3/Planning the Project

Chapter 3 Planning the Project

This chapter begins by discussing the nine key elements of the project plan. The following two sections address the planning process in greater detail with considerable emphasis placed on the project launch meeting and the hierarchical planning process by which parts of the plan are sequentially broken down into finer levels of detail. This provides a natural transition to the creation of the Work Breakdown Structure. Finally, the chapter is concluded with a discussion of multidisciplinary teams including the topics of integration management and concurrent engineering.

Cases and Readings

Some cases appropriate to the subject of this chapter are: Harvard: 9-692-058 Taco Bell Corp. This 31-page best-selling case describes a project to implement a new strategic plan involving major changes in layout, staffing, quality, product design, and information systems. The coordination and integration of all these project activities is what makes the plan successful, and hard for competitors to imitate. Two teaching notes are available for this case: 5-692-091 (20 pages) and 5-196-073 (12 pages). Harvard: 9-694-059 Hardcard Project: Plus Development Corp. (A1); 9-694-060 Hardcard Project: Plus Development Corp. (A2) This 10-page (12-pages for A2) case allows the students to evaluate, using Microsoft Project software, the time line, resource allocations, and other aspects of a major project concerned with developing a hard disk drive. The perspective is from that of the VP of engineering. The (A2) case updates the project and the students have to determine whether a specific market introduction date will be feasible for the project. (Note: this case duplicates some of the information in the Plus Development Corp. case suggested for Chapter 2.) Harvard: 9-193-013 American Airlines: The InterAAct Project (A) and 9-193-014 (B) This 17-page (and 11-page) set of cases describes the design and implementation of an extensive knowledge information system project. The implementation is in trouble in the (A) case and must be reassessed. The (B) case describes the outcome of the successful implementation. A 17 page teaching note (5-194-095) is available. Harvard: 9-390-010 Grosvenor Park This case describes a very successful project involving the development of a condominium.

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A reading appropriate to the subject of this chapter is: L.M. Mallak et al. Planning for Crises in Project Management (Project Management Journal, June 1997). This article applies the planning tools from emergency management to projects with their inevitable crises. The application of risk analysis, contingency plans, logic charts, and tabletop exercises is discussed in terms of both planning for crises and managing them when they actually occur. Examples such as the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games are used to illustrate the effectiveness of crisis planning tools.

Answers to Review Questions

1. One key benefit of setting up a project plan for routine, frequent projects is that the project plan can be used as a template for similar projects in the future. Having such a template can greatly simplify future projects just filling in the blanks, while at the same time can ensure that important steps or activities are not overlooked. Furthermore, the project plan can be continuously improved and enhanced as the organization gains additional experience with these projects. 2. The reason for inviting the functional managers to the project launch meeting is that it is important to get their buy-in and support for the project and understanding the load on their subordinates. The functional managers can have a significant impact on the degree to which the project succeeds or fails based on their willingness to assign key subordinates to the project. Clearly, if they are convinced up-front of the importance of the project and perhaps even have input into the projects scope, their cooperation is more likely in later stages of the project. Another important reason for including functional managers in the project launch meeting is to get their commitment to help develop the initial plan. 3. Some of major advantages to identifying and including project team members in the project launch meeting would be getting their support early on, letting them hear first hand from senior management the importance of the project to the organization, and perhaps getting their input on more technical issues as the projects scope is initially defined. Major disadvantages include not being able to identify all project team members at this early stage, getting too bogged down in technical details to the detriment of bigger picture issues, and perhaps less involvement from the functional managers if they feel their department is adequately represented by project team members from their respective departments.
4.

One reason why self-directed teams may perform poorly is because they may not have a good understanding of how their efforts are meant to support overall organizational objectives. In the absence of this understanding, the team will likely create its own objectives which will probably lead to suboptimization if the teams objectives are only loosely related to broader organizational objectives. The solution to this problem is to ensure that the team has a solid understanding of how its objectives and its work are meant to support broader organizational objectives.

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5. Participatory management is beneficial to project planning in at least two key ways. First, including project team members in the planning process helps to ensure that important issues are not overlooked. Second, it helps ensure the team members are committed to the project. With participatory planning, team members can be asked to identify the tasks required to complete the project along with their estimates of time and other resource requirements.
6.

The Resources column is more general and simply lists the type of human, material, and machine resources needed while the Assigned to column is more specific and identifies the particular person who has responsibility for completing the activity.

7. A project launch meeting may not be required in cases where the projects are quite routine and frequent. In these cases the scope is likely well understood and the functional managers have well defined responsibilities. Project launch meetings may also not be needed if the project is to be completed entirely within one functional department. In this case, the functional manager involved can ensure the appropriate resources are assigned to the project as well as clearly define and articulate the project's scope.

Suggested Answers to Discussion Questions

8.

An incomplete Overview of the project could lead to overlooking key milestones. Typically, milestones correspond to important events of a project and it is particularly appropriate to assess the projects performance at these times. If important milestones are not identified, opportunities to identify problems early on may be missed. Inadequately defining the projects Objectives could lead to suboptimization and missing important specifications. Not thoroughly discussing the General approach could increase the number of ad-hoc decisions that have to be made as the project is completed and could also result in inconsistencies as different team members employ different approaches to address similar issues. The consequences of incompletely defining Contractual aspects include scope creep and major disputes between the client and the project team. An incomplete Schedule typically results in overlooked activities which subsequently translates into late project completions and/or cost overruns. Similarly, an incomplete Resource requirements section can result in failure to have required resources available when needed or omitted cost elements such as overhead. An incomplete Personnel section could result in overlooking important skill requirements or the need to provide the necessary training. Not adequately specifying Evaluation methods could lead to not capturing important project performance data which could impact the timely discovery of problems. Finally, not adequately considering Potential problems means that proactive contingency plans for problems that could have been anticipated are not available, forcing the project team into a more reactive mode.

9. Projects that are completed routinely would benefit from a template project action plan. In addition to routine system maintenance projects, examples of such projects include

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constructing a house, taking a drug through clinical trials, and installing the same computer system in all of an organizations manufacturing plants. 10. The hierarchical planning process is useful for project planning for a number of reasons. First, by starting very broadly and gradually adding more detail it is a logical and systematic process. Second, it fits well with typical organizational hierarchies in the sense that senior and middle-level managers can focus on the top level items and then delegate the specification of these details to the people that will be responsible for completing these tasks. A key problem with not using hierarchical planning is that important tasks may be overlooked which may ultimately delay the project and/or result in cost overruns. 11. One source of conflict on multidisciplinary teams occurs when team members tend to view problems only from their own functional perspective. One way to avoid this problem is to recruit project team members that have an orientation to problem solving rather than a particular solution approach. 12. A map of interdependencies shows the interrelationships across various functional areas. Since the relationships between functional areas are likely to change as the project progresses, explicitly mapping out these relationships for each phase of the project can help ensure that the various areas are working together at the appropriate times. 13. History Term Paper WBS 1 2 3 4 4.1 4.2 5 5.1 5.2 5.3
14.

Task Name Select Topic Get Topic Approved Outline Paper Conduct Research Library Research Research Web Write-Up Report First Draft Proof First Draft Edit First Draft

Predecessor 1 2 3 3 4.1, 4.2 5.1 5.2

Estimated Duration 1 Week 1 Week 3 Days 3 Weeks 3 Weeks 2 Weeks 4 Weeks 2 Weeks 1 Week 1 Week

Resource Name Alex, Gary, Neil Professor Daniels Alex Gary and Neil Alex Alex, Gary, Neil Gary Alex, Gary, Neil Neil

A key drawback of not using a LRC is that some required communications or tasks may fall through the cracks as no one took responsibility for completing these communications or tasks assuming they were someone elses responsibility.

15. Important relationships across functional areas will likely be overlooked if integration management is not utilized. Not identifying these relationships will reduce

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opportunities for concurrent engineering as well as lead to disconnects between these functional areas. In both cases the project schedule and budget are likely to suffer. 16. Advantages of empowered teams include high quality solutions, avoiding micromanagement, more accountability, a greater likelihood of obtaining a synergistic solution, and the availability of a tool for timely team evaluation and feedback. The most important condition is that senior management must clearly spell out the projects goals and be clear about the range of the teams authority and responsibility.

Incidents for Discussion Suggested Answers

CompuDraws Re-engineering Project: The CEO should make no decision until he gets more information. The COO must add a specific action plan with deliverables, objectives, schedules, resource needs, etc. He should also include a linear responsibility chart so they can tell what the consultants are responsible for and what CompuDraw is accountable to do to meet the targets. This would help determine if and how the work re-design project would impact ongoing routine work or other ongoing projects. Movies of the Future: The project manager should first work up the project plan, carefully delineating the projects objectives, general approach, schedules, resources, and personnel. Then the project manager can pick appropriate tools. The PM could begin with a work breakdown structure, linear responsibility chart, master schedule, and other such elements of the action plan.

Suggested Case Analyses and Solutions

St Dismas Assisted Living Facility -- 1 Teaching Purpose: The St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility cases comprise a set of cases beginning in this chapter and are all associated with the same project the planning, building, and marketing of an assisted living facility for people whose state of health makes it difficult for them to live independently, but who are not yet ill enough to require nursing home care. In this initial installment of the case, students address issues related to the project deliverables, project constraints and assumptions, the development of an action plan, and the selection of a project manager. 1. Define the project deliverables. Deliverables of the project are: Construction of a 100 unit facility Provide a positive return on investment and contribute to overall business Project outcomes that will be measured to determine project effectiveness are: Increase utilization of existing hospital outpatient services Develop more services focused on wellness and preventative medicine

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Increase census of inpatient units

2. Define project constraints and assumptions. Project assumptions are: For-profit subsidiary of St. Dismas Free standing apartment construction design Facility will be constructed to provide easy access to St. Dismas services such as kitchen area, outpatient therapy areas, etc. 100 units, some designed for heavy-assisted, and most light-assisted. Project constraints are: Construction can not begin until after November 1999 Open facility in July 2000 3. Develop a level 1 action plan. Outline the broad steps in the project, for example; Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Step Start ALF project Building design Construction Define food service needs Define housekeeping needs Define staffing needs Develop policies and procedures Create budget for facility Create financial systems (payroll, accounting, etc) Identify telecommunications & information systems needs Develop marketing plan (including ground breaking event) Develop communications plan Define clinical services needed Develop management structure Identify all regulatory requirements Complete Project Who Does Chief Operating Officer Construction Manager Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Financial Officer Director Information Services Vice President of Business Development VP Business Development Rehab Medical Director Fred Splient Fred Splient

4. Is Dr. Splient a good choice for project manager? Support your position. Students can support both yes and no answers.

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However, Fred Splient is not an appropriate project manager. Fred should function as the project champion. He can provide the necessary oversight and leadership without actually managing the project. He is the Chief Executive Officer of a major medical center; his role in the organization is not one of a project manager but an organizational leader. Fred is also far too busy to handle the day-to-day needs of managing a large project such as the planning and construction to open an assisted living facility. It has also not been identified that he has the necessary skills to manage a project. Key points for discussion: - Why does Fred want to be project manager? (He wants control of the project, he wants to be sure the project gets done, he will have members of his Board of Trustees sitting on the project team, this is a highly visible project, to his customers, board and community members. This project is a major change from the regular business of St. Dismas.) - What sort of systems can Fred set up so that he sees that the project gets managed without having to do it himself? (Fred needs to set up effective communications systems for the project. Fred could have the project manager report directly to him. Fred could still chair the project steering team.) John Wiley & Sons Teaching Purpose: This case requires students to use their creativity and develop a WBS for a website development project. 1. Develop a work breakdown structure for this project.

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Develop Website

Benchmark State-of-Art

Code Web Pages

Test/Debug

Visit Other Textbook Sites

Visit Other Non-Textbook Sites

Develop Report

Code Pages

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 8

Chapter Summary

Online Links

Digitize Videos

Online SelfTest

Online Cases

Test Questions
True/False and Multiple Choice F 1. ___ Defining resource needs is not necessary on small projects. T 2. ___ A representative of senior management should be invited to the project launch meeting. F 3. ___ The primary purpose of the launch meeting is to develop the project plan and budget. F 4. ___ When planning, it is best for the project manager to breakdown and define the different levels of the project plan. F 5. ___ The initial project meeting is just to coordinate the project, so areas of responsibility do not need to be discussed. F 6. ___ The projects objectives are set by the client and therefore do not need to be related to the firms mission.

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F 7. ___ When developing a plan, each high level step in the project should be carefully broken down into its details before moving on to the next high level step. F 8. ___ The start and finish date of a project must be specified before the action plan can be completed. F 9. ___ It is important for the project manager to arrange for all resources to be available to work on the project full-time for it to be successful. T 10. ___ A work breakdown structure is similar to an organizational chart of a project. T 11. ___ Lack of planning is a major contributor to projects failure. T 12. ___ You can depict who is responsible for a task on a Linear Responsibility Chart. F 13. ___ It is not always necessary to let functional managers know which of their resources have been assigned to a project and which are merely on loan temporarily. F 14. ___ Taken together, the Linear Responsibility Chart and the Work Breakdown Structure may be used to determine the importance of each task listed. F 15. ___ The salary requirements of human resources are a required element in the project plan. F 16. ___ The Work Breakdown Structure is one way to separate project activities by their level of importance. F 17. ___ Negotiation skills are only necessary on projects that involve multidisciplinary teams. T 18. ___ For a self-directed team to be successful, members of the team must know their authority and responsibility. T 19. ___ For a self-directed team to be successful, team members must be given their authority and mission by senior management. F 20. ___Conflict is most intense during the early phase of projects. F 21. ___ Conflict is most frequent during toward the end of a projects life. T 22. ___ Conflict is most intense during the middle stages of a projects life.

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d 23. ___Why should the project champion be invited to the Launch meeting? a. to represent senior management b. because the champion will be needed to overcome foot-dragging by functional managers. c. because the champion may have a lot at stake d. all of the above e. Only a and b b 24. ___ The project charter is a. the projects mission statement b. a document of agreement on the project plan c. the project teams contract to work on the project d. a signed-off copy of the project plan not subject to further change e. none of the above d 25. ___ Why would you do an action plan for a small routine project? a. to improve the likelihood of success on similar projects b. to define cost and schedule of other similar projects c. to be able to monitor the project d. all of the above b 26. ___ What is the primary purpose of creating a work breakdown structure? a. to draw the project plan as a chart or tree b. to make sure important tasks arent overlooked c. so that all team members can see what others are working on d. to assign budget numbers to tasks e. to identify important precedence relationships d 27. ___ When planning a project one must take into account: a. the strategic plan and objectives of the firm b. any foreseeable constraints or difficulties c. any special training needs of the resources d. all of the above e. none of the above a 28. ___ The Project Manager should get approval on the steps to complete a task from: a. the persons who will be doing the work b. the functional manager of the people assigned to do the work c. top management d. the PMs supervisor e. All of the above

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b 29. ___ Which of the following is used to highlight interfaces between departments/units? a. the Work Breakdown Structure b. the Linear Responsibility Chart c. the Project Action Plan d. the Project Resource Diagram e. the Concurrent Engineering Chart c 30. ___ The process of managing the way different groups work together on a project is called: a. Concurrent Engineering b. Integration Management c. Interface Coordination d. Transdisciplinary Engineering e. None of the above c 31. ___ Negotiations within the organization should optimize the outcome for: a. the project b. the project manager c. the organization d. the external parties-at-interest e. the project team Short Answer 32. What is the primary function of a project plan? Map the project from start to finish. 33. List 9 categories of information needed in a project master plan. Overview, Objectives, General Approach, Contractual aspects, Schedules, Resource requirements, Personnel, Evaluation, and Potential problems. 34. List some of the results of the project launch meeting. The scope of the project is set and understood. Everyone understands their responsibilities on the project. Commitment of group to develop initial project plan. 35. Define Hierarchical Planning. The act of planning using different levels of detail to develop action plans. Decomposes larger tasks into component parts. 36. What is included in the project action plan? Tasks needed to complete the project, estimates of the resources needed for each task, estimated time to complete each task, information about who is responsible for the task, and the sequence in which the task should be completed.

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37. Why is it important to use participative management and empowered teams on a project? Teams generate higher quality solutions to problems, less likely to micromanage, team given accountability for work and project, and PM has a tool for feedback and team evaluation.

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