-
Computer Tools forProject Management
Barry
ne of the challenges a project manager must face is howto keep
track of the many elements of project manage-ment, including tasks,
milestones, dependency relation-
ships, schedules, people, costs, deliverables and progress
towardinterim and final goals. Until the 1980s, these tasks were
oftenperformed by hand with a calculator and a hand-drawn Gantt
(orbar) chart or by a computerized project management
programrequiring a mainframe or minicomputer system. All of that
haschanged. There are now powerful computerized project manage-ment
(PM) programs that can be run on personal computers cost-ing less
than $1000. The actual PM programs themselves may costless than
$100 for limited low-end products that can only handleschedules and
graphics, to $500 to several thousand dollar pro-grams that not
only provide timely and accurate schedule infor-mation, but also
powerful resource and cost tracking capabilities.
We introduce computer tools for project management at thisstage
in the book because a large part of the mission of a
projectmanagement program is to assist in scheduling and keeping
trackof tasks and milestones. So it follows naturally after the
previouschapter on the fundamentals of project scheduling.
However,many good project management programs do so much more
thandeal with scheduling issues alone.
37
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
38 Project Management and Leadership Skills
HOW Do I KNOW WHAT PROGRAM TO BUY?
Like any issue related to a software purchase, the most
relevantquestion is "What do I need and what do I want it to do?"
Buyinga powerful program costing several thousand dollars that
canhandle a $100,000,000 construction project may be just what
isneeded if your project is that complex. On the other hand, if
yourproject is in the $500,000-$10,000,000 range, a project
managementprogram costing around $500 might be more appropriate.
Forlower project budgets, a spreadsheet program with simple
graph-ics may be your best tool. The key thing to remember is to
findand use a program that fits your project, not one that is
either soelementary you waste time and money performing a number
ofproject control tasks outside the program, or so complicated
thatyou spend more time figuring out how to use the program
thanletting it help you manage the project.
Some of the key issues that separate the low-end,
inexpensiveprograms from full-powered project management programs
arehow well they perform in the following areas:
* Initial setupCreating the project plan* Tracking progress*
Reports* Ease of use versus power and sophistication
By looking at a program with respect to these areas, you
candetermine if the program will meet your project management
re-quirements.
The first step in finding the right program, as noted earlier
inthis chapter, is to take a long, hard look at just what your
require-ments are. The more clearly you have in mind what your
needsare, the easier it will be to select the right software. The
points thatfollow highlight key features you need to consider. In
addition tothese features, you will also want to go to the Internet
and look atunbiased reviews of project management programs. In
addition,talk to users of the programs you are considering to
obtain first-hand, unbiased input about the programs you are
considering.
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
Computer Tools for Project Management 39
INITIAL SETUP -
CREATING THE PROJECT PLAN
Typically, a project manager starts with an endpoint inmind a
design is completed, a building is ready for occupancya plant is
built, etc. There is a budget, of course, but in planninga project,
PMs tend to think initially in terms of a schedule of tasksand
milestones. The project management programs you want toconsider are
ones that make planning the project relatively easy, soyou actually
use it, and powerful enough that it acts as a valuabletool to help
you bring the project in on time and within budget.
Activities and Scheduling
The way you enter the project plan into the program and theease
of changing the plan will have a direct effect on how muchuse you
get out of the program. When entering the project plan,you must
define all the project activities. Most of the programshave you
build your plan by listing the project activities down theleft side
of a Gantt or bar chart. You then fill in a form for eachactivity
to identify its duration, the required resources and anyactivities
that precede it.
A few programs let you create your project as a network
first,actually drawing the boxes for each activity and the
connectinglines that show their sequence. You may prefer one method
of creat-ing a project plan over another, but what is important is
the easewith which you can create the plan and make changes to it.
Someprograms make it difficult to add or delete activities once the
planis created. As any experienced project manager knows,
projectsrarely go exactly as planned. So the first consideration is
to makesure the program makes it easy to create the plan and change
it. If itfails this test, you will be less likely to use it and
thus take advan-tage of the benefits project management software
has to offer.
CapaMz'fyA second important feature to check for is how well the
program
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
40 Project Management and Leadership Skills
can represent the relationships among the activities and
mile-stones that make up the project. When you enter the activities
youalso specify their sequence and precedence; that is, how the
activi-ties or milestones depend on each other and which must be
donebefore others can begin.
As a minimum, the program must be able to contain all theproject
activities, and calculate and show the project's critical path.The
critical path is the sequence of activities and milestones
whichmust be completed on time if the project is to be completed
onschedule. Another way of saying the same thing is any delay ofany
task or milestone on the critical path will delay the project.
Beyond showing the critical path, a program can be judgedby how
well it depicts the precedent relationships among the ac-tivities.
Some programs only allow a finish-to-start relationshipamong
activities, which means a subsequent activity can start onlyafter a
previous activity is finished.
Finish-to-start is a common relationship among activities,
butyou may also frequently have activities that depend on each
other,but overlap to some extent. With these activities, the
finish-to-startrelationship does not accurately apply. So if you
have programthat allows only for finish-to-start relationships, you
must decideeither not to show the relationship as it should be or
to artificiallybreak down the activity into subactivities so they
fit into the fin-ish-to-start mode. This means you are having to
adjust your workpattern to meet the program's needs rather than the
other wayaround.
The ability to handle full precedence relationships is a
keydifference between programs. Determining the number and typeof
precedence relationships a program is capable of should be
animportant test of any software you consider. After all, you
wantthe software to accommodate your project management needs,
notthe other way around.
onMany of the less expensive programs have a maximum num-
ber of activities that can be entered into the program. This
maxi-
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
Computer Tools for Project Management 41
mum may be well below your needs. If your activities appear
tocome close to the maximum allowed by a program you are
consid-ering, you may want to look at a different program, one that
willhave the capacity to allow you to enter all of your planned
activitiesinto the program with room for additional activities, if
needed.
WBS CapHMz'fyEqually important for some managers is the ability
to iden-
tify activities in a work breakdown structure (WBS) format. AWBS
as it applies to project management programs is the capabil-ity of
assigning ID codes to each task in the project, from the high-est
level main tasks all the way down to the lowest level subtasks.An
example of a partial work breakdown structure for a designproject
is shown in Figure 4-1. Note: Only the electrical and me-chanical
subtasks are shown for illustrative purposes, In an actualproject,
all relevant disciplines would be shown and in sufficientdetail to
allow the PM to grasp the details of the project.
Figure 4-1. Example Partial Work Breakdown Structure
ABC Hospital Addition
ArchitecturalABC.01
Source: SureTrak Project Manager
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
42 Project Management and Leadership Skills
A WBS allows the project manager to report and summarizeproject
data at different levels of detail. For instance, a PM couldask the
software program to provide all costs to date for the me-chanical
engineering discipline or architectural discipline andcompare to
budget numbers.
After defining the project activities and determining
theirrelationships, you will want to schedule their start and
finishdates and identify any other scheduling constraints
individualactivities may have. A distinguishing feature of some
better pro-grams is that you can assign specific start to finish
dates to indi-vidual activities.
Another important issue is that some programs require thatyou
first specify a project start date before the program will
sched-ule the project. But, of course, you may have a project for
whichall you know is the deadline, the required finish date.
Fortunately,some programs let you schedule the project by entering
the finishdate first. The program will then calculate backwards
from thefinish date to obtain the appropriate calendar dates for
eachproject activity.
How the schedule is displayed can also be important. Forexample,
can the schedule be presented in various units, such asmonths, days
and hours? And if you have a very long project, canthe schedule be
summarized so the entire project can be graphi-cally represented on
a single page? (While this may useful attimes, the scale may be
such that the print is too small to readcomfortably.)
Resource AllocationAfter breaking the project down into tasks
and their relation-
ships, you will need to identify available resources and
allocatethem to the project tasks. Surprisingly, there are several
programsthat do not allow for realistic resource identification and
alloca-tion, even though the ability to assign resources to a
project isessential to effective project management.
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
Computer Tools for Project Management 43
Programs that allow for the assignment of resources usuallymake
it a two-step process: (1) you first specify all project re-sources
and their associated costs; (2) you then allocate them tothe
various tasks.
A key thing to look for in a program is the degree of
discrimi-nation allowed in identifying the assigning resources.
Softwareprograms vary widely with regard to resource management,
andit is well worth a close look to see if the program can meet
yourspecific needs.
The number and type of resources you can assign to a task isthe
first consideration. Some programs let you identify and assignonly
one or a few resources per task.
More powerful programs let you assign codes to each re-source so
you can further break down each type of resource; forexample, ME1 =
level 1 mechanical engineers; ME2 = level 2mechanical engineers;
etc. The program can then produce reportsthat are sorted based upon
any given resource type or subtype.For example, you could print out
a histogram, or resource alloca-tion chart, for all level 1
engineers assigned to Subtask ABC.05.1.
The ability to assign partial resources to an activity is
anothervaluable feature of some programs. You may be able to assign
apercentage of a resource to a task, which is a common need
inprojects. If the program does not allow partial assignment of
re-sources to a task, you will have to artificially break down the
taskso it matches the resources allocated to it. This may be an
accept-able accommodation if the program meets your needs in
other,more important ways. Still, if you have to do this, the
program isforcing you to meet its requirements instead of meeting
your re-quirements.
Many programs let you distinguish between conventionalresources,
such as labor and equipment, and expendable re-sources, such as
cash. When a program lets you make this distinc-
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
44 Project Management and Leadership Skills
tion, you can usually allocate the cash as an expendable
resourceand then produce cash-How reports.
Resource leveling is the process of smoothing out the use
ofresources over time so you can meet whatever constraints youhave
on resource availability. Some of the better programs let
youspecify limits to resources, and the program will then
automati-cally calculate the best use of the resources over time
within thegiven limits.
Many times a project or certain activities in a project are
re-source-driven; that is, the availability and use of resources
are ofoverriding importance. Using a program that does resource
level-ing can save a lot of time and effort when you are trying to
juggleschedules to optimize the use of resources.
When you define a resource, most programs let you specifyits
cost per unit of time. Then, when the resource is assigned
toproject tasks, the total costs are calculated and kept track of
by theprogram. Usually a program will let you assign only one rate
forany given resource. To have multiple rates for a resource
youwould need to identify it as a different resource for each rate
(e.g.,Engineer 1, Engineer 2 and so on).
Another valuable feature of some programs is the ability
toassign a cost to an activity and specify that the cost accrue at
thebeginning or end of the activity. Many programs do not give
youthis choice when assigning costs, and automatically prorate
thecost over the duration of the activity. But sometimes this is
not theway costs actually accrue. This may not be a show-stopper
relativeto purchasing the program but it is a factor to consider
when youare evaluating different PM programs.
TRACKING PROGRESS
Showing actual progress of a project against project plan isone
of the things that separates many low-end programs from
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
Computer Tools for Project Management 45
their more powerful competitors. Some low-end programs
requireyou to change the planned schedule in order to show
actualprogress. This leaves no baseline plan against which you can
com-pare actual progress.
Far better are those programs that display, usually on a
Ganttchart, planned and actual progress. You enter the actual
progressor percentage of completion for each activity. And the
result, agraphic comparison between actual and planned progress,
can bea valuable tool for managing the project. This actual vs.
plannedcapability should also carryover to costing if that is
important toyou.
REPORTS
Reports of the project plan and project status are some of
themost valuable tools a program can provide. A software programcan
make updating project reports quick and easy. And to thebenefit of
all, it is becoming the norm that programs provide bothtabular and
graphical reporting capabilities.
The various programs offer a full range of reporting
capabili-ties, but there are certain reports you will want your
program toproduce:
Ganff (or &ar) c^Mrf This favorite shows each project
activityas a horizontal bar extending along the project timeline.
TheGantt chart should also show milestones (key dates)
and.preferably, planned activity progress versus actual progress.It
is helpful if the program allows for depiction of
precedencerelationships among the tasks.
NefworA: DMgrafM (PERT c/Mrf) the network diagram shouldshow all
project activities and their precedence relationships.
Acfz'uz'ft/ sc^ g^ M/g This report may go by various names,
butit is a tabular listing of all project activities with their
earliest
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
46 Project Management and Leadership SkiHs
and latest start and finish dates. It also shows how muchfloat,
or slack time, each activity has.
rcporfs At a minimum; you will want a tabular list-ing of all
resources and their assignment to activities. Re-source histograms,
vertical bar charts showing assignment ofresources over time are
also valuable.
* Cosf rgporfs A detailed breakdown of planned and ex-pended
project costs is a minimum requirement. More pow-erful programs
will calculate and graph out earned-value asthe project progresses.
An earned value graph comparesproject completion with costs
expended. These reports willalso show the estimated cost to
complete the project.Examples of computer-generated reports from
Primavera
Systems, Inc.'s S;;reT?Y!^ Projfcf Manager program are presented
atthe end of this chapter. These are but a few of the many
reportsthat it and others in its class can generate.
EAST OF USE VERSUSPOWER AND SOPHISTICATION
In software there often is a tradeoff between the program'sease
of use and its power and sophistication. Many project man-agement
programs are extremely easy to learn and use, but are toosimplistic
to manage real-life projects. They might be appropriatefor creating
the schedule for a relatively small project (say, lessthan 50
activities), but are inadequate for handling the size, bud-get and
resources of a larger project, which could comprise tasksand
milestones numbering in the hundreds or more.
On the other hand, some of the more powerful programsmay be so
difficult to learn and to use that they are often not usedat
all.
Fortunately, there are a number of programs that are botheasy to
use and very powerful. It just takes some time and re-
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
Computer Tools for Project Management 47
search to find the best one for your project management
needs.Several programs which offer the project manager a
balancedcombination of ease of use and power include Primavera
Systems,Inc.'s SMrgTh:^ Project Manager and Pn'map^ ra Projgcf
P/ann^ r andMicrosoft Corporation's Mz'crosq/f Pro/ecf.
The quality of the program's training may be one of yourmost
important considerations. This will be true if the people whowill
be using the software are not themselves experienced
projectmanagers or familiar with project management techniques. In
thatcase, you will want the program to have a good training
tutorialand very clear documentation.
IN CONCLUSION
The program features discussed in this chapter provide use-ful
criteria for comparing programs and judging their capabilities.The
most important thing is to take a hard look at your
projectmanagement requirements and determine the minimum
capabili-ties a program must have if it is to meet your needs.
Think about what you want the program to help you withmost. Do
your projects tend to be of a certain sort and have
specialrequirements? For example, is account management and cost
con-trol always a primary consideration? If so, you want a
programthat will let you put in enough detailed cost information
that youwill have full cost tracking capability.
On the other hand, after a close look at the nature of
yourprojects, you may realize they are primarily schedule
intensive.For example, if most of your projects involve meeting
strict dead-lines (and many engineering and construction projects
fall intothis class), you should look first at those programs that
provideexcellent schedule tracking and related reports.
The power and capacity of a program might be your
drivingconsideration. If you are the master scheduler for a large
projectthat is made up of many other projects, you will want to
look atthose programs that allow unlimited tasks and speed in
process-
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
48 Project Management and Leadership Skills
ing, keeping in mind as well the hardware requirements.Along
this same line, some projects, especially federal gov-
ernment projects, have very specific reporting requirements.
Eventhough federal projects amount in dollar volume to a large
pieceof the project management pie, only a few project
managementprograms actually meet federal reporting requirements
specifica-tions. So if your projects have to meet these
requirements, youneed to factor this into your software
requirements.
Or, again, if less experienced staff will be the primary usersof
the program, good training and documentation and ease of usecan be
a major consideration.
And finally, you will want to consider the program cost andhow
to justify its purchase. The best method for justifying aprogram's
cost is to determine what your project managementrequirements are
and to judge the value of the program on theextent to which it
gives you the tools you need to better manageyour projects. After a
close look at your requirements you maydecide that $1,000 for a
program is a small price to pay for thepower and sophistication it
can deliver. At the same time it wouldbe hard to justify paying a
few hundred dollars for a program thatlacks the capability to truly
help in managing your projects.
Making the effort to find the right program can yield
signifi-cant dividends to the serious project manager. And with so
manyprograms now offering full project management capability at
apersonal computer price, you won't have to look too far beforeyou
find the right one for you.
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
-
Computer Tools
for Project
Management49
^ fN
Wbe
CwwtK
'^6
Gw
06J
s8
engW&mo
ene03MAR03
0MAR03
MAR03
g
06J
AN03
07JAN
eoNvfzo
S
R03
W^ CN
04MAR0
AR0
T
-
50Project
Management and
Leadership Skills
COfQ13M)G
F^ $8 :m:jsO0O no
a*S
-
Computer Tools
for Project
Management51
Copyright 2003 by The Fairmont Press.
Project Management and Leadership Skills for Engineering and
Construction ProjectsTable of ContentsChapter 4: Computer Tools for
Project ManagementHOW DO I KNOW WHAT PROGRAM TO BUY?INITIAL SETUP -
CREATING THE PROJECT PLANActivities and SchedulingEntering the
Project PlanFull Precedence/Relationship CapabilityLimits on Number
of ActivitiesWBS CapabilitySchedule Display
Resource AllocationAssigning ResourcesAssign Partial
ResourcesResource LevelingAssign Costs
TRACKING PROGRESSREPORTSEAST OF USE VERSUS POWER AND
SOPHISTICATIONIN CONCLUSION