Category:Project Personnel

From Eurêka

Contents 1 Project Personnel 2 Project Planning 3 Precedence Network 4 Work Breakdown Structure 5 Time Marker 6 Time management 7 Activities 8 Resource

Project Personnel

Business change manager Role in the program executive responsible for benefits management, the program’s business case, transition plan and the management of change and risk.

Program manager Individual responsible for day-to-day management of the program that includes more than one project on behalf of the program director.

Project manager Person in charge of management of a project.

Project team People working on a project.

1. Planners Members of a project team or project support office who are responsible for planning, scheduling and tracking of projects.
2. Presenter Person responsible for ensuring that the reviewers at a quality review have the information required to carry out the review.

Implementation manager Person in charge of putting the project plan into the firm’s operations.

Project Planning

Program plan Collective term for the benefits management plan, risk management plan, transition plan, project portfolio plan and design management plan.

Plan Generic term used for a statement of intentions whether they relate to time, cost or quality in their many forms, used as a reference point for actions during that period.

1. Resourcing plan
2. Risk management plan
3. Quality plan

Project plan Plan for achieving a specific project.

1. Responsibility matrix Chart listing decisions and actions necessary to successfully complete a process, as well as which person holds each role in the process.
2. Logic diagrams Graphical characterization of the logical order sequence of a process or project.
3. Completion date Calculation by which the project could finish following careful estimating, planning and risk analysis taking into account resource limitations and contingency.

Critical-path analysis Analysis of the most important sequence of the individual stages of an operation, thus determining the time required to perform the whole operation.

1. Critical path Sequence of activities or tasks that, by virtue of their lack of flexibility as regards the time available for their completion, determine the earliest date by which the project as a whole may be completed.
2. Critical activity Action on the critical path,#e. with zero float.
3. Criticality index Measure of how often an activity appears on the critical path during a Monte Carlo simulation.

Critical sequence analysis Proposed method for calculating a critical sequence which takes resource limits into account when calculating an activity’s flexibility.

1. Critical sequence Series of activities which have zero float where resource limits are taken into account when calculating float.
2. Critical success factors Key factors which are deemed critical to the success of the project. The nature of these factors will govern the response to conflicts, risks and the setting of priorities.
   1. Key performance indicators (KPI) Measurable indicators, chosen to reflect the critical success factors of the project, which will be used to report on progress.

Precedence Network

Network Diagram in which the logical relationships between activities is shown in either activity on arrow or precedence format. Used as a basis for critical path analysis.

Network Analysis Generic term for analyzing networks including PERT and critical path analysis.

Precedence diagram method (Precedence) Format of network where the activities are represented by rectangles and the flow of logic, or dependencies, is shown by arrows connecting the boxes.

1. Dependency links (Links; Logic link) Various types of link connecting activities in a precedence network.
2. Logic loop Circular sequence of dependency links between activities in a network. The normal state of mind a project manager finds himself in when trying to resolve the completion date imposed upon him with the resource limits similarly imposed.
3. Linked bar chart Bar Chart which shows the dependency links between activities.

Finish to start (FS link) Type of dependency link in precedence networks which indicates that the start of the successor activity may not occur until the predecessor activity has finished.

Start to start (SS link) Type of dependency link in precedence networks which indicates that the start of the successor activity may not occur until the predecessor activity has started.

1. Lead time Period allocated to a SS link in a precedence network.

Finish to finish (FF link) Type of dependency link in precedence networks which indicates that the finish of the successor activity may not occur until the predecessor activity has finished.

1. Lag time Allocation of time to a FF link in a precedence network.

Start to finish (SF link) Type of dependency link in precedence networks which indicates that the finish of the successor activity may not occur until the predecessor activity has started.

Dummy Arrow in an activity on arrow network which represents a dependency link rather than an activity. Usually represented by a dotted line.

Event Circle used to indicate the start point and finish point of an activity in an activity on arrow network.

Deterministic network Both activity on arrow and precedence networks are said to be deterministic since they have no facilities to accommodate probabilistic dependencies.

Node Start and end of activities in an activity on arrow network or the activity box in a precedence network.

1. Burst node Network diagram node from which two or more links or activities emerge.
2. Merge node Network diagram node where two or more links or activities merge.

Method of potentials Early form of activity on node networks which only used a form of start to start link.

Activity on node Form of network in which the activities are represented by nodes linked by dependencies. The nodes are normally rectangular.

Activity on arrow (Arrow diagram method) (ADM) Form of network in which the activities are represented by arrows between nodes which are normally circles.

Work Breakdown Structure

Work breakdown structure (WBS) Method for breaking the work down into increasing levels of detail. Usually tree diagram.

1. Five-level indentured structure Most common WBS.
   1. Total program Complete set of projects.
   2. Project Defined endeavor that has a specific ending or goal.
   3. Task
   4. Subtask
   5. Major activity Larger element than activity, sometimes used by PRINCE 1
   6. Activity (Step; Task; Work package) Packet of work which forms the basic building block of a plan or network, the lowest level of the WBS.

Work breakdown code “Family tree” of an element in a WBS.

Work definition Project is achieved through the use of a work breakdown structures and organizational breakdown structures. The OBS may be extended to become a responsibility Matrix.

Function point analysis Top Down software development estimating technique which was developed by A. J. Albrecht while working for IBM. It entails breaking a project down into function points which are classified by degrees of complexity. Factors are then applied from which time estimates may be developed.

Time Marker

Event (Milestone) Essentially a time marker, a significant happening or time within a project, e.g. beginning or end, or the start of an important series of tasks.

1. Lag time Specific period of time allocated between two tasks. Usually the lag time is defined to be the time after the completion of one task before the following task can commence.
2. Lead time Time to prepare before a major activity begins. The distinction between lag and lead time is a fine, but real, one. Lead time was formerly defined as the length of time from the start of a project until its completion or commissioning.
3. Slack time Length of time during which an event can be delayed without delaying the completion of project as a whole. By definition, tasks on the critical path have no slack time.
4. Early event date Earliest date an event could occur. Calculated from a Forward Pass calculation.
5. Early finish date Earliest date by which an activity can finish. Calculated during the Forward Pass of Critical Path Analysis.
6. Early start date Earliest date by which an activity can start. Calculated during the Forward Pass of Critical Path Analysis.
7. Duration Amount of elapsed time an activity is estimated to take.

Timetable Schedule of events and activities.

1. Schedule Printed timetable showing the steps to be accomplished and the deadlines for the completion of each.
2. Deadline Date or time when something must be completed.
   1. Final deadline (infl, Drop-dead deadline) Completion date of the project.
3. Extension Time added to a deadline.

Time management

1. Time planners Looseleaf pocket file books which are marketed under such names as Franklin®, Time/Design®, Day Runner® and Day-Timer®.
   1. Filofax ® Trademark for an expensive line of time planners which virtually gave its name to the yuppie generation.
   2. Inserts Specialized inserts for time planners which range from bird-watchers’ checklists, to restaurant guides and pages for wine-tasting notes.
   3. Tickler Time-based reminder system.
   4. Tickler file File containing ideas to be reviewed at a later date.
   5. White space (= free time) Inspired by blank spaces in the time planner, but deriving from the jargon of graphic designers, printers, typographers, etc., in which white space refers to areas deliberately left blank in a layout.

Activities

Technical plans Identify the sequence and timing of activities together with the responsibilities assigned for producing various parts of the overall product.

1. Project technical plan Produced at the beginning of the project this high level plan addresses strategic issues related to quality control and configuration management.
2. Stage technical plan Scheme showing all the technical products, activities and quality controls in a stage.
3. Detailed technical plan Scheme that exists in all but the smallest of projects. They are used to give a detailed breakdown of certain major activities, e.g. system testing, and are produced as and when required.
4. Individual work plan Lowest level of the technical plan which defines the tasks and responsibilities of an individual team member.

Predecessor Activity which logically precedes the current activity.

Successor Activity which logically succeeds the current activity.

Free float Amount of time an activity may be delayed without causing any knock on delay to successor activities.

Activity calendar Usually applicable to computer scheduling, the activity calendar defines the working and non-working patterns applicable to the activity. The activity calendar is normally overridden by the project calendar.

Activity description Account of an activity.

Activity ID Number given to the activity to provide a unique identifier for computer scheduling.

Actual finish date When an activity actually finished.

Actual start date When an activity actually started.

Allocation Process of allocating work on an activity to specific Resources.

Assignment Work on an activity attributed to a specific resource.

Cost codes Codes allocated to activities which allow costs to be consolidated according to the elements of the coding structure.

Control points Generic term for four elements of project control:

1. End-Stage assessment
2. Mid-Stage assessment
3. Quality review
4. Checkpoint Regular technical and managerial control point.

Stage Well-defined step in a sequence of events. It is a sub-section of a project which has its own organizational structure, life-span and stage manager.

1. Stage resource plan Scheme containing the details of all the required resource for one particular stage.
2. Detailed resource plan This will exist when it is considered necessary to plan and control a particular major activity within a Stage. It sets out the costs and resource usage which correspond to a detailed technical plan.
3. Stage teams Team built for the purpose of completing the stage.
4. Stage file Documentation containing the detailed management plans and reports for the stage.
5. Stage manager Person who is responsible for the management and successful completion of a stage.

Checkpoint meeting Regular meeting conducted on behalf of the stage manager by the project assurance team, together with stage teams, and provide the basic information used to measure actual achievement against plan on both stage technical plans and stage resource plans.

1. Checkpoint report Document produced after each checkpoint meeting.

End stage assessment Mandatory management control at the end of each stage. Work may not proceed on the next stage until the project board has approved current status and future resource plans and technical plans at this assessment.

Resource

Resource Something employed in carrying out a task. A resource may be an individual human being, a team of people, a machine, or indeed anything that facilitates the performance of task.

1. Consumable Resource Most common resources are re-usable i.e. people and machinery. Some computer packages allow definition of consumable resources i.e. materials to allow for stock control.
2. Resource Limit Amount of a particular resource available to the project at a point in time.
3. Resource Calendar Defines the working and non-working patterns for a specific resource.

Resource Scheduling (Resource Analysis; Resource Leveling; Resource Optimization; Resource Limited; Resource Scheduling) Process of rescheduling activities such that the requirement for resources on the project does not exceed resource limits. Project completion date may be delayed in the process.

1. Priority Means of defining the order in which activities will be scheduled during resource scheduling.

Site Location of a project, or the place for conducting an operation.

1. Site visit Tour of the project.