step was to calculate the earliest and latest an activity can be started and earliest and latest it can be finished. For this, early start and finish figures are calculated by moving from the beginning of the project to the end of project where early finish (EF) of an activity would become the early start (ES) of the next activity. At the nodes where two or more activities converge then we have to take into account the highest figure of early finish of all converging activities as early start of the activity on node. In a similar manner, latest start and finish dates can be determined by moving back from the end of project to the start of project where late start of any activity would become the late finish of an earlier activity. Again on point of convergence, we have to take into account late finish of all the converging activities. Here lowest figure for late start among all converging activities would become the late finish of the previous activity (Milosevic, 2003). Now float of each activity (total float) was calculated by subtracting the early start (ES) from late start (LS) or early finish (EF) from late finish (LF). Total float is the time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project completion date. For total float, please refer the network diagram at page 2 for detailed understanding. Activity Float = LS – ES = LF – EF (1) 3. Project Duration and Critical Path After the time for earliest and latest an activity could be started and earliest and latest it could be finished has been calculated critical path of the project was then determined given activity durations, logical relationships, leads, lags, and other known constraints. Critical path method includes determining the longest path in the network diagram that represents the shortest time duration to complete the project. Critical path is the path along the network where total float for each activity is zero or negative (Wiest & Levy, 1969). In our case, critical path included Activity A, Activity D, Activity G, Activity H, Activity I, Activity K, Activity L, Activity M, Activity N, Activity P and Activity Q. these activities are thus called critical activities since any delay in one of these activities can cause the delay in project completion. Please refer network diagram on page 2 for details. From the calculations, it noted that the critical path consist of activities that spanned over 62 days thus indicating a project duration of 62 days that the project can be completed in the possible shortest time. 4. Project Completion Date If the project start date is Monday September 5, 2011 then taking into account the critical path and project duration of 62 days project is likely to finish on Tuesday November 29, 2011. Here assumptions include five days working week with no other holidays, and no activity addition or deletion and that the Activity A started on first day i.e., September 5 2011. Please refer table below for details. Activity Duration Activity Start Date Activity Finish Date A 4 September 5, 2011 September 8, 2011 D 6 September 9, 2011 September 16, 2011 G 12 September 19, 2011 October 4, 2011 H 5 October 5, 2011 October 11, 2011 I 4 October 12, 2011 October 17, 2011 K 5 October 18, 2011 October 24, 2011 L 9 October 25, 2011 November 4, 2011 M 6 November 7, 2011 November 14, 2011 N 1 November 15, 2011 November 15, 2011 P 6 November 16, 2011 November 23, 2011 Q 4 November 24, 2011 November 29, 2011 Table 1 5. Effects on Project Duration with Activity Delays In addition to critical path, in a network diagram there are path that are close to critical path and are called near critical path. Any change in an activity due to any reason can cause the critical path to shorten or near critical path to lengthen in a way that near critical path becomes the critical path. The closer is near critical path to critical path, the more risk is associated to the project. 5.1 Activity B is delayed by one day If the activity B is delayed by one day then the duration of activity B increases from 3 to 4. Its float would decrease from 3 days to 2 days as the early finish would be at day 8 rather than day 7, but the critical path would remain unchanged. However, this in turn would affect the early start and early finish of Activity O to be 8 and 9 respectively and the float of activity would decrease to 49 days. Please see network diagram on next page for details where changes are shown in red text. 5.2 Activity P is delayed by one day Since the activity P is one critical path, it is likely to effect the project duration. If the activity P is delayed by one day then early finish of the activity P would be at day 59; however, its float would remain zero since it is one critical path. as a consequence of this delay, early start of Activity Q would be at day 59 and early finish at day 63. Again float of the activity Q would be zero being on critical path; however, the project duration would also become 63 days indicating a delay of one day. Please see network diagram below for details where any change is indicated in red text. 5.3 Activity O is delayed three days If the activity O is delayed by three days then the early finish of the activity would be on day 11. Since this activity is not on critical path and already has a float of 50 days, thus its float would reduce by three days and would become 47 days. Please see network diagram below for details where changes are in red text. 6. Purpose of Network Diagrams A network diagram is a clear and concise graphical representation of the project schedule and illustrates the project activities and the sequence in which they happen. Network diagrams are an important tool to monitor and track the project from start to its completion. There are two types of network diagrams, Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) and Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM). In Precedence Diagramming Method, nodes are used to represent the activities while arrows are used to show interdependencies among activities. While in Arrow Diagramming Method, arrows are used to represent activities while nodes show relationship and dependences among different activities. Following are few types of dependencies that are used on Precedence Diagramming Method:- Finish to Start – An acitivity must finish before the next can start Finish to Finish – An activity must finish before the next activity can finish Start to Start - An activity must start before the next activity can start Start to Finish - An activity must start before the next activity can finish According to Mulcahy (2005), purpose of network diagram is to Allow project manager and team members to graphically visualize the project activities Help to identify the milestones throughout the project Help to identify missing tasks with in the project Ensure effective communication across all tiers of project Represent the workflow so as to show in what specific sequence activities happen Represent interdependencies among all activities Helps to identify the priority and impact of an activity and its associated risks on the project Help to effectively plan, organize and monitor and control the project activities Help to compress the schedule in planning process and throughout the project life cycle by identifying the tasks that are performed in parallel Non critical resource path can be better utilized to improve the project efficiency Show project progress Used for schedule control and progress reporting Justify estimates of activity and project duration for accuracy Help to determine the critical path or the shortest time in which project can be completed References Gido, J. and Clement, J. (2008) Successful Project Management, 4th ed. Mason: South-Westren Cengage Learning, p.121. Lock, D. (2007) Project Management, 9th ed. Burlington: Gower Publishing Company, p.244. Milosevic, D. (2003) Project Management Tool Box, New Jersey: John Willey & Sons, p.187. Project Management Institute, (2004) A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, 3rd ed. Pennsylvania: PMI Publications, p.112. Wiest, J. and Levy, F. (1969) A Management Guide To PERT/CPM, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, p.172. Mulcahy, R. (2005) PMP Preparation, 4th ed. Minneapolis: RMC Publications, p.147-151 MANAGING PROJECTS ASSIGNMENT NO TASK 2 FEASIBILITY STUDY REPORT INTO OPENING OF A NEW BUILDING BY MOSS LTD. TO RESPOND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AS PART STRATEGIC EXPANSION Conducted By XYZ ID: 000000 Conducted for: Name of Professor Moss Ltd. University City, State Date of Submission TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Title Page 1 Project Title and Description 1 2. Organizational Strategic Plans and Business Need 1 3. Project Justification 1 4. Project Sponsor and Management Responsibility 1 5. Project Manager and Assigned Level of Authority 1 6. Project Objectives 1 7. Project Scope 1 8. Project Deliverables and Acceptance Criteria 2 9. Project Duration 2 10. Pre-assigned Resources 2 11. Project Selection Criteria and Investment Analysis 2 12. Project Assumptions and Constraints 3 13. Project Funding 3 14. Stakeholder Identification 3 15. Communication Requirements 3 16. Personnel Administration 4 17. Financial Controls Procedures 4 18. Issue and Defect Management Procedures 4 19. Change Control Procedures 4 20. Project Risks and Risk Control Procedures 4 21. Project Life Cycle 5 22. Management of Projects 5 22.1 Scope Control 5 22.2 Schedule Control 6 22.3 Cost Control 6 22.4 Quality Control 6 22.5 Manage Team 7 22.6 Manage Stakeholders 8 22.7 Risk Monitoring and Control 8 22.8 Contract Administration and Control 9 23. Conclusion 9 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title Page Figure 1 Project Life Cycle 5 1 Project Title and Description – Opening of A New Building for Moss Ltd. Moss Ltd is a SME company specializing in the design and supply of promotional brochures. Moss Ltd initiated a project for opening of a recently acquired building measuring 75,000 square meters area as part of its strategic plans. 2. Organizational Strategic Plans and Business Need Organization has a strategic plan to respond market expansion. For this purpose, company decided to expand its existing infrastructure of 50,000 square meters to 75,000 square meter new building. This would facilitate the company to accommodate exiting and addition work load to effectively meet large global customer satisfaction. 3. Project Justification It is expected that by undertaking the project and expanding the existing infrastructure company would be in a position to handle market expansion by responding the existing and potential customers at domestic and global level. With the increase in services provided to customers, it is expected that company revenue would increase by $200,000 by first year. As a side benefit, company hopes that the project would generate more ideas to improve customer satisfaction. 4. Project Sponsor and Management Responsibility CEO of Moss Ltd., Mr. XYZ, would be sponsoring the project and is mainly responsible for providing the project statement of work and scope statement and issuing of project charter. 5. Project Manager and Assigned Level of Authority Mr. ABC has been assigned as project manager for the project in discussion and has the authority to select project team and determine the final budget for project completion. 6. Project Objectives The final objective of the project is the opening and functioning of a new building for Moss Ltd. to expand its existing operations. 7. Project Scope The scope of the project is opening and functioning of a new building. Any other activity that is not relevant to opening and functioning of the new acquired building is not within the scope of the project. All the activities would be mutually agreed upon by all stakeholders and authorized by project sponsor for clear description of the project scope. 8. Project Deliverables and Acceptance Criteria The deliverable of the project would be newly acquired building opened and housing all functions of the Moss Ltd to support its expansion plans. The acceptance criteria for the project deliverable would if it is completed with in time and budget constraints. 9. Project Duration Moss Ltd wants to start its newly acquired facility before Christmas this year so as to undertake new service requests by the global customers. The likely project duration would be 62 working days. Assuming a five days working week and no other holidays, if started on September 5, 2011, it is expected that the project would end up by November 29, 2011. 10. Pre-assigned Resources Mr. ABC is a assigned as a project manager, while Stephen and James of production department have already been dedicated to the project due to their expertise in opening the first building of the project. Other resources would be determined by the project manager during the planning and execution phases. 11. Project Selection Criteria and Investment Analysis Accounting standards like Net Present Value, Opportunity Cost, Payback Period and Benefit Cost Ratio were used to carry out investment analysis and layout project selection criteria (Graves 2003). Net Present Value - is the present value of the total benefits (income or revenue) less the costs over many time periods. From the analysis, it was determined that the project has a net present value of $200,000 with first year of its completion. Payback Period - The number of time periods it takes to recover your investment in the project before you start accumulating profit. It is likely that the project would payback its cost within six months of its completion and after the operations have started in the newly acquired building. Benefit Cost Ratio - done. This ratio compares the benefits to the costs of the project. Calculations showed that the benefit cost ratio is greater than 1 so project should be selected. Opportunity Cost - The cost of an opportunity given by selecting one project over decision of not selecting the project. The opportunity cost of selecting the project over not selecting the project is $200,000. 12. Project Assumptions and Constraints Project should be completed before Christmas by December 5, 2011 and its cost should not increase more than $100,000. It is also assumed that John would assist the project manager during the project in handling the project management software. 13. Project Funding Project funding would be ensured by the project sponsor and would be agreed upon during initial phases of the project. Any changes to the project cost would be intimated to the sponsor and would be enforced after formal approval process. 14. Stakeholder Identification All the individuals and organizations that directly and indirectly either effect or are affected by the project fall within the definition of the stakeholders. 15. Communication Requirements Communication requirements like form and type of communications, to whom and what to be communicated, media of communication to stakeholders needs to be identified in a more clear and structured manner. This information would ne documented in the final project management plan. It is expected that the presently available advanced digital technology including email, facebook, web meetings and conventional methods like face to face meetings, correspondence and verbal communication would be used where ever required and appropriate to the situation. 16. Personnel Administration Hiring and firing guidelines, employee performance reviews, and training records would all be carried out during the project as per existing procedures and policies of the Moss Ltd. 17. Financial Controls Procedures Time reporting, required expenditure and disbursement reviews, accounting codes, and standard contract provisions would be followed on the basis of existing procedures and policies and company guidelines. 18. Issue and Defect Management Procedures Issue and defect management procedures defining issue and defect controls, issue and defect identification and resolution, and action item tracking is the responsibility of the project manager and must be contained in the final project management plan. These procedures must be clear and transparent and must be communicated to all the stakeholders and team members to avoid any ambiguity during the project. 19. Change Control Procedures Change control procedures, including the steps by which official company standards, policies, plans, and procedures—or any project documents—will be modified, and how any changes will be approved and validated would be included in the configuration management system, a part of final project management plan. Project manager and project team is mainly responsible to identify the change control procedures at all level and their inclusion in the plan. 20. Project Risks and Risk Control Procedures Risk control procedures, including risk categories, probability definition and impact, and probability and impact matrix, risk quantitative and qualitative analysis, risk responses and risk register would be made part of risk management plan. All the information relevant to the risks and the changes required to be implemented due to a particular risk or its impact would be included in the risk register and is the responsibility of the project manager. 21. Project Life Cycle Most likely phases of the project that would comprise the project life cycle is given below (PMBOK 2004). Project Life Cycle Figure 1 22. Management of Project In order to effectively manage, administer and control the project, project manager and project management team need to equip themselves with certain skills and competencies and apply those concepts appropriate to a certain situation discussed below. 22.1 Scope Control In order to control changes to project, project manager should control changes to scope and it if happens then the impact of these scope changes on other project knowledge areas should also be monitored and controlled. It is important to think from where changes can come to the project and how to control them. For this purpose, project scope statement and work breakdown structure (WBS) should be clearly defined and then the scope performance should be measured against the scope baselines. Any changes needed should be updated to project management plan through recommended corrective and preventive actions. Change control system, variance analysis, configuration management system and replanning are the tools that can help the project manager and project team to control the project scope. In our project, introduction of new technology, any additional staffing rather than mirror staffing from original facility and requirements by any imposed regulatory or government requirement may compel to change the scope of project. Also changes in the schedule and funding may change the scope of project (Sebastian 2007). 22.2 Schedule Control Project manager must measure how the project is progressing and should control the factors that may delay the project by implementing the recommended corrective and preventive actions. To monitor and control the project schedule, project management team can apply tools like progress reporting, schedule change control system, performance measurement, variance analysis and schedule comparison bars. Any delays especially in the intermediate activities like deciding the building layout, provisioning of electricity, wall painting, woodworks or security may cause the project to delay (James 2008). 22.3 Cost Control It is critical to monitor and control the overall project cost like in our case sudden rise in prices of paint, wood or electrical accessories may cause the project cost to slip. It is important to measure the project cost throughout the project and control it against the baseline. Tools like cost change control system, performance measurement analysis, forecasting and variance management can be used to effectively monitor and control project cost. Earned value technique is a method to measure project performance against project cost baseline by comparing planned values against actual results and indicate any potential deviation (Taylor 2008). 22.4 Quality Control An important aspect of project management is to maintain high standards of quality through process like quality assurance and quality control. Project management team must monitor specific project results to determine whether they comply with relevant quality standards and identify ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory results. For this project management team can employ tools like cause and effect diagram, control charts, flow charting, histogram, pareto chart, run chart, scatter diagram, statistical sampling, inspection and defect repair review to ensure high standard of quality control. In our case, cause and effect diagram can help determine the potential defects that may affect the project quality. Inspection and sampling of wood works, electrical accessories being installed and security and fire warning system can be introduced to monitor the quality throughout the project (Kloppenborg & Petrick 2002). 22.5 Manage Team Managing the team is critical to the project success so that team is focused on performing only those activities that fall within the scope of the project. To do this project manager must observe the situations, use issue log, keep in touch with all members of the team, raise performance appraisals and above all must participate in activities that need escalation if the team cannot solve these problems at its own for conflict management. Project manager must understand how to use which of his formal, reward, penalty, expert and referent powers appropriate to any situation for resolving conflicts. Also project manager must understanding that which leadership style of directing, facilitating, coaching, supporting, autocratic, participative and consensus would be most appropriate in a given project phase since no single style is the best one and can yield the ultimate results (Mulcahy 2005). To obtain best results from the project team, project manager has to adopt different leadership style throughout the project. 22.6 Managing Stakeholders A project manager must understand that managing stakeholders and meeting their demands, requirements and expectations is crucial part of successful project management. Like in our case, when Stephen and James are taken off from the production department to work on the project assignments, it is likely to effect the working of the production department. Here, production manager, a stakeholder can be interested in knowing how this would be affecting his part of work (PMBOK 2004). Also he might like to know when these people would and would not be available to him during the project so he can plan his part of production. For this an update on biweekly basis containing information on concerns of production manager may help to resolve any potential conflict. Maintaining issue logs and adopting effective communication methods may help to manage stakeholders more effectively (Mulcahy 2005). 22.7 Risk Monitoring and Control According to Barkley (2004), risk is an uncertainty that has been defined and is a way of thinking through and planning a project. Monitoring and controlling a risk is a question of identifying key risk milestones or points in the project schedule where risk decisions need to be made. To effectively manage, monitor and control risks throughout the project, project manager and project management team must be conversant with and engaged in performing following activities (Mulcahy 2005):- Look for the occurrence of risk triggers Monitor residual risks Identify, analyze and plan for new risks Ensure the execution of risk management plans Evaluate the effectiveness of risk management plans Develop new risk responses Collect and communicate risk status Communicate with stakeholders about risks Determine if assumptions are still valid Ensure proper risk management procedures are being followed Revisit the watchlist to see if additional risk responses need to be determined Implement corrective actions to adjust to the severity of actual risk events Look for any unexpected effects or consequences of risk events Reevaluate risk identification, qualitative and quantitative risk analysis when the project deviates from the baseline Update risk management and response plans 22.8 Contract Administration and Control For a successful project, it is important to meet all contractual and obligatory requirements. Project manager must know what to do and complete all parts of a contract how small these may be and not just the project scope (Kerzner 2009). To do so, project manager must be involved in following activities:- Verifying the invoices Recommend and implement changes Authorize payments Identify what is included in the contract Resolve conflicts among parties Hold meetings where appropriate Performance reporting Monitor cost, schedule and technical performance against the contract Know the legal implications of an action taken Verify integrity and status of claims Keep and update records 23. Conclusion The importance and prospective benefit of acquiring and opening a new building are undeniably high. Definitely, there is a growing demand in global market presenting numerous opportunities to the company for expanding globally. This project would enable Moss Ltd. to effectively handle the increasing service requirements of the customers and increase its revenue many folds say $200,000 by first year. Another important aspect is that the project has a short payback time as the cost incurred in the project would reach breakeven within six months of operations. The project is not only interesting but also challenging considering the constraints of time and cost. Based on the analysis of feasibility study conducted, it can safely be concluded that project is worth undertaking endeavor in view of Moss Ltd.’s strategy to expand. Project manager and his team is highly equipped with the required skills and competencies to undertake the project assignment. References Graves, S. et al. (2003) Models & Methods For Project Selection, Massachusetts: Kluwer Academic Publications. Project Management Institute, (2004) A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, 3rd ed. Pennsylvania: PMI Publications, p.112. Sebastian, N. (2007) The Definitive Guide to Project Management , 2nd ed. New Dehli: Dorling Kindersley, p.147. Taylor, J. (2008) Project Scheduling and Cost Control: Planning, Monitoring and Controlling, Florida: Ross Publication. Kloppenborg, T. and Petrick, J. (2002) Managing Project Quality, Vienna: Management Concepts. Barkley, B. (2004) Project Risk Management, New York: Mc-Graw Hill Publishers. Kerzner, H. (2009) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, New Jersey: John Willey & Sons. Read More