Computers 4 you!: Planning Documents and Tools

Dec 30, 2008

Planning Documents and Tools

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Divides the project into a task oriented tree with services, hardware, and software delegated to different subgroups. The work to be done in each subtask is defined and the group or type of group to do it is specified. WBS's Require:

Estimates (manpower, material, tools)
Budget
Estimated production rate
Schedules
Resource usage (equipment, consumables)
How progress is to be measured.

When making the WBS, consider:

Users
System integration
Work responsibilities
The structure of the work and the relationships between workgroups

Critical Path

Critical vs slack paths. The critical path has the least amount of total slack.

PERT Charts

Monitors milestones and estimates completion times useing statistical analysis. Only the critical path is used to perfrom the estimate. It uses three estimates:

O=Optimistic estimate.
M=Most likely estimate.
P=Pessimistic estimate.

variance=SQUARE of [(P-O)/6]

mean=(O + 4M + P) / 6

Linear Responsibility Charts (LRC)

Traditional organizational charts are not very detailed. The LRC shows the work functions of the various tasks as they relate to the organizational positions. It shows who participates and their function including decision making ability. The LRC details where authority falls between executives with regard to decision making. Shows:

Position titles.
Information from the normal organizational chart.
Functions and projects in rows on the left side of the chart in rows.
Symbols that show the amount of authority.

An generic example is shown below. The numbers mean: 1-actual responsibility, 2-general supervision, 3-must be consulted, 4 -may be consulted, 5-must be notified.