Summary of the hand of project management | Remco van der Schoot
- Developing a more comprehensive understanding of each stakeholders needs, interests and
expectations, regardless of the potential harm or help to the project
Stakeholder management process consists of three sub processes: stakeholder analysis, stakeholder engagement
and disengagement.
2.3. HOOFDSTUK 15 – MANAGING THE SCHEDULE (P.233-247)
Project management = the implementation arm of strategic management, used for implementing any change,
whether hard or soft.
Operations management = about managing day to day operations of the organization
2.3.1. PROJECT PLANNING AND SCHEDULING: DATA AND TERMINOLOGY
Activity name or code = used to identify the activity easily.
- Could be used for sorting and filtering activities into categories
Activity description = describes the content and context of the activity and what is supposed to be done
- Could also include acceptance criteria, quality standards and specification
Activity sequence (precedence relationship, logic, order of operation) = specifies which activities need to be done
before starting the next.
Network diagram (ND) = a pictorial presentation of the sequence in which the activities are logically needed to
be done to deliver the project
- Do not incorporate any resource constraints in the network diagram
Activity resources requirement estimate = identify all the resources needed to do the activities and estimate the
amount need for each.
Activity duration estimate = an estimate is calculated through the resource intensity and time.
- Resource intensity = the number of each resource used per time period.
- Effort = the total required number of man-days/hours needed to complete a task measured in units such
as engineer-hours, managers-days and analyst-months
o Amount of workers*time need on the activity
▪ Two people work on a job for three weeks -> 2x3x5 = 30 man-days
Activity cost estimate = once we have decided on the planned duration of the task which is a function of resource
intensity and Volume of Work (VOW) and the productivity of the resources, we are in a position to estimate the
costs and to start scheduling of the project.
Earliest Start (ES) = the earliest time an activity could start given all the work that has to take place before it.
Earliest Finish (EF): is the earliest time an activity could finish.
Latest Finish (LF): is the latest time an activity could finish given all the work that has to be done after it.
Latest Start (LS): is the latest time an activity could start.
Total Float/Slack (TF): is the amount of time an activity could be delayed without delaying the completion of the
project.
Free Float/Slack (FF): is the amount of time an activity could be delayed without delaying any other activity.
Critical Activity: is an activity with no slack/float. Delaying a critical activity will delay the completion of the
project.
P a g i n a 15 | 35
, Summary of the hand of project management | Remco van der Schoot
Critical Path: is the longest path in the project network and the minimum possible time to finish the project. It
consists of a sequence of critical activities linking the start of the project to its end.
2.3.2. WHAT IT TAKES TO SCHEDULE A PROJECT
Important function of planning and scheduling = to provide a time, cost, quality and scope control tool for
effective and efficient implementation of project management (coordination and integration of all efforts for
optimum execution of the project).
1. Planning = about data collection and intelligence gathering, organizing thoughts, making decisions about how
we want to do the project (know what is going to be done). Consists of the following steps:
- Developing the scope documents
- Developing WBS
- Developing the list of activities
- Collecting and developing data for all the activities
- Developing the network diagram
- Developing all the assumptions and constraints needed for scheduling
2. Scheduling = focused on time, resources and costs (developing a blueprint (baseline) for execution of the
project). Fixing the position of each activity on the time axis that is deciding when to start and finish each activity.
Consists of the following steps:
- Time only analysis (scheduling the project ignoring resource constraints)
- Resource based schedule analysis
- Cost analysis and budget assessment
- Optimal schedule development (integrates time, cost, quality and scope into the schedule)
3. The end product = al baseline schedule which will be used for monitoring and control of the project, directing
the project to successful delivery of the end product and closing the project.
- Planning and scheduling processes are flexible and dynamic
DEVELOPING SCOPE DOCUMENT, WBS AND LIST OF ACTIVITIES
1. Initiating a project and developing a project brief
a. Later more details are added in preparation of the request for proposal (RFP), and
b. Even more details are added during the development of project initiation documents or in the
process of getting the final version of the scope approved
Formal scope document
Best practice for minimizing changes during the project: formal scope document agreed on by all the stakeholders
to be used for planning and scheduling of the project and encompasses:
- The boundary of the project
- Major deliverable
- Main functionalities expected from the system or project
- What is part of the system and what is not
WBS.
The formal scope document is the basis for the work breakdown structure (WBS) and encompasses the method
used to explicitly address and account for all the elements which must be delivered. Ways to develop a WBS
(based on the logic of breakdown):
- Project lifecycle/chronology
- Phases of a project
- Geographical/location of parts or zones
- Functions
- Etc.
P a g i n a 16 | 35
- Developing a more comprehensive understanding of each stakeholders needs, interests and
expectations, regardless of the potential harm or help to the project
Stakeholder management process consists of three sub processes: stakeholder analysis, stakeholder engagement
and disengagement.
2.3. HOOFDSTUK 15 – MANAGING THE SCHEDULE (P.233-247)
Project management = the implementation arm of strategic management, used for implementing any change,
whether hard or soft.
Operations management = about managing day to day operations of the organization
2.3.1. PROJECT PLANNING AND SCHEDULING: DATA AND TERMINOLOGY
Activity name or code = used to identify the activity easily.
- Could be used for sorting and filtering activities into categories
Activity description = describes the content and context of the activity and what is supposed to be done
- Could also include acceptance criteria, quality standards and specification
Activity sequence (precedence relationship, logic, order of operation) = specifies which activities need to be done
before starting the next.
Network diagram (ND) = a pictorial presentation of the sequence in which the activities are logically needed to
be done to deliver the project
- Do not incorporate any resource constraints in the network diagram
Activity resources requirement estimate = identify all the resources needed to do the activities and estimate the
amount need for each.
Activity duration estimate = an estimate is calculated through the resource intensity and time.
- Resource intensity = the number of each resource used per time period.
- Effort = the total required number of man-days/hours needed to complete a task measured in units such
as engineer-hours, managers-days and analyst-months
o Amount of workers*time need on the activity
▪ Two people work on a job for three weeks -> 2x3x5 = 30 man-days
Activity cost estimate = once we have decided on the planned duration of the task which is a function of resource
intensity and Volume of Work (VOW) and the productivity of the resources, we are in a position to estimate the
costs and to start scheduling of the project.
Earliest Start (ES) = the earliest time an activity could start given all the work that has to take place before it.
Earliest Finish (EF): is the earliest time an activity could finish.
Latest Finish (LF): is the latest time an activity could finish given all the work that has to be done after it.
Latest Start (LS): is the latest time an activity could start.
Total Float/Slack (TF): is the amount of time an activity could be delayed without delaying the completion of the
project.
Free Float/Slack (FF): is the amount of time an activity could be delayed without delaying any other activity.
Critical Activity: is an activity with no slack/float. Delaying a critical activity will delay the completion of the
project.
P a g i n a 15 | 35
, Summary of the hand of project management | Remco van der Schoot
Critical Path: is the longest path in the project network and the minimum possible time to finish the project. It
consists of a sequence of critical activities linking the start of the project to its end.
2.3.2. WHAT IT TAKES TO SCHEDULE A PROJECT
Important function of planning and scheduling = to provide a time, cost, quality and scope control tool for
effective and efficient implementation of project management (coordination and integration of all efforts for
optimum execution of the project).
1. Planning = about data collection and intelligence gathering, organizing thoughts, making decisions about how
we want to do the project (know what is going to be done). Consists of the following steps:
- Developing the scope documents
- Developing WBS
- Developing the list of activities
- Collecting and developing data for all the activities
- Developing the network diagram
- Developing all the assumptions and constraints needed for scheduling
2. Scheduling = focused on time, resources and costs (developing a blueprint (baseline) for execution of the
project). Fixing the position of each activity on the time axis that is deciding when to start and finish each activity.
Consists of the following steps:
- Time only analysis (scheduling the project ignoring resource constraints)
- Resource based schedule analysis
- Cost analysis and budget assessment
- Optimal schedule development (integrates time, cost, quality and scope into the schedule)
3. The end product = al baseline schedule which will be used for monitoring and control of the project, directing
the project to successful delivery of the end product and closing the project.
- Planning and scheduling processes are flexible and dynamic
DEVELOPING SCOPE DOCUMENT, WBS AND LIST OF ACTIVITIES
1. Initiating a project and developing a project brief
a. Later more details are added in preparation of the request for proposal (RFP), and
b. Even more details are added during the development of project initiation documents or in the
process of getting the final version of the scope approved
Formal scope document
Best practice for minimizing changes during the project: formal scope document agreed on by all the stakeholders
to be used for planning and scheduling of the project and encompasses:
- The boundary of the project
- Major deliverable
- Main functionalities expected from the system or project
- What is part of the system and what is not
WBS.
The formal scope document is the basis for the work breakdown structure (WBS) and encompasses the method
used to explicitly address and account for all the elements which must be delivered. Ways to develop a WBS
(based on the logic of breakdown):
- Project lifecycle/chronology
- Phases of a project
- Geographical/location of parts or zones
- Functions
- Etc.
P a g i n a 16 | 35
