Ebook Project management: Part 2

Preparing a Detailed Project Plan: Step by Step rad leans back in his chair as he finishes his turkey sand-wich. Life is good. He’s come a long way since that first wave of panic hit him in Susan’s office, when she made him a project manager. He can recall the strange sound of the term “my project” the first few times he said it out loud. Now he actu-ally likes the way it sounds. And why shouldn’t he? He’s learned a lot—and accomplished a lot—in a relatively short time. He’s learned that project management is both a science and an art—partly mechanical, partly behavioral. He believes he knows what it takes to be a good project manager and what it takes to produce a successful project outcome. He believes he already understands the project management process fairly well: he demonstrated that when he came up with a much more cost-effective solution than the one Susan had handed him. Finally, he’s proud of the way he was able to work with oth-ers in the organization (many of whom were now on his team) to prepare and present a comprehensive business case for his project. And I got it approved by management in record time, he thinks to himself and smiles. 113 Copyright 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. 114 Project Management Suddenly he lurches forward in his chair. “How am I going to get all of this work done?” He picks up the inch-thick folder containing the documentation already accumulating on Project Apex. “We need to create a plan!” Identifying What Needs to Be Done (Scope Management) The first step in the planning process consists of identifying exactly what you’re going to do, the scope of work. In this stage, you identify major elements of work and then break them down systematically into smaller and smaller pieces, until each piece becomes a comfortable size to estimate, execute, and monitor. Some Basic Definitions Here are some terms commonly used in scope management: Activity or Task Many definitions exist for these two terms. I tend to use them interchangeably to describe an element of work. Purists might say that tasks are smaller elements of work than activities, but there’s actually no standard for this. Activities consume resources. They have a finite length (time) and an expected cost. Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) The RAM is a two-axis chart that shows how the project work is assigned. It corre-lates specific elements of work with specific task performers. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The WBS is a graphical tool—perhaps the most foundational tool in the project planning process. It organizes all of the project work by placing elements of work into logical groupings. Work Package This term has a variety of definitions. I like to think of work packages as having two key characteristics: • They will appear somewhere on your WBS. • They are deliverable-oriented—that is, executing a work package typically produces some tangible or verifiable outcome. Preparing a Detailed Project Plan: Step by Step 115 Breaking Down the Work: The Work Breakdown Structure Identifying and breaking down the work to be done is the logical starting point in the entire planning process. The objective of this step is to identify relatively small, specific pieces of work. (For simplicity, let’s refer to them as activities.) Once you’ve identified all of the activities required to execute the project, you’re ready to create a complete project plan. You’ll be able to estimate activity durations and prepare your schedule, estimate activity costs and prepare your project budget, assign responsi-bility, and carry out many more planning steps. But what exactly does a work breakdown structure look like and how do you create one? Let’s say I’m planning on hosting a birthday party in my back yard. As most people would tend to do intuitively, I begin by recognizing that there are a number of large “chunks” of work (also called subgroups) to be done. I’ll have to do some planning. I’ll need to make sure I properly feed everyone. I’m sure I’ll need supplies of some sort, such as tables and chairs, paper plates, and so forth. I’ll also have to set up for the party and clean up after the party is over. I’ve already begun subdi-viding the work to be done. Figure 7-1 shows my WBS so far. The key at this point is to verify, as well as possible, that I’ve identified all major categories of work that constitute the project. In other words, every element of work required for my party will fit into one of these five subgroups. Since I believe this is the case, I can proceed to the next level of detail. Birthday Party Planning Provide Food Supplies Setup Cleanup Figure 7-1. Second level of WBS for birthday party 116 Project Management Birthday Party Planning Provide Food Supplies Setup Cleanup Games and Entertainment Figure 7-2. Level 3 of WBS for setup Cleaning Furniture I begin by considering everything I’ll need to do regarding Setup. I realize that I’ll have to clean the pool and set up the volleyball net. I’ll also have to make the yard presentable. I’ll have to put up the party tent, bring out tables and chairs, and so forth. It occurs to me that there seem to be natural group-ings of activities here, related to games and entertainment, to cleaning, and to furniture. These are the groupings that I will use for this level, as shown in Figure 7-2. I reflect on these three categories and feel confident that everything that I have to do to set up for the party can be placed in one of these three buckets. However, I don’t feel as if I’ve broken down the work far enough yet. Set Up—Games and Entertainment, for example, is just not specific enough. As I ask myself questions such as “What games?,” “How much time will it take?” and “What do I have to do to pull this off?” I realize I need to go to one more level of detail. When I’ve eventually identified these activities, I feel confident that I know what I have to do to set up for the party (Figure 7-3). I continue this same thought process until I’ve developed my entire WBS to the appropriate level of detail. Why Create a WBS, Anyway? So why am I suggesting that you take the time and trouble to create a work breakdown structure? Couldn’t you just start list- Preparing a Detailed Project Plan: Step by Step 117 Birthday Party Planning Provide Food Supplies Setup Cleanup Games and Entertainment Set Up Volleyball Clean Pool Figure 7-3. level 4 of WBS for setup Cleaning Clean House Mow Grass Furniture Set Up Tables/Chairs Set Up Tent ing out activities and throw them onto a schedule? Yes, you could. However, without a frame of refer-ence, your chances of being able to identify all of the elements of work required to execute the project are just about zero. And guess when you’d find out that something was missing—in the middle of the project. There are several other Think About the Work Only In the example of the birthday party,you may have noticed that I wasn’t concerned about timing or sequence of activities as I devel-oped my WBS.That’s OK.In fact,your only concern in developing your WBS should be to thoroughly identify all work necessary to execute the proj-ect.Worrying about issues such as duration,cost,and resources will only cause confusion;address these issues later in the planning process. good reasons why it’s smart to do good WBS: • The WBS provides an easy-to-read graphical represen-tation of the work, allowing stakeholders to review it thoroughly for missing elements of work. • People often underestimate the effort required to execute a project. A fully developed WBS underscores how much work there really is. ... - tailieumienphi.vn