Osnova týdnů

  • Úvod

  • 1. Lets get started...

    The aim of this module is to make you familiar with some basic terminology that you are going to need throughout the whole course. You will find out what are the definitions and meanings in the framework of project management methodologies. This will help you understand better the recommended literature and other materials, that will be used within the course.

  • 2. Project Management Methodologies

    The aim of this module is to make you familiar with major project management methodologies that are recognized as global standards in the field of project management. In the end of the module, you will be familiar with PMBoK, PRINCE2, IPMA and their specific approaches to project management in general as well as certification of professional project managers in detail. 

  • 3. Initiation - what shall we choose?

  • 4. Planning: Analysis and Organisation of Human Resources

  • 5. Project Scope Management

    The roots of project scope definition start already in the initiation phase of a project. The project scope reflects the project goals and objectives that further contribute to the fulfilment of company´s vision and strategy . The projects goals and objectives are on a high level described in the basic document: project charter (for further information, see PMBoK).

    After the go-decision is made and a project proceeds into the planning phase, project scope is further refined with much larger focus on the level of detail. 

    At first, an in-depth analysis is to be made. In case of IT projects (eg. new ERP system implementation), the main attributes to be analysed:

    - current hardware, software, application and data architecture

    - current business processes

    - current business focus (customers, products, services ...)

    - future business development plans within which the project will be implemented

    - future vision of IT environment and its role in the company

    - functional and non-functional requirements (incl. eg. security, maintenance etc.)*

    - project implications to procurement and HR 

    - key project personnel etc.

    In this way, not only the current situation is described in adequate detail, but also the global and detail solution design incl. transition / migration process are set.

    The outcome of the analytical stage with all the above mentioned information is usually called an analytical study. An analytical study represents a baseline for the further stage - a stage of implementation. Any changes and adjustments of the project scope are in further stages subject to a change management process.

    Project goals must follow the SMART approach. That means that the goals must be:

    • S - specific
    • M - measurable
    • A - approved (achievable)
    • R - realistic (relevant)
    • T - timed

    We advice you to read more about the SMART approach here: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm

    *Functional and non-functional requirements should reflect needs and requirements of all stakeholders involved in the project. When gathering and analysing stakeholders´ requirements, you should always keep in mind that:

    - needs and requirements are not the same. Needs may be felt but unexpressed. 

    - some needs/requirements may be conflicting (eg. scale of functionality vs. price/time). In such a case, decision on priorities must be made.

    - users may not be aware of many IT innovations and possibilities - an IT professional should be there to assist them in understanding them thoroughly before the final project baseline is approved.

    - when analysing user needs/requirements concentrate not only on what users want, but also what they donˇt want, what are they used to (observation), what do they expect and fear!

    Take-away! Project scope must be clearly described, understood and accepted by all stakeholders. Without their support, contribution and acceptance is any project doomed to failure!!!

    Change management

    In the waterfall approach, all change requests that are raised after the project scope baseline is approved, must be subject to rigorous change management procedure.

    A project manager is in charge of putting a change management process in place already in the beginning of the planning phase. The objective is that all project team members understand:

    - who can raise a request for change and to whom

    - where to find the change request template and how to fill it in (incl. the basic information set...)

    - who and when makes a decision about the change request (depending on its type and impact)

    - where will be the final decision documented and who is responsible for further implementation of the change in case it is approved.

    Changes in a waterfall approach may be an expensive endeavour. If a need for change is recognised too late, it may be very costly to implement it. However, changes are not undesirable. In contrary - they may contribute to a larger project acceptance and success if managed properly. A project manager is always responsible for:

    - setting up the change management process

    - tracking, controlling and documenting all the steps related to individual change request

    - and ... !!! keeping the project triange in balance!!! Any change that may have an impact on resources and/or time must be accompanied by steps that assure that all attributes are always kept in balance.

  • 6. Workbreakdown structure

  • 7. Project Estimates

  • 8. Project Schedule

    fOnly after you complete your project estimates, the time is ripe for proceeding to fixing the project schedule. That means transfering your WBS + project estimates into a calendar. In this module, you will learn about the basic scheduling methods used in project management, types of links between tasks as well as about the critical path and it´s use in managing your projects.

    There are different methods that may be applied in project scheduling. Some examples are:

    • Precedence Diagram Method, 
    • Critical Path,
    • Critical Chain Method 
    • PERT (Programme Evaluation and Review Technique) etc.

    Most of the above listed methods however work with the same basic blocks:

    • activities (tasks that consume resources)
    • milestones (points in time that do not consume resources)
    • relationships (linkeages)
    • critical path

    Linkeages / task relationships:

    • Finish - start /FS/ (when using SW for scheduling activities, FS is the default value after all the activities are linked)
    • Start - start /SS/
    • Finish - finish /FF/
    • Lag time
    • Lead time
    • Early start
    • Eartly finish
    • Late start 
    • Late finish

    Assignement 1: Give examples of the FS, FF, SS, lag and lead times from your daily life.

    By linking all activities in you WBS, you get a network to integrate into calender time and get the baseline for your project schedule. 

    In the network, you may discover two different types of floats:

    Free Float – the amount of time a task can be delayed without affecting the succeeding task. 
    Total Float – this is the amount of time which an activity can be delayed without affecting the end date of the project.

    Critical path

    The critical path is the longest sequence of tasks that must be completed to successfully conclude a project, from start to finish. Therefore, it also represents the shortest time in which the whole project may be completed. The tasks on the critical path are known as critical activities because if they're delayed, the whole project will be delay. The so called float between these tasks equals zero. 

    Assignement 2: How can the critical path serve the project manager during the phase of project execution?

  • 11. Software Tools for Project Managers

    In this module, you are going to find out which software tools are there that can help you plan, manage and control your projects in real-life environment. 

    As many of the SW packages are really complex and rich in functionality we are going to focus mainly on aspects that directly link to the project management fundamentals that we have covered so far in the course. 

    In the end of the module, you should be be able to:

    - identify some of the SW products for project management (both customer-off-the-shelf as well as freeware) 

    - establish a new project

    - build up a work-breakdown structure 

    - establish WBS task hierarchy

    - establish and adjust links among WBS tasks, specify predecessors

    - put in the milestones

    - assign resources to WBS tasks

    - add re-occuring events like project meetings into your plan

    - use notes function to share comments and files to individual tasks