Project management Literacy

Document directory

• First, you need to understand the history of modern project management, as well as two representatives of Project Management: Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) and Henry Gantt (1861-1919 ). This article describes the relationship between various elements of a project from the project triangle.
• Project triangle
• How to optimize to meet schedule requirements?

First, you need to understand the history of modern project management, as well as two representatives of Project Management: Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) and Henry Gantt (1861-1919 ). This article describes the relationship between various elements of a project from the project triangle. Project triangle

The combination of time, cost, and range is called a project triangle. These competing elements are also known as the Three restrictions of the project. Any side of the triangle will affect the other sides. One trick in project management is to find the "unchanged" side or fixed side in the project triangle. When a problem occurs, you will know what you can change and where you can adjust it.

Knowing which side of a triangle cannot be changed helps you understand where adjustments can be made. Therefore, consider the decision sequence when starting optimization.

1. First, determine the fixed elements among the three elements. This element is usually critical to the success of the project, including completion on time, on budget, or on an agreed basis.

2. Then, determine the edge of the current problem. After finding it, you will determine which elements should be processed to bring the project back to normal.

How to optimize to meet schedule requirements?

After analyzing the schedule, you may find that the schedule does not meet the project deadline. There are multiple ways to adjust the length of the schedule. The specific method to choose depends on the constraints imposed on the entire project, such as budget, resource availability, scope, and task flexibility.

The most effective way to shorten the schedule is to change the tasks on the critical path. The key path is the completion date of the last task of a series of related tasks, that is, the completion date of the project. If any task in this series changes, the project completion date also changes. Adjusting tasks on non-critical paths may not affect the schedule. You can:

Shorten the task duration (usually the result of narrowing down the scope or adding resources ).

Overlaps multiple tasks to synchronize them.

Delete a task to meet the completion date requirement (usually the result of narrowing down the scope ).

Allocate more resources.

Reduce the number of assigned work hours (usually the result of narrowing down the scope or improving resource efficiency ).

When the schedule is adjusted, the cost may increase, resources may be excessively allocated, and the scope may change. For example, if you shorten the duration of a task on a critical path, the project may be completed in advance. However, the scope of these tasks and even the entire project may be reduced. Alternatively, if you allocate additional resources to tasks on a critical path to make it faster, you may find that these resources are being overly allocated and you must pay overtime, this increases the cost.

How can we optimize to meet budget requirements?

The project cost is mainly affected by the resources allocated to tasks in the project, the cost of personnel, equipment and materials based on the rate and fixed cost. Therefore, to reduce costs, you can narrow down the scope of projects to reduce the tasks that require resources or shorten the duration of these tasks.

If you do not want to narrow down the scope, you can adjust the resources and make sure that the rates, fees, and overtime settings are correct. You can verify that the allocated resources are the most suitable for this job. It may also be able to replace expensive resources with cheaper resources while using expensive resources in the most efficient places.

How can we optimize to meet the scope requirements?

You can adjust the scope when you find that there is a problem with completing the project by completion date or controlling it within the budget. The project can be completed by completion date or the cost can be reduced by narrowing down the scope. It can be expanded if additional time or budget increases are found.

The change scope usually includes changing the number or duration of tasks. The scope and quality are closely related. While expanding the scope, it may bring about quality improvement. While narrowing down the scope, acceptable quality standards may need to be lowered. Otherwise, the cost may be reduced and the completion date may be earlier. The extended scope may increase costs and delay the completion date. For example, if you delete a series of tasks that are considered optional, the required resources may be reduced to reduce costs. Alternatively, if you increase the scope by adding more time to a series of tasks, you may find that changes to the scope affect the schedule of the Key Path task, and the completion date is now delayed by two weeks.