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The Need for Planning: Implementation Planning
William Tibben
SITACS
University of Wollongong. August 2002
Outline
• Definition
• Important Questions that you need to ask during Implementation Planning Phase
• Building Project Networks
• What is a Critical Path and why are these important
How long is a piece of string?
Management says we need a piece of string….but ‘how long is a piece of string?
Implementation Planning is required to define – how long the string will be,
– where you will get the string,
– who will cut it and
– how much this will cost.
Definition
• ‘…Implementation Planning ensures the compatibility of the planning and budgeting processes to support …[strategic goals]…It prescribes commensurate milestones, resource requirements, schedules and performance criteria at both the program and task levels…’ (NASA, 1996)
The Crouch Diagram
Why are we in business?
How do we do business?
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get there?
How will we know we’ve arrived?
• Tactics• Resources
The Crouch Diagram
Why are we in business?
How do we do business?
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get there?
How will we know we’ve arrived?
• Co-Ordination• Budgets• Controls• Reports• Milestones
Implementation Planning is an Information Intensive Process
There is a need to communicate both
1. the detail
2. the vision
Implementation Planning is an Information Intensive Process
• Implementation Planning (Gray and Larson, 2002,
p.89) – provides the basis of scheduling labour and
equipment;
– determines how much money is required
– becomes an instrument that melds managers and groups together into meeting time, cost and performance objectives
– answers the question how long is it going to take?
Information Intensive Processes are usually…
• Information Intensive Processes are usually those that must deal with a high degree of uncertainty. We must try to fill this void (create certainty) with information.
• With that we are plagued with the normal information management problems of communication, structuring information, information overload, tacit knowledge etc…
Practical Example of an Implementation Plan
• Northern Territory University’s Callista Project (Student Records System)
Essential Question 2 - Does your budget support the timeline?
Gray & Larson, 2000, Figure 3-8
Cost
Direct Costs Low Average High
Design engineers $ 80 $100 $150Proto engineers 130 150 280Materials 25 25 25Equipment rental 25 25 30
Total direct costs $260 $300 $485
Work package cost estimate
Essential Question 2 - Does your budget support the timeline?
Gray & Larson, 2000, Figure 3-9
Project Duration
CommittedActual costScheduled budget
Cos
ts
$6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
Essential Question 3 - Have you accounted for all tasks required to deploy the network?
Gray & Larson, 2000, Figure 3-3
1
2
3
4
Project
Deliverable
Subdeliverable
Lowest subdeliverable
Cost account*
Work package
5
Complete project
Major deliverables
Supporting deliverables
Lowest managementresponsibility level
Grouping of work packagesfor monitoring progress andresponsibility
Identifiable work activities
Gray & Larson, 2000, Figure 3-3
Cost accountnumber
Personal computerprototype
Vendor,software,
applications
Mouse,keyboard,
voice
Diskstorageunits
Microprocessorunit
Moreitems
Floppy HardOptical Internalmemory
unit
BIOS (basicinput/output
system)
ROM RAM I/O File Utilities
Motor Circuitboard
Chassisframe
Read/writehead
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~
~ ~
Lowest manageablesubdeliverables
Level1
2
3
4
5
1.01.2 1.3 1.1 1.4
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.31.4.1 1.4.2
1.4.1.1 1.4.1.2 1.4.2.1 1.4.2.2 1.4.2.3
1.1.3.1 1.1.3.2 1.1.3.3 1.1.3.4
Cost1.1.3.4.1
accountCost Cost
account accountCost Cost
accountaccount
Costaccount
Costaccount
Work packages WP1.1.3.4.2.1 WP1.1.3.4.2.2 WP1.1.3.4.2.3
Budget byperiod
Production
Design
Test
Purchasing
Software
Manufacturing
Organization
Essential Question 4 - Who will do the work required to deploy the network?
Essential Question 5 - Do you have a strong Project Manager in place to coordinate aspects of
deployment?
Project Network
• ‘…The project network represents ¾ of the planning process…’ (Gray and Larson , 2000, p. 90). Why?
Gray and Larson, 2000,Figure 5-1
Risk
High
Cost
LowProject life cycle
Chances of risksoccurring
Cost to fixrisk event
WP-2
A
B
C
D
E
F
WP-1
WP-4
WP-3
Level 1 - Milestone Plan
Level 2 - Plans
Level 3 - Plans
Gray and Larson, 2000, p. 91
The Project Network melds managers, workers…together
• Level 1 – Milestones – used by Project Management, Top management and the client.
• Level 2 – Work packages shown in relation to each other for Department Managers
• Level 3 – Work packages used by first-line managers
Figure 4-2
Circuitboard
Designcost
account
Productioncost
account
Testcost
account
Softwarecost
account
Lowestelement
Organizatio
Units
DesignWP D-1-1 SpecificationsWP D-1-2 Documentation
ProductionWP P-10-1 Proto 1WP P-10-2 Final Proto 2
Test systemsWP T-13-1 Test
SoftwareWP S-22-1 Software preliminaryWP S-22-1 Software final version
BProto 1
5
DFinal
proto 24
ASpecifications
and documentation2
CPreliminary
software3
FFinal
software2
KTest
3
AD-1-1D-1-2
BP-10-1
DP-10-2
FS-22-2
KT-13-1
CS-22-1
Gray and Larson, 2000, p. 92
Gray and Larson, 2000,Figure 4-10
Engineeringdepartment
R A C
Kim C C
Ron C R A A A
Holly R
James R
Chuck A A
Wendy A R
Documentsdepartment
R R C
Sys
tem
spec
ific
atio
ns
Cod
ing
Use
rm
anua
l
For
ms
Cro
ssov
erpl
an
Tra
in s
taff
Tes
t
Activities
Org
aniz
atio
nU
nit/
Indi
vidu
al Legend
R = ResponsibilityC = ContributesA = Advises
Constructing a Network1. Networks flow typically left to right2. An activity cannot begin until all preceding activities have
been completed3. Arrow on each network indicate precedence and flow.
Arrows can cross over each other4. Each activity should have a unique identification number5. An activity number must be larger than that of any activities
that precede it.6. Looping is not allowed 7. Conditional statements are not allowed8. A common start and end node clearly delineates start/finish
respectively
Activity Description Preceding Activity
Time
(Mins)
A Gain Approval to a Make a Cup of Tea
None 1
B Boil the Jug A 5
C Rinse the tea pot A 1
D Prepare sugar and milk
A 2
E Make the tea B,C 5
F Serve the tea D, E 1
Critical Time Path & Free Slack
• The Critical Time Path is the longest path through the network. If one of the activities on this path is delayed the project completion time will be extended.
• Free slack refers to those activities that are not critical and who’s start/finish time can be varied (e.g to suit resource allocation)
Calculating Critical Time Path & Free Slack
• Forward Pass (start with first activity)– How soon can an activity start? (Early Start – ES)
– How soon can the activity finish? (Early Finish – EF)
– How soon can the project finish?
• Backward Pass (start with last activity)– How late can an activity finish? (late finish – LF)
– How late can an activity start? (late start – LS)
0 Approval
0 1 1
0 A. 1
0 Boil Jug
1 5 6
0 Make Tea
6 5 11
6 E. 11
0 Serve Tea
11 1 12
11 F. 12
9 Milk Sugar
10 1 11
4 Rinse Pot
5 1 6
1 C. 2
1 B. 6
ES EF
SL
LS Dur LF
ES EF
LS Dur LF
ES EF
ES EF
ES EF ES EF
LS Dur LF
LS Dur LF
LS Dur LF LS Dur LF
1 D. 2
SL
SL
SL SLSL
Items that have SL = 0 are Critical Path ActivitiesItems that have SL >0 are activities with Slack
Scenario 1• A Project leader for a television news organisation had been
working on a major refurbishment of the operational area. The changes included new data cabling and new terminals for about 20 journalists. New video and audio facilities were to be provided to enable journalists to monitor news from other stations. The plan was to move all operations to another floor while work took place. Projects groups were surprised to learn one day that the project manger was redeployed and that the new project manager had been given the directive to get the work done over a single night. This was subsequently organised and executed 2 months later. Though the new installation suffered minor ongoing commissioning problems for some months after, the change in project implementation schedule was generally viewed as a success.
• Why was this so?
Why shorten the critical path?
• Imposed project finish date:– Unforeseen event– Political or marketing reason
• The need to get a software product out in order to grab market share
• Shortening the critical path will usually result in higher cost.
The cost equation…
Gray & Larson, 2000, Figure 6-1
60
50
40
30
20
10
04 6 8 10 12 14 16
Totalcosts
Optimumcost-time
point
Directcosts
Indirectcosts
Low-costplan duration
point
Project duration
Cos
ts
Direct Costs – labour, materials, equipmentIndirect costs – overheads such as administration, consultants, interest
How to shorten the Critical Path
• Reduce quality (not recommended)• Use better technology (machine, methods etc)
– e.g Outsource
• Work longer hours • Reassign labour to critical path activities (eg
outsource non-critical activities to enable internal specialist staff to be redeployed). – A management and communication penalty exists if too
many people are required to coordinate their activities within a single task.
References
• Gray, Clifford F and Larson, Erik W. 2000, Project management : the managerial process / Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Boston.
• NASA, 1996 ‘NASA Strategic Management Handbook’, NASA. Available at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codez/strahand/implemen.htm Accessed on: 12 August 2002
• Karunaratne, Ishan 2002, ‘Callista Implementation Project’, Northern Territory University, Available from: http://mindil.ntu.edu.au/ntu/apps/callistaimp.nsf/vwURL/Implementation+Planning?OpenDocument Accessed; on 12 August 2002
• Commworks, 2001, ‘As you Implement: Planning for Deployment’. Commworks Available from http://www.commworks.com/Professional_Services/Implement/Planning_Deployment/ Accessed on 12 August 2002.
• GCRHCorporation 2002, ‘Implementation Planning: When its Got to be Appropriate, Now’, GCRHCorporation, Midland Michigan. Available from http://www.rightanswer.com/english/plan.html Access on 12 August 2002.
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