Project Management World Today Featured Papers
May 2006
Editorial | Viewpoints | Papers | Community |Scene | Publications
- A Brief History of Scheduling by Patrick Weaver
- “Does Yer Dewg Bite?” Be It the Customer or Your Manager, Only If You Let Them by Rob Zanfardino
- Tracking Employee Time: It's Not Just For Payroll Anymore by Curt Finch
- The Desktop is Dead: the Fourth Wave of Business Applications by Chris Lynch
- Aligning Project Delivery for Success in a Program Management Environment by Jean Brittingham
- Blueprint for a Project Management Office by Eduardo Miranda
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF SCHEDULING
by Patrick Weaver
The science of ‘scheduling’ as defined by Critical Path Analysis (CPA) will celebrate its 50th Anniversary on the 7th May 2007. In 1956/57 Kelly and Walker started developing the algorithms that became the ‘Activity-on-Arrow’ or ADM methodology for DuPont. The program they developed was trialed on plant shutdowns in 1957 and the first paper on critical path scheduling was published in 1958. The critical meeting to approve this project was held on the 7th May 1957 in Newark Delaware where DuPont and Remington Rand jointly committed US$226,400 to fund the development. This date seems the most appropriate ‘start point’ for a development process that borrowed from previous research and developments and continues to this day.
The PERT system was developed by the US military in parallel with CPM, but lagged CPM by 6 to 12 months (although the term ‘critical path’ was invented by the PERT team). Later the Precedence (PDM) methodology was published by Dr. John Fondahl in 1961 as a ‘non-computer’ alternative to CPM. Arguably, the evolution of modern project management is a direct consequence of the need to make effective use of the data generated by the schedulers in an attempt to manage and control the critical path.
Read the full text at A Brief History of Scheduling
About the Author:
Patrick
Weaver is the Managing Director of Mosaic Project Services Pty Ltd an
Australian project management training and consulting company. Following
four years full time tertiary education in the UK, Patrick worked on
a number of major construction projects in the UK and Middle East before
migrating to Australia in 1974. In Australia, he worked with leading
construction companies in administration and planning roles until start
his own management consultancy business in 1985. Patrick’s consultancy
business focuses on schedule controls and developing and presenting project
management training courses (including PMP and CAPM courses for PMI accreditation).
He has been a member of both PMI and AIPM since 1984 and is the National
President of the Chartered Institute of Building, Australia.
“DOES YER DEWG BITE?” BE IT THE CUSTOMER OR YOUR MANAGER, ONLY IF YOU LET THEM
by Rob Zanfardino, Senior Project/Program Manager
For those of you who ever watched the Pink Panther movie series written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers, by far one of the most famous movie scenes is in the movie The Pink Panther Strikes Again. The scene starts when Inspector Clouseau the bumbling main character of the movie goes up to an inn keeper and asks for a room. During the conversation with the inn keeper the inspector says the following:
Inspector Clouseau: "Does yer dewg (dog) bite?”
Inn Keeper: “No”
Inspector Clouseau: “Nice Doggy” (he bends down to pet a dachshund - it snarls and bites him.)
Inspector Clouseau: ”I thought you said yer dewg did not bite!”
Inn Keeper: “Zat... iz (That is) not my dog!”
To this day when my wife Dawn and I want to laugh about a situation where we assumed one thing and it turned out to be something else we recite this scene to each other. If you look at the scene in the movie this could very well take place on any of your projects. If you analyze the scene Inspector Clouseau did what any reasonable person would ask when approaching an unknown pet, he asked a reasonable question but assumed the nearness of the individual accurately determined the ownership of the pet.
Mistaking ownership of a project can happen to any one of us while on a project. If you fail to ask the right questions as you determine your risk plan, if you fail to follow through with the series of right questions or you minimize the risk itself, you may unintentionally fail to capture the risk in its entirety and therefore it will come up to bite you somewhere in the project.
Read the full text at “Does Yer Dewg Bite?” Be It the Customer or Your Manager, Only If You Let Them
About the Author:
Robert
J. Zanfardino, Senior Project / Program Manager, has worked with multi
billion dollar corporations such as IBM, Gentiva Health Services, CompuCom,
and Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as smaller midsize companies while managing
his own consulting company. This deep range of experiences over the years
developed Rob into a Senior Advisor playing pivotal roles by identifying
new strategies and methodologies within corporations as they effect the project
life cycle. His ability to envision long term solutions combined with structuring
sensible implementation plans have made Rob a valued asset and "Go To" resource.
As an Adjunct Professor focusing on Business Process Management methodologies,
Rob has devised quality strategies used to streamline processes that focus
on the customer's needs. Rob is currently consulting with corporations
enhancing their IT/IS projects, project management offices, and business
process methodologies. Rob can be contacted at: 845-226-6074 or email: zanfardino4@earthlink.net.
TRACKING EMPLOYEE TIME: IT'S NOT JUST FOR PAYROLL ANYMORE
by: Curt Finch, CEO, Journyx
When payroll executives implement time and attendance systems to automate payroll, they often miss the chance to facilitate greater profitability throughout the entire company. These executives are, of course, payroll experts. They are usually not, however, experts at project management or billing automation.
The time data they collect, if collected appropriately, can also be used to automate project management, project costing, project tracking and project estimation improvement, as well as for internal, external and reverse billing automation. Most payroll and HR executives know little about these subjects, but increasingly, they are being asked to rise to new challenges.
These new challenges are being caused by the tectonic shift from capital businesses to people businesses. This is a shift of valuing time as much as money. About 50 years ago, when most people twisted bolts in a factory, workers were not considered volunteers, they were not empowered, and managing the money of the company (i.e. the capital) was much more important than maximizing the time and knowledge of the worker. Such businesses are called capital businesses because power and wealth flowed from the capital.
Today, capital businesses are on the wane and businesses are becoming people businesses.
Read the full text at Tracking Employee Time: It's Not Just For Payroll Anymore
About the Author:
Curt
Finch is the CEO of Journyx,
a provider of Web-based software located in Austin, Texas, that automates
billing, payroll & project management by tracking time, expenses and
mileage. Finch is a software industry veteran. In 1997, Curt created the
world's first Internet-based timesheet application and the foundation for
the current Journyx product offering. Curt has managed development teams
creating enterprise-level software solutions since 1985, with a focus on
distributed workforce management.
THE DESKTOP IS DEAD: THE FOURTH WAVE OF BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
by Chris Lynch, VP Product Engineering, eProject
The death of the desktop has been predicted for many years. Since 1995, everyone from Larry Ellison to Scott McNealy has declared the desktop computing model to be dead at one time or another. These very smart prognosticators were not wrong. They were just too early. Technologies simply weren’t ready to support the vision of Software as a Service (SaaS) – nor were business attitudes ready to accept it.
Due to a number of different converging factors, we are finally at a time where the vision of on-demand software is becoming a reality. One important market driver is the growing popularity of online consumer applications like Google Gmail and Microsoft Virtual Earth. These products are changing public perceptions about web-based applications by exposing users to the benefits of having software delivered as a service via the web.
With the growing popularity of web-based business products such as NetSuite and Salesforce.com, applications like ERP and CRM have become drivers in the corporate software arena. These on-demand applications allow businesses to quickly and easily extend the value of a program to the entire enterprise – a previously daunting task for organizations using the client/server-based approach.
Read the full text at The Desktop is Dead: the Fourth Wave of Business Applications
About the Author:
Chris
Lynch brings more than 10 years experience in technical design and development,
and is responsible for making eProject's Software-as-a-Service platform
and product vision for project and portfolio management (PPM) a reality.
Lynch spearheads the engineering effort by leveraging his experience with
enterprise-level Internet application services while ensuring innovative
thinking, refined development processes and proven quality assurance practices.
Prior to eProject, Lynch served as vice president of Research and Development at Media Logic, a project engineering consulting firm specializing in Microsoft development technologies and solutions. At Media Logic, he provided architectural and engineering direction for a variety of high-profile clients, including Microsoft, Nikkei Japan and HP. In a partnership with Microsoft and Unisys, Lynch provided architectural and software engineering consultation on a law enforcement messaging system with scale to support over 100 million users.
Before joining Media Logic, Lynch held a variety of senior-level management positions focused on technical design and development for leading-edge technology firms. Prior to that, Lynch served as a Development Manager at Microsoft where he was in charge of the architecture, engineering, and operation of a globalized CRM application deployed across over 50 Microsoft properties in the Consumer and Commerce Group.
ALIGNING PROJECT DELIVERY FOR SUCCESS IN A PROGRAM MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT
by Jean Brittingham
Over the past decade, the knowledge of how to successfully manage extensive capital improvement programs has grown considerably. Innovative management information systems linked to project and program controls, enhanced delivery capability through the use of integrated owner-consultant teams, and the strengthening of project management within engineering divisions have provided real improvements and significant cost savings for program delivery. It has become evident that a clearly defined project management approach, consistently applied on all projects within the capital plan, may be the most important first step in preparing an organization for world class delivery of a capital program.
This is largely because it has become increasingly clear that there is a critical and dynamic inter-relationship between program management and project management. This relationship, and the concurrent interdependencies, should be understood before choosing a program management approach for delivering your Capital Plan. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and clarify the relationship between program management and project management, and define the attributes of a strong project management approach.
Read the full text at Aligning Project Delivery for Success in a Program Management Environment
About the Author:
Ms.
Brittingham is a management scientist and program manager with more than
20 years of experience working with communities, decision-makers and policy
bodies in diverse cultures and difficult situations. She has worked extensively
in North America and internationally and is particularly interested in civil
and commercial development that goes beyond “doing no harm” to
create viable and vibrant communities positioned to take advantage of cultural
and technology shifts as they happen. As the Technology Director for CH2M
HILL’s Civil Infrastructure Program and Construction Management team,
Brittingham has lead the development and creation of web-based tools in
Best Practices for Program Management. She is an advocate of Sustainable
Development and is on the Core Faculty to the Prince of Wale’s Business
and the Environment Programme at the University of Cambridge, U.K. Brittingham
holds a Bachelor’s in Business, an MBA and numerous certifications.
BLUEPRINT FOR A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE
by Eduardo Miranda
As organizations turn to the project form as their preferred way to organize product development work, the need to coordinate the use of scarce resources and align initiatives becomes evident.
The Project Management Office (PMO) is the line organization that provides the infrastructure and competence necessary to manage projects. Its main responsibilities include: project portfolio management, capacity planning, scope management, inter-project coordination, overall project oversight, cost estimation, contingency planning, quality assurance, subcontract management, project managers’ development, process management and tool support.
The PMO objective, in contrast with those of a single project, is to complete all projects to best achieve the goals of the organization. Its responsibilities include: project portfolio management, strategic resource planning, inter-project coordination, overall project oversight, cost estimation, contingency planning, quality assurance, external provisioning, project managers’ development, process management and tool support.
Read the full text at Blueprint for a Project Management Office
About the Author:
Mr.
Miranda is a Program Director at Ericsson Research Canada. His work
spans the development and maintenance of real-time and information
management systems. Currently Mr. Miranda is working in the development
of new estimation and planning approaches for R&D projects. Mr.
Miranda is also affiliated with the Université du Québec à Montréal
as an Industrial Researcher.
Mr. Miranda holds a Master of Engineering degree from the University
of Ottawa and a Master degree in Project Management from the University
of Linkoping. Mr. Miranda has published over ten papers in software development
methodologies, estimation and project management and is the author of
the book “Running the Successful Hi-Tech Project Office” published
by Artech House in March 2003.
Mr. Miranda can be reached at: eduardo.miranda@ericsson.com
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