INTRODUCTION

As a project manager of Clean Insure Solutions, a software company providing software solutions for insurance brokers across Europe. With the task of launching a new product whose success will enhance my company s market share in Europe. Having acquainted myself with the requirement, I will set out by, first, creating a network diagram for job activities, calculating the critical path and float time and finally by developing the Responsibility Assignment Matrix. Planning and organizing is time well spent when managing a project Stanley E. Portny (www. Dummiess.com). The project schedule is broad and encompassing and need to be mastered by all members of staff and as well as the management team to effectively manage the project from the beginning to the end (Project Schedule Network Diagram- Project Management knowledge.com/definition). In En-sure plan, list of activities are identified with project duration and their dependencies. These must be put into consideration while creating a schedule network diagram from the activities, and predecessor task given.

FIGURE 1.0 A SCHEDULE NETWORK DIAGRAM FOR EN-SURE PROJECT PLAN

A SCHEDE NETWORK DIAGRAM FOR EN-SURE PROJECT PLAN F D A

START
B

C E G

H I

FINISH

The above schedule network diagram is a flowchart that illustrates the order in which EN-Sure activities will be performed. The nodes represent the activities while the arrows represent the relationships that exist between tasks. From the above diagram, the critical path and the float time can be calculated Critical path is an important tool needed in keeping your project on track. It is the string of activities that, totality of the durations is longer than any other path through the network. It usually starts with the first activity in the network and usually ends with last one. Jenifer Greene and Andrew Stallman (2007) (www.headfirstlabs.com)

THE CRITICAL PATH OF THE EN-SURE PROJECT DEDUCED FROM NETWORK DIAGRAM
Path 1 = Start A C D F J Finish = 3 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 0 = 13 Path 2 = Start A C E F J Finish = 3 +3 + 5 +3 +0 = 14 Path 3 = Start A C E H I Finish = 3+3+5+5+2 = 18 Path 4 = Start A C E G I Finish = 3+3+5+3+2 = 16 Path 5 = Start B C D F J Finish = 2+3+4+3+0 = 12 Path 6 = Start B C E F J Finish = 2 +3+5+3+0 = 13 Path 7 = Start B C E H I Finish = 2+3+5+5+2 =17 Path 8 = Start B C E G I Finish = 2+3+5+3+2 =15 The part with the longest duration in the network diagram is the critical part of the project Path 3 = Start A C E H I Finish = 3+3+5+5+2 = 18 (CRITICAL PATH) The critical path is 18 This is achieved by finding the entire path in the network diagram, by finding the duration of each path by adding up the duration of each activity on the path. The critical path is the one with longest duration

TABLE:1 THE CRITIACL PATH TABLE PATH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A 3 3 3 3 B C 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 D 4 E 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 F 3 3 G H I J 0 0 DURATION 13 14 18 16 12 13 17 15

5 3 3 3 5 3

2 2 0 0 2 2

2 2 2 2

FLOAT AVAILABLE FOR ALL ACTIVITIES IN EN-SURE TO ACHIEVE THE BUSINES GOAL

Float is the amount of time that it can slip before it causes your project to be delayed the float for every activity in the critical path is zero Jenifer Greene and Andrew Stallman (2007). The float the activities on the critical path A C E H I =O

TABLE 2: FLOAT TABLE

ACTIVITY A B C D E F G H I J FLOAT O I O 5 O 4 2 O O 4

Float for Activity B

Path 7 = critical path next longest path = 18 17 =1 B=1 The next longest path is = 16 Float for G = 18 16 = 2 Float for F & J = 18 14 = 4 Float D = 18 13 = 5 Jenifer Greene and Andrew Stallman (2007)

RESPONSIBILITY ASSIGNMENT MATRIX FOR EN-SURE PROJECT PLAN

Having identified the project activities, a relationship between project schedule activities and team members along with their responsibilities has to be identified and RAM can be used to indicate this relationship.

Assumptions
Considering the activities on the critical path, major responsibility has to be assigned to a specific person, with the head steering committee and project manager coordinate and ensure there is no delay on delivery. The quality assurance lead has to be consulted on all the activities on the critical path to ensure it meets the product specification.

TABLE 3.0 RESPONSIBILTY ASSIGNMENT MATRIX Roles

Mid level business analyst

Mid level Quality Analyst

Head Project steering Committee

Mid Level Develop

Junior Developers 3 2 3

Mid Level Analyst

Business Analyst

Technical Lead

Lead Architect

Quality Lead

A B C D E F G H I J

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1

1 1 1

1 1 1 1

1 1

1 1 1

1. Technical lead (Sanjay) he will be the head for the program developers. He must be consulted before any final decision is made. 2. Lead Architect (BOB. He will coordinate and supervise the technical architecture for Broker En-Sure and will have a primary responsibility to secure approval for eh architecture from design review. He will also be consulted on all the technical issue 3. Mid level developer (Tim): He will be responsible for coordination of the entire task between the developers. 4. Business Analyst (Debra): She will be responsible for coordination architecture and development. She will also Work in hand with technical team to understand the product. 5. Quality lead (Manish): He will create and oversees all the quality assurance Management process to ensure they meet up the product specification.

Project M

Activity

6. Mid level quality (Katie): He will work hand in hand with (manish). He will be responsible for daily quality assurance check on the product 7. Mid Level Business Analyst (Ajay): He will assist the Business analyst for day to day communication between the business development unit and technical development unit. 8. Junior Developers (Sara, sam, Aajmaal, Ramesh) (They will be responsible for product development and creating requirement understanding document based on customers inputs. Creating a product feature list with short description, developing all the schedule feature during each phase of the project 9. Project Manager the project manager will be responsible for responsibility allocation. He will also consult with Head of project steering committee. He will also focus on the project goals, scope and recording any issues as they arise. He will supervise the team to ensure they meet up with the project objective. For successful implementation of the plan, a good communication plan must be developed and adhered to for success. References 1. Jenifer Greene and Andrew Stallman (2007) A Brain Friendly Guide: Head First PMP Available at http:// www.headfirstlabs.com
(Accessed 14 February 2012)

2. Module 2: Planning and Budgeting with Risk University of Liverpool Online Education. Available at http://elearning.uol.ohecampus.combbcswebdav/xid (Accessed 10 February 2012) 3. Project Schedule Network Diagram- Project (no date). Available at Management knowledge.com/definition. (Accessed 15 February 2012) 4. Sanghera, P. (2010) Project Management Professional Study Guide for the PMP Exam 2nd ed. Boston: Course Technology. 5. Stanley E. Portny Create a Network Diagram of your Work Plan. Available at http://www. Dummiess.com (Accessed 13 February 2012) 6. Thomas Frachina (2010) Project Plan for EN-Sure Product . Available at http://projectmanagementforum.wordpress.com (Accessed 15 February 2012)