Slide 1

PROJECTS AND MANAGEMENT NETWORK ANALYSIS11

Project: series of related jobs usually directed toward some major output and requiring a significant period of time to perform. Project Management: planning, directing, and controlling resources (people, equipment, material) to meet the technical, cost, and time constraints of the project.

DEFINITION

PROJECTS AND MANAGEMENT

THE STEPS IN TYPICAL PROJECTSCostsCostsTimeMeasures of Costs and Target AchievedTimeTargets AchievedBudgetActualPlanActualActualPlanTimeThe Costs per Targetttt

TYPICAL PROJECT ORGANIZATIONInternal Functions within Company

THE MAIN SKILLS REQUIRED FROM A PROJECT MANAGER: Organizational and planning skills People management skills Ability to follow problems down to a level of detail, while at the same time standing apart so as to see the whole picture Communication skills Drive and energy, with a optimistic outlook Goal oriented, customer focus and have a very strong will Good technical knowledge covering many disciplines Change orientation. Every project introduces change and the project manager must be an advocate of change and be able to introduce this successfully into the organization.

NETWORK ANALYSISSimple Activity NetworkNODES - are often referred to us events and there are the instances where something happens.ARCS- referred to us activities, and they are the elements on a network that take time and use resources. THE MAJOR STEPS IN CREATING AN ACTIVITY NETWORK FOR A PROJECT: The objectives of the project must first be clearly defined and understood by everyone working on the project or affected by the outcomes of the project. The project is broken down into major work areas or group. The tasks, or activities, needed to complete each sub-projects are defined. The linkages between each task are clearly specified, including all dependencies. The time needed to complete each task is estimated, along with the resources needed. The activity network can be drawn, knowing the tasks and the relationship between tasks.

Simple Activity NetworkThe event at the start of an activity is called the tail event and the event at the end of the activity is the head event.

loopdangleSOME IMPORTANT LAWS NEED TO BE OBSRVED WHEN DRAWING AND ANALYZING AN ACTIVITY NETWORK: The network must not contain loops. Loops are a repetition of activity and they will be repeated endlessly, never leading to the final event. The network should not have any dangles. Dangles are the events that go nowhere. It can be avoided by the use of dummy activities as shown in light line. In an activity network an event cannot be completed until all the activities leading to it have been completed. In an activity network an activity cannot start until its tail event has been completed.Many computer based programmes exists, which enable large activity network to be drawn and analyzed.The use of these networks has several advantages: They force management to think logically about the objectives and tasks of a project. The tedious work of completing the network is then done by a computer. They show critical activities and enable management to focus on these. The process of creating an activity network requires a multi-departmental input and this builds up a better understanding of interdepartmental tasks and encourages teamwork. The activity network enables what-if analysis to be done, in order to study the impact of changes. It provides an ongoing project record. It gives a method for progressing tasks and determining the effects of slips sa they occur and of plan changes.