Lecture:  IT Project Control

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Assigned Reading

Phases of project management  Read► Wiki► 

1. Project execution  Slides►  Listen►  SWF►  You Tube 1►  You Tube 2►  
2. Project control  Slides► Listen►  SWF►

Narrated slides and videos require Flash.  Download►

What you know?

Advanced learners like you, often need different ways of understanding a topic. Reading is just one way of understanding. Another way is through writing about what you have read.  The enclosed assessment is designed to get you to think more about the concepts taught in this session. 

1. Given the following information, calculate the earned value, cost variance, schedule variance, and cost performance index for weeks one and two.  Calculate the Estimate to Completion.  Make a plot of planned, actual and earned values.  Show the Estimate At Completion on the plot.  Video► Pakalnis►

    

   	Week One	Week Two	Other Weeks	Week Ten (Project End)
   Rate of performance	50%	75%
   Planned value	$7,000	$27,000		$100,000
   Actual cost	$8,000	$29,000

2. Given the following information calculate rate of performance.  Solution►

   Task Code	Description of activity	Immediate Precedence	Duration	Start	End
   				(MM/DD)	(MM/DD)
   1	Strategic plan phase		9 months	1-Jan	1-Jun
   2	Team formation		3 months	1-Jul	1-Nov
   3	Master facility plan	1,2	8 months	2-Nov	30-Dec
   4	Space programming	Finish with 3	9 months
   5	Land acquisition analysis	4	6 months

3. Calculate rate of performance and visually show progress made in the following project:  Here is just-in-time advice on how to solve this problem:  You Tube►  You Tube Merlin►  Please note that the video does not exactly correspond to the problem below.

   Code	Description of Activity	Immediate Precedence	Pessimistic	Realistic	Optimistic	Start (Month/date)	End (Month/Date)
   1	Strategic plan phase		9 months	8 months	6 months	1/1	6/1/
   2	Project initiation phase	1	Depends on duration of sub-tasks
   2.1.	Team formation		3 months	2 months	1 month	7/1	11/1
   2.2.	Master facility plan	2.1	8 months	7 months	6 months	11/2	12/30
   2.3.	Space programming	Finish with 2.2	9 months	7 months	6 months
   2.4.	Land acquisition analysis	2.2	6 months	4 months	3 months
   2.5.	Project budget & schedule	2.2	5 months	2 months	1 months
   2.6.	Joint venture analysis	2.1	5 months	2 months	1 months
   3	Building design	1, 2	Depends on duration of sub-tasks
   3.1.	Facility design		9 months	7 months	6 months
   3.2.	Equipment planning	3.1	6 months	4 months	3 months
   3.3.	Regulatory approvals	3.2	4 months	2 months	1 month
   4	Construction phase	3	9 months	6 months	5 months
   5	Occupancy	4	3 months	2 months	1 month

   See example of work done by students   Jaskaran►  Nicole►  Marie► 

Do One Assignment: Plan Project Control

You can complete this project with another colleague, but it has to be a person you have not worked with so far.  If you submit a group project, please copy the email to all students involved and state in the email what each person's hands on contribution has been.  Not just we sat together and did this but the detail of what each person did on the software.

Given the following table of activities and precedents, calculate rate of performance and the budget/schedule overrun at end of the project.  To obtain planned project duration, please use your software for Project Management, put in the tasks, put in the duration of tasks, put in the precedence for each task and note when the project ends.  Keep in mind that sufficient information may not be available to answer all portions of this question. Video►   You Tube► Mark's tutorial►
 

Prepare a report of your project using word processing or Slides, containing the following sections:

1. Title page, your name and contact information
2. Purpose:  State the purpose of the project and the total length of the schedule from start to finish.
3. Schedule (high level tasks):  Show project Work Breakdown Structure showing high-level tasks, start time and finish time.  Please make sure that this information can be read clearly. 
4. Critical Path:  Make a list of activities on the critical path
5. Performance:  Show the GANTT chart indicating activities completed to date and expected end of project
6. Introspection (what did you learn from this exercise): Is Project Management software useful and why?

The instructor will grade your submission as pass/fail using the following rubric:

• Presentation:
  1. Were the sections requested present? 
  2. Was the presentation clear? 
  3. Were the graphics (GANTT chart) self-contained and informative. 
  4. Was any of the necessary text so small that one could not see it. 
  5. Was the use of color and font size judicious and helpful in communicating the schedule?
• Content:
  1. Did the project include various dependencies among the tasks?
  2. Was the project task duration correct? 
  3. Was the total length of project at planning phase correct? 
  4. Was the revised length of project correct?
  5. Did the project provide introspections about project management?  Note that students are expected to discuss the method of project management and not the particular schedule they had developed. 

More

• Review of impact of project management. Read►
• Critical factors in hospital construction projects Read►
• Budget variance analysis  Read►

Return to course Home.   This page was edited 0316/2016 by Farrokh Alemi, Ph.D.