Project Management

Professor: Dr. Miguel Alonso Jr.

Outline

IntroductionCreating a project CharterTask Definitions, Milestones, Defining TimesOrganizing the tasksPERT Charts, Critical Paths, and Gantt ChartsDetails, DetailsPersonnel Distribution, Money, and ResourcesDocumentation and Team Roles

Introduction

“Failure to plan is planning to fail” Questions that should be addressed in a

project plan What do you/team do first? What comes next? How many people? Resources? How long? Milestones? What can be completed by end of

quarter? When will it be finished? How do we know when were done?

Creating a project charter

First step in project planning is to create a project charter (project summary) Description Objectives Outcomes or deliverables Duration Community partners Stakeholders Team membership and roles Planning information

Task definitions

Once the project charter has been defined, the next step is to identify the completion tasks to achieve the objectives and outcomes

Many tasks will have to be completed for project completion

Effective plans are detailed enough to be managed Plan should allow for the following

hold members accountable Identify all needed resources, materials, funding, and

people Allow project progress to be assessed to make sure it is

on schedule Manage people and resources by shifting from one task

to another as needed for project completion

Tips for defining tasks

Use past experiences Gather data from instructors, advisors, alumni,

community parters, and stakeholders for input Include tasks associated with other tasks Example task: pg 338

Milestones

A milestone is a deadline for some deliverable Maybe subcomponents for the project, or

when all parts are available Each phase of a design project should be a

milestone They are useful as checks for the plans

progress Should not be left for the end They serve two purposes

Meet and celebrate short-term goals, good morale booster

Monitoring project progress so that if off schedule, steps can be taken to bring the project back on schedule

Defining Times and organizing the taks

Must attach a completion time to each takes Can be measured in working days In defining task times, you should budget in

lead times for components Be conservative and allow enough time for the

learning curve of a new task If a task spans several weeks, break it up into

smaller tasks Optimize the project plan by determining task

relationships and prioritizing the tasks

PERT Charts and Critical Paths

Project Evaluation and Review Technique Each task is represented by a box that

contains a brief description and duration for that task

Milestones have rounded edges Lines determines tasks that are part of a

series or can be completed in parallel Great tools for initial task completion Critical path is the longest series of tasks

Example: Mathematics in an engineering curriculum

Gantt Charts

PERT chart is good for a limited set of tasks When the tasks become numerous, a Gantt

chart is more appropriate A Gantt chart is a table where the rows

represent tasks, and the columns represent the timeline

Tasks and Milestones can be represented using different colors

Task responsibility can be included as an additional column after the file:///mnt/win_d/scans/gantt%20chart.bmp

task description

Details, Personnel Distribution, and Money/Resources Details tend to pile up at the end, especially

for a new project (unforseen circumstances) Detail as much as possible at the beginning Work must be balanced and take into account

your team members individual expertises' What resources will be used? Setup a budget

Use prior estimates Internet searches Item cost associated in addition to the items

(shipping costs, etc.)

Documentation, Team roles, and Software

Begin documenting the project from day one Include documentation milestones as part of

the project plan Makes it easier to backtrack and reassess

project tasks if needed Work reduction upon project completion Important team roles include:

Project leader or monitor Procurement Financial officer Liason

Software: Microsoft Project or Open Workbench

Semester Project Ideas

Spaghetti Bridge http://42explore.com/bridge.htm

Robot (Lego or otherwise) Catapult Rollercoaster, Hovercraft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4M9VWeIktg&feature=user

Go Cart Wii Hacks Hovercraft Trebuchet Self-balancing Robot Segway Skateboard GreenPower Science Bridge Maglev

Class Work

For your project: Create a project Charter Setup Task Definitions, Milestones, and Define

Times Organize the tasks Create relevant PERT Charts, Critical Paths, and

Gantt Charts Establish Personnel Distribution, Budget, and

Resources Establish Documentation tasks, deadlines and

Team Roles and Responsibilities