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San Francisco Feb 11-13
Houston Feb 18-20
Project Management Courses Offered!
We're
offering two Project Management Training Courses in San Francisco and Houston in
February. Our two-day Project Management Nuts and Bolts is
a fun and dynamic introduction to project management best practices. It is
followed by our Microsoft Project 2000 in One-Day course.
The Project Group, LLC
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.
Chancellor & Chancellor
Do you feel that
you may have issues with using contractors on your projects? Chancellor
& Chancellor, Inc specializes in helping clients comply with state and
Federal tax regulations when using professional contractors. Since 1987
they have offered companies and independent contractors their Passthru
Program. They also help their clients by supplying contractors. For details
visit http://www.chancellor.com
To
Enroll In A Class Click Here
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Dear Robert,
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 them on track to reach a successful conclusion.
This newsletter focuses on Part 2 of Process 6:
The Critical Path
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· The Critical Path
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The critical path is the longest set of tasks in a project. Delay any
task on the critical path and you delay the project completion.
The critical path also...
· Points out where crucial delays could
derail a project
· Shows potentially where to shorten
project duration
· Can change when non-critical path tasks
get delayed
· Has nothing to do with "most
important" or "mission critical" tasks
· Is purely a mathematical
calculation
A project may have several, parallel critical paths.
You can save a lot of time in your task duration estimating process by
making quick, rough estimates of durations, calculating where the
critical path lies, and then refocusing your estimating effort on gaining
precision with those tasks. The non-critical task estimates need not be
so accurate: you have some "wiggle room" with them.
Critical Path
Terminology
If you want to understand how the critical path is
calculated, you have to imagine comparing two scenarios. The first where
every task in the project happens as soon as possible (ASAP) and the
second where every task happens as late as possible (ALAP).
The difference between the task starts between the ALAP scenario and the
ASAP scenario is the float, the amount of time a task can be delayed
before it delays the project.
In most projects there is a path of tasks where the float is zero. That
path is the Critical Path
in that a delay in completing a task on that path, delays the completion
of the project.
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· How Software Displays A Critical
Path
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Popular Project Management software typically displays tasks
on the Critical Path in red. Since by definition a Critical Path is a
mathematical calculation it will change when tasks are completed either
earlier or later than scheduled.
As a
Project Manager collects data on the dates tasks
are completed, it is important that the Critical Path be re-calculated to
view the effect of actual
task completion versus planned.
The critical path is dynamic
and must be recalculated after entering accurate data on when tasks begin
and end.
Click Here to See How Microsoft Project
Displays a Critical Path
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· Final Critical Path Thoughts
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While Project Management software will calculate and display
the critical path, the Project Manager must remain alert as tasks end at
times different than originally planned.
A project may have one or more parallel critical paths at any given time.
To View An Invitation To the February Training
Sessions
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· Attend Project Management Nuts And
Boltsİ
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Our two-day course covers the processes of Project
Management.
Audience: Managers tasked with small to medium-sized projects
Covers best practices of:
· Initiation -- Project Objective
Statements, Project Chartering, Project Organization
· Project Planning -- Work Breakdown
Structure, Task Estimating, Resource Planning, Structured Risk Management
· Leadership & communication
issues underlying good team-building
Bring your own projects to work on as exercises!
Sign
up for one or both courses.
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· Learn Microsoft ProjectTM
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Learning Microsoft Project a popular software tool can be
very daunting! You need someone to help you understand which of the
myriad features you'll probably never use so you can focus on the ones
you'll use all the time.
After years of teaching Ms-Project and applying it in the field, Roger
Kent created this class to focus on the basics you need to build a
task-based plan. It is delivered in a combination lecture, "follow
me" through the software and individual challenge exercises.
Unless you are familiar with best-practice planning models, we recommend
you take Project Management Nuts and Bolts first. Most of us learned word
processing because we understood the model it was based on: a lined piece
of paper with top, bottom, left and right margins.
People
have difficulty learning Ms-Project because they're not clear on the
planning processes that form its underlying model. Project Management
Nuts and Bolts is the ideal preparation for Ms-Project.
Click
Here To View Previous Newsletters
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