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EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 1
MSc Project Planning
Dr Paul Brunn – 4th February 2009
• Project Planning and Control
– Intro to General Methods
– Some simple examples
• How to plan and complete
an MSc Dissertation project
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 2
What is a Masters Degree ?
• “Students will have shown originality in the
application of knowledge, and they will understand
how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced
through research. They will be able to deal with
complex issues both systematically and
creatively, and they will show originality in tackling
and solving problems. They will have the qualities
needed for employment in circumstances requiring
sound judgement, personal responsibility and
initiative, in complex and unpredictable professional
environments.”
Masters level qualification descriptor, Quality Assurance Agency, 2006
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 3
What is a Masters Degree ?
• Much more than passing exams!
• An individual project clearly
demonstrates your ability to apply
knowledge, do research, deal with
complexity, show originality, sound
judgement and initiative; while taking
responsibility for your own work
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 4
What is a Masters Degree ?
• The Project is your chance to
demonstrate to potential employers that
you can do more than just pass exams
• Therefore you need to show that you
planned it properly and organised it’s
execution
• At interview it’s your chance to talk
about something that you really believe
in and enjoyed doing
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 5
What are Projects?
• Projects (unlike Production) are “one-off”
activities, with clearly defined start and
end points
• There is always some uncertainty
about their outcome
– because the task to be completed has
(normally) never been done before
– because the detailed activities and
resource requirements are, as yet, unclear
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 6
Project Planning and Control
• Normally there will be a compromisebetween time, quality and cost toachieve the agreed project objectives
– but this will depend on the precisedefinition of the project objectives
• Projects differ from Production in termsof the measures used to judge theirsuccess, for example:-
– Completion within budget -v- minimum cost
– Completion on time -v- ongoing profitability
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 7
Project Planning and Control
• Projects exist in, must take account ofand will be affected by the environmentin which they take place
– whereas production can, almost, exist inisolation from its environment
• Project management recognises andattempts to limit the effects ofuncertainty
– production management tries to removethe causes of that uncertainty
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 8
Project Planning and Control
• The aim of all project planning is a
successful project not a beautiful plan
• The plan is a tool to assist you to
– Prepare for the project
– Control the project
• It will change as circumstances change
– A good plan is for guidance, it is not
“written on tablets of stone”
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 9
Project Planning and Control
• Planning - can be an individual activity
– assesses feasibility of an idea
– establishes cost, time, resource and quality
constrains
– provides a plan upon which to base
subsequent control of the project
• Control - must be a group activity
involving all those involved in the
project
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 10
Project Planning
• First - Define the AIMS & OBJECTIVES
• Then - Establish the CONSTRAINTS
• It is then possible to balance
–Cost
–Time
–Quality
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 11
Project Planning
• For any project
– List all activities
– Estimate time for each activity (assuming
“standard” resources)
– Define sequences of actions (dependency)
– Calculate duration, resource requirements
and costs
– Compare with external constraints
– Adjust/re-plan if necessary
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 12
Project Planning
• Tools available:-
– Small projects
• Draw a Gantt Chart (bar chart)
– More complex projects
• Critical Path Analysis (CPA) (or PERT)
• Computer based systems using CPA are
available to simplify resource and time planning
• All require a thorough definition of
project objectives and activities
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 13
Project Planning
• Gantt Charts (invented by Henry L Gantt 1861-1919)
– Show sequences and dependencies
– Parallel activities
– Resource requirements/conflicts
– Total duration, critical path and float
• Used as intended can also be used to
control the project since they can show
progress against plan
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 14
Gantt Chart Example - Making Tea
Fill Kettle
Boil water
Add tea to pot
Pour on water
Allow to "mash"
Add milk to cups
Pour tea
Drink tea
Time
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 15
Project Planning
• Critical path analysis (CPA) provides
– a pictorial representation of the whole
project
– highlights “critical path” activities
– indicates position and quantity of “float” on
non-critical activities
– resource utilisation data
• When controlling a project allows the
effect of changes to be predicted
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 16
Critical Path Analysis
• Define activities & their duration
• Specify dependencies
• Draw network (each activity starts and finishes at
a node) - (adjust if necessary to meet all
constraints)
• Forward pass - calculate time for each path
• Find “critical path” - defines earliest finish
• Backward pass - calculate “float” on each activity
• Check dates - re-plan if necessary
• Allocate resources (critical path first)
• Use float to help allocate remaining resources
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 17
Project Control
• You can’t control a project that
hasn’t been planned !
• Things will happen so fast that it is not
possible to “plan as you go along”
• If circumstances change it may be
necessary to re-plan but …...
• It is much easier and quicker to change
a plan that already exists
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 18
Project Control
• Control of all projects uses these steps:
– Plan
– Publish
– Measure
– Compare
– Correct
– (if necessary re-plan)
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 19
Project Control
• Project Control Technical Execution
of project tasks
– The two activities require different skills but
are often confused
• Project Planning and Control is an
iterative process
– Project plans are regularly revised and
updated as more information comes to light
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 20
Project Control
• CPA diagram (or a simple bar chart) is
a good method for both planning and
publishing the overall plan
• (a picture is worth a thousand words)
• Measure progress in time, job or cost
units. Show completed activities on the
CPA diagram or bar chart
• This highlights activities behind time
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 21
Project Control
• Measure regularly and compare
planned with actual
• Use float to make corrections if
necessary, without changing the plan
• Early feedback on problems is essential
• Set regular milestones to divide up
large activities and thus get feedback
on progress sooner than their end date
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 22
Progress Measures
• Cost related:-
• Total spend
• Expenditure under or
over budget
• Overtime charges
• Cash flow
• Price changes
• Time related:-
• Activities not started or
finished on time
• Time and Quality
related:-
• Changes in project
scope
• Test results
– (i.e. commissioning
particular pieces of
equipment)
• Performance
milestones
– built into project plan
• Complaints
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 23
Project Control
• “Mechanical” charts are useful when
regularly re-planning
• Regular updating is essential
– the difference between useful information
and excuses is when they arrive
• Computer based systems can quickly
and easily re-draw the CP diagram and
indicate any changes in critical path
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 24
Practical Project Planning
• Typical maintenance tasks– Power station shut down
– New product introduction
– Take-over bid etc.
• Thousands of activities, hundreds of people,tens of weeks duration– Computer systems (Microsoft Project etc.) handle
the clerical aspects but do not do the planning !(Date conversion, recalculation, resource allocation, data-base facilities and financial control etc.)
– Normally large projects aim for a reasonably good,feasible solution rather than an optimum one.
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 25
Planning and Controlling an MSc
Dissertation Project
• What is special about an MSc
Dissertation project ?
– Timescale
– Limited resources
– The supervisor
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 26
MSc Dissertation - Fulltime Timescale
• Normally five person-months
• One month intro. Three months work. One month
writing up
• A hard deadline in September (Check exactly when!)
• No opportunity to trade resources for time or quality
• But objectives can be adjusted …..
MSc Dissertations - Resources• Often very limited !
• Plan to rely only on yourself and the equipment etc.
that your supervisor has guaranteed
• Don’t let others side-track you
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 27
MSc Dissertations
• They are all different but they are all the same inseveral key respects:-– All adopt the same basic format
– A clear statement of the project aims
– All require a literature review
– A description of the work undertaken and the resultsachieved
– A discussion of the relevance of the work
– A summary of the conclusions
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 28
MSc Dissertation - Planning
A Normal MSc Dissertation
6 Write up Dissertation
5 Analyse Data / Results
4 Gather Data
3 Design Experiments
2 Literature Survey
1 Define Project Aims
May June July Aug Sept
AB
C
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 29
• All require that the writer shows that theyhave planned the work
• (so a plan [bar chart] is useful)
• The discussions benefit from a sectionshowing how the actual project differed fromthe actual plan (this is a good place to discusswhat went wrong and/or better than expected)
MSc Dissertations
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 30
MSc Dissertations - Discussions
A Normal MSc Dissertation
6 Write up Dissertation
5 Analyse Data / Results
4 Gather Data
3 Design Experiments
2 Literature Survey
1 Define Project Aims
May June July Aug Sept
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 31
MSc Dissertation - Planning
• Define the objectives - in conjunction with
your supervisor
• List the tasks and their approximate
durations - check your guesstimates
with your supervisor
• Show your supervisor that the original
project is not possible - on a bar chart!
• Replan to something more sensible
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 32
MSc Dissertations - Supervisors
• Probably the most important part of
your project is choosing the right
supervisor for you
• Get to know them
• It is up to you to manage your
supervisor effectively - they are all busy
people who have other things to do as
well as supervise your MSc project
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 33
MSc Dissertations - Supervisors
• Trust your supervisor and use them to
check that the plan for your project is
sensible (include some holiday, time off,
allowances for problems etc.)
• Tell them as soon as the project drops
behind plan (as it will)
• Discuss how to get back onto schedule
- only change the plan when necessary
EPS Graduate Education – MSc Project Planning and Control 34
MSc Dissertations - Supervisors
• Most supervisors will read through and
comment on draft chapters of your
dissertation
• but don’t leave it all to the last few days
• “my experience is one chapter a week
is all I can manage comfortably”
• So if there are 8 - 10 chapters in most
dissertations ………..