Page 220 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 14: Project Management

2. People who have an interest in your ....................... but are neither drivers nor supporters. Notes

3. The WBS is one of the most important elements of project management as it will help you
....................... the project and its parts.

14.4 Tracking the Work and the Resources

Complex projects require a series of activities, some of which will have to be performed in
sequence and others in parallel. Project schedules outline the order in which activities are to be
performed and estimates of how long each will take. In addition, for each step of the schedule,
you will need to assign the necessary resources, including people, funds, equipment, supplies,
facilities, and information.
To schedule your activities and resources, you will need to follow these steps:
1. Identify activities and events (from the WBS).
2. Identify constraints (from the statement of work).

3. Determine the durations of different activities and, if more than one person will be
involved, who will be doing them.
4. Decide on the order of performance.

5. Develop an initial schedule.
6. Revise your schedule as necessary.

Tools for Developing Schedules

You have probably seen some of the tools for developing schedules, timelines, flow charts, and
so on, before. Here are some popular ones:
Key events schedule: A table showing events and target dates for reaching them (remember that
events are milestones signaling the completion of one or more activities).
Activities plan: A table showing activities and their planned start and end dates.
Gantt chart: A graph consisting of horizontal bars that depict the start date and duration for
each activity.
PERT chart: A diagram in which activities are represented by lines and events on the nodes
(typically depicted as circles or bubbles).
The key events schedule and the activities plan display dates better; the Gantt and PERT charts
give a better overview of how long activities take and where they coincide. Regardless of which
format you use, take the time to develop a schedule you have a reasonable chance of meeting.
Think realistically and estimate how long each step will take, how many uninterrupted hours
you have available during the day, and how other demands on your time will affect what you or
your lab can get done.
To determine how long a very complex process may take, think about similar things you’ve
done before. Flip through your notebook or calendar and try to remember–how many hours
did it really take you to write, edit, get feedback on, make figures for, revise, revise again, and
submit that last paper or grant? Try to be conservative in your estimates.

Task Discuss the project management software.

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