Project Management

This post is about software management.

Project Management Concepts

This section is about project management concepts.

Work Breakdown Structure

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) has principles.

WBS principles:

1. 100% rule
2. Mutually exclusive elements
3. Delivery planning, not actions
4. Numbered schema
5. Terminal element

The 100% rule means that all deliverables must be defined at the beginning of the project.

Project Management Techniques

Project Management Techniques featured on this post:

• Earned Value Management
• PERT
• CCPM
• Gantt chart
• Resource histogram

Earn Value Management

Earn Value Management (EVM) is a project management technique for measuring project performance and progress in an objective manner.

Earn value management at Wikipedia

PERT

Project Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT)

Free float or free slack is the maximum delay to start an activity without altering the next activities. It can be calculated as the difference between the early start and late start, or the same difference between the ends.

Early time is the minimum time to reach a node.

Last time is the maximum time to reach a node without delaying the project.

PERT assumptions:

• The duration of an activity is a random variable with beta distribution.
• The duration of the activities are statistically independent.
• The critical path (computed assuming expected values of the durations) always requires a longer total time than any other path
• The Central Limit Theorem can be applied so that the sum of the durations of the activities on the
  critical path has approximately a NORMAL distribution

CCPM

Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is a method of planning and managing projects that emphasizes the resources (people, equipment, physical space) required to execute project tasks

It was developed by the Israeli business management guru Eliyahu M. Goldratt.

Gantt Chart

You can read this post about how to create a Gantt chart in Excel 2007, though it applies to later versions and related software as PowerPoint.

Resource Histogram

A resource histogram is a historical bar chart diagram that defines a resource allocation schedule.

A Gantt chart should always go with a resource histogram.

Project Management Standards

You can read this post about project management standards.

Project Management Applications

You can read this post about project management applications.

Advice on project management

Advice on project management:

• Provide alternatives
• Ensure documentation
• Assess consultant experience
• Escalate difficulties in advance
• Look for seniority support
• Stick to standard

External References

• PERT
  • D. L. Bricker, “PERT“; University of Iowa
• CCPM
  • Wikipedia community; “Critical Chain Project Management“; Wikipedia
• Gantt Chart
  • Manuel Cillero; “Diagrama de Gantt en Métrica v3“; manuel.cillero.es