1. Project Activity Planning
MGMT 483 Week 5
Project Activity Planning

2. Today’s class:
We now move into consideration of the details of the project – planning what exactly is going to be done, by whom, and when
We look at:
The project action plan – hierarchical planning
The Work Breakdown Structure
The Linear Responsibility Chart
Then you will practice these techniques with an in-class planning exercise
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

3. Elements of a full Project Plan
Overview
Objectives or scope
General approach
Contractual aspects
Schedules
Resources
Personnel
Risk management plans
Evaluation methods
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

4. The Action Plan
Action plan: the set of project activities, their schedules, and the resources needed to complete the project
What is to be done
When it is to be started and finished
Who is going to do it
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

5. The Action Plan Continued
Activities on a project face unique complexities
Task dependencies
Some activities cannot start until others are finished
Some activities must be done at-the-same-time
Some activities are very time critical
Others have a great deal of flexibility
This requires a great deal of planning
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

6. Hierarchical Planning
Hierarchical planning: a planning approach that breaks the planning task down into the activities that must be done at each level. Typically, the upper level sets the objectives for the next lower level
Major tasks are listed
Each major task is then broken down into more detail
This continues until all the activities to be completed are listed
Need to know which activities “depend on” other activities
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

7. Task dependencies Finish-to-start (FS) Start-to-start (SS)
Task (B) cannot start until task (A) finishes. For example, if you have two tasks, "Construct fence" and "Paint fence," "Paint fence" can't start until "Construct fence" finishes. This is the most common type of dependency.
Start-to-start (SS)
Task (B) cannot start until task (A) starts. For example, if you have two tasks, "Pour foundation" and "Level concrete," "Level concrete" can't begin until "Pour foundation" begins.
Finish-to-finish (FF)
Task (B) cannot finish until task (A) finishes. For example, if you have two tasks, "Add wiring" and "Inspect electrical," "Inspect electrical" can't finish until "Add wiring" finishes.
Start-to-finish (SF)
Task (B) cannot finish until task (A) starts. Used to control scheduling – not used very often in practice
From: Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2009

8. A Form to Assist Planning
Figure 6-2
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

9. Planning a Career Day – action plan example
Figure 6-3
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

10. The Work Breakdown Structure
The WBS is a tool for activity planning using the hierarchical method – it is usually a more detailed form of the action plan
Steps to create a WBS:
Create a list of the major activities for the project
Decompose (break down) each major activity into more detailed tasks for the next level in the hierarchy.
The tasks identified for each level must be at approximately the same level of detail. It’s easy to come up with detail for activities we are familiar with and gloss over those that are unfamiliar. This process forces comparable detail for all the levels.
Break the tasks down into sufficient detail so they can be individually planned, budgeted, scheduled monitored and controlled. The tasks at the bottom of the structure are typically called work packages.
When the activities are sufficiently decomposed, then individual tasks are scheduled and assigned to personnel (a Linear Responsibility Chart is often created to help understand task assignments and responsibilities)
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

11. Format of the WBS
Can be columnar, with sub-tasks indented under the main task elements - like the earlier example of the action plan, or visual
Either is correct – or you can create both, depending on the purpose
In MS Project you enter the WBS in a spreadsheet-like format, which is visually displayed as a Gantt chart
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

12. A Visual WBS for planning a conference
Figure 6-6
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

13. Linear Responsibility Chart (Responsibility Matrix)
Once tasks are broken down into work packages on the WBS, we need to assign resources
The assignment of people to work packages can be displayed on an LRC, which can also identify requirements for support, approval and notification.
With this, the PM can keep track of who must approve what and who must report to whom
The work packages must be reviewed with the people involved to ensure their accuracy and adequacy in describing the tasks to be accomplished.
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

14. Sample Linear Responsibility Chart
Figure 6-7
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.

15. Simplified Linear Responsibility Chart (Fig 6-8)
Meredith & Mantel (2009) Project management: a managerial approach. 7th ed. Wiley.