Name : K.Povenesan Student ID : 1191543 MPM APM1 Q1c

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Question 1c:How should scope, time and cost be planned, monitored and controlled on projects and how doesthis relate to integration? Provide a series of at least 20 actions to plan and control scope,time andcost using the strengths of both the PMBOK model and PRINCE2 model.

Scope, time and cost are integral part in project management. “The key being able to control the costand schedule is having a plan that balances the scope of the deliverable of the project with thecustomer’s budget and has the right resouces assigned at the right time to perform all the work in timefor the customer to be able use the deliverable. This is called the triple constraint as below” [1].

Scope planning form the foundation of the project plan and which other related plans are developedbased on the scope statement. Scope definition involves subdividing the major project deliverables (asdefined in the scope statement) into smaller, more manageable components in order to improve theaccuracy of cost, time, and resource estimates [2]. With creation of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)and Product Flow Diagram (PFD) defines a baseline for performance measurement and control andfacilitates clear responsibility assignments. If a task is not in the WBS or PFD, then it is not part of theproject. Project stakeholders/customers formally shall accept the project deliverables. Scope verificationshall happen at each phase.Scope shall be well control as it concerned with influencing the factors whichcreate scope changes to insure the changes are beneficial. A scope control plan should be developed andreviewed with the client. With change requests may require expanding the scope or may allow shrinkingit. Prospective scope changes may require modification to the WBS and analysis of alternativesapproaches. Scope changes often require adjustments to cost, time or other project objectives. Projectmanagers are required to make wise decision together with client on approving change request to avoid“scope creep”, delay and extra cost.

Time is valuable resource and also the scarcest. The easiest way to manage time effective is schedulingactivities. In order to have a schedule activity, one needs to have an estimated duration, cost, andresource requirements. WBS used as input to activity definition to plan the project time management. Itidentifies the specific schedule activities which are performed to produce the deliverables. Sequencingwill be done among the schedule activities. A study will be done based on the input from project teamand procurement to calculate the type and amount of resources required for each scheduled activity. Wewill estimate the duration taken for each activity based on volume of job against unit rate. Developmentsof project schedule are based on activity sequences, duration and resource requirement with somecontingency after considering the risks involves. Schedule will be monitored and controlled along theway the project progress. Performance will be monitored & measured by EVM method. PM’sresponsibility to continually update the schedule to have it reflects accurate project activity withcomparison to the planned performance [3]. With approved change request, that might expand or shrinkthe schedule, it is recommended to provide a planned schedule to stakeholders. PMT to review schedule

BudgetTime

Scope

Name : K.Povenesan Student ID : 1191543 MPM APM1 Q1c

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on weekly basis and provides methods to make the schedule in conformance with the plan. Alladditional/change of scope brought changes to schedule shall be updated and notified to stakeholders.

Cost is an important factor in controlling projects. WBS is input to do cost estimation and budget. Usingvarious method of estimation based on market conditions and commercial database, cost will be inputtedagainst each activity. Reserve analysis will be done during planning phase to determine the contingencyreserve to face the cost risks. The project budget will be rendered on approved scope and requirement ofthe project at the point of time. It’ll provide a baseline to control work, obtain funding, tenderpreparation, cash flow management [4]. With approved change requests, which expands from theplanned cost, will be tracked down, Cost baseline will be modified and notified to stakeholders. As thework progress using cost baseline, four earned value metrics will be used to monitor project costperformance such as Cost Variance (CV) and Cost Performance Index (CPI). A forecast on costperformance need to be done based on the current information to avoid loss at end of the day.

All the planning and control stages revolving scope, time and cost are integrated to completion of project.From the planning stage, creating the scope statement and project management plan all are linkedtogether. During monitoring and control project work, all the outputs from each process well clearlyidentified. Changes in scope are done thru integrated change control to assure related projectmanagement plans are updated. Scope changes are fed back thru Integrated Change control (Projectintegration management) or Log to ensure technical and planning documents are updated as needed andstake holders are notified as appropriate.

Below are series of illustrated 26 actions to plan and monitor & control scope, time and cost.

Planning Monitoring & ControlScope 1. Determine the initial objectives &

create scope statement2. Scope planning – product analysis3. Develop an initial WBS4. Develop Product WBS5. Breakdown of product WBS into

major activities / activity list.6. Create a change management

system

18. Variance analysis: Comparisonagainst the planned.

19. Review of scope as project develops20. Decision making on change requests

Time 8. Determine each activity duration9. Determine each activity sequence10. Estimate the activities resource

requirement11. Place a key dates of each activities12. Study on the risk and contingency13. Develop a project schedule

21. Update the schedule with the scopechange

21. Report the actual against the planusing EVM

23. Review meeting for corrective action

Cost 14. Estimate the cost of each activity15. Study on risk and contingency16. Create a cost budget

24. Update the cost budget with scopechanges.

25. Report the actual cost against baseline26. Review meeting for corrective action

17. Every stage shall be verified/notified with/to stakeholders/client

Name : K.Povenesan Student ID : 1191543 MPM APM1 Q1c

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This table can be seen clearly thru a real life workplace events; MIA Technology Institute has givenProsafe IT solution to design and establish a course schedule system for engineering dept for S$10,000contract within 4 months. Rick, Project manager took lead of the project starting with scope planning.Descriptive below are based on the actions chosen above.

Objective: Course scheduling software is meant to create schedule for courses in Eng. Dept,given the preferences of professors and the information on available rooms and timeslots forcourses.

Scope: Primarily, to create a schedule and give suitable messages from the given preferencesand data given in input files. Getting the data to prepare the input files is out of scope of thissystem.

Development process: Rick chooses to follow “Waterfall” model of software development as itis simple and small (WBS).

Schedule: Tasks are listed with estimated duration. Resources identified as workstation withC/C++ compiler. Start date and end date included. Refer schedule below.

Since, manpower the main contributor to overall project cost. Each man/day rated at S$100.Overall cost budget will include overhead cost. Total cost budget allocated from director forthis project S$7000. There will be a contingency around S$1000.

3 basics methods will be used for monitoring – project logs, weekly meetings and reviews. Each project member will record his activity in a project notebook and report the hours for each

activity in the meetings. Costing report will be updated by Rick and monitor it against the budget. With continuous communication with client, Rick was able to reduce the scope changes and

control the man hours and cost indirectly.

(Man-hour are in person-days & Cost in S$)Total Estimated Effort: 2.4 person-months (55 person-days)Project Duration: 3.5 monthsTotal Estimated Cost: S$5500

# Task Estimatedmanhour

Start date End Date Person EstimateCost

ActualEffort

1 System Design 9 Jan 18 Feb 1 A,B 9002 Detail Design 13 Feb 1 Feb 28 A,B,C 1300

3Coding input

module8 Mar 1 Mar 31 A 800

4Coding Sched

module8 Mar 1 Mar 31 B 800

5Coding output

module6 Mar 1 Mar 31 C 600

6 Test Planning 3 Mar 15 Mar 31 A,B 300

7Testing andIntegration

5 Apr 1 Apr 15 A,B 500

8 Rework and final 3 Apr 15 Apr 25 A,B,C 3009 5500

Name : K.Povenesan Student ID : 1191543 MPM APM1 Q1c

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References:

[1] Ursula Kuehn (2006). Integrated Cost and Schedule Control in Project Management.pp.14Management Concepts

[2] Project Management Institute. (2004). A guide to the project management body of knowledge :PMBOK® guide. Newtown Square, PA, Project Management Institute, Inc.

[3] & [4] Ursula Kuehn (2006). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Schedulingand Controlling. John Wiley and Sons