ARC833: Virtual Practice

Project Management
Chika Udeaja Lecturer
School of the Built Environment University of Northumbria
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Overall Plan
Part 1 (9:00 10:00am): Lecture

Break (10:00 10:10pm)

Part 2 (10:10 11:00am): Lecture

Part 3 (11:15 1:00 pm): Workshop 23/02/06

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Content
Project - Part 1

Project Management (PM) - Part 1

Tools and Techniques - Part 2

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Construction Industry Characteristics

Project Specific Location One-off Basis Uncertainties Low Barrier to Entry Ad hoc Demand Method used for Price Determination

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Construction Projects
A Project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against time scale

They are time-consuming undertaking that exist because of a need to expand, take advantage of a commercial situation and improve the environment

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Construction Projects

Hamilton (1997) offered this explanation:

They are unique in nature and range from simple to complex and from small to large, thus forming an infinite range of combinations, all of which require appraisal to evaluate, the most appropriate procurement route and the establishment of a project management infrastructure

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Construction Projects Characteristics

A clear Objective A fixed time scale Mainly one-off finite piece of work with fixed started and end points The typical activities passes through successive and distinct stages The development of a project start from initial planning to project closeout Site based process No practice or rehearsal Activities are presented in the form of a network Each activity requires a certain amount of resources, which may include time constraint, labour, material, money Subjected to the influence of highly variable and sometimes unpredictable factors Demand Inputs from such disparate fields - team

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Construction Project Activities Planning Regulation Design Manufacture Construction Maintenance

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Project Management
An emergent professional discipline
Previous team roles Separates the management function of a project from the design and execution functions

Defined as:
the overall planning, co-ordination and control of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting a clients requirements in order to produce a functionally and financially viable project that will be completed on time within authorised cost and to the required quality standards (CIOB, 1998:3) a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale (Reiss, 2001)
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Other Related Concepts

Programme Management Project Management Project Coordination
Planning Organising Coordinating Controlling
Not the same

Construction Programme

Resource Management
People Equipment Machinery Materials
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Elements of Project Management

Manage: Plan Organise Coordinate Control

Resources People Team selection, motivation Cost Budgeting, financial control, cash-flow mgmt Time Activity duration, delays Other (e.g. equipment) maintenance, etc Quality
Product & process quality; fit-for-purpose
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Project Planning
Involves
Establishing project objectives Identifying activities and tasks to be performed Estimating the duration of each activity/task Establishing the relationships between tasks Estimating the resources required (costs, etc.)

Activity planning
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Planning Techniques
Bar/Gantt Charts Network Analysis
Activity on the arrow Activity on the node (precedence diagrams)

Line of Balance Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Space-Time Diagrams
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Bar/Gantt Charts
Activity/ Task Task 1 Task 2 Task n
Time Now
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Time (months, weeks, days) 2 3 4 5 6

Plan

Actual

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Bar/Gantt Charts
Advantages
Simple and easy to understand Effective communication document Easy to record progress

Disadvantages
Not very useful for very large projects Paper versions limited in scope Not easy to update
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Network Analysis
Planning data linked through the logic that defines relationships between activities Clearly defined steps to produce a network Steps in producing a network
List all activities Produce a network showing the logical relationship between activities Assess the duration of each activity, produce a schedule and determine the start and finish times of each activity and the float available Assess the resources required
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Producing a Logical Network

Activity represented by an arrow (or node) Arrows joined together in logical sequence Check:
Which activities must be complete before this activity starts? Which activity cannot start until this activity is complete? Which activities have no logical relationship with the activity and can therefore take place at any time?
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Activity on the Arrow

Earliest time of start event Latest time of start event Earliest time of finish event

8 3

0 1

2 2

2 2

6 6 1 3

14 14 5 3 2

16 16 6

Event
Duration

Latest time of finish event

4 9 11

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Activity on the Node

Earliest Earliest Duration Finish start

Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6

Duration 2 6 6 1 3 3 2

Depen dency Start 1 2 2 1 4&5 3&6

Latest start

Activity Identifier

Latest Finish

8 (6) 14 2 (6) 8 2
2

14 14 (2) 16 14 7 16

8 8 (1) 9 10 4 11 2 (3) 5 8
5 11

0 (2) 2 0 1 2

9 (3) 12 11 6 14

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Difference Between the Two Techniques

Characteristic
Timing

Barchart (Gantt Chart)

Shows timing clearly

Critical Path Analysis

Does not show timing clearly Shows clearly which tasks depend on other Most people are not used to PERTcharts Plans are hard to read and quite large

Logic

Does not show logic

Familiarity

Most people are used to barcharts Can be scaled down to A4 size

Presentation

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Network for Drawing Networks

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Producing a Schedule
Duration and time analysis Float Total float
Total time by which the activity could be extended or delayed and still not interfere with the project end date

Free float
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Analysis
There are three main types of Analysis:
Arithmetical Graphical Computer

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Analysis
In arithmetical, analyse are done in either forward and backward passes: Early Finish and start is calculated forward
EF = ES + D

Latest Finish and start is calculated backward

LS = LF D
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Calculation of Float

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Assessing Resources
Time-limited resource considerations Resource-limited considerations

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Class Exercise/Discussion
Think about a project (or projects) youve been involved in
What did you do to implement the project? How was the project planned? What techniques/tools were used in planning/executing the project?

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An Example
Breakdown the project into tasks and if possible the task into sub-tasks.
Work breakdown structure Network analysis

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Work Breakdown Structure

Task A
Level 1

Task B

Task C

Level 2

Task D

Task E

Task F

Level 3

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Precedence Example
Task Immediately preceded by tasks

A B C D
Task A

A, C C
Task B

Start

Finish

Task C

Task D

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Class Experience of PM
Distributing tasks to different members of the team Set goals and standards Carry out research Analysis of information Clarify tasks to be performed

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Exercise
Network Analysis exercise

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Conclusions
Construction teams are virtual teams Goal is to improve their effectiveness and efficiency Organising the activities of teams is one way of making them effective Project Management (Planning) is one way to organise the activities of the team Various techniques and tools are used in project planning
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References and Further Reading

Resis, G (1995), Project Management Demystified: Todays tools & techniques, 2nd Edition, E & FN SPON. Nickson, D & Siddons, S (1997), Managing Projects, 1st Edition, Made Simple Books (An imprint of Butterworth-Heinemann, ISBN 0750634715. CIOB (1998), Code of Practice for Project Management for Construction and Development, Addison Wesley Longman Limited, Essex. Harris, F. and McCaffer, R. (2001), Modern Construction Management, 5th Edition, Blackwell Science, London. (See chapter on Planning Techniques). Lockyer, K. and Gordon, J. (1996), Project Management and Project Network Techniques, 6th Edition, Pitman Publishing, London. Lester, A. (1991), Project Planning and Control, 2nd Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
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Part 3: Workshop
Use of MS Project Software
(see tutorial sheet)

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Question Time

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