Project management and planning Lars Peter Jensen

Project management and planning

Lars Peter Jensen

What are your previous experiences of working on a project?

About projects and management of people and time

Contents:

• Defining a project

• The project settings and goal

• Code of conduct/team charter

• Management of time and other resources

Project

What ?

• A unique task

• Have a lot of complex activities

• Needs several people with different skills

• Have a final goal/objective

• Limited resources (time, money, people)

• Have to deliver a result at a given time:– As a minimum a written report

Student’s own goalsOfficial goals for education

Fullfilment of official goals for education

Fullfilment of student’sown goals

Init problem Project Project report

Project unit

PS courses Consultancy

Learning goals in project work

Planning

Carry through

Evaluation/assessment

Project design

Precise goalsIt

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Starting a project

Project Management

•Planning•Goals•objectives

•Organizing •People•resources

•Controlling •monitor•maintaining

•Change

Project Management

• Management of people

• Management of time and other resources

Team charter or code of conduct

Why ?• Create common expectations • Secure clear agreements

What?• Contract with supervisor• Group contracts:

– Task strategies– Process strategies

Code of conduct – A tool for managing people

• Expectations and ambitions ?• Meetings – How often ? – What if

somebody is late ?• Organizing meetings , chairman,

referee, use of blackboard ? • Division of labor ?• What kind of response do you give

within the group ?• To what extent will we socialize

together, and when ?

Contract with supervisor • DRAFT Contract between project group XX

and supervisor NN• What I am willing to do (if you want me to)

– Help… Meet… Discuss…. Read…. • What I prefer not to do

– Meet…. Read….• What I expect of you

– write a memo, send the memo, chair meetings etc.

Code of conduct – questions to askTask strategies• What is the purpose, process, and timing of meetings?• What does ’on time’ mean?• What is the priority of time?• What are the importance and priority of deadlines?• Is it more important to achieve time deadlines, or to delay for higher

quality?• What do we do about missing commitments?• To what extent do roles and responsibilities need to be formalized and

written?• Who needs to attend, when?• What is the role of the leader? Of team members?• How will the task be divided up and the integrated?• What work can be done together or apart?• How will information be passed? To whom? When? Formally or

informally? Within the team or outside?• How, where and when do we make decisions? Consensus, majority

rule, compromise?

Code of conduct – questions to askProcess strategies• How will we manage relationships – dive right into business versus

take time to socialize?• To what extent will we socialize together, and when?• What is trust and how is it earned?• How formal or informal will we be?• What language(s) will we use?• How will differences in language fluency be managed?• To what extent does participation reflect potential contributions?• Who dominates?• Who listens to whom?• Who talks to whom?• How are interruptions managed?• How is conflict managed? Forcing, accommodating, avoiding,

collaborating, compromising?• How is negotiation viewed? Win/lose, or win/win?• How is feedback provided? Face to face, third party, direct?

Code of conduct example

Management of time

Contents:• Introduction• Activity diagram• How long time do we need for a given

activity? - how to make a qualified guess• The Gantt chart• Project monitering

Project overview and structure• Problem Statement• A Major Goal functions as

– Defining the final outcome (e.g. in terms of product)– Being the continual point of reference for settling disputes

and misunderstandings about the project– Being the guide keeping all objectives and the work

associated with them on track • Objectives should be:

– Specifc in targeting an objective– Measurable: Establish a measurable indicator(s) of progress– Assignable: Make the objective capable of being assigned to

someone for completion – Realistic: State what can realistically be achieved within

budgetted time and resources – Time-related: State when the objective can be achieved,

that is, the duration. (George Doran 1981)• Risks, assumptions and questions

Agree on the goal, otherwise you won’t reach it!

-OR GET ON ADESERT WALK

The goal statement should be action-oriented, short, simple, straightforward, understandable, and clear to all.

Be aware of your differences

YOU ARESTUPID !

WE DON’T KNOW

Management of time

Management of (often unpredictable) change via

• project planning and• project monitoring

Project planning – what is it?• 50 % thinking ahead• 25 % communication• 25 % milestones

Project Planning - contents

A model of the project, including all activities = tasks, that together constitute the complete project

How can the model be used?• To experiment with, without actually carrying out the

timing and scheduling of activities of the project• As a yardstick against which to measure progress

and monitor the project• As a basis for a regular review and update process,

e.g. Plan the remaining part of the project

Planning at different levels

• Overview (long term) level:– Big tasks, few milestones

• Activity level:– Where you are right now– Detailed activity plan with many smaller tasks– Deadlines

• Daily level:– What are we going to do today

1st Semester 2000 – P0 Project – Group 00792 – TETRaA System

P1 Planning

P1 PeriodPlanning

Motor selection

Battery selection

Design of Control Strategy Weekly report

Simulation

Implement the Strategy

Module report

Supervisor meeting

Test

Practical Work

P1 Report

No

Yes

No

Yes

P1 Period

Time schedule

8th. Oct. 15th. Oct 15th. Nov 19th.Dec

Programming

the controller and

implement the strategy

Choose motor and supply

Control Stategy Design

Practical Work and

Documentation

Control strategy design

Analysing controllers Modelling the motor

Matlab simulation of motor

Matlab simulation of Control system and motor

Choosestrategy

OK?No

Yes

TOTAL: 10X

2X

2X

3X

X2X

How to find X ?

• We need 10 X

• There is 6 members of the group

• There are 15 half project day until finish of activity

What is X then ?• X = 15/10 [½project day] = 1½ [½project

day] ?

• X = (15/10)x6 [½man day] = 9 [½man day]

TasksWeek 43 Week 44 Week 45 Week 46

19 20/10 21 27/10 28 3/11 4 9 10/11 11 12

Analysing controllers 2X

Modelling the motor 3X

Matlab simulation of motor X

Choose control strategy 2X

Matlab simulation of control strategy and motor 2X


19 20/10 21 27/10 28 3/11 4 9 10/11 11 12







19 20/10 21 27/10 28 3/11 4 9 10/11 11 12







19 20/10 21 27/10 28 3/11 4 9 10/11 11 12







19 20/10 21 27/10 28 3/11 4 9 10/11 11 12







19 20/10 21 27/10 28 3/11 4 9 10/11 11 12






Gannt chart (Timescedule)

Project Monitering

• Why has some activities taken to long time?• Can we compensate for the delay by working

harder?• Is it possible to reorganize the work schedule• If we are to cut out some activities, which one?

What are the consequences of each of these choices?

Discussion of findings 1:How do students develop process competences?

Planning and project management

Group exercise and homework

Exercise

• Make a code of conduct for your group

• Make a plan of time schedule for your P0 project.

• Present it on lecture 4, September 25th

Documents

Project management and planning Lars Peter Jensen