Offered By: JUMP Project Management Consultants
Professional Development Hours: 35
Course Number: AEP7012-JPMC01
Duration of Course: 5 days
Primary Languages: English

Course Description: Most of the planning and scheduling engineers or even project managers use tools without the understanding of the basic concepts. This course is to help all to refresh the knowledge and learn new concepts to use the planning, scheduling tools better with improved skills.

Course Outline

Day One - This is a day of theory and group discussions based on concepts that are from DOD, PMI and books from USA (a list of reference material is given at the end)
Morning:

• Definitions of a project and the outcome of a project – the practical view of a project and why need to understand the uniqueness and its management
• Definitions for project management – Planning – Scheduling and tools for each. The defense department and other bodies have given guidelines for each how to see these
• The Contract and the Plan. Any plan or schedule is based on who wants to use it “CLIENT – PMC – CONTRACTOR – SUB-CONTRACTOR” and how it is created by the planning engineer and scheduler. Must do STAKEHOLDER – ORGANIZATION – ENVIRONMENTS analysis
• CPM PERT sequencing and how ADM and PDM are used to calculate forward pass and backward pass to get critical path and project duration. What is float and negative and use of techniques like crashing and fast tracking. Knowing the theory helps in analysis of the schedule when work progresses. Total float, free float, critical paths (from 0 float to maybe float 10 depending on size of project how to choose).

• Planning process that will include duration and resource estimates. In practice how resources and durations are considered and need for experience. PERT estimate and use of Monte Carlo analysis. Manual calculations and understanding
• Risk Management – Risk Planning – Risk Identification – Risk Qualitative Analysis – Risk Quantitative Analysis – Risk Response Planning. Brainstorm and see how to use risk. A view at software like DOD’s RISK RADAR®
• Concept of WBS and its use. How PM or the client’s rep or PMC can standardize the structure and allow contractors to build on it so that if rolled up will give the details as required.

Day Two - Another day of theory. This is a day for using the concepts in real life situation for any project manager to use and track a project.
Morning:

NOTE: A 20 activity schedule will be used from start to finish. Attendees will select project or organization can give one as case study. We will use if nothing is given Project: Shifting Office
• Planning Procedure: Planning methodology and how to collect information and review and what to present to whom and how.
• Define project: Use the contract and prepare a planning document or a charter & statement of work. This is when project manager and scheduler collect data and see if it is useful.
• WBS: A real project WBS building up by groups of attendees and following some standard guidelines or thumb-rules.
• List activities: How to use MS Excel or other software to define activities that will have all stakeholder understand.
• Establish relationships: What types to use and its effect and why not to use SS or FF or FS. How best to get a dynamic program.
• Construct network: How a small network can be constructed manually and what can be analyzed. Work out forward pass, backward pass, calculate float and critical path(s), schedule activities.
• Estimate durations: Brainstorm and get values and use concepts of analogous, parametric, PERT estimate and ROM

• Resource loading & resource leveling and “crashing.” Resource estimations based on roles and responsibilities, and availability. For PM: Resource tables that can be reviewed at a glance or on the Gantt Chart.
• Risk, Quality, Communication, Procurements. How the PM can get details of risk, the sub-contractors, labor and materials schedules
• Monitoring progress: What to see and how to read the data like resource and cost loaded schedules, updated. Review items like milestones, materials schedules, resource and cost data. Trends and performance indicators and also tracking meeting. S-curves and what can be used from EVM.

Day Three - Days 3 and 4 are based on Primavera P3® and the tool will be used by all present.
Morning:

• Fundamentals of using Primavera P3 3.1 and the overview as a ppt (20 min) NOTE: the same case study project will be used and can be expanded to 50 activities.
• Establishing the Project & Coding Structures, Defining Calendars: for the selected project all will set up and see how the coding structure will help and what calendars can be used.
• Adding and Organizing Activities. PMs: what to look for and how to have meaningful activity set-up with P3 based on the WBS and codes defined.
• Relationships Scheduling – Sub-projects & fragnets. PMs need to have data for analysis so how to ask schedulers or contractors to divide the jobs or section of a project schedule in P3. What to watch out for open ends, constraints, dates in start or finish and above all a schedule in P3 that can be read with some meaning. Types of layouts and reports that can be used at the pre approval stage, and post approval stage and progress tracking stage.

• Managing Resources & Costs: PMs to know how P3 can help and how schedulers and contractors can organize activities into groups according to resource, use resource profile/tables for “what-if” analysis, use reports to review resource/cost allocation. Resource leveling and cost analysis in details.
• Review schedules for approval as baseline or target project schedule. PMs to follow best practices for the organization. Like preset – WBS model, activity wordings, durations (like within review periods), value of total float, critical path and resources loaded critical paths, milestone and important dates as cutoff.

Day Four
Morning:

• Updating and revisions: PMs must ask for the required reports and also see the process of update if % progress or RD and also see that no change is made in the approved schedule in relationships or durations. When an update and when a revision and also the contractual requirements.
• Presentation and reports: here a review of what will be produced by P3 and what will be in the prx format.

The following topics in P3 3.1 will be touched on to show what P3 has to offer in form of presentations and customization. Customizing Project Data
• Define and assign custom data items
• Modify project data through global change
• Use string functions to alter activity information
• Assign resources through global change

• Format the activity box ends and relationship lines
• Access Primavera Draw
• Insert a symbol and text in the layout
• Attach objects to activities
• Use the “best fit” print option
• Display P3 data in Metafile format
• Create HTML files from a layout
• Create intranet pages using the Web Publishing Wizard

Day Five - A Cost Management day and a test:
Topics to be covered:

• Cost management process
• Cost management plan
• Earned value analysis: PV, EV, AC, CPI, SPI, BAC, EAC, ETC, VAC, CV, SV
• Cost baseline & cost budget
• Three-point estimating PERT estimate, analogous estimate (means similar of past) bottom-up estimating, parametric estimating
• Inputs to estimating, rough order of magnitude estimate, definitive estimate
• Cost risk, benefit cost ratio, net present value, internal rate of return, present value, law of diminishing returns
• Variable/fixed cost, direct/indirect cost, payback period, opportunity cost, sunk costs
• Working capital, straight line/accelerated depreciation, life cycle costing
• Value analysis, precision level, units of measure
• Control account (CA), control thresholds

Topic Areas and Industries

• Claims & Dispute Resolution
• Construction
• Contract Management
• Cost/Schedule Control
• High Tech
• Information Technology
• International Projects
• Manufacturing
• Manufacturing – High Tech
• Materials Management
• Oil/Gas/Chemicals
• Planning & Scheduling
• Program & Project Management
• Transportation
• Utilities & Energy