Project Management Assignment Hagen Jevon Oszarwin MT/7A

Project Management Task

1. Characteristics of a Project
 Any project will have a start date and end date
It is the main feature of project that it has a start date and end date. Because if
we increase the time of completing of any business project, cost of project will
increase. So, it is necessary to fix the time for completing any project.
 Project for Results
All projects are made for getting some result. Projects are always completed
and we get new thing after completing of project.
 Projects differ from operations
Operation are different from project. Operations are day to day work and for
this we can use operation costing but project is big plan for doing any major
construction.
 A project usually needs resources to deliver its results
Without getting resources for completing project, it will be very tough
to complete the project and bring result in the front of manager.
 Major projects can be divided into subprojects
All major projects can be divided into subprojects. Suppose, you have to
construct a building. For making building, you have to take subproject for
digging the earth or make a structure according to the height of building.
2. Stages of a Project Life Cycle
 Initiation:

o Develop a Business Case

o Undertake a Feasibility Study
o Establish the Project Charter
o Appoint the Project Team
o Set up the Project Office
o Perform Phase Review

 Planning:

o Create a Project Plan

o Create a Resource Plan
o Create a Financial Plan
o Create a Quality Plan
o Create a Risk Plan
o Create an Acceptance Plan
o Create a Communications Plan
o Create a Procurement Plan
o Contract the Suppliers
Project Management Assignment Hagen Jevon Oszarwin MT/7A

o Define the Tender Process

o Issue a Statement of Work
o Issue a Request for Information
o Issue a Request for Proposal
o Create Supplier Contract
o Perform Phase Review

 Execution:

o Build Deliverables
o Monitor and Control
o Perform Time Management
o Perform Cost Management
o Perform Quality Management
o Perform Change Management
o Perform Risk Management
o Perform Issue Management
o Perform Procurement Management
o Perform Acceptance Management
o Perform Communications Management

 Closure:

o Perform Project Closure

o Review Project Completion
3. Advantage of a Functional Project Management Organization
 Employees do not report to multiple managers. Each employee will report to
his direct functional manager. This will reduce communication channels.
 Employee tend to learn from each other since those with the same speciality(or
set of skills) are grouped together.
4. Primary Characteristic of Organization Culture
 Innovation and Risk Taking
Risk and returns go hand in hand. Places where you take a risk (calculated risk
of course!), the chances of returns are higher. Same goes for innovation. You
could either be a follower or a pioneer. Pioneering has its share of risks, but at
times, it can also have a breakthrough outcome for the organization. Thus,
innovation and risk taking is one of the main characteristics of organizational
culture defining how much room the business allows for innovation.
 Attention to Detail
Defines the importance a company allots to precision and detail in workplace.
This is also a universal value as the degree of attention the employee are
expected to provide is crucial for the success of any business.
 Outcome Orientation
Some organizations pay a bit more attention to the result than the progress and
processes. It is really the business model of each business that established
whether the focus should be on the outcome or the processes. This defines the
outcome orientation of the business.
Project Management Assignment Hagen Jevon Oszarwin MT/7A

 People Orientation
This is still one of the most contentious issues in organizational culture today.
How much should be the management focus on the people? Some
organizations are famous for being employee oriented as they focus more on
creating a better work environment for its 'associates' to work in. Others still
are feudal in nature, treating employees no better than work-machines.
 Team Orientation
Concerns the degree to which work activities are organized around teams. It is
a well established fact that synergistic teams help give better results as
compared to individual efforts. Each organization makes its efforts to create
teams that will have complimentary skills and will effectively work together.
 Aggressiveness
Every organization also lays down the level of aggressiveness with which their
employees work. Some businesses like Microsoft are known for their
aggression and market dominating strategies.
 Stability
Concerns the degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining
the status quo in contrast to growth. While some organizations believe that
constant change and innovation is the key to their growth, others are more
focused on making themselves and their operations stable. The managements
of these organizations are looking at ensuring stability of the company rather
than looking at indiscriminate growth.
Just like having a strong personality adds character to a person, organizational
culture does give a business its own special identity. It helps create cohesion
among the employees as they share the primary characteristics of an
organizational culture and imbibes in them the spirit of team work.

5. WBS(Work Breakdown Structure)

A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's
work into manageable sections. The Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK) defines the work breakdown structure as a "deliverable oriented
hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team." The work
breakdown structure visually defines the scope into manageable chunks that a project
team can understand, as each level of the work breakdown structure provides further
definition and detail
Project Management Assignment Hagen Jevon Oszarwin MT/7A

6. Guidelines to Develop Useful Work Package Estimates

 Responsibility
At the work package level it is important to have the estimates made by people
most familiar with the task. This is most often the Supervisors who would be
responsible for the completion of the tasks on time and budget. If the people
involved in the tasks are not consulted, it is difficult to hold them responsible
for the outcome.
 Use Several People to Estimate
Discussion of individual differences in the estimates can lead to a consensus
and tends to eliminate extreme estimate errors.
 Normal Conditions
Estimates should be based on normal working conditions, efficient methods
and a normal level of resources. For example, if the work day is eight hours,
then base the quote on an eight hour work day
 Time Units
Specific time units to use for the estimate are to be selected early in the
estimate process. All other units of time are to be converted to the agreed
upon standard. For example if time is listed as “man days” then all references
to hours should be converted into “man days”.
 Independence
Each task time estimate should be considered independently of other activities.
Top managers tend to lump many tasks together and give an estimate of the
total and then break the task estimate up to suit. This tendency can result in an
overly optimistic task time estimate.
 Contingencies
Work package estimates should not include for any contingencies.
Management can add a separate contingency allowance to cover unforeseen
events that affect the project.
 Adding Risk Assessment to the Estimate Helps to Avoid Surprises
Some tasks carry more inherent time and cost risk than others. A breakdown
of the time under three categories can help decide

Risk Assessment Time Analysis

Task Optimistic Most Likely Pessimistic

It is important to understand that there are risks in all activities and this should
be accounted for when estimating.
Project Management Assignment Hagen Jevon Oszarwin MT/7A

7. Importance of Estimating Time and Cost in Project Management

 Estimates are needed to support good decisions.
 Estimates are needed to schedule work.
 Estimates are needed to determine the duration and overall cost of a project.
 Estimates are needed to determine whether a project is worth doing.
 Estimates are needed to develop cash flow needs.
 Estimates are needed to determine how well a project is proceeding.
 Estimates are needed to develop time phased budgets and establish the project
baseline.
8. Meaning of Following Terms in Project Network
 Event:
Occurrence happening at a determinable time and place, with or without the
participation of human agents. It may be a part of a chain of occurrences as an
effect of a preceding occurrence and as the cause of a succeeding occurrence.
 Path:
A sequence of connected, dependent activities.
 Activity:
An activity is a major unit of work to be completed in achieving the objectives
of a process. An activity has precise starting and ending dates, incorporates a
set of tasks to be completed, consumes resources, and results in work
products. An activity may have a precedence relationship with other activities.
For example, finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish.
 Node:
Node refers to any one of a number of miscellaneous defining points that exist
as part of the project’s schedule network. These specific definition points that
exist as part of the project’s schedule network in most cases have been pre-
determined by the project management team and or the project management
team leader and typically will represent momentous or significant moments or
occurrences that may take place during the course of the project. The project
management term node can also refer to a particular junction or meeting point
that is comprised of some or all of a series of specific dependency lines, again,
the exact composition of which will be determined by the project team and or
project team leader at some earlier point in the life of a project.
 Milestone:
Scheduled event that indicates the completion of a major deliverable event (or
a set there of) of a project. Milestones are measurable and observable and
serve as progress markers (flags) but, by definition, are independent of time
(have zero durations) therefore no work or consumption of resources is
associated with them.

9. Critical Path
The critical path is the longest sequence of activities in a project plan which must be
completed on time for the project to complete on due date. An activity on the critical
path cannot be started until its predecessor activity is complete; if it is delayed for a
day, the entire project will be delayed for a day unless the activity following the
delayed activity is completed a day earlier.
Project Management Assignment Hagen Jevon Oszarwin MT/7A

10. Basic Rules to Follow when Developing Project Networks

 Network typically flow from left to right.
 An activity cannot begin until all preceding connected activities are complete.
 Arrows indicate precedence and flow and can cross over each other
 Each activity must have a unique identify number that is greater than any of its
predecessor activities.
 Looping is not allowed
 Conditional statement are not allowed
 Use common start and stop nodes.