Week 12 Questions

1.Explain the triple constraint and its importance in project management.

The triple constraint is the process of making tradeoffs between scope, time and cost for a project. This is the triangle below. Each concept is interdependent and you can’t change

one without changing the other. Throughout a project it is inevitable that one of these three things will change and therefore project management is about how well you can change the others to fit the project too and make it still effective and efficient. Project

management is the ability to make intelligent trade offs for cost, time and scope.

2.Describe the two primary diagrams most frequently used in project planning

The two primary diagrams most frequently used in project planning are the PERT and GANTT charts.

An example of what a PERT chart looks like (below)

The PERT chart is a way of outlining the schedule of the project, when various tasks should be completed and critical paths that tasks should take in order to be completed in time. It documents the key aspects of the project. It is a fantastic chart to use when project planning and is a great management tool.

How are they used?

1. Firstly one must identify all tasks in the project.

2. Identify what task needs to be completed first,

3. Identify tasks that can be completed simultaneously with number one.

4. Identify the second task

5. Steps 2-3 are repeated until all tasks have been completed.

6. Task durations are established

7. Critical paths for particular tasks are determined

The second chart used in the Gantt chart. This is a bar chart that outlines a projects schedule. They show the start and finish of important tasks and elements of a project. It is much simpler than PERT as it outlines these tasks against a calendar.

An example of GANTT (below)

Gantt charts determine terminal elements as well as the summary ones and can at times link various elements that can have a relationship with one another. Because of its simplicity and because it is easy to read and interpret the Gantt chart is the most common one used by project managers.

This video explains how to make a Gantt chart

3.Identify the three primary areas a project manager must focus on managing to ensure success

The three primary areas project managers must focus on in order to ensure success are the following:

- Managing people; This can be the hardest one with managers needing to ensure that all members of their team are working well together and that all conflict within the team is resolved. Balancing the needs of the project and the personal needs to the team and stakeholders is one of the hardest things to do for a project manager.

- Managing communications; Management need to ensure that they are effectively communicating project goals. It is important for management to state in the planning stages exactly what they want and how they will achieve it, through this clear communication a successful project can be achieved. In order for continuous success management should throughout the project communicate success and failures and work towards communicating how to improve.

- Managing change; Change is inevitable so management need to know how to effectively manage this. Change happens through market shifts or through technology and successful management anticipates these changes and develops as these changes occur.

4.Outline 2 reasons why projects fail and two reasons why projects succeed.

Two reasons why projects fail are:

—Inability to move beyond individual and personality conflicts; Conflict is a major issue in projects, if people fail to move past their personal conflicts then team work can not be established. Most businesses need team work in order to succeed.

—Unrealistic expectations; The goals set my management are not SMART and therefore are unrealistic to achieve either in the th time frame given or with resources provided. SMART goals need to be set in order to projects to succeed.

Two reasons why they succeed:

—Good communication: Goals are clearly outlined and the management can clearly communicate the path in which to get to the goal. Good communication is the key to a successful project.

—Team members are working toward common goals; when team member work towards a common goal there are less conflicts and a common ground to stand on.

For more information on project management visit:

http://www.thoughtware.com.au/documents/method123-ebook.pdf