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Announcing
A New Earned Value Course
The Project
Group announces a one-day training course on Earned Value tailored to
Information Technology projects. This intensive course equips experienced
project managers and project control professionals to establish earned
value tracking on their projects without elaborate systems or procedures.
Through a facilitated series of exercises, participants learn the concepts,
principles and techniques we have used successfully to institute
earned-value tracking and controls on numerous software development
projects. Students learn how familiar project management techniques such as
work breakdown structures, resource-loaded schedules, and baseline
disciplines are applied to create a powerful project diagnostic tool in an
informal project environment.
The Nuts & Bolts of Project
Management
We specialize in assisting corporate and
government clients in learning to improve their productivity while planning
and executing projects.
Our three-phase approach yields faster more efficient project initiation,
planning and execution results.
We also offer a one-day class on Microsoft Project 2002TM for
users wanting to improve their productivity in using the software.
We offer this monthly newsletter free to
all who are interested. To subscribe, click on the link below.
Click
Here To Subscribe
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Greetings,
Each
month our newsletter will delve into a specific step in the phases of
Initiation, Planning and Execution of projects. Our methodology is
applicable to any project in any industry. Our systematic approach to
Project Management is designed to help your company's projects gain
traction quickly, communicate clearly to all
parties and keep it on track to reach a successful conclusion.
This newsletter focuses on Process 4: Determining
Tasks by creating a Work Breakdown Structure within the Planning phase.
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· What is a WBS?
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 WBS stands for Work Breakdown Structure. A
WBS is a group of tasks consisting of a single action verb, a named lead
person, and a single deliverable. It is a graphic tool that can be
converted into a text format. It readily shows the breadth and detail of
project tasks. But, it
does not show tasks in sequence.
A WBS
is best created by all team members. It is a dynamic document that
becomes the rudder of all project management planning and tracking.
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· How Do We Create
A WBS?
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· 1st - Gather the core team members in a
room with Post-Its and pens
· 2nd - Explain this is a brainstorming
session with the purpose of writing down all the tasks they can think of
that are necessary to complete the project
· 3rd - On each Post-It write a short
description of the task and who they think should be the "Task
Owner" (The task owner need not be the one doing the work, but
rather is the person the project manager would go to to
obtain estimates).
· 4th - Decide with
the group what the major categories of tasks will be.
If your project was to build a house those categories might be trade
categories:
· Carpentry
· Electrical
· Plumbing
· Concrete
If it were a Gourmet Meal it could be based on major deliverables:
· Soup
· Salad
· Main Course
· Dessert
These general categories are nouns and are known as Level 1 tasks. When
complete your WBS will look something like an organization chart.
There
are two approaches to WBS creation, the Top- Down Approach and the
Bottom-Up Approach. Managers, business people, analysts are often
whole-to-part thinkers and use the Top-Down Approach. They begin with
major categories and break those into sub- categories or tasks (Level 2)
and keep breaking the task down to the desired detail level. The
Bottom-Up Approach is often used by techincal
staff, programmers who are part-to-whole thinkers.
Click here for slides depicting the Top-Down and
Bottom-Up Approaches
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· What Does A WBS
Look Like?
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· Should We Code the
WBS?
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If your project team elects to code each WBS element the
following benefits are obtained:
· The WBS is formalized
· It helps define change. A Scope
Change = New WBS Elements
· In project management software it
allows sorting by the WBS as well as sequence, or cost control numbers
· It provides a useful task shorthand
Level 1
tasks may be assigned letters or numbers. Level
2 and lower tasks are assigned numbers. For example if building a house
is the project, carpentry is a Level 1 task and could be designated as
category A. Level two tasks that follow carpentry could be Task A-1
Framing walls; Task A-1.1 Framing exterior walls; Task A-1.2 Framing
interior walls, etc.
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· A Word About PM Software and Coding
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· Summary
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· Use a WBS to identify all project tasks
· Create a more granular WBS to control
scope and schedule
· Break down until each task has single
owner, single deliverable and is easy to estimate
· Use either a top-down or a bottom-up
approach to create the WBS
· If it's not in the
WBS it's not in the project!
Click
Here To View Previous Newsletters
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