Notes on Project Management

Prepared for the entrepreneurship

course at WIU, Feb. 23, 2006
by Brian M. Davies, Physics Dept.
 Characteristics of Projects
• Goal: something not done before
• Product: a specific accomplishment
• Resources: people and things
• Size: program > project > tasks > jobs
• Marketplace: personal or family,
organization-sponsored, customer-
sponsored, subcontracted, or government.
 Project Management Process
- has 5 major stages:
• Defining the project’s goals
• Planning - how to satisfy Triple Constraint
• Leading - guidance to human resources,
subordinates, subcontractors
• Monitoring - measure, control, correct plan
• Completing - meet goals, documentation
The Triple Constraint on Projects
• Project manager must consider 3 constraints
• Performance specifications (technical folks
may focus too heavily on this)
• Time schedule (due dates)
• Money budget - dollars for materials,
supplies, internal support, subcontracts, etc.,
and for labor hours (equivalent to dollars !)
 Obstacles to satisfying the
constraint on performance
• performance problems - fail to meet specs !
• poor communication between customer and
contractor (definitions, culture, detail)
• overly optimistic assumptions (ambition)
• poor design, mistakes in carrying out the
contract, errors by workers and managers,
accidents.
 Obstacles to satisfying the
constraint on time schedule
• overemphasis on performance vs. meeting
time and budget constraints (engineers may
try to achieve breakthroughs and ignore
time and budget required by customer)
• resources not available when needed
• performance specs changed mid-project
• subordinates fail to give proper priority
 Obstacles to satisfying the
constraint on cost and budget
• Failure to meet time constraint usually costs
more because of lack of efficiency.
• Reducing cost estimates to win bid causes a
built-in cost overrun from the start.
• Initial cost estimates are often too
optimistic.
• Mistakes, bad cost management, cash flow.
 Stage 1: defining project goals
• Framework - reject losing projects
• Requirements, feasibility, value of project
• Proposal - winning the competition
• Proposal process - S.O.W, plan, checklists
• Negotiations and contracts
• Legal issues and regulations
 Stage 2: planning the project
• a. Where are you now?
• b. Where do you want to go?
• c. Define the way to get from here to there.
• Plans will include:
• Resource requirements: people, things, $$$
• Timing: scheduling these resources
 Coordinate and communicate!
• People who will do the work know more
about it than others; get them to help plan!
• Plan to make it their task as well as yours.
• Money, commodities, and some internal
support may be easy to obtain.
• Human resources may not be available at
any reasonable cost (hiring is not easy).
 Establish a basis for control
• Sufficient authority needed for resource
allocation, not based on “mutual favors”.
• Methods of monitoring progress of project
are needed to allow adjustment when
deviations from plan are recognized.
• Plan better - to avoid continual crises and
the need for constant “firefighting”.
 Some planning issues
• Uncertainty and risk: checklists,
contingencies, participant assumptions.
• Choices between options during project
performance, early ordering of supplies,
(example of assigning subordinate tasks).
• Planning is a way of simulating the project.
 Work Breakdown Structure
• SOW - Statement of Work: contains the
three constraint topics: deliverables (with
specs if needed), schedule, and budget.
• WBS: divide project into tasks or activities.
• The WBS should be divided into tangible
deliverable items (hardware items, software
packages, interim reports in R & D).
 Scheduling Tools
• Bar charts (Gantt charts)
• Milestones (based on key events)
• - but both of these are useless for specifying
interdependencies and clarifying activities.
• Network diagrams - PERT, CPM, etc.
show interdependencies and precedence.
Example of a Gantt chart from a proposal
Period from First Year Second Year
Task Commencement
No. Task Description
I II III IV I II III IV

Modeling and design of

1 the axial GRIN lenses
Optimization of axial GRIN
2 lens fabrication steps
Optimization of wavelength
3 adjustment algorithms
Development of techniques for
4 routine grating design and fabrication
Optimization of efficiency in each
5 channel of multiplexed holograms
Optimization of coupling between
6 Axial GRIN lens and fiber optic array
Demonstration of ruggedized
7 packaging
Environmental tests of completed
8 devices
Measurement and optimization of
9 WDM and axial GRIN parts
Analysis of methods for optimizing
10 device performance, stability, and
reproducibility
11 Reporting and presentation.
 A shorter Gantt chart
Note how it fails to indicate dependencies.
No task assignments are shown.
Milestones might be inferred from the
endpoint of the timeline for each task.
TABLE 1: PHASE I PROJECT SCHEDULE
Task Description Month: 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Modeling and design of HOE devices for x x
existing optical fiber chemical sensors.
2 Development of techniques for routine x x
grating design and fabrication.
3 Optimization of HOE fabrication steps. x x
4 Optimization of efficiency in each channel x x
of multiplexed holograms.
5 Optimization of coupling between optical x x x
fiber and HOE.
6 Optimization of coupling between HOE x x x
and photodiode array.
7 Measurement of device performance, x x
stability, and reproducibility.
8 Reporting and presentation. x
 Task A

Task B

Task C

now 6 months

• Bar charts can show percentage completion and can be

used to estimate schedule performance, but fail to indicate
dependencies that could cause project to be late.
 PERT diagrams
• “Program Evaluation and Review Technique”
• Event-oriented - events labels go in the nodes of
the diagram, surrounded by boxes, ovals, or other
closed curve.
• Often used in R & D where time needed for an
activity is uncertain (aerospace, science, leading-
edge engineering projects)
PERT/CPM diagram conventions
• Event labels go in the nodes of the diagram,
surrounded by boxes, ovals, or other closed curve.

Activity
Start activity Finish activity

• Activities are labeled on the arrows of the

diagram, with nodes to delimit start and finish.
 CPM - Critical Path Method
• Activity-oriented (activity labels go on the paths
between nodes)
• Often used in construction where the time needed
for an activity can be controlled.
• Dummy activity labels can indicate precedence
requirements.
• The critical path is often highlighted: it is a path
through the network which contains activities
which must stay on schedule.
Critical path method (without time-base).

A1 A2 Critical path is shown

as the thickest line.
B
H
D2
C D1
G
F
E1 E2
Precedence condition
is indicated by a dummy
activity (long-dash).
Slack is shown
as dotted lines.
 Further reading
• Rosenau, Milton D., Project management for engineers
• (Belmont, Calif. : Lifetime Learning Publications, c1984).
• WIU Library Main Collection - Malpass Library TA190 .R531984

• Kerzner, Harold., Project management : a systems approach to planning,

scheduling, and controlling , 6th ed
• (New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1998).
• WIU Libraries Regional Center REGIONAL HD69.P75 K471998

• and many more, even … for Dummies.

• Programs are available: Micro$oft Project ($$$) or IMSI TurboProject ($$)
(the last resort – always try to do planning by hand first)