Chapter 13 – Solving common project problems
1. Responsibility beyond your authority
• Ask your sponsor to publish a charter for all the stakeholders. Make sure that it strongly designates your authority on this project
• Explain the reason behind the project, and give them the background necessary to understand its importance to the organization
• Involve them in setting up your primary means of communication.
• Make assignments easy to understand and track
• Show them how they fit into the project
• Give them updates on the project even during times when they aren’t actively involved.
• Develop a strong relationship with your sponsor by keeping him or her informed of your plans and your progress.
2. Disaster Recovery
• Start at the beginning with the project
• Using the work breakdown structure and critical path analysis, figure out the best possible schedule scenario, assuming infinite resources.
• Use the actual performance so far to create realistic estimates, and include the team in the estimating process.
• Frequent status meetings focused on completing near-term tasks will keep you on top of progress and allow you to solve problems early.
3. Reducing the time to market
• Fast, focused performance demands a solid foundation. Getting agreement on authority, decision structures, and responsibilities among the participating groups will ensure that you don’t waste time fighting organizational battles during the project.
• Choose a several review points where you can reevaluate the functions of the products against the available resources and deadlines.
• Develop a detailed plan for every phase.
• Build quality checks into the project every step of the way.
• Be clear about responsibilities and track schedule progress rigorously.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
BUS 528 - Chapter 12 Ideas
Chapter 12 Measuring Progress – Ideas
1. Use the 0-50-100 Rule to record completion of tasks
a. 0 percent complete: The task has not begun
b. 50 percent complete: The task has been started but not finished
c. 100 percent complete: The task is complete
2. Measuring cost performance
Measuring cost accurately is critical as a project progresses because cost measures productivity. Every work package has cost estimates for labor, equipment, and materials. As each one is executed, be sure to capture the actual costs comparing planned and actual costs will tell you whether the project is progressing as planned.
3. Earned value reporting
Comparing planned cash flow with actual cash flow has its uses, but it doesn’t tell you whether the project will be over or under budget. To get the true picture of cost performance, the planned and actual costs for all completed tasks need to be compared. This is accomplished with a technique called earned value reporting. Earned value reporting uses cost data to give more accurate cost and schedule reports. It does this by combining cost and schedule status to provide a complete picture of the project.
4. The work breakdown structure is critical
The secret to making earned value work is in the work breakdown structure (WBS). Each task on the WBS must be a discrete task that meets these criteria:
a. It must has defined start and finish dates
b. The task must produce a tangible outcome whose completion can be objectively assessed
c. Costs must be assigned to the task, even if they are only labor costs.
1. Use the 0-50-100 Rule to record completion of tasks
a. 0 percent complete: The task has not begun
b. 50 percent complete: The task has been started but not finished
c. 100 percent complete: The task is complete
2. Measuring cost performance
Measuring cost accurately is critical as a project progresses because cost measures productivity. Every work package has cost estimates for labor, equipment, and materials. As each one is executed, be sure to capture the actual costs comparing planned and actual costs will tell you whether the project is progressing as planned.
3. Earned value reporting
Comparing planned cash flow with actual cash flow has its uses, but it doesn’t tell you whether the project will be over or under budget. To get the true picture of cost performance, the planned and actual costs for all completed tasks need to be compared. This is accomplished with a technique called earned value reporting. Earned value reporting uses cost data to give more accurate cost and schedule reports. It does this by combining cost and schedule status to provide a complete picture of the project.
4. The work breakdown structure is critical
The secret to making earned value work is in the work breakdown structure (WBS). Each task on the WBS must be a discrete task that meets these criteria:
a. It must has defined start and finish dates
b. The task must produce a tangible outcome whose completion can be objectively assessed
c. Costs must be assigned to the task, even if they are only labor costs.
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