DEFINING PROJECT WORK ACTIVITIES

The earlier discussion on scope management outlined the process by which a tangible project scope was created from vague visions into a more technical work centric struc- ture as defined by the WBS and its companion WBS Dictionary. This section will move from that level of definition to show how project work activities can be derived from this scope view (i.e., WPs and the larger nondecomposed planning packages). Related vocabulary for this process is described below.

Activities represent defined work efforts that will be represented in the project sched- ule. Each of these will consist of resource definitions and duration time frames for exe- cution for each work or planning package. The project schedule is then composed of these two basic building blocks optionally packaged into sets of summary activities. From a project management viewpoint, this represents three granular levels of activity specification:

• WBS defined WPs with detailed planning data

• Planning WPs still requiring elaboration and containing planning level information

• Summary activities composed of groupings of work and planning packages Create

WBS

Define

activities Sequenceactivities

Est. activity

resources Est. activityduration

Develop schedule

HR

decisions managementRisk Procurementmanagement Time planning domain

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In some cases, it may be desirable to schedule a specific individual task that is subordinate to its host WP, but this decision is left to the WP owner and will not be considered in this discussion. Such lower-level task allocations would be done pri- marily to aid internal team coordination. Regardless, the first three items are pres- ent in all project plans. There is frequent confusion in the use of the terms activity and task. The typical industry vernacular is for an activity or lower-level WP to be called a task. As a conceptual view, think of an activity as a unit of work normally performed by one or more individuals in a single organization. Remember that the WP rule of thumb is that it is sized to approximately 2 weeks duration and 80 h of effort (work). Real-world distinction of these concepts is not nearly so clear, so do not be too concerned about the label. The key time management concept is to define the relevant parameters for such work units and to ensure that they have a specified individual responsible for its execution.

One common practice is to focus primary time management attention on the earlier project phases and detail later phases at the higher planning package level. Elaboration of the planning packages would then “roll” through the life cycle as the project moves from phase to phase. When executed in this fashion, the planning process is called “roll- ing wave” and this also fits the concept defined earlier called “progressive elaboration.” Another option is to fully define the entire WBS structure before leaving the planning phase; however, one might question whether this adds real value to the overall process, given the uncertainty of the effort at this point. It is a management decision to dictate the level of work specification prior to approving the effort to move forward into execu- tion. This choice is viewed as a risk versus accuracy question. The trade-off is higher risk in moving quickly versus potentially improved estimating accuracy to perform the full WP decomposition prior to leaving the planning step.

13.1.1 Define Activities

As described in the previous WBS discussion, defined work units minimally need the following planning data defined in order to support further project plan creation: 1. Work unit name

2. Time estimate 3. Cost estimate

4. Individual(s) responsible to execute the task 5. Material resources required to execute the task

6. Any operational constraints (required completion, start, etc.) 7. Associated technical details (predecessors, assumptions, etc.)

Information related to the work unit details should be kept in a WBS Dictionary, or an equivalent formal repository for future reference purposes. One of the key roles of activity definition is to map the technical deliverables into work-related units called WPs. Second, resource estimates required to deliver those WPs are estimated. At this point in the project, an increased level of control is needed over who can load or change these data in the project repository (i.e., WBS Dictionary or other repository). The man- ager in charge of the individual work unit is primarily responsible for the estimate, but the PM should have final control over the number being used in the resulting plan. Importantly, no changes should be allowed without mutual permission of these two individuals.

In this section, we will use the term “activities” for all work units. This term can represent WPs, planning packages, summary activities, milestones, or tasks. The key issue for consideration is how these are to be sequenced through the project. Previous high-level decisions have described how the project life cycle process is viewed, includ- ing major phases and key milestones. The next question now becomes how to define the sequence of activities into the project plan.

13.1.2 Activity Sequencing

There are two important management considerations for sequencing. First, there is a concept called technical sequence, which is based on the technology of the project. For example, the technical sequence required to build a building would say that the founda- tion would have to be in place before constructing the walls. Likewise, a software system would have to be constructed before it could be tested. All project efforts have some sequence that is dictated by their underlying technology.

A second consideration of sequencing falls beyond the technical issues. That is, many activities can be performed at various times. In these cases, the PM may sequence them to accommodate availability of resources, weather, or other factors. In both the techni- cal and arbitrary sequencing situations, it is incumbent on the skills of the project team to make the appropriate activity sequencing decision. However, it is important to recog- nize that these decisions do impact the schedule results, so sequencing considerations are often an iterative activity until the plan is fixed. Regardless of how the sequencing decision is made, a schedule will result by linking the WPs in the order prescribed. This is the essence of the sequencing process.

13.1.3 Estimating Activity Resources

This process estimates the skill requirements for a WP. From that assessment quantities of these resources, along with various material and other resources are estimated. Note that this allocation process essentially defines the direct cost of that WP. It also begins the estimation process for HRs and procurement activities.

13.1.4 Estimate Activity Duration

One of the most difficult time management activities involves estimating the time required to produce a defined work unit or the entire project. There are many techniques and factors involved in producing such estimates. Creating a duration estimate is not only a science but also an art. It is a science because the estimator is often utilizing his- torical data, mathematical formulae, and statistics to determine the estimate for a work unit. Also, it involves art because each situation is somewhat different and the ability to customize the value requires skill that is obtained through study, observation, and experience with projects (Baca, 2007, p. 135). This section will briefly explore different estimating techniques. These techniques are most often used to determine the resources that are required and from this to compute the resulting duration and cost for the activ- ity or project. These estimates then become building basic blocks to create the project schedule and budget.

The estimating techniques reviewed here include expert judgment, analogous, heuris- tic, Delphi, parametric, phased, effort distribution (top-down), bottom-up, and Monte Carlo techniques. No one of these is optimal for every case and in most situations mul- tiple approaches will be used to confirm the derived value.

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