Recipes for Project Success

for

for

A1 and Jackie DeLucia

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data DeLucia, Al. Recipes for project success / A1 and Jackie DeLucia p. cm. ISBN: 1-880410-58-3 (hc.) 1. Industrial project management. I. DeLucia,Jackie. 11. Title. T56.8.D47 1999 99-18505 658.4'04 - - dc21 CIP

Published by: Project Management Institute Headquarters Four Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073-3299 USA Phone: 610-356-4600 or Vlsit our website: www.pmi.org ISBN: 1-880410-58-3 Copyright 01999 by the Project Management Institute. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States ofAmerica. N o part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, manual, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. PMI Book Team Acting Editor-in-Chi4 Jeannette Cabanis Editor; Toni D. Knott Assistant Edit05 Lisa M. Fisher Graphic D e s k n u (text), Michelle T. Owen Graphic Designer (cover & graphics), Allison S. Boone Acquisitions Editor, Bobby R. Hensley Production Coordinatot: Mark S. Parker PMI@books are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please write to the Business Manager, PMI Publishing Division, Forty Colonial Square, Sylva, N C 28779 USA. Or contact your local bookstore. The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48--1984). -.

01998 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. "PMI" is a federally registered trade and senrice mark, "PMP" and the PMP logo are federally registered certification marks; and the PMI logo, "PMBOK" and "Building professionalisn~in project management." are trademarks of Project Management Institute.

T

hanks to Nick Barbi oflardley Pennsylvania, for his hours spent reading, rereading, and providing feedback and ideas. Thanks also to Bob Cotter of Friends Select School in Philadelphia and to Chas Clifton and Mary Cumer-Clifton of Florence, Colorado, for their professional advice about how to get published. Thanks finally to all our family for inspiration and encouragement: Dave, Joan, Jack, Emily Richard, Elizabeth, Allie, Dennis, Alex, Sydney, Betty Jack, Laura, Kelly Jessica, Terri, Harold, Valerie, Nicholas, Mark, Noelle, and especially Jennifer and Jason, our children, who endured years of our cooking experimentation and survived.

Illustrations

ix

Introduction

xi

Chapter 1: Linear Plojects 3 A Simple Pasta Dinner 3 Project Management Aspects 4 Step 1: The Scope Statement 5 Step 2: The Work Breakdown Structure 6 Step 3: The Project Network Diagram 10 Exercises 12 Chapter 2: MultiplePath Projects 15 A Fresh Tomato Sauce 15 Project ManagementAspects 16 Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce 17 Exercises 20 Chapter 3: Complex-Path Projects 23 Steamed Fish 23 Project Management Aspects 24 Egg Fried Rice 24 Project Management Aspects 26 Meat and Potatoes 26 Project ManagementAspects 29 Step 4: Assigning Roles 29 Meat, Potato, and Bean Casserole 30 Project ManagementAspects 31 Exercises 32 Chapter 4: The Hierarchical Numbering System Making an Omelet 39 Project Management Aspects 40 Exercises 42 Chapter 5: Cost Estimating and Budgeting 45 Homemade Pizzas 45 Project ManagementAspects 46 Step 5: The Cost Breakdown Structure 47 Exercises 50 Chapter 6: Scheduling 53 Broth 53 Project Management Aspects 54 Step 6: The Project Integration Table Exercises 56

54

39

I

Chapter 7: Forward and Backward Passes Pastafazool 59 Project Management Aspects The Forward Pass 61 The Backward Pass 62 Float 63 Critical Path 64 Exercises 64

59

60

Chapter 8: A Parallel-Path Project

65

Christmas Breakfast 65 Project Management Aspects 66 Calculating Path Times 69 Resource Allocation 71 Subprojects 72 Exercises 72

Chapter 9: Baseline

79

The Annual Tomato Sauce-Making Party 79 Project Management Aspects 81 Step 7: Integrated Baseline Review 85 Step 8: Baseline Adjustment 87 Exercises 90

...Project Management Is People FunctioningWell Together

Chapter 10: Conclusion Appendix: Recipes 95

A Simple Pasta Dinner 95 A Fresh Tomato Sauce 96 Steamed Fish 97 Egg Fried Rice 98 Meat and Potatoes 99 Meat, Potato, and Bean Casserole 100 Making an Omelet 101 Homemade Pizzas 102 Broth 103 Pastafazool 104 Christmas Breakfast 105 The Annual Tomato Sauce-Making Party

Glossary

106

107

viii

93

Figure 1.1 Figure 1.2 Figure 1.3 Figure 1.4 Figure 1.5 Figure 1.6 Figure 1.7 Figure 1.8 Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Figure 2.3 Figure 2.4 Figure 2.5 Figure 2.6 Figure 2.7 Figure 2.8 Figure 2.9 Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Figure 3.4 Figure 3.5 Figure 3.6 Figure 3.7 Figure 3.8 Figure 3.9 Figure 3.10 Figure 3.11 Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3 Figure 4.4

WBS for Pasta Dinner 7 Generic WBS 8 WBS with Subdeliverables for Pasta Dinner 9 Generic WBS with Subdeliverables 10 WBS with Subtasks for Pasta Dinner 11 PND for Pasta Dinner: A Linear Project 11 Gantt Chart for Pasta Dinner 12 WBS for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 13 WBS for Simple Tomato Sauce 17 WBS with SubordinateTasksfor SimpleTomatoSauce 18 PND for SimpleTomatoSauce: A Linear Project 19 WBS for Pasta with Tomato Sauce: A Parallel-PathProject 19 Gantt Chart for Pasta with Tomato Sauce 20 WBS for Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Salad: ATriple-Path Project 20 Gantt Chart for Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Salad 21 Gantt Chart for Custom-Built House: Conventional Design and Construction 21 Gantt Chart for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 22 WBS for Steamed Fish 25 PND for Steamed Fish, Greens, and Rice: Converging Paths 26 WBS for Fried Rice 28 PND for Fried Rice 28 RAS for Meat and Potatoes Dinner 30 PND with Names Assigned for Meat and Potatoes Dinner 31 PND Reduced to Subprojects for Meat and Potatoes Dinner 31 RAS for Meat, Potato, and Bean Casserole 32 PND for Meat, Potato, and Bean Casserole 33 Resource Allocation PND with Subprojects for Meat, Potato, and Bean Casserole 33 PND for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 34 WBS with Hierarchical Numbering System for Omelet 41 PND for Omelet 41 WBS with Hierarchical NumberingSystem for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 42 PND with Hierarchical NumberingSystem for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 43

Figure 5.1 Figure 5.2 Figure 5.3 Figure 5.4 Figure 5.5 Figure 6.1 Figure 6.2 Figure 6.3 Figure 6.4 Figure 7.1 Figure 7.2 Figure 7.3 Figure 7.4 Figure 8.1 Figure 8.2 Figure 8.3 Figure 8.4 Figure 8.5 Figure 8.6 Figure 8.7 Figure 8.8 Figure 8.9 Figure 8.10 Figure 8.11 Figure 9.1 Figure 9.2 Figure 9.3 Figure 9.4 Figure 9.5 Figure 9.6 Figure 9.7 Figure 9.8 Figure 9.9 Figure 9.10 Figure 9.11

WBS for Homemade Pizzas 46 CBS for Homemade Pizzas flask Costs Estimated Only) 47 CBS for Homemade Pizzas rrask Costs Summed to Create Deliverable and Project Costs) 48 PND for Homemade Pizzas 50 CBS for Custom-BuiltHouse: Fast-Track Design arid Construction 52 Scope WBS for Bmth 55 PND for Broth 56 PIT for Broth 57 PIT with Estimated Costs and Durations for Custom-BuiltHouse: Fast-Track Design and Construction 57 Scope WBS for P a s t a f a d 61 PND for Pastafazwl 62 Task Box, Generic Format 63 PND with Duration Times and Forward and Backward Passes for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 64 WBS for Christmas Breakfast 67 PIT for Christmas Breakfast 68 PND for Christmas Breakfast 68 Partial PIT, TPT Calculation, Meat Path, for Christmas Breakfast 69 Partial PIT, TPTCalculation, Pancake Path, for Christmas Breakfast 70 PIT with Labor and Materials Costs for Christmas Breakfast 70 CBS with Bottom-up Estimate for Christmas Breakfast 71 PIT with Resources Added for Christmas Breakfast 72 PND with Resources Added for Christmas Breakfast 73 PND Showing Only Subprojects for Christmas Breakfast 73 PIT with Resource Assignments Added for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 74 WBS forTomat0 Sauce-Making Party 82 RAS for Tomato Sauce-MakingParty 83 PIT for Tomato Sauce-Making Party 84 Extended PIT for Tomato Sauce-Making Party 84 CBS with Bottom-up Estimate for Tomato Sauce-Making Party 85 PND for Tomato Sauce-MakingParty 86 PND with Crashing for Tomato Sauce-Making Party 89 Revised PIT with Delay and Crashing for Tomato Sauce-MakingParty 90 PIT with TPTCalculatedfor Tomato Sauce-Making Party 91 PND with Shifted CP for Custom-BuiltHouse: Fast-Track Design and Construction 91 PIT with TPT Shown for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction 92

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. There are many examples of projects in our everyday lives: building a model airplane, applying for a job, or cooking a meal; .these projects can be done by a single individual. However, others-such as raising a child, building an aircraft carrier, or electing a president-are more complex endeavors that require the efforts of people working together effectively over an extended period of time. Anyone with self-discipline can successfully complete a project requiring only individual effort. More complex projects, which usually have wider impact, require the coordinated efforts of a group of people-a team-to be successful. Project management provides a systematic approach to organizing the activities of a team. Still, there is a logical connection between projects requiring only the efforts of a single individual and those requiring a team. This book takes advantage of that connection by beginning with examples of simple projects to convey complex project management ideas, and then builds on the examples through progressively more complex food preparation situations. Cooking is ordinarily a simple project that presents a unique opportunity to illustrate project management principles in a practical, easily understood context. Preparation of a meal contains all the elements of a project: It is unique, with starting and ending points, a budget, limited resources, and different phases. Using meal preparation as a metaphor, this book outlines a practical project management system wherein the project manager leads the project team through a series of team-building exercises based on the following sequence of eight interrelated tools. In the Project Planning Process Step 1: The Scope Statement Step 2: The Work Breakdown Structure Step 3: The Project Network Diagram Step 4: Assigning Roles: The Resource Allocation Structure and Subprojects Step 5: The Cost Breakdown Structure Step 6: The Project Integration Table

In the Project Execution Process Step 7: Integrated Baseline Review Step 8: Baseline Adjustment Alternating a series of recipes, prepared in familiar situations, with discussions of applied project management techniques, the book leads the reader through three parts. Part 1, Qualitative Project Management, introduces concepts and diagrammatic techniques for organizing a project during the planning process. Part 2, Quantitative Project Management, presents numerical project management techniques, which build upon the concepts and diagrams introduced in Part 1. Part 3, Real-Life Project Examples, applies the techniques learned in Parts 1 and 2 to real-life project situations during the project execution process. Throughout the text, TIPS pcovide practical advice, and RULES are rules of thumb for applying the techniques presented. Words in bold indicate the first-time use of terms presented in the glossary. At the end of each chapter, a series of exercises provides an opportunity to practice in a different application area. A noncooking project, the design and construction of a custom-built house, is used as the basis for these exercises, which are developed along with the tools of the text. Without people interacting well, project management simply cannot exist. Therefore, this book begins and ends with discussions of people.

PART ONE Qualitative Project Management ... Project Management through Pictures An important element of project management is the effective organization of people toward attaining a common set of goals. Pictures and diagrams provide ready tools to organize people. Project management begins with getting your team to work together in a planning process, drawing diagrams that break down the project and organize its pieces in relation to each other. In this part of the book, diagrams are developed in a sequence of increasing complexity by using recipes as instructional examples. In real project situations, it is almost impossible to use all of these techniques. However, with an understanding of them, you can use those that best fit a given situation to push your team to a higher level of functioning or perhaps to correct a dysfunction after you are well into a project. For example, it may be beneficial to only use the exercises from Part 1 to jump-start the team.

A SIMPLE PASTA DINNER

A

1 remembers sitting at his grandmother's kitchen table, watching her cook Her table had a porcelain top, and she made pasta directly on it, shaping flour into a well, breaking two eggs into the well, and adding salt. She kneaded the dough and, when it was ready, worked it through a pasta machine directly into a large pot of water boiling on the stove. Because it was fresh, the pasta cooked for a very short time-five or six minutes-before she drained it and put it into Ai's bowl. On top of the pasta, she added a pat of butter, or sometimes olive oil, and grated cheese. If Grandpa wasn't there, she added a special treat of ginger ale tinted with a touch of red wine.

Ingredients I

Ib. pasta, fresh or dried

At least Y q t . boiling w a t e r 2-Y large pats butter, or 4-6tbsp. olive oil G r a t e d cheese t o taste

Get the water boiling, and add two tablespoons of oil or pats of butter. Don't salt the water. I

Recipes for Project Success

Use a lot of water because pasta gives off starch, which can cause stickiness when there's not sufficient water to dilute it. Cook the pasta and drain it. Don't rinse the pasta-toss it immediately with the butter or oil and cheese.

Al dente means to the tooth, and this is why pasta is so good in Italy-it is more a matter of texture than taste. Many Italians use dried pasta because it makes better at dente. Because fresh pasta is more delicate than dried, it begins cooking from a softer consistency and can never achieve ultimate al dente. Al's grandmother used fresh pasta more because of cost and convenience than because of taste. Dried pasta has historical significance. It is light, stores well, and is easy to transport over long distances. Armies on campaign have been fed dried pasta. Some scholars believe that dried pasta, hauled in carts behind the advancing Imperial Army, enabled the Roman Empire to extend as far as it did. TIP: Good project managers travel light. They only keep essential duties to themselves, delegating as often as they can. Whether you use fresh or dried pasta, it is important to stay with it while it is cooking, frequently stirring and testing. Because the pasta continues to cook after it is removed from the water, timing is crucial. TIP: A good project manager will stay close to the project, timing task completion, monitoring team interactions, and trying to anticipate problems before they occur.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS A project entails a related group of tasks united toward accomplishment of a set of predefined goals. Goals are conceptual statements usually made by upper management regarding a project s intended accomplishments. Tasks are the basic units ofwork that constitute projects; they are sometimes called work packages or activities. Therefore, tasks are verbs. Completed in logical sequence, tasks produce a desired set of products: the deliverables. A deliverable is a tangible result of the project. Therefore, deliverables are nouns. An objective is a measurable indicator of the success of the project. Thus, objectives should be quantifiable whenever possible. To define the project's scope, the team must translate goals into specific, tangible products and measurable indicators of success. Many teams make the mistake of beginning w o k before they understand exactly what the project is. The first and most vital step that a project manager must take is to lead the team toward a 7

Linear Projects

common understanding of the scope of the project before allowing team members to begin performing their separate tasks. Let's apply these thoughts to our pasta recipe.

STEP 1: THE SCOPE STATEMENT The tool used to initiate common understanding-and simultaneously start the team-building process-is the scope statement (SS). The SS is a short paragraph that describes in terms as simple as possible the principal deliverables and the limits or boundaries of the project. It should be short and should contain as many active verbs as possible, because it will later serve as a basis for creating tasks. What the SS says is not as important as how it is formulated. A project manager must not write the SS and present it to the project team. Although it gives a sense of control to the 'project manager, this approach fails to obtain understanding or, worse, buy-in from the team and may predestine the project to failure. Instead, the formulation of the SS should be an interactive team effort, with the project manager facilitating the exercise. Sometimes the project manager may find it necessary to create an SS to be used as a strawman and present it to the team in order to get the discussion going. Using a strawman should be a last resort because it may skew team thinking. A better approach might be to show the team examples from other projects or from this book. A good SS has three components. 1. The principal deliverables of the project. 2. The objectives, which are measures of the success of the project. 3. A justification for the project. For our pasta recipe, an SS might be: Prepare a quick meal of pasta tossed with a dressing that doesn't require separate preparation.

This SS includes the principal deliverables of our project: "pasta" and "dressing." It also includes objectives: "quick" and "a dressing that doesn't require separate preparation." But these are not very strong objectives because they are not measurable. Sometimes it may not be possible to include measurable objectives, but it is advisable for the team to strive for it. Even if the attempt is not successful, it will result in a better common understanding of the scope of the project. After further discussion, the team may decide that "quick" lends itself easily to quantification and that although "separate preparation" does not lend itself easily to quantification, the success or failure of the project in this regard will be selfevident. The team might therefore revise the SS as follows:

Recipes for Project Success

Prepare a meal of pasta tossed with a dressing that doesn't require separate preparation and that can be prepared in less than twenty minutes. "Twenty minutes" is a clear, measurable objective that can indicate the success or failure of our recipe. Suppose, upon further reflection, that our team notices that there is no justification in the SS. Although not absolutely necessary, inclusion of a justification in the SS will unite the team behind a common understanding of the purpose of the project. With this in mind, further team discussion may lead to a more complete SS formulation, perhaps as follows: Prepare a meal of pasta tossed with a dressing that doesn't require separate preparation, that can be prepared in less than twenty minutes in order to feed hungry children in a pinch. Understanding of the necessity to keep hungry children fed will keep the team inspired and focused during the project's execution process when the going gets tough. In summary, this SS captures the goal of the project: "prepare a meal." It also defines the limits of the project in very succinct terms: "dressing that doesn't require separate preparation." Thus, if one ofyour headstrong team members starts cooking a tomato sauce-a dressing that does require separate preparation-the rest of the team will immediately know that he is on the wrong track, wasting time and resources. The team will bring him into line at the next project meeting. TIP: Peer pressure can be a very effective tool if used properly Note that this SS leaves some freedom for later creative thinking, when the specifics of the project unfold through subsequent planning efforts and the execution process. For example, by not defining "dressing," this SS leaves room for subsequent creative development without compromising the objectives and boundaries of the project. Helping the team achieve this balance is the art of project management, where an effective project manager can make a tangible contribution.

STEP 2: THE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

The second step in project management is to develop a diagram called the work breakdown structure (WBS). The WBS is a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements that organizes and defines the total scope of the project. The WBS puts vertical boundaries on a project by breaking it into workable components from the top down. It then provides a systematic means for rebuilding the project, from the bottom up. Another way to look at it is that the

Linear Projects

Pasta Dinner

Whats (Nouns)

Level 1

-----

$. Water

Haws (Verbs)

Butter and Cheese

Pasta

+

+

+

Pour

Boil

Add Oil

I

Cook

-----

+ Drain

Level 2

Toss

Level 3

----Figure 1.1

WBS for Pasta Dinner

WBS breaks the project down into deliverables and, sometimes, tasks, which are then used as building blocks to reassemble the project in different ways, such as a bottom-up cost estimate. The team uses the SS as a basis to brainstorm, discuss, analyze, and break down the project into tangible parts used in the WBS. 1. Tape large pieces of paper on a wall. 2. Write the name of the project in the middle at the top. 3. Give your team members Post-it Notes and ask them to write on separate pieces everything they think is important to accomplish the project. These will either be deliverables (nouns) or tasks (verbs). 4. Lead the team in sorting and posting first the nouns on the wall under the project name. After this, lead the team in posting the verbs under the appropriate nouns. Discuss the results and revise until it is as good as it can be. The WBS shown in Figure 1.1 extends from the top down into deeper levels-Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Thus, it organizes the recipe into the project name at Level 1, deliverables (nouns) at.Level2, and tasks (verbs) at Level 3, below the respective deliverable that each produces. In generic terms, Figure 1.1 may be viewed as depicted in Figure 1.2. W S Flexibility, Deliverables, and Subdeliverables. The WBS structure is flexible; in fact, there are probably several different valid ways to construct a WBS for a given project. Let's get back to our pasta recipe and apply the concept of subdeliverables. To some people, it may seem that "water" is not a deliverable in itself; rather, it is TM

Ren'pesfor Project Succerc

Project Level

Project

Level 1

-----

+

.( Deliverable 1

Level 2

Deliverable 2

-----

+

+

+

Level 3

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

----Figure 1.2

----Levels

----Task 4

Task 5

Task 6

Task Levels

----Generic WBS

prerequisite for preparing pasta. To accommodate this perspective, we might want to restructure our WE3S by making "water" a subdeliverable of "pasta," as shown in Figure 1.3. Let's change Figure 1.2 by adding subdeliverables to create the generic equivalent of Figure 1.3, as shown in Figure 1.4. Figure 1.4 retains the project level at Level 1. However, the deliverable levels are extended to include Level 3 to accommodate the subdeliverable. In this case, the task levels are at Level 4. Tasks can also be viewed as subsets of other tasks. Looking again at Figure 1.3, boiling water can be viewed as subordinate to pouring water and, likewise, adding oil to boiling water. Similarly, draining pasta can be placed under cooking pasta on the diagram. If this is the mindset of our team, it might modifjr Figure 1.3, as shown in Figure 1.5. Thus, certain tasks can be considered subordinate to other tasks in a relationship similar to that between deliverables and subdeliverables. Usually, the lead task is called an activity. Later in the book, we introduce a hierarchical numbering system that will sort out the relations between deliverables, subdeliverables, activities, and tasks in a structured way It is a matter of team preference whether the WBS is constructed only of nouns-deliverables, subdeliverables,sub-subdeliverables, and so on-or whether activities and tasks are also included. If activities and tasks are omitted, they can be picked up later during project network diagram development.

Linear Projects

Pasta Dinner

Level 1

Level 2

Project Level

4

4

Pasta

Butter and Cheese

-----

+

Level 3

Water

-----

1

+

+

v

v

v

Level 4

Pour

Boil

Add Oil

Cook

Drain

Toss

Figure 1.3

I

-----Deliverable Levels

-----Task Levels

WBS with Subdeliverablesfor Pasta Dinner

However, the WBS structure is very conducive to a sequence that starts with deliverables at the top and decomposes into subdeliverables and so on and eventually activities and tasks at the lower levels. This approach facilitates team brainstorming during the task-identification stage by organizing the tasks pictorially under the respective deliverables that they produce. The WBS not only enables us to decompose the project from the top down into its constituent parts, but also provides a means to systematically rebuild the project from the bottom up. Often, the first thing a team will do is create a task list and use that as a starting point to build the WBS from the bottom up. This can be a very effective approach if the results are then analyzed from a top-down perspective and then resorted as necessary. This process of breaking a project down and then rebuilding it during the planning stage through use of the WBS happens over and over again in various stages of project development. With all of this in mind, the actual way that a Wl3S is constructed will depend on the dynamics of the project team discussions. Work breakdown structure (WBS) flexibility is where team creativity has an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the process, and it is where the leadership of a good project manager can have significant impact.

Recipec$r Projct Succecs

+

4

4

Deliverable 1

Level 2

-----

Project Level

Project

Level 1

4

Deliverable 2

I

Deliverable Levels

Level

Subdeliverable 1

-----

1

+

+

v

v

v

Level 4

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Task 5

Task 6

Firmre 1.4

------

-----ask

Levels

Generic WBS with Subdeliverables

STEP 3: THE PROJECT NEMlORK DIAGRAM For simple projects, the WBS with its vertical orientation may provide sufficient organization for the project, but the WBS doesn't show the sequencing relationships of tasks. In other words, the WBS is not conducive for managing time aspects of a project. In complex projects where scheduling is an important consideration, a means of sequencing the tasks on a horizontal time scale is needed. The project network diagram (PND) is used for this purpose. First, develop the WBS to decompose the scope of the project, as previously described. Then, create a PND by sequencing the activities or tasks. This sequencing must consider the order of performance of the tasks, and which tasks are dependent on the prior completion of other tasks (predecessors), before they can be started. For example, in our recipe, the pasta cannot begin cooking until the water is boiling. For this recipe, we can create a PND, as shown in Figure 1.6. Post-it Notes" work well for this exercise. Note that there are no deliverables (nouns) in this diagram. Tasks are used to create the PND because it is an action diagram that entails items with durations and requiring work. Because only tasks are used, note that it does not matter whether Figure 1.1, Figure 1.3, or Figure 1.5 is the source WBS from which tasks are drawn for the PND. The PND puts horizontal boundaries on the project by isolating it between start and end points. In this case, the tasks follow one another serially along a

Linear Projectc

Pasta Dinner

Project Level

4

4

Pasta

Butter and Cheese

------

Deliverable Levels Water

------

4

7

7

Pour

Cook

Toss

4

4

Boil

Drain

Task Levels

4 Add Oil

Figure 1.5

WBS with Subtasks for Pasta Dinner

--,- - - - -

----Pour Water

Figure 1.6

Boil Water

-b

Add Oil

+

Cook Pasta

-,

Drain Pasta

-b

Toss with Butter and Cheese

PND for Pasta Dinner: A Linear Project

single path from start to end. This single-path project, with each task dependent only on one predecessor task, is known as a linear project. TIP: A Gantt chart is a relatively simple way to display the time aspects of a project; for that reason, upper management often prefers it. It uses horizontal bars to represent related series of tasks that are placed in relation to a horizontal time scale, and it often duplicates the shape of the PND in an outline form. The pasta

RecipesforProjed Success

Pasta

I I I I

I I I

Start

Figure 1.7

lme

-b

Finish

Gantt Chart for Pasta Dinner

dinner is a relatively simple project with only one related series of tasks. The Gantt chart for this project is depicted in Figure 1.7. Later examples will show Gantt charts broken down into separate tasks.

EXERCISES You've just been hired to manage a project for a client who owns an acre of land and wants a new custom-designed residence constructed on it. The constraints stipulate that the house must be 2,200 minimum square feet, total cost must not exceed $250,000, and the house must be ready for moving in within nine months. After consultation with the owner, you decide that the best method is to employ fast-track design and construction. You hire an architect to design the house and allow her to work with an engineering firm of her choice to design the engineering aspects. A general-construction contractor will construct the house based on the completed designs. You attend a kick-off meeting with your team: the owner, architect, engineer, and general-construction contractor. Exercise 1: With your team, create a scope statement (SS) for this project. Suggested Answer:The goal is a custom-built house, and the square-footage and cost objectives are clearly quantifiable. A good SS would be: "Design and build a custom house, based upon the owner's requirements, on his lot, in less than nine months, and at a cost less than $250,000, using fast-track procedures." Exercise 2: Based on the SS, you lead your team to brainstorm the tasks that will be necessary to complete the house. The resulting task list, in no particular order, is as follows:

--

-

Linear Projects

Fast-Track CustomBuiR Home Construction

4

1 Design

I

4

Figure 1.8

4

4

I

4

WBS for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction

architectural design-the overall conceptual design of the house from a layout, elevation (facades), aesthetic, functional, and finish (wall coverings, and so on) point of view foundation design and construction superstructure design and construction-skeletd framing, exterior walls, doors, windows, roof, and so on heating, ventilating, air conditioning, electrical, and plumbing design and construction interior design and construction-interior partitions and walls, ceilings and finishes (i.e., paint, carpet, moldings, and so forth) inspection by the local building inspector, the architect, engineer, and the owner punch list--corrective work as a result of inspection that the generalconstruction contractor must do. Given this task list, create a WBS for this project. Suggested Answer: The tasks fall into three areas: design, construction, and inspection, which, as nouns, lend themselves nicely to deliverables at Level 2 of the WBS. Hence, a good WBS can be created by listing the tasks under their respective deliverables, as shown in Figure 1.8.

T

he word sauce derives from the Latin salsa. Salsa in turn derives from sal, which means salt. At the most fundamental level, a sauce consists of liquid and salt cooked with added meat, meat substitute, or vegetable to give it flavor and color.

A FRESH TOMATO SAUCE A tomato sauce is a form of dressing that can replace the butter-and-cheese dressing of the recipe presented in Chapter 1. However, a tomato sauce has more complex project management implications because it requires separate preparation of ingredients.

Ingredients 2-3 tbsp. olive oil 3 cloves chopped garlic. andlor 1 chopped small onion 2 Ib. chopped fresh plum tomatoes Optional: 2 tbsp. tomato paste I tbsp. dried or fresh-chopped parsley, basil, or oregano

Recbesfor Project Success

Optional:

I

Ib. beef, pork, veal. sausage, mushrooms, or other (see below).

chopped or sliced

Use plum tomatoes or round tomatoes after squeezing to remove excess water. You may boil fresh tomatoes first (about three to five minutes) to remove the skin. For a fresh sauce such as this, we like the texture that the skins give to the sauce. We're told that Sicilians prefer to remove the seeds. First, brown meat in butter or oil, then remove the meat and set it aside. Add the rest of the oil to the same pan and saute the garlic or onions over low heat until soft. Deglaze with several tablespoons of water, broth, or red wine; deglazing adds real flavor to the sauce. Then, add the tomatoes. If you are using fresh tomatoes, add salt to taste. Re-add the meat and add remaining spices; cook until blended, about twenty minutes. If you use mushrooms instead of meat, add them after you saute the oil and garlic, and cook them for a while before you add the tomatoes. Deglazing is not effective, so unnecessary. Green peppers, zucchini, or even celery can be used instead of the mushrooms by following the same procedure. We've even used ceci beans, drained, from a can. We've also tried canned tuna fish but don't like it. If only tomatoes are used, simply saute onions or garlic, and then add the tomatoes to the pan. Add paste, if necessary, to thicken.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS A scope statement for this recipe might be: "Prepare a simple tomato sauce that requires less than one-half hour preparation time so you can impress your mother-in-law." The boundaries of the project are that the sauce is made only of tomatoes. The goal is a simple tomato sauce. The objective is that the sauce is prepared in one-half hour, and the justification is to impress your mother-in-law. We could derive a work breakdown structure (WBS), as shown in Figure 2.1, for this recipe. Sometimes, a hierarchy of tasks can be established by placing those tasks that are dependent on other tasks in lower positions in the Wl3S, as illustrated in Figure 2.2. This approach has the advantage of getting the team to think in terms of task

Multiple-Path Projects

Simple Tomato Sauce

4 Chop Oil and Garlic

Figure 2.1

4

4

Base

Tomato Mixture

+

Saute Oil and Garlic

4 Tomatoes

+ + Add Tomatoes to Base

Add

spiar

4 Simmer

WBS for Simple Tomato Sauce

dependencies in preparation for the creation of the project network diagram (PND). This book will use a hierarchical approach. TIP: The lowest levels of the WBS are often called cost accounts or control accounts. These are single tasks or related groups of tasks, often called activities, which can be isolated so that they can be tracked in terms of cost. The entire system of cost or control accounts is ofien called the code o f accounts. Next, using only the tasks, create a PND, as shown in Figure 2.3.

PASTA WITH FRESH TOMlATO SAUCE Let's combine our pasta recipe with our sauce recipe (see Figure 2.4). Two linear, related recipes (Figures 1.6 and 2.3) can be viewed as one project if the start and end points of each are combined into a single PND, as illustrated in Figure 2.4. Note that we eliminated "toss with butter and cheese" from the pasta path, since instead we are using a tomato sauce dressing. This is an example of a parallelpath project, the simplest multiple-path project. It will take longer to prepare the sauce than to cook the pasta. The longest path through a project from start to end is called the critical path. Critical path (CP) is an important concept in project management. The CP is noted in Figure 2.4 by the double arrow path from start to finish. This notation will be followed throughout the book when the C P is shown. Because it is the longest path through a project,

Recipes3rProject S u m

Simple Tomato Sauce LI

I Tomato M~xture

Base

+

Chop Onion and Garlic

+

Saute Onion and Garlic

i

a

Chop Tomatoes

4 Add to Base

4 Add Splces

4

.

Simmer

Figure 2.2

WBS with Subordinate Tasks for Simple Tomato Sauce

the path time along the CP equates to the total time to project completion (TTPC) or the overall project schedule. Therefore, any delay of completion of a task along the CP will automatically result in a delay of the TTPC. Since it takes less time to cook the pasta than to prepare the sauce, there is time to waste along the pasta path. The allowable time to waste along this path, which does not delay preparation of the sauce, is called slack or float time. Float is the difference between the completion time of a non-CP in comparison to the CP; therefore, float allows slippage of task completion along the non-CP without delaying the TTPC. TIP: Float is a critical management tool for complex projects. In a large project such as the construction of a new building, a contractor makes or loses money depending on how effectively he uses float time for resource leveling, which is the effective deployment of resources. The different kinds and amounts of labor must be deployed to a job site when they can be utilized to maximum effect. The purchase and delivery of materials to a construction site must be made to enable

Multiple-PathProj'ects

--Chop

b )1 -

Start

Figure 2.3

---

-

Add

Saut6 Tomatoes -b Tomatoes -P -P Onan and ~ ~ Garl~c h , , ~ d Base

Add ~

Sp~ces ~ $

+

c

Simmer

41 -

End

PND for Simple Tomato Sauce: A Linear Project

Chop

nOdi%lf

*

Chop Tomatoes

Sautb

+ OFflFd

*

Add Add Tomatoes =$ spices

*

simmer

---r.= CP Figure 2.4

PND for Pasta with Tomato Sauce: A Parallel-Path Project

cash outlay to be minimized by eliminating excess inventory that drives up financing, storage, and security costs. Float time affords flexibility ifyou can control it. Litigation often results over who owm float: the contractor or the building owner. 'Eme truly is money when it comes to the use of float. The Gantt chart for our pasta and tomato sauce recipe is shown in Figure 2.5. Compare the shape of Figure 2.5 to that depicted in Figure 2.4. The Gantt chart allows for a good graphical representation of float; therefore, the CP, TTPC, and float are shown in Figure 2.5. The two principal deliverables of the pasta with fresh tomato sauce recipe lend themselves to a parallel-path structure. We could add a third path by fucing a salad at the same time that we are preparing the sauce and the pasta, perhaps as illustrated in Figure 2.6. The Gantt chart for this three-path project is depicted in Figure 2.7, which shows the float of both non-CPs in relation to the CI? Projects with two or more paths are called multiple-path projects. Figures 2.6 and 2.7 show a triple-path project with three principal deliverables. Theoretically, the number of paths could increase infinitely, but, in the real world, many paths become intertwined, as the next chapter demonstrates. TIP: Intertwined projects are difficult to show using Gantt charts; thus, the PND becomes more important in representing such projects.

Recipesfor Project Success

mc I I I Tomato Sauce I

I I

I

Pasta

1 -4 Float

lime

Start

Figure 2.5

I

I

I

+

Finish

Gantt Chart for Pasta with Tomato Sauce

.

Wash Lettuce

Add Oil, Vinegar, Salt, and Pepper

' ' Dry Lettuce

Add Olives

Chop

Chop

Saut6

Pour Water

Boil Water

Add Oil

-b Tomatoes -b OEljlcnd OElpd

Figure 2.6

I

'

Add Add -* Spices Tomatoes Cook Pasta

Drain Pasta

-b

Simmer

Toss

PND for Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Salad: A Triple-Path Project

EXERCISES Exercise 3: Create two Gantt charts, one for conventional design and construction and another for fast-track design and construction, and discuss the differences in these two approaches, as represented by these charts. Suggested Answer: Let's analyze the WBS shown in Figure 1.8 at the deliverable level (Level 2) and treat each deliverable as a subproject. In conventional design and construction, the entire design is completed before construction is started. Since construction is dependent on completion of the design, the subprojects' design and construction occur in series in the PND. Inspection cannot begin until construction is complete. Given this situation, the Gantt chart will look like the one shown in Figure 2.8, where construction is dependent on completion of the entire design before it can begin.

Mult@le-PathProjects

mc I I I

I

Tomato Sauce

I

,- Pasta Float

Pasta

,

Salad

Start

Figure 2.7

Time

1

I +I I I

I'-Salad Float

-+

Finish

Gantt Chart for Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Salad

6 No Overlap I I

I

Design I

I

Construction

W

I

TTPC I I

I

Inspection

I

I

I I

Start

Figure 2.8

Time -b

Finish

Gantt Chart for Custom-Built House: Conventional Design and Construction

In fast tracking, tasks or subprojects that normally occur in series are done in

parallel. In this exercise, it means that construction is started before design is complete, as shown in Figure 2.9. Note how the TTPC is compressed in relation to the horizontal time scale. This is the advantage of fast tracking. The disadvantage, however, is increased risk for the project because construction is started before design is complete. For example, following installation of the foundations, a problem in the kitchen layout

Reriperfor Pmject Sucm

I/-Overlap

H

Design Construction

I

I

I I

I I

mc I I

I

Inspection

I I

Start

Figure 2.9

Time -b

Finish

Gantt Chart for Custom-Built House: Fast-Track Design and Construction

becomes apparent. If the best solution requires a change to the blueprint of the house, the owner will be forced to decide between incurring the increased costs and lost time of changing the foundation versus compromising the kitchen layout.

STEAMED FISH R h is delicate and should be handled minimally during the cooking process. Steaming is a healthful and easy way to cook fish.

Ingredients I

Ib. white fish filets. such as cod, scrod. haddock, or grouper. cut into obout 2-in. chunks

4 cups chopped kole, or

any other sturdy green, leafy vegetable, such as spinach.

mustard greens, or escarole

3 cloves chopped garlic andlor I small chopped onion 2 tbsp. olive, peonut. or canola oil. or. i f you like a rich taste. 2 tbsp. butter 1 /2 cup d r y or cream sherry

4 tbsp. soy sauce or

I

hot sauce

cup white rice

2 cups cold w a t e r or broth

Put the rice in a coverable pot, and rinse it repeatedly by mixing it with cold water until the water runs clear when you drain it. Drain

Recipesfor Project Success

as much water as you can from the pot, and add two cups cold water or broth. Cover the pot, bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally Turn off the heat and, without removing the cover so that the pot retains the steam, let the rice rest for another ten minutes to finish cooking. Chop the garlic or onions. Saut6 them in a separate coverable pan in the oil or butter for two or three minutes. Lay the greens in'the pan on top of the garlic or onion mixture. Add the sherry. If you wash the greens and leave them very wet, use less sheny. Lay the fish chunks on top of the greens, being careful not to overlap pieces. Pour the soy or hot sauce over the fish, cover tightly, and simmer covered for ten to fifteen minutes, allowing the fish and greens to steam. Serve the fish and the greens over the rice, and pour the pan broth over both.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS The scope statement (SS) lends itself to simplicity: "Prepare a quick, low-fat fish dish with greens served over rice to provide a flavorful protein source for your diet." In this instance, fish, greens, and rice are the deliverables. Low fat, quick, and flavorful are the objectives. These deliverables suggest a work breakdown structure (WBS) that may look like the one shown in Figure 3.1. Since there are three deliverables, let's try a triple-path project network diagram (PND), as shown in Figure 3.2. Notice that two of the paths, the fish and greens, converge before the end of the project. The fish and greens are cut separately but are placed in the same pan to steam. Before we can start steaming, all tasks on both paths leading to the steaming task must be completed. In project management terminology, the steaming task is said to be dependent on completion of these prior tasks. A related concept, convergence, means that one task is dependent on the completion of two or more tasks.

EGG FRIED RICE A properly cooked omelet should slide out of the pan under its own weight when it is done; nothing should stick to the pan. You can cook it yourself or delegate it to someone who has had practice.

Complex-Path Projects

Steamed Fish Dish

1

1

Rice

Fish

Greens

1

1

1

Wash

Cut

Chop

1

1 -

Simmer

Add

Llqu~ds

1

Saute

On~onand Garl~c

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 Rest

Figure 3.1

Steam

WBS for Steamed Fish

TIP: Knowing when to delegate is an important project management skill. A good project manager maintains a balance between keeping control and letting go.

Ingredients 2 2 cloves chopped garlic. or one small chopped onion or 3-7 tbsp. olive oil. or 2 tbsp. butter 2 cups precooked white rice 3-5 tbsp. soy sauce. or t o taste

scallion

Cook the white rice as described in the steamed fish recipe; we will assume that the rice is already cooked at the start point of this recipe (projectic license).This recipe works best with leftover rice. Cook a two-egg omelet. Remove the omelet from the pan, chop it into one-half-inch squares, and set it aside. In the omelet pan, saute

Recipes3r project Success

5

Simmer d

Rest

Garlic

Figure 3.2

PND for Steamed Fish, Greens, and Rice: Converging Paths

onions, garlic, or scallions in the butter or oil until soft. Add the chopped omelet, and stir for a short while. Then, add the rice and keep on stirring for two to three minutes, or until hot. Before serving, add soy sauce and stir.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS The SS might be: "Prepare a fast meal using leftover rice to show your mother-inlaw that you don't just cook-Italian." The WBS is shown in Figure 3.3. Using the tasks, we create a PND, as shown in Figure 3.4. This recipe starts with a linear path from "Start" through "Heat Pan" and "Cook Omelet," in series, then diverges into parallel-paths. Divergence means that two or more tasks are dependent on completion of a single task O n the parallel-paths, we can simultaneously chop the omelet while we saute the oil and garlic; the paths converge at "Mix."

NlEAT AND POTATOES A traditional American meal has three components: meat, potatoes, and a vegetable-three deliverables. If three people are cooking, we could assign one

Complex-Path Projects

deliverable to each person. As long as they cooperate, we should end up with a balanced, hot meal to eat.

Ingredients 4 pork chops. 112-314 in. thick 4 medium-sized red potatoes 112 16. fresh green beans. sliced into 1-in. lengths

3 tbsp. butter. or oil o f I tsp. garlic powder

I

some kind

small onion, diced

2 tbsp. chopped fresh, or I

tbsp. dried parsley

1-3 tbsp. soy sauce Pepper and salt

Wash the potatoes. Without drying them, slice them into one-andone-half-inch chunks, and place them in a coverable, microwavable dish. Sprinkle one-half teaspoon or so of garlic powder over the potatoes and add parsley, pepper, and salt to taste. Add a little at a time until it tastes right. Italians have a phrase for this incremental technique: Quanto basta (as much as is needed). TIP: Incremental technique can be used effectively in many project situations, especially when you cannot predict the outcome of a change that you are proposing to make. For example, if you are crashing a critical task, you might want to authorize a maximum amount of overtime per day while simultaneously monitoring cost impacts and whether task completion is accelerating. Break up one tablespoon of butter and distribute it over the potatoes. Make sure that there is about one-quarter inch of water at the bottom of the dish for steaming; add more if needed. Cover and microwave on high for five minutes; remove, stir the potatoes, cover, and microwave for another three minutes. Test the potatoes; if they are too hard, stir and microwave until done. While someone is cooking the potatoes, someone else is cooking the beans (parallel-path). Leave the beans wet after they are washed. Saute the onion in one tablespoon of butter or oil until soft. Add the beans, cover, put over heat, and steam five to seven minutes. Add soy sauce and pepper to taste. Keep covered until served.

Recipesjir Pmject Success

-

Fried Rice

I

Omelet

4 Rice

4

4

Saute Onion and Garl~c

Heat Pan

4

4

-

Mix Chopped Omelet

Cook

4

4

Add Cooked R~ce

Chop

4 Add SOY

Figure 3.3

WBS for Fried Rice

Chop Omelet

Saute Onion and Garlic

I Figure 3.4

PND for Fried Rice

The third person, meanwhile, can prepare the pork chops (another parallel-path). Pat the chops dry, sprinkle with garlic powder and black pepper, and pound into each side. In a hot griddle or cast-iron frying

Complac-Path Projects

pan, add one tablespoon of butter or oil, and, before the butter starts burning, toss in the pork chops. Brown the pork chops for three or four minutes on each side. Remove the pork chops, and deglaze the pan with about one-half cup water, broth, sherry, or wine. When reduced to a desired thickness, pour the liquid over the pork chops, and serve with the potatoes and beans.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS The SS is: "Prepare a hearty meal using three traditional American foods for dinner on a cold winter night." The WBS utilizes the resource allocation structure (RAS), as shown in Figure 3.5; it is just the WBS with resource names applied. Figure 3.5 demonstrates an example of how the WBS, established on the basis of defining the scope of the project, can then be used for other purposes.

STEP 4: ASSIGNING ROLES

The Resource Allocation Structure. Project team members must have clear roles that do not overlap or conflict. In addition, they must understand how their performances impact the ability of other team members to perform their respective roles. The WBS and PND facilitate team members understanding of how their roles-i.e., the tasks they are assigned to perform-fit into the context of the overall project performance. The application of names to the tasks of these diagrams helps personalize the roles of team members. In this meat and potatoes recipe, there are three deliverables; with a team of three, a deliverable can be assigned to each person. Assuming that we have already created a WBS, we can derive an RAS from it by assigning names, as shown in Figure 3.5. Note that one person is responsible for all of the tasks under each deliverable. We can also create a PND with names attached, as illustrated in Figure 3.6. Assigning names to the PND helps team members understand upon whom they are dependent and who is dependent on them. Subprojects. We can simplift this diagram if we use subprojects, as shown in Figure 3.7. A subproject is a group of related tasks. Sometimes, the term is used analogously with the term activity because both are groups of related tasks. Projects that involve many tasks and paths can quickly become difficult for the eye to follow. Subprojects provide a means to simplift analysis and assign clear responsibilities. Also, subprojects provide convenient vehicles for establishing cost accounts at 7

Recipefor h+xf Success

+

Meat and Potatoes Dinner

Pork Chops

Potatoes

Dry (Mary Jo)

Sl~ce

+

f

Green Beans

,

*

Cho veeetagles (Mark)

(Nick)

$.

f

+

Sp~ce (Mary lo)

Add Butter and S Ices (Rick)

Saute Onion (Mark)

+ +

Brown (Mary Jo)

f

,

Nuke (Nick)

Deglaze (Mary Jo)

* *

Add Beans (Mark) Steam (Mark)

(Mark)

Figure 3.5

RAS for Meat and Potatoes Dinner

higher levels of the project, which in turn simplifies the distribution and monitoring of project funds. The project manager can delegate responsibility for subproject tasks to a subproject manager, who in turn can manage her subproject as a project. The usefulness of the RAS and subprojects will be clearer if we modiQ our meat and potatoes recipe to include some convergences and dependencies, as shown in the next recipe.

MEAT, POTATO, AND BEAN CASSEROLE We'll use the same ingredients as the previous recipe. First, brown the spiced pork chops, and deglaze them as before. Slice the potatoes, and chop the vegetables. SautC the onion in the butter in a coverable casserole dish, then add the potatoes and beans, the remaining garlic

Slice Add Butter Potatoes -b and Spices (Nick) (Nick)

Chops (MalyM

'

Chop Vegetables -b (Mark)

Figure 3.6

Spice (Mawlo)

Saut.6 Onion (Mark)

Nuke (Nick)

+

'

Brown (May Jo)

-b

Add Beans (Mark)

'

(Mawlo)

-

-b

(Mark)

Add -b (Mark)

PND with Names Assigned for Meat and Potatoes Dinner

Potatoes

(Mark)

Figure 3.7

PND Reduced to Subprojects for Meat and Potatoes Dinner

powder, parsley, pepper, and soy, and toss. Lay the browned pork chops on top of the other ingredients, and pour the deglazing liquid over everything. Cover and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven, stirring occasionally, for forty-five minutes or until potatoes are tender.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS Start the meat, potatoes, and bean casserole project by creating an SS, and then create a TUBS, from which an RAS can be derived, as shown in Figure 3.8.

Recipesfor Project Suaess

--

--

Meat, Potato, and Bean Casserole

+

Pork Chops

+