Project Time Management: Key Tips for Project Success
You all want realistic schedules. You want to present a plan to senior leadership that has a high confidence of successful project completion. Here are some powerful planning tips complied from project participants that I recently met with that will improve your project success.
This blog kicks off a series that will take us through the different knowledge PMBOK Guide knowledge areas. This posting focuses on improving project success through focus on the PMBOK(r) Guide Time Management Knowledge Area. Key Project Time Management Tips
Define Activities That Support Deliverables: You don’t understand project deliverables until you understand how to create them. Period. On small projects this is easy. Larger projects require more formality and rigor. This is the powerful planning tip behind Activity Definition as defined by the PMBOK(r) Guide.
Involve SME’s in Schedule Reviews: Activity dependencies are complex on any type of new project; new resources, new client, or new technology. Address project complexity with subject matter expert (SME) involvement. This is a powerful process behind Activity Sequencing as defined by the PMBOK Guide.
Get Visibility to Vendor Estimates: Specify that all vendors must provide WBS’s, schedules, and resource requirements. Trust is not a strategy. This is a best practice behind Activity Resource Estimating as defined by the PMBOK Guide.
Involve Team in Schedule Estimates: Simple but we are often too rushed to make this happen. This is a powerful habit behind Activity Duration Estimating as defined by the PMBOK Guide and in Agile Methodologies.
Predict When You Will Plan Activities: Many projects have a lot of unknowns. This is OK during project initiation. This is not OK during planning. Activities are planned as you are beginning your current sprint, iteration or phase. If WBS deliverables or the supporting activities are not planned, you have just increased the riskiness of your project. If you don’t have enough information to define requirements, don’t include it in this phase. Push it to downstream phases. This is a guiding principal behind Schedule Development as defined by the PMBOK Guide.
This list is nothing new. You already knew this information? Yet think about your current project.
If everything is running smoothly, what can be improved to ensure even better results on your next project? Your competitors are not standing still. Project’s need process improvement to meet tomorrow’s challenges.
If you project isn’t a picture of bliss, what one item from the above list could you work on to drive recovery efforts?
• Pick one
• Focus on it
• Share results
• Get noticed
Project Managers, implement these tips to improve the confidence you have in your project schedule and improve your project success.
Rosemary Hossenlopp, PMP, MBA is a Silicon Valley based IT professional that works on improving project results for time-starved project teams . When she is not working on projects or writing about them, she enjoys running and hiking in the Bay Area.
Originally Written for the Information Systems Special Interest Group (ISSIG) Blog
Ernest Gutierrez, PMP // May 1, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Rosemary,
In our beloved Earned Value world, given 4 ways to calculate the Estimate At Completion Forecast:
EAC = AC + ETC
EAC = AC + BAC – EV
EAC = (AC + (BAC-EV)/CPI)
EAC = BAC / CPI (Not in PMBOK)
In what scenarios are each of the above calculations best used? Is there an order of optimistic to pessimistic? Thank you!
Ernest Gutierrez, PMP // May 1, 2008 at 6:05 pm
EAC=AC+ETC is used if the original estimate of EAC was fundametally flawed and you have to recalculate your estimate (specialy your ETC) all over again.
EAC=AC+(BAC-EV) is used when current variances are considered to be ATYPICAL in the future. We had some problems but it won’t happen again !
EAC=AC+(BAC-EV)/CPI is used when current variances are considered to be TYPICAL in the future. In the future we will continue the same trend of variance as of till now !
EAC=BAC/CPI is the same formula as above… just develop it like EAC = AC + BAC/CPI - EV/CPI and replace EV/CPI by EV/(EV/AC)…
Mike // Jan 11, 2009 at 10:52 pm
http://www.pmchampion.com/
Great Question!
EAC = AC + ETC
Explanation: Estimate at Completion = Actual Cost + Estimate to Complete
Rationale: The project has flawed estimates and there are significant variances. This formula assumes that the project team creates a new ETC forecast from detailed replanning meeting and adds this new estimate of what it will take to finish the project to what the project has already spent. Don’t use this formula if variances are typical as this EAC calculation takes the most project time.
EAC = AC + BAC – EV
Explanation: Estimate at Completion = Actual Cost + Budget at Completion – Earned Value ( e.g., Work actually accomplished)
Rationale: The project variances early in the project are assumed to be atypical variances and will not continue in future periods. This formula only accounts for the over or under spending in the early part of the project and assumes that the spending for the rest of the project will be on-target with the original assumptions.
EAC = (AC + (BAC-EV)/CPI)
Explanation: (Actual Cost + (Budget at Completion – Earned Value)/Cost Performance Index.
Rationale: The project variances early in the project are assumed to be typical variances that will continue in future periods. So the balance of the project spending is adjusted up or down based upon the CPI for the project variances to date. The project manager needs to justify why or why not they believe the original assumptions just need to be adjusted vs. a significant replanning effort begun. The control limits for project spending provides guidance here on what is an acceptable variance vs. what is acceptable. If it is an unacceptable variance, the project needs to use EAC = AC + ETC instead.
EAC = BAC / CPI
Explanation: Budget at Completion/Cost Performance Index.
Rationale: This is a quick and easy formula but it isn’t in the PMBOK. Why? Well, since you are already doing Earned Value Management in a tool or a spreadsheet, some of the other formula’s are more accurate and as easy to calculate. In addition, this formula makes a lot of simplifying assumptions. But it has its’ use as a quick and dirty look that is easily explainable to others. The key question is whether it actually reflects what the future may be.
Enjoy studying for the PMP or your project adventures!
Rosemary Hossenlopp, PMP
From PMBOK ® Guide Fourth Edition Changes Explained, 2008/05/13 at 3:45 PM