Multimedia Project Management

Jon Ivins, DMU

This lecture will cover:

Time management Gantt Charts Critical path analysis

Managerial issues Leadership Motivation Teams

Multimedia Design Process

Covered in detail in Lecture 3 Very complex process Requires:

Scoping the project Defining the content Defining the structure Selecting the media Producing the application Testing at all stages Implementation Maintenance

Multimedia Design Process

To produce a good product we must MANAGE the process

This involves: Scheduling

Allows budgeting /costing

Gives deadline and delivery dates

Managing staff Selection Motivating Monitoring

Gantt Charts

Simple timeline plan Good for showing

sequences /overviews Very hard to show

relationships between activities

Activity

Time

Multimedia projects tend to be: Complex many staged large budgets team centred many workers

One solution is Critical Path Analysis Shows sequences relations between tasks

CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS

CPA CONVENTIONSACTIVITIES

•Shown by arrow or line

EVENTS•Shown as a circle

Activities take time Events are points in time

Activity A Activity B

Start A Stop A - Start B Stop B

0 1 2

C. P. A. EX 1

Draw the network for the following:

ACTIVITY PREDECESSOR

A -

B -

C A

D B

E D

F C,E

G F

SOL TO EX 1 C F G A E B D

3 5 6

0

2 4

1

Sometimes two, or more, activities can take place at the same time C E A Stop A Stop B Stop C Stop E D Stop D B Start EStart A Start B Stop B Start DIt is usual to provide information on the time for an activity and the number of people A

h = 8 p = 3

h = Number of hoursp = Number of people

1 3 4

0

2

0 1

DUMMY ACTIVITIES

•Represented by dotted lines•Take zero time•Used to:

(1) Prevent activities having the same start and stop point (2) Make the chart easier to read

A B E

C

F D

In this case the dummy emphasises that both B & Dmust finish before F can start.

0 1 4

2 3

CPA EX 2

Sketch a CPA chart for:

ACTIVITY PREDECESSOR

A -B AC AD BE DF BG CH B,GJ HK E,F,J

SOL TO EX 2

E D A B K F C J G H

3

0 841 6

2 5 7

CALCULATING PROJECT TIMES

Earliest start date (ESD)

ESD

Event Number

To calculate the ESD B A d=2 d=1

C d=5 D d=2ESD is the minimum project duration

12

00

1

1

3

2

53

74

•Latest finish date (LFD) - Latest time any activitycan finish if project is to be finished as early as possible.

LFD

Event Number

LFD is calculated by working backwards

L D=5FLOAT

•Difference between time that is available andtime required for path

2

3

2510

3011

TIME AVAILABLE = LFD - ESDTIME REQUIRED = d

FLOAT = LFD - ESD - d===================

CRITICAL PATH

•Longest path in network•Float is usually zero

SUMMARY

(1) Calculate ESD by going forwards(2) Calculate LFD by going backwards(3) Calculate floats on path(4) Identify critical path

CPA EX 3 (To be completed in own time)

Draw the CPA chart for:

ACTIVITY PREDECESSOR DURATION (DAYS)

A - 1B A 2C A 1D A 1E A 3F B 2G D 2H E 5J F 1K C,F,G 1L H 1M J 2

EX 3 cont......

(1) Identify the completion date

DAY 10

(2) Identify the critical path

A E H L

(3) Calculate the float on the other paths

PATH FLOAT (DAYS)

BFJM 2C 7DG 5K 4

MANAGING EFFECTIVELY

How do you make staff work effectively ?

Coercion ?• Unlikely to gain intelligent co-operation

KEY POINTS ARE:

• Motivation What motivates people ? How to measure ? • Leadership What is it ? Are leaders made or born ?

MOTIVATION :Factors that motivate include:• Work being done• Training/Promotion prospects• Pay• Security• Interest (and many more).

LEADERSHIP

• Linked with motivation - see later in lecture

• Power/Authority may compel but is this leadership ?

• Depends on : Personalities Situation Reacting to the unforeseen

STYLES Authoritative or Democratic

• McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y identifies a continuum of management

Authoritative Democratic

The “Task Centred” Manager or “Caring” Manager

Scientific Management

Proposed by F. W. Taylor Sometimes called

Taylorism Based on:

Managers split work into small, simple tasks

Easy to train workers Workers are easily

replaceable objects Taylorist management is

typically found in factory environments

Human Resource Management

Proposed by Mayo Came from research at the

Hawthorne Factory Mayo was a Taylorist Found that

Workers were more productive when MGT paid an interest

(Halo Effect) Promotion, responsibility

were given to workers HRM typically found in

high-tech industries

What type of Manager is best?

In the real world: Managers do not fit in to

one extreme Sometimes Taylorist

approach is necessary HRM style of

management seems to be best for: Educated workers Creative workers Technology-oriented

workers

PERSONAL STYLES

Name a leader (Political, Business, Military etc) who you would wish to emulate.

Identify the factors which makes you think madehim/her a good leader.

What strengths/weaknesses would you bring or offeras a leader ?

CONCLUSIONS

There is no “best way” to lead.

Leadership depends on:

• Situation• Inter-Personal Skills• Your Personality/Abilities• Organisational Constraints• Your Staffs’ Personality/Abilities• Goals/Targets

Motivation

All Managers must motivate staff

This implies a good manager must have Empathy A knowledge of

psychology Strong inter-personal

skills

MASLOW

Proposed HIERARCHY OF

NEEDS

ESTEEM SELF-WORTH

SELF REALISATION FOOD

PHYSICAL NEEDS SHELTER

HERZBERG Looked at factors that affect

people at work Found “Hygiene Factors”

working conditions if bad then Morale/Productivity goes down

If OK then Morale/Productivity max

If excellent Morale/Productivity static

Typical Hygiene Factors are Salary, Environment

HERZBERG

also found “motivators”

These are things like: Job Security Challenge Other Staff

HUNT

Identifies individual goals in eight categories:

comfort, structure, relationships, recognition/status, power, growth, autonomy & creativity.

Believes goals change during life

HUNT

Theorises that :

(a) Identify peoples’ goals (b) Hence, Predict

Behaviour (c) Create environment to

meet peoples’ goals so (d) People will be motivated

to maximum

MOTIVATION - ANSWERS?

Problem is to know the needs of staff & what makes them tick.

There is no “best way” because people are individuals with different aims/objectives/needs

Theories of motivation offer a guide - not a definitive course.

EXERCISE

Using Hunt’s categories, identify how your goals have changed in the last four years.

Have changes in your goals affected your studies, career plan etc ?

TEAM WORKING Modern industry tends to

produce “high value” goods High value goods are costly to

develop Emphasis is on reducing time

and cost of development Solution is concurrent

engineering a.k.a. multi-disciplinary teams

Most models focus on roles Most successful is Belbin

BELBIN

Simple, short psychological test

Developed over 9 years Gives predictions which

correlate very well with reality

Best for predicting failure team rather than winning team

COMMENTS ON BELBIN

Tried and tested Highest score indicates

main role Next highest indicates

back-up role Team Strengths and

weaknesses are identified

Non optimal teams can compensate

Optimum team has every role filled

TEAMS FOR REAL

Best used for tasks like: Competitive Environment Action Change Not suitable for humdrum

Teams tend to be “short-lived”

Belbin can be used to: Select members of team Select new recruits Identify areas of weakness

Current practice use design-lead, multi-disciplinary

teams

Concepts quickly assessed for practicability

Prototypes can be produced quickly

Modifications stick to design brief philosophy

Product reaches market more rapidly

Development costs reduced

MANAGING A TEAM

Groups take on an identity c/f Soccer teams, family,

politics

Have a set of needs Have a job to do,

survival, coherent, develop ideas, come to conclusions

This means: Focused objectives Finding solutions Selecting a solution All groups agree on solution Members can be replaced as

required In addition these groups have to

justify the use of resources to others as well as the members.

NB: All groups must be united in order to function.

“If we do not hang together we will assuredly hang separately”

WHAT HAPPENS IN A GROUP ?

To meet its needs a group will :

(1) Set standards of behaviour (norms) Jargon (them & us) Preserve group hierarchy Reduce anxiety/give protection

(2) Develop a belief & value system

Encourages “norm” opinions NB : The norm can be unorthodox !

Leads to a culture & “feel” (3) Select a leader

Can be one person, committee or change to suit situation.

Selected by respect replaced by respect being lost.

Very common to have a “main” leader so others may lead by consent of “the boss”

Team Exercises

Consider a sports team, an orchestra and a board of directors

How does the different task in each case modify the group ?

Summary Managing a multimedia project

is difficult Time must be managed Problems must be identified Staff must be managed Staff must be motivated

Then we can worry about the application itself! This includes:

Scoping, contracts, content, platform, media, interface design, copyright, testing, archiving, market research

Further Reading

Managing Multimedia: Project management for Interactive Media by England and Finney

Management in Engineering: Principles and Practice by Freeman-Bell and Balkwill (Good for teamworking, managing projects in general)