Creating team solutions Benefits of collaboration through working in a team Project Management: A project has: Clearly defined purpose or goal A starting time A finite lifetime A number of interdependent tasks
Project Management PM defined: A project is an activity With a specific objective or goal A time-frame for completion A finite resources budget A unique one-timeness
A Project If it takes 2 people 2 days to complete a task how long does it take 4 People? 8 People? Project egs. office, blocks, new schools, freeway projects PM involves identifying: Key tasks Allocating resources Scheduling & monitoring taks Identifying milestones Determining contingency plans
Terms Task A definable unit of work with an estimated duration, usually performed by one resource Milestone, used to indicate major stages in a project; it is not a task, has zero time duration
PM terms contd Milestone A zero-duration task eg a point in time. Used to indicate major stages in the project. Resources Assigned to each task, technical, (money & equipment) & human resources Schedule Tasks are interdependent Schedule allows mapping project tasks and display interdependencies Tasks are interdependent and must be put in order Critical Path The longest path in the project. Any changes to tasks on the critical path will affect the end date of the project (minimum time)
Terms
Terms
PM terms contd Costing A cost is assigned for use of resources Quality control Involves checking results against quality standards Tools including flowcharts, control charts, scatter diagrams are used to monitor quality control Contingency plans Predetermined actions if a kind of disaster occurs
Tools for managing projects Project table Table used to undertake task analysis breaking the project into smaller tasks and determine task duration and predecessors.
Tools for managing projects Gantt Chart A graphical representation of the project. It indicates the timing and duration of the tasks; can also show milestones and task dependencies
Groupware Software designed to allow workers to collaborate on tasks; eg. Microsoft SharePoint Version Control Files can easily be overwritten if version control is not used Using a sequential file-naming strategy and storing working files in a central location reduces problems