Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Project Management
Chapter 7
Project Time Management
Part 1
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Project time management
• What’s time management
• Why is time management important
• Time management – explained!
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Project time management is…• Determining the time needed to
complete the project and scheduling activities to meet that time
• Critical to the success of the project
• Without careful scheduling and planning, a project is at risk of failure
• Often regarded as the hardest part of project management
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Project time managementIt includes:• Activity definition• Activity sequencing• Activity duration estimating• Schedule development• Schedule control
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Analyse Cost of Time
• How much does time cost for the organisation?
• Take into account project team salaries, office space, equipment, expenses, admin support etc
• Will give an hourly or daily rate
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Laws of Planning
Murphy’s Law: • Anything that can go wrong will go wrong• Everything takes longer than you think it will
Parkinson’s Law: • Work expands to fill the time allotted
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Project Planning
• How you work out who, what, when, where, why and how of achieving the goal in the most effective manner
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
•Project specifications•Determining the milestones•Compiling a task list•Estimating time
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
•Project specifications•Determining the milestones•Compiling a task list•Estimating time
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Project Specification• Used as the basis for planning• Specification – is the definition of your project (often in the charter)
• Will probably need to be refined as many errors are likely to exist from when 1st put together
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Project Specifications - Errors
• Errors can arise from•Holistic perspective •The interfaces•Timescales•External dependencies•Resources
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Holistic Perspective
• May have taken too narrow a perspective
• May duplicate or impact other work carried out
• May be incompatible with other work
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Interfaces
• Transfer points• Agree on what, how and when• It is a well known fact that most
miscommunications occur at the interfaces
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Timescales
• People who draw up specifications often underestimate time involved for tasks
• Remember the Sydney Opera House example
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
External dependencies
• Project tasks may depend on the tasks of others
• Make this clear so people involved know in advance of your needs – and are able to meet them!
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Resources
• People tend to ignore resources• Most projects need materials,
equipment and staff• Check that the numbers are
practical and correct
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
•Project specifications•Determining the milestones•Compiling a task list•Estimating time
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Determining Milestones
An activity with zero duration usually marking the end of a period i.e. the completion of a number of activities
Come up with some milestones you
will pass in doing the Project Management course
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
•Project specifications•Determining the milestones•Compiling a task list•Estimating time
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Compile a task list
Once the milestones have been determined, a project task list can be put together, giving the task a number and description and a time period
1 Plan out work
Working out all major tasks and milestones
3 days – June 07
2 Buy text book
Getting the text book so that I can read up on the detail required
1 day – July 07
3 Prepare for class test
Revise chapters 1 to 5 and all the exercises we have done in class
3 days – Aug 07
4 Prepare individual assignment
Review chapters 1 to 7, plan how I am going to do this activity
7 days – Sept 07
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
•Project specifications•Determining the milestones•Compiling a task list•Estimating time
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Estimating Time“An overestimate of the time for the project is crucial
for its success” Healy
Estimating time can be done in 3 different ways:1.Time comparison (being able to compare tasks
with similar tasks that have been done before)2.Setting a time on the basis of milestones (based
on the date of expected launch – so when is it needed)
3.Build up a picture of durations using detailed expanation of how the project comes together
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
ContingencyYou cannot predict everything that will happen in your project, so you need to build in ‘contingency’ or buffer
This is a way of treating risk!
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Schedule• Schedules show the task name and start and finish
date for each task• Schedules are only estimates• They will have to change with time but are useful
starting points
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Examples of Schedules
GANTT charts are created in packages such as Microsoft Project
But schedules can also be created in Excel or in MS Word
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Examples of Schedules
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification• Monitor progress
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Job Clarification
Ask the questions:• What is the purpose of the job/task/activity?• What are the measures of success?• What are priorities and deadlines?• What is exceptional performance?• What resources are available?• What costs are acceptable?• How does this relate to other people and tasks?
Getting answers will help clarify the job
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Elements to Time Management
• Analyse the organisation’s cost of time
• Project planning• Scheduling • Job clarification•Monitor progress
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Monitor Progress
• Helps to ensure that the project is on schedule and is progressing according to plan
• Goals and milestones help to ensure this
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Mock TestQ1: What are the 5 important elements of Project Time Management?
Q2: What do you define as project planning?
Q3: In reviewing a specification, where or what could be the source of errors?
Q4: What is integrated change control?
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Mock TestQ1: What are the 5 important elements of Project Time Management?
Q2: What do you define as project planning?
Analyse the organisation’s cost of timeProject planningScheduling Job clarificationMonitor progress
How you work out who, what, when, where, why and how of achieving the goal in the most effective manner
Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012
Mock TestQ3: In reviewing a specification, where or what could be the source of errors?
Q4: Explain the different ways of estimating time?
Holistic perspective The interfacesTimescalesExternal dependenciesResources
Estimating time can be done in 3 different ways:Time comparison (being able to compare tasks with similar tasks that have
been done before)Setting a time on the basis of milestones (based on the date of expected launch
– so when is it needed)Build up a picture of durations using detailed expanation of how the project
comes together
Top Related