4.3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing
resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and
objectives.
4.3.1 Introduction
A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end,
undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives, usually to bring about
beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in
contrast to other business functions which are repetitive and permanent or semi -permanent undertaken to produce products or services.
The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals
and objectives within the preconceived project constraints. Typical constraints are
scope, time, and resources. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to
optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined
objectives. Typical development phases of a project are:
1. Project initiation stage
2. Project planning or design stage
3. Project implementation stage
4. Project monitoring and controlling systems
5. Project completion stage.
4.3.2 Project Manager – Role and Responsibility
A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project
managers have the responsibility of planning, execution, and closing of any
project. The project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives within the allotted time. Key project management
responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building
the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which is
cost, time, and scope.
4.3.3 Software Project Management
Software project management is the art and science of planning and leading
software projects. It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software
projects are planned, monitored and controlled.
The purpose of project planning is to identify the scope of the project, estimate
the work involved, and create a project schedule. Project planning begins with
requirements that define the software to be developed. The project plan is then
developed to describe the tasks that will lead to completion.
The purpose of project monitoring and control is to keep the team and
management up to date on the project's progress. If the project deviates from the
plan, then the project manager can take action to correct the problem. Project
monitoring and control involves status meetings to gather status from the team.
When changes need to be made, change control is used to keep the products up to
date.
By applying the project management cycle, one can make sure that everything
gets done on time and that the project objectives are being achieved.
4.3.4 Project Management Software
Project management software covers many types of software, including
scheduling, cost control and budget management, resource allocation, Timesheet
management, collaboration software, communication, quality management and
documentation or administration systems. These are used to deal with the
complexity of large projects.
The different project management activities which can be performed using the
Project Management Software are:
- Scheduling
1. Events which depend on one another in different ways
2. Scheduling team members tasks along with the resources required by them
commonly termed resource scheduling
3. Dealing with uncertainties in the estimates of the duration of each task
- Calculating critical pat
In many complex schedules, there will be a critical path, or series of events which
depend on each other, and whose durations directly determine the length of the
whole project. Some software applications (for example, Dependency Structure
Matrix solutions) can highlight these tasks, thus helping in optimization of effort.
- Providing information
1. Tasks lists for team members
2. Allocation schedules for resources
3. Overview information on how long tasks will take to complete
4. Early warning of any risks to the project
5. Information on workload, for planning holidays
6. Historical information on how projects have progressed, and in particular, how actual and planned performance are related
7. Optimum utilization of available resources
- Timesheet Management
A good timesheet management system in place, is essential both for the customer
projects as well as internal activities within the organization. Timesheets not only
help the Project Manager in managing the project in a better manner but is also
useful for maintaining employee records for payroll calculations as well as helps
in improving the overall productivity of the organization.
A good timesheet management system in place, is essential both for the customer
projects as well as internal activities within the organization. Timesheets not only
help the Project Manager in managing the project in a better manner but is also
useful for maintaining employee records for payroll calculations as well as helps
in improving the overall productivity of the organization.
Various Timesheet management software are available like Timesheet Reporter,
Ace Project, Time Reporting, Qtime and Time Control. Many of the Project
Management tools also have a timesheet management module.
4.3.5 Tools for Project Management
Project Management software tools are of three types:
Desktop applications : These are software packages installed on the PC. E.g. MS
Project, Gantt Project
Web-based Services : These are websites which offer on-line internet
applications that support project management. No separate hardware or software
is required as the application is installed on some web server from where it is
accessed. E.g. iTeam Work
Web based Systems : These are web based software which are installed in your
own hardware and accessed through intranet network. E.g. dot Project
In this section, the main features of MS Project software are described:
4.3.5.1 Microsoft Office Project
One of the most widely used software for Project Management used all over the
world is MS Project. It is used for planning, managing and organizing resources
for all kinds of projects. It uses a powerful scheduling engine to help align
different projects and tasks with available resources.
Project requires all information about the overall project, the individual tasks
needed to complete the project and the resources needed. For each task, the
duration of task, its dependencies and constraints are also required. Once it has all
the necessary information, it can calculate the start date and finish date for each
task.
The resources responsible for completing each task helps in Project staffing and
management of these resources across projects.
After project scheduling if at any point of time, the information about the project
changes, the task and resources can be updated and the project schedule is
adjusted.
The main features of MS Project 2007 are explained below:
4.3.6 Create and Schedule Project
Most of the projects are scheduled based and the project start date and the finish
date is calculated on the basis of the last task to be completed. However, there
might be projects where the finish date is known, and there is a need to calculate
the project start date so that it is completed on schedule date. Both kind of
projects with known start date or known finish date can be scheduled using MS
Project.
1. Click the File Tab, and then click New
2. Select Blank Project and click Create
3. On the Project Tab, in the properties group, click Project Information
4. Schedule the project in the project Information dialog box. To schedule from
Start date, select Project Start date in the Schedule from box and then chose
the start date. To schedule from the finish date, select the Project Finish Date
in the Schedule from box and choose the finish date.
4.3.7 Define File Properties for the Project
1. Open the project2. Click on File Tab, and then click Info
3. Choose Project Information and then Advanced Properties
4. On the Summary tab, give the relevant project information
4.3.8 Add Tasks to the Project
Tasks are created to break the project work into smaller pieces. Tasks are
activities of the project.
1. On the View tab, in the Task Views group, choose Gantt chart option
2. In the Task Name field, type a task name. The Task IDs are automatically created.
3. It is also possible to create multiple tasks using the Task Form View. To do this, On the View Tab, in the Split View group, select Details. The window is split to display the Gantt chart on the top and Task view form at the bottom. In the Task Form view, type the task information like Name, Duration, assigned resources and predecessor tasks.
4.3.9 Create Milestones
Any major event in a project is marked as a Milestone and is used to monitor the
project’s progress. Any task with zero duration is marked as milestone. Any other
task of any duration can also be a Milestone in the project.
1. On the View Tab, in the Tasks View tab, click Gantt chart.
2. Type the name of the new milestone in the Task Name field
3. Type 0 in the Duration field of the milestone task to create the task as milestone
4. To create a task with greater than zero duration as Milestone, select the task and then on the Task tab, choose the Task Information from the Properties group. Select the Mark Task as Milestone check box. In the task Information dialog box, click Advanced tab and then give the duration of the Milestone.
Check Your Progress 2 👈
1. What is a Milestone in a project?
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2. What is a critical task in a project?
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3. What information can help me analyze my projects progress?
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4. What is the difference between Lead time and Lag time?
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