Activity 4: Adopt/Software Standards

Project Managers

Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Project and ability to build expert project plans in Microsoft Project. Proficiency is measured with a standard like the DCMA 14-Point Assessment. One example app that will perform this assessment is Barbecana’s Schedule Inspector.

Microsoft Project

New projects are built from expert templates, and planning and managing projects are guided by a standards document.

New Project

Start a new project from a project template (*.mpt).

There are few things better than starting fast with an expert plan. In a project group or larger organization, templates help drive standards and consistency. If fully developed, they can significantly cut the time and effort involved in planning.

Calendars

• Before entering tasks or resources, create or edit the base calendars that will be used for the project, tasks, and resources. Then, determine how the project will be scheduled and select appropriately in Project Options.

• When it comes to calendars, “Keep it Simple.”

• In most cases, ensure the Project Calendar definition matches the Calendar Options for a project in Options.

• I do not recommend that you attempt to continuously update resource calendars with vacation and other non-work days without first evaluating the value vs. effort involved.

• Most project managers in the U.S. use a standard 8-to-5 calendar, which defines work days as Monday through Friday. However, they realize that it is common for professionals to work on weekends or evenings. For many, scheduling the workday or workweek is good enough. In manufacturing, that is seldom the case, so the organization and context often determine how precisely calendars are used.

• On long-duration projects, neglecting to schedule around holidays can significantly skew the duration of a project.

• We seldom finish a project with time to spare, so defining holidays should always be considered when calculating its duration.

• A good sense of a resource’s availability is a cornerstone of good scheduling. Avoiding resource bottlenecks and, inversely, underutilized resources is a critical skill associated with good planning and execution.

Scheduling

A few project managers use the software-based scheduling technique (selected in Project Information) of scheduling from a finish date. Most people schedule from a project start date. If they have a hard finish date, as most of us typically do, they enter a Must Finish On timing constraint or a Deadline date for the project finish milestone task.

Activity 5: Create Work Breakdown Structure

Top-Down Approach

Create a work breakdown structure using a top-down approach. Start with the project’s SMART+A Objectives, outline the major phases, and create summary tasks for group activities (work packages or work tasks) and milestones.

The WBS should include all work defined by the project's scope, encompassing every task and deliverable necessary for project completion.

What to Include

The WBS should include all work defined by the project's scope, encompassing every task and deliverable necessary for project completion.

A project should be broken down to a level so that 1) you are confident with your estimates and 2) you can communicate effectively about the project.

You should be able to confidently say, “The project will be successful if we complete all of the activities and reach all of the milestones in the Work Breakdown Structure within the triple constraints of the project.”

Naming Conventions

All elements in a WBS should have unique names.

The idea behind naming conventions for elements in the WBS is to standardize them across all projects and to recognize elements easily by the convention used.

Project Summary Task - The organization often determines the naming convention. However, the following are industry standards:

Phase - (Level 1) The naming convention at the phase level is short nouns, such as:

• Initiate

• Plan

• Deploy

Summary Task - For a summary task, the naming convention is verb-noun; for instance:

• Initiate Project Server

• Customize Project Server

• Pilot Project Server

Activity - The naming convention is verb-noun. For instance:

• Gather Requirements

• Design Prototype

• Compile Report

Milestone - The naming convention is subject-verb. For instance:

• Project Started

• Budget Approved

• Signature Obtained

• Project Completed

Recurring Task - Depending on the position in the WBS, this is a summary task; the naming convention should be for a phase or summary task.

Phases and Summary Tasks

Don’t create redundancy by adding your own Project Summary Task. Instead, toggle the display for the one that Microsoft Project calculates, regardless of whether you display it.

Level 1 of the Outline or WBS should be reserved for the project phases.

Except for notes or attachments, or perhaps information entered into custom fields, do not add additional details, such as links and resources, at the summary level. That includes the Project Summary Task, Project Phases at Level 1, and Summary Tasks.

Activity 6: Enter Estimates

Combine Bottom-Up with Other Estimating Techniques

Using the bottom-up approach in tandem with other techniques provides a comprehensive perspective. While the bottom-up method focuses on detailed task-level estimates, combining it with top-down approaches (like analogous estimating) ensures a balanced view incorporating micro-level details and macro-level context.

Engage the Project Team in Bottom-Up Estimation

In the bottom-up approach, each task or component of the project is estimated separately, often by those who will be doing the work. Involving team members in this detailed estimation process harnesses their expertise and insights, leading to more accurate and realistic effort and cost predictions.

Regularly Review and Revise Estimates, Including Bottom-Up Assessments

As project circumstances change, so should the estimates. This is particularly true for bottom-up forecasts, which may need frequent adjustments as tasks evolve or unforeseen challenges arise. Regular revision ensures the project plan remains aligned with the current scope and resource availability.

Resource Assignments and Estimates

You could enter all three estimates (duration, cost, and work) without making any resource assignments. You can associate resource names with tasks using a custom field to make no calculations. But, if you want to work with resources, take the time to learn how to manage resource assignments well. The additional benefit will be that you can also manage resource workloads using Microsoft Projects.

The best practice is to use the entire scheduling engine in Microsoft Project.

Task Calculations

The selections you make for how tasks calculate duration, cost, and work when resources are assigned do not have to reflect theoretical reality like effort driven. Tasks need to be calculated the way you want them to.

Change the way tasks are calculated when resources are assigned whenever you want. The data does not change, but when you change assignments, the calculation is different.

• You may want assignments calculated one way at one point in planning and another later.

• Fixed Duration is most like the project management idea of Fixed Duration estimating and scheduling, which states that a task takes a certain amount of time no matter who is assigned. For example, a human pregnancy is 40 weeks, no matter how many people are involved.

• Fixed Work is most like the project management idea of Effort-Driven estimating and scheduling, which states that a task should take less time when more people are assigned. For example, licking 10,000 envelopes should go down with more people assigned; take people off the assignment, and the duration increases.

Activity 7: Determine Schedule Logic

Summary Tasks

In general, except for notes, don’t change summary tasks. Instead, allow summary tasks to reflect what is indented below them rather than attempting to interact with indented tasks and milestones. This best practice will make it easier to work with and interpret changes to the schedule.

Only link detail tasks and milestones.

Do not apply timing constraints to summary tasks.

Hard Logic Soft Logic

The critical path method begins with you passing through a schedule and setting links between detailed tasks and milestones.

1. In the first pass through the schedule, link tasks based on hard logic; ask, “What must precede a task?”

2. During the second pass, apply soft logic. You can’t do everything at once, so ask, “What do I prefer to do before something else?”

Auto Scheduled vs. Manually Scheduled

If you are using Manually Scheduled tasks, you are missing the primary purpose of project management software. At this point in the planning process, all tasks should be auto-scheduled.

Scheduling Engine

Learn all the rules associated with the scheduling Engine and the subsequent schedule behaviors. There is no shortcut or other way to master Microsoft Project.

Timing Constraints

Most detail tasks, milestones, and summary tasks should be ASAP or ALAP when executing a schedule. During execution, task dates often become more fixed in time.

Because of the relationship between Timing Constraints and scheduling, selecting your Timing Constraints before you link tasks and milestones is a general best practice. A Timing Constraint can determine the types of links you make.

External Links

Limit the number of external links you create. Numerous external links can be difficult to manage.

Avoid Circular Dependencies. Circular dependencies are defined as Dependency Loops. Dependency Loops are defined as Circular Dependencies.

Activity 8: Plan Communications

Plan Communications Workflow

Group stakeholders, rank, and plan communications.

For each communication, list receivers, senders, information, schedule, and format.

Conduct a dry run to confirm that all stakeholders get the reporting they want and when they want it.

Standard Reports

Use the Organizer to manage reports.

Printing Views

If a view will be printed during each update cycle, create a new view just for printing so that it does not need to be re-formatted for each WYSIWYG print.

For Views that you print out routinely, create a custom view with all of the other custom elements associated with the view, such as tables and filters, and use those elements for just reporting. Consider naming the custom elements the same name as the report.

Page Setup for printing is saved with the view, so sharing opinions with other projects or users also shares that setup.

Activity 9: Evaluate Risk

U

Updating Process

Establish an Updating Process. Having a process or series of steps will both increase your efficiency, better updating accuracy, and satisfaction with using Microsoft Project.

W

Work Breakdown Structure