1) Study the WBS and Gantt Chart View provided in Figure 3-3, Figure 3-4. Enter

Question

1) Study the WBS and Gantt Chart View provided in Figure 3-3, Figure 3-4. Enter the WBS into project 2010 indenting task as shown to create the WBS Hierarchy. Do not enter durations or depandicies. see the scope management section of appendix A for help using project 2010?

Consulting's business case ide world-class project management consulting servic a CEOFlemingfirm can , believes the streamline operations and increase . Joe to its , some dime information related project management on intranet sitemaking current potential clients and services accessible to and s strategic goals include continuing growth and profitability. The project management by visibility of 's the firmexpertise to current and at site project will support these goals increasing ses by allowing client and public access to some sections of the intranet. The project wid ability by reducing internal costs by providing standard tools, techniques, templates, and ment knowledge to all internal consultants. Because JWD Consulting focuses on identifying gas and measuring their value after completion, this project must meet those criteria. 3 Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement Consulting has a corporate Web site as well as an intranet. The firm currently uses the Web site for information. The primary use of the intranet is for human resource information, such as firm also uses an enterprise-wide project There consultants enter their hours on various projects, change and view their benefits information, and in the status of deliverables and meeting an online directory and Web-based e-mail system. it system to track all project information ope, time, and cost goals. There is an opportunity to print de a new section on the intranet dedicated to sharing consultants' project management knowledge across the organization. JWD Consulting only hires rienced consultants and gives them freedom to manage projects as they see fit. However, as the Brows and projects become more complex, even experienced project managers are looking for is on how to work more effectively. Critical Assumptions and Constraints intranet site must be a valuable asset for WD Consulting. Current consultants and clients and it must pay for itself within one year by reducing internal mpany, as well as from ly support the pro Lating costs and generating new business. The Project Management Office manager must lead the and the project team must include participants from several parts of the A ent organizations. The new system must run on existing hardware and software, and it should be easily consultants and clients and be secure minimal technical support. It must accessible by Analysis of Options and Recommendation I ions for addressing this opportunity: doing well, and we can continue to operate without this new project. to specialized software to support this new capability with little in-house mostly ox ent the new intranet capal that option 3 is the best

Explanation / Answer

The first thing you will need before setting up a Gantt chart is a detailed project plan. A project plan is a series of interdependent tasks that need to be performed in a particular order. When moving into a new office for instance, you cannot start redesigning the office space before the lease agreement has been signed. Project plans have a specific start date, corresponding to the start of the first task (for instance defining the requirements for the new office), and a specific end date, corresponding to the end of the last task (for instance moving in).

One way to create a project plan is to use a work breakdown structure, a technique for splitting tasks into sub-tasks and creating a task hierarchy. Gantt applications will generally allow you to reflect the project hierarchy in the Gantt's task list at the left of the chart.

gantt chart, tasks hierarchy

Mind mapping software, which encourages creative thinking, will help you to develop a work breakdown structure and ensure that nothing is omitted from the overall project plan. If the mind mapping software incorporates Gantt charting (for example MindView Business Edition), it will allow you to enter data as you develop the plan, saving time later. Make sure your plan is as complete as possible and its assumptions are realistic.

Once the project plan is complete, enter the data into the Gantt application that will create the chart:

Define the project settings, such as its start date, end date and scheduling mode. The most common scheduling mode is forwards from the project start date. In this mode the default is for tasks to start as soon as possible, which means that the whole project finishes at the earliest possible date.
Define the project calendar. This sets the number of working days in the week, the number of working hours in the day, and so on.
Enter or edit task names and durations.
Set up a global resources list and assign resources to tasks. Although you can often define the resources as you need them, it is usually quicker to start by setting up a global resources list from which you can then select resources to assign to the various project tasks. See Including resources in a Gantt chart.
Create links to specify the dependencies between the project tasks. See Linking tasks in a Gantt chart.
Set constraints on the tasks as necessary. See Adding constraints to a Gantt chart.
Make final adjustments to the project plan. See Enhancing a Gantt chart.
Once the project has actually started, inspect it at regular intervals to detect potential problems or scheduling conflicts and make any corrections required. See Reviewing a project using a Gantt chart.
The following example shows some tasks in the preparation of a brochure for a mail shot. The mail shot is scheduled for September 10th. The tasks are linked, but we have set a 'Must Finish On' constraint on the printing task for September 7th, the latest date that will allow the mailing to go ahead on the following Monday, September 10th. The constraint, as usual, overrides the link. By setting a 'Must Finish On' constraint for September 7th, we have effectively moved the task out so that it ends exactly on September 7th, regardless of whether it could have been completed earlier or not.

gantt chart, constraints

The problem with this is that if the printing task takes longer than expected, the mailing date will be missed. It would be much better to take advantage of the unused time after the end of the corrections task to get started with printing. However, we still need to keep an eye on the September 7th deadline. To do this, we remove the constraint from the printing task, so that the link will determine its start date, and add a deadline marker instead.

gantt chart, deadlines

Now there is a useful three day gap between the end of printing and the deadline, and the deadline is clearly indicated. The deadline indicator will warn us if the task moves past its deadline.

Interaction between task dependency links and constraints

Constraints combine with task dependency links to affect the timing of tasks. In some cases, applying a constraint to a task, in addition to a task relationship, may create a scheduling conflict. In most Gantt applications, when such a conflict arises the constraint takes precedence over the task dependency.

Let us consider the example below. Here the "Print" task is linked to the "Final changes" task with the default 'Finish to Start' relationship. The "Final changes" task ends on Oct 1st. In normal circumstances, this would mean that the "Print" task cannot start before Oct 2nd. However, because you imperatively need the printed materials on Sept 28th for a training session, you have set a 'Must Finish On' constraint on the "Print" task for Sept 28th, as evidenced by the constraint indicator. Since the constraint set on a task always overrides any relationship it may have with other tasks, the start date of the "Print" task has been rescheduled automatically to end on Sept 28th.

gantt chart, constraints, dependencies

In this case the constraint has led to an illogical relationship with the predecessor task: printing is now scheduled to start before final changes are complete. In this example, the software flags this as a possible problem using an icon, image013.gif, which shows that a link has been overridden by a constraint.

If you later decide to remove the constraint, for instance because the training session has been postponed, the task dependency link is enforced again, as shown here:

gantt chart, dependencies

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