Project Execution Control UNIVERISTY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN By: Chanen Jeane Miranda.
Project Execution and Control is an online course offered in Coursera by the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. The instructor of the course is Fataneh Taghaboni-Dutta, Ph. D., PMP. There are also guests from Walgreens, such as Senior Director Sean Bauer and Senior Manager Andrew Howard. There are also experts from a Technology company Senior Manager Harshad Desai.
The course is about the project management process. The course will cover the execution phase, deliver the project within the timeline and budget, and assess the project. The course is designed to teach you to manage projects using a waterfall method and an agile approach. The first module covers how to construct a realistic project plan. Furthermore, the second module focuses on using the waterfall technique to track the development of a project. The following module is about completing the project and learning more about it. The last section covered how to use Scrum to start and plan dynamic projects. Since the course covers the execution project, closure, and assessment, this is a vital topic in Construction and Engineering Management. We must be familiar with the execution process, progress review, and closing when working in the field. At the end of the course, students will learn about resource leveling and its many sorts, tracked projects, scrum project closure, adaptive sprint process, and earned value management. The student will learn to use crashing, fast-tracking, cost tracking, and project cost and time forecasting.
Also, They aim to teach the student how to re-evaluate projects, identify issues with earned value management, and build a project baseline plan. After completing the course, the students will also learn to create a status report, use a change management plan, reallocate resources, and audit projects. A series of online video lectures are used to provide the course. After each topic, short quizzes called concept checks are given to assess the student's understanding of the concepts covered. At the end of each module, there is also a long quiz. From Week 2 to Week 4 of the course, professionals who are presently working in the industry were asked to share their knowledge and answer questions from the course teacher. We're also prompted to download a program called "Project Libre." They offered a video lecture after describing the topic of utilizing project libre to do the work they covered in the course, such as analyzing project cost using it or reviewing it. With "Project Libre" the student can explore the application and use it for other projects.
PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Resource Leveling in Construction Project SCHEDULING OF RESOURCES In the scheduling of resources, the project managers need to detect the overallocation problem. Project managers do not like to work on a project plan that, at first, relies on resources working extra to complete their allocated tasks. The project managers must first detect the overallocation problem. However, they also need to know if they have resources or not. If yes, good that plan can now be executed. But, if not, they have to do resource allocation. In construction, they have three main types of resources materials, equipment, and people. We don't have enough of one item or another at specific points in our projects most of the time. SCHEDULING RESOURCES – LEVELING WITHIN FLOAT
There are just three team members in the example above; the resource allocation problem was handled by deferring noncritical operations until more resources became available. In the case above, the project will still be completed without incurring any additional expenditures. Recognizing the project's critical activities and comprehending the float of noncritical project activities are critical. The strategy of leveling outside the float might be varied. SCHEDULING RESOURCES – LEVELING WITHIN FLOAT
Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 1. Scheduling Resources — Leveling Outside of Float Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 1. Scheduling Resources — Leveling Within Float
Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 1. Scheduling Resources — Leveling Outside of Float
Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 1. Scheduling Resources — Leveling Within Float
Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 1. Scheduling Resources — Leveling Within Float
The over-allocation problem persists, as seen in the example above, regardless of where the activity is moved. That is when they must negotiate with the customer, and the answer to this difficulty will be determined by the project's priority. They will need to recruit an additional worker if they want to finish on time. They must renegotiate the initial project scope due to money and timing restrictions. This is why the project lifecycle's execution, planning, and definition often overlap to ensure that the plan is realistic. 2
PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT The US Department of Defense established the earned value concept in the early 1960s, and it has since become highly essential in project management and cost engineering. It's still a significant element of all US government purchases and procurement, and it's still the most popular way for project schedule and cost control. For project managers, understanding the notion is critical. Earned value is a notion that emphasizes the actual cost of performance. Put another way; it assesses how much we have achieved for the money we have spent. The plan will be the baseline in project management if we have a strategy that all stakeholders have agreed. We will use the baseline to assess how well we're doing as we work on the project. As a result, a project's baseline is established, including the initial scope, cost, and timeline. Project Libre is an application that can be used to enter updated information concerning the project's progress. They can do project tracking using the earned value concept using the schedule variance, schedule performance index, cost variance, and cost performance index. Moreover, earned value can be used for forecasting the cost. Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 2
They used the formula for an estimate to complete, estimate at completion, variance at completion, and to-complete performance index. Through earned value management, the cost can be forecasted. The project managers can also forecast the schedule. They will be using the formula for the project performance index. When it comes to assessing schedule performance and variance, project management software systems like Microsoft Project and earned value management might lead to misconceptions. It is critical to recognize and address these flaws. Many academics are working to enhance how schedules may be monitored using time rather than cash as the unit of measurement. However, none has yet become a widely accepted standard. Until then, the most important thing to remember is to understand how it works. You'll be able to keep an eye on it and operate it appropriately once you've figured it out.
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Document Title
LEADING Leaders are not only excellent managers, but they also understand how to deal with constantly changing circumstances. To keep the project on track, a leader must first be able to recognize the need for change. This entails identifying and expressing a requirement that might have a substantial impact on the project's direction and functioning. Aligning people with the new direction, inspiring them to collaborate to overcome obstacles posed by the shift, and recognizing the importance of the new goals. Recognize that effective planning will reduce the need for change implementation, which is why all good leaders have strong management abilities.
MANAGING Being proactive in identifying and addressing problems. Being able to read people and respond effectively when others want assistance. Being successful in managing their time; time will be the scarcest resource a project manager has, and they will need to be able to effectively organize their time, which means they will know how to prioritize and delegate. Project managers will interact with a diverse collection of individuals, which necessitates the ability to communicate with each group in words that are meaningful to them. Most importantly, they must be an optimist, believing that no matter what goes wrong, there is a way to resolve the challenges and complete the project on time, on budget, and within scope.
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PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
LEADING LEADINGTEAMS TEAMS For Forproject projectmanagers, managers,the theproject projectteam teamand andits itsperformance performanceare arean animportant importantaspect aspectof of leadership. leadership.With Witheach eachnew newproject, project,project projectteams teamsmust mustgo gothrough throughaaprocess processof ofteam team development developmentto tobecome becomeaacohesive cohesiveone. one.There Thereare arefive fivesteps stepsto tothis thisprocedure. procedure.
Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 3. Leading Teams Members are still learning about the project and each other at this point. The team then continues on to the storming stage, which is the second step. During this stage, team members will openly or covertly disagree over project concerns. Conflicts frequently arise as a result of differing viewpoints and ideas about the project or what has to be accomplished. Project managers must assist the team in moving to the next level of development, the norming stage, as rapidly as feasible. This is when project participants grasp the project's goals and embrace the behavioral standards and the team responsibilities. They may not always agree on everything. However, the team has come to a shared understanding. And acceptance of how the project should be conducted, allowing the team to go to the performance stage. The work is well-coordinated, and they have learned to deal with challenges as they emerge constructively. The team stays at this stage with the support of the project manager until the project is finished. At which point, the group proceeds to the last step, which is the adjourning stage. Although some team members may have already gone, this is a critical step in the post-project transition. 5
PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Change Management Process Submit change request
Evaluate
Review by the board
Incorporrate
Verify
There will be occurrences during the project's life cycle that will need specific adjustments. Changing whatever has to be modified and, on occasion, establishing a new baseline plan will measure all future progress. When a stakeholder wants to alter something, the first thing they will do is request a modification from the project manager. After examining the change requests and concluding that they were acceptable modifications, the project manager would write a formal change request and present it to the change control board. This board will decide whether or not a proposed project change should be authorized. The change control board has the last word on modifications that have been accepted, rejected, or tabled for additional research or discussion. The board will decide whether or not a proposed project change should be authorized. The change control board reviews the proposed changes, and if any of them are approved, they are communicated to the project team and the client. Finally, they must integrate the changes into the baseline plan to ensure a process that maintains control over changes, the steps below are recommended.
Closing Phase: Delivering a Project The closure phase is the last stage of a project's life cycle. All criteria were satisfied, and issues were rectified to the satisfaction of the customer. During the closing phase of most projects, there are some bumps on the road. During the space, three key activities occurred: • Delivering the project to the client. • Releasing the resource used in the project so they could be allocated to other projects. • Releasing the resource used in the project so they could be assigned to other projects. And performing post-project audits to determine what variables contributed to the project's success and what factors contributed to its failure.
Source: Coursera: Project Execution and Control. Week 3. Closing Phase — Delivering the Project
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Document Title
SCRUM PROJECT CLOSURE In Scrum, new features are built and delivered at the end of each iteration. Then there's the question of how to call a total dissolution team and go on to new endeavors. How do we know when we've made it to the finish line? Given Scrum's iterative methodology, a project might be considered finished at the end of any sprint. This might be because product owners are satisfied with what the team has created and don't require many more features at this time. They sometimes referred to it as the 80/20 rule. The understanding is that 20% of the product backlog provides the most substantial benefit, accounting for 80% of its value. In Scrum, it's also necessary to appropriately close down a project. The first is the concept of handover, which differs from most other projects in that software projects may never have a final handover. A handover signifies that the customer has approved the project's product. The product is deemed final after the last sprint review meeting. The input from this meeting will not be utilized to groom the product backlog. Instead, it will be utilized to make the required adjustments to the product, such as a few minor tweaks that the team has to make before a formal sign-off.
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PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Project Execution Control UNIVERISTY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Source: www.rethinkingthefuture.com
“A good plan can help with risk analysis, but it will never guarantee the smooth running of the project.” – Bentley and Borman
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