All American Career College Project Management Activities Discussion This week we cover a wide range of tools used in Program Management and System Enginee

All American Career College Project Management Activities Discussion This week we cover a wide range of tools used in Program Management and System Engineering, some of them are simply a process, some of them are tools of a specific purpose which, in turn, use a variety of software tools. If this ‘loose’ use of the term tool is confusing, please describe your concern.

Pick one of the cost estimating tools or one of the TQM tools, do some research on it and provide the class with additional information on how that tool is used in Program Management.

consider making a reply to the post below;

Hi,

I prefer tool named as “Bottom-up Estimating”, because i personally use this tool with my mates.

Explanation:
This is likewise called the “conclusive strategy.” I guess this tool is the most exact yet the most expensive and time taking procedure. Here, you will ascertain the expense of each and every movement with the most elevated level of detail and move them up to figure the absolute undertaking cost.

Basically, we can break the whole project or work into its small work segments. At that point, you will calculate the expense of every part and then the total of estimation of the project of work.

Hope you guys will search about it. If anyone have any question about it you guys are free to ask.

Thank you

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please make it half page to answer the question and the second have a replay to the post

so i can copy and paste into black board Class 3
Program Management, System Engineering
System Development Process
Reading
This process will need to change over the life cycle
of the development
Ties to Concurrent Engineering
Section 7.4
Integrated
Product and
Process
Development
(IPPD)
Management technique that simultaneously
integrates all essential acquisition activities through
the use of multidiscipline teams to optimize the
design, manufacturing, and support processes
•
Part of IPPD
•
These teams can be formed to investigate a
specific segment of design, a solution for some
outstanding problem, design activities that
have a great impact on a high-priority issue
and so forth
•
Teams need to continuously communicate “upthe-line”
•
Avoid too many teams
•
Team members must be
 Well qualified
 Empowered to make decisions
 Proactive
Integrated
Product/Process
Teams (IPTS)
Helps in establishing communication between
designers and users
•
Quality Functional Deployment (QFD) was
developed to bring this personal interface to
modern manufacturing and business.
•
QFD links the needs of the user with design,
development, engineering, manufacturing, and
service functions (it’s a team approach)
•
QFD is:
 Understanding Customer Requirements
 Quality Systems Thinking + Psychology +
Knowledge/Epistemology
 Maximizing Positive Quality That Adds Value
 Comprehensive Quality System for Customer
Satisfaction
 Strategy to Stay Ahead of The Game
Blackboard references contains Word document
called “Introduction to QFD”
Quality
Functional
Deployment (QFD)
http://www.qfdi.org/what_is_qfd/what_is_qfd.htm
•
Gantt chart is a visual view of tasks
scheduled over time
•
Gantt charts are used for planning projects
of all sizes and they are a useful way of
showing what work is scheduled to be done
on a specific day
•
They show start and end dates of a project in
one simple view
•
The Gantt chart is an old tool with a
spreadsheet on one side to input your data,
which is then populated on the other side in
a bar chart. You can add tasks manually or
easily import a spreadsheet.
•
Gantt charts can be created with Microsoft
Project, Excel, PowerPoint and other specificpurpose tools

•

Gantt chart
Step 1- making a
gantt chart
•
To start, list out all the activities that need
to happen in your project.
•
Create four columns
•
Label the columns task, start date, end
date and duration
•
Use a simple formula to calculate duration
if you enter both start date and end
date.
•
Excel does not take into account
weekends or holidays so you’d need to
make sure your date range and duration
are including non-working days.
Start Date
Step 2- create an
excel bar chart
•
With all the activities listed out, you
can start creating the Gantt chart by
setting up a Stacked Bar chart.
10
9
8
7
Select the cells with data (not the
entire column) under “Start Date”
6
•
Go to Insert > Chart 3.
5
•
Then click on Bar > 2-D Bar > Stacked
Bar
•
4
3
2
1
22-Sep
11-Nov
31-Dec
19-Feb
10-Apr
30-May
19-Jul
Step 3 – add duration
information
10
9
•
Next, you need to include the duration data in your
bar chart.
•
Right-click anywhere within the chart and
choose Select Data
•
This will call up the Select Data Source window:
•
As you can see, the start date information (column
B) is already in place.
6
•
Now you’ll add the duration by clicking on the “add”
button.
5
•
In the Series Name or Name field (depending on the
version of your software), enter “Duration,” or any
label you want to use.
8
7
•
•
•
Then, click the range selection icon next to Y
values or Series values. A small Edit Series or Select
Data Source window will show up
Add your project duration data by selecting the cells
in the Duration column. Do not to include the
header cell or any empty cell.
When you’re done, you should see the information
populated in the Y values or Series values box:
4
3
2
1
22-Sep
11-Nov
31-Dec
19-Feb
10-Apr
30-May
19-Jul
Step 4 – Include Task Descriptions in Your
Gantt Chart
•
Now you may notice the items on the vertical axis on
the chart are just numbers. We’re going to replace
those numbers with the names of the tasks.
Categorize all photos
Cancel Photobucket
•
Right-click on the chart area and choose Select Data
•
The Select Data Source window will open up.
Select Start Date under Legend Entries or Series. If you
have a newer version of Excel, click on the Edit button
under Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels
•
•
Select the cells under the header “Task” – again, make
sure you don’t select the header cell or any empty cell.
After you’ve made the selection, click on the range
selection icon again to exit the Axis Label window.
You’ll be taken back to the Select Data Source dialogue
box. Click OK to confirm your changes and exit the
window.
Move photos from Photobucket to 3 clouds
Move photos from OneDrive to 3 clouds
Move photos from Goodgle Drive to 3 clouds
Move photos from Dropbox to 3 clouds
Copy scanned negatives to 3 clouds
Company scans and returns flash drive
Gather and package all negatives
Find negative scanning company
22-Sep 11-Nov 31-Dec 19-Feb 10-Apr 30-May 19-Jul
Step 5 – Turn the Bar Chart Into a Gantt Chart
•
Now you have a stacked bar chart. To turn
it into a Gantt chart, you need to remove
the purple bars so only the blue parts that
represent the tasks are visible. Note that
we’re not actually deleting the purple
bars. We’re going to make them
transparent so they’re no longer visible.
Categorize all photos
Cancel Photobucket
Move photos from Photobucket to 3 clouds
Move photos from OneDrive to 3 clouds
Move photos from Goodgle Drive to 3 clouds
Move photos from Dropbox to 3 clouds
•
Click on any purple bar on the chart and
all the purple bars will be selected
Copy scanned negatives to 3 clouds
Company scans and returns flash drive
•
Right click and select Format Data Series
•
Go to the Fill tab and select “no fill”
Gather and package all negatives
Find negative scanning company
22-Sep 11-Nov 31-Dec 19-Feb 10-Apr 30-May 19-Jul
•
Then go to the Line or Border Color tab
and select “no line”
Step 5 continued
•
•
You’ve probably noticed that the tasks on
the vertical axis are listed in reverse order.
To make them display in chronological
order from top to bottom, first click on the
task names on the left-hand vertical axis
to select them
Then right-click and select Format Axis
22-Sep 11-Nov 31-Dec 19-Feb 10-Apr 30-May 19-Jul
Find negative scanning company
Gather and package all negatives
Company scans and returns flash drive
Copy scanned negatives to 3 clouds
Move photos from Dropbox to 3 clouds
Move photos from Goodgle Drive to 3 clouds
•
After you’ve called up the Format
Axis window, select the Categories in
reverse order option and click OK to save
Move photos from OneDrive to 3 clouds
Move photos from Photobucket to 3 clouds
Cancel Photobucket
Categorize all photos
1-Jan 21-Jan 10-Feb 2-Mar 22-Mar 11-Apr 1-May 21-May 10-Jun 30-Jun 20-Jul
Step 6 – design your
gantt chart
•
•
•
•
•
There are a few things you can do to improve the
design and make it presentation-ready
Remove the white space on the left side of the chart
– when we made the blue bars invisible, the space
taken up by them remained.
To fix this, go back to your project table, select the
first Start Date and right-click on it. Select Format
Cell > General and notice there’s a number showing
under “sample”
After you’ve noted down that number, click cancel
because you don’t want to make any changes. Go
back to your Gantt Chart and click on any date
above the horizontal axis. Right-click and
select Format Axis
If you’re using a newer version of Excel,
change Minimum to Fixed and type the number you
noted down earlier.
There are other things you can do to make it look
better
Find negative scanning company
Gather and package all negatives
Company scans and returns flash drive
Copy scanned negatives to 3 clouds
Move photos from Dropbox to 3 clouds
Move photos from Goodgle Drive to 3 clouds
Move photos from OneDrive to 3 clouds
Move photos from Photobucket to 3 clouds
Cancel Photobucket
Categorize all photos
Assignment 1
(assigned in Class 4)
This is the Gantt template provided for
your assignment. You can use it or create
your own using the previous steps.
Program Evaluation and
Review Technique (PERT)
3-point range estimates, used for time
(scheduling) and cost analysis
 =




+4 +
6
(6.1)
te is calculated expected duration
to is optimistic duration
tm is most likely duration
tp is pessimistic duration
•
PERT can be a problem – a lot of data is
required to make the estimates (costly)
•
“Probably the biggest reason that PERT is
not more widely used is the potential for
misuse of the information involved.”

Section 6.2
•
Critical path
The technical definition of the critical path in
a sequence of networked work packages is
the path with the least amount of slack.
In practical terms, this path is the sequence
of events that if any are delayed, will delay
the entire project.
The critical path is the sequence of tasks that
will take the longest to complete to deliver
the project.
https://www.thebalance.com/critical-path-description-and-overview-2276120
Section 6.2

for CPM
•
Primavera

 Oracle’s Primavera software give today’s project
managers and schedulers the one thing they value
most: control.
•
Microsoft Project
https://products.office.com/enus/project/project-and-portfolio-managementsoftware?tab=tabs-1
 Streamline project, resource, and portfolio
management with Microsoft Project & Portfolio
Management. Integrated planning tools help you
keep track of projects and stay organized.
Programs
(Tools) which
are used for
scheduling
The life cycle model is one of the key concepts of
systems engineering (SE).
Concurrent Engineering – a systematic approach to
the integrated, concurrent design of products and
their related processes
• Should improve quality and effectiveness of system
• This should result in cost reduction
SEBoK, Section 1.3
System life
cycle
A life-cycle for a system generally consists of a series
of stages regulated by a set of management
decisions which confirm that the system is mature
enough to leave one stage and enter another.
Some life cycle models
Cost estimating
•
Life-cycle Cost (LCC) includes all costs associated with the system life cycle




Research and development (R&D) cost
Production and construction costs
Operation and maintenance cost
System retirement and phase-out cost
Analogous estimating uses
historical data from similar
projects as a basis for the cost
estimate. The estimate can be
adjusted for known differences
between the projects. This type
of estimate is usually used in the
early phases of a project and is
less accurate than other methods.
Parametric estimating uses
statistical modeling to develop a
cost estimate. It uses historical
data of key cost drivers to
calculate an estimate for different
parameters such as cost and
duration. For example, square
footage is used in some
construction projects.
Bottom-up estimating uses the
estimates of individual work
packages which are then
summarized or “rolled up” to
determine an overall cost estimate
for the project. This type of
estimate is generally more
accurate than other methods since
it is looking at costs from a more
granular perspective.
Three-point estimates originated
with the Program Evaluation and
Review Technique (PERT). This
method uses three estimates to
define an approximate range for
an activities cost: Most Likely
(Cm), Optimistic (Co), and
Pessimistic (Cp). The cost
estimate is calculated using a
weighted average: Cost Estimate
= (Co + 4Cm + Cp)/6
Reserve analysis is used to
determine how much contingency
reserve, if any, should be allocated
to the project. This funding is used
to account for cost uncertainty.
Cost of Quality (COQ) includes
money spent during the project to
avoid failures and money spent
during and after the project due to
failures. During cost estimation,
assumptions about the COQ can be
included in the project cost
estimate.
Project management estimating
software includes cost estimating
software applications,
spreadsheets, simulation
applications, and statistical
software tools. This type of
software is especially useful for
looking at cost estimation
alternatives.
Vendor analysis can be used to
estimate what the project should
cost by comparing the bids
submitted by multiple vendors.
Tools and
techniques used
by professional
project
managers to
develop more
accurate cost
estimates
https://www.project-management-skills.com/project-cost-estimating.html
Expert judgment uses the
experience and knowledge of
experts to estimate the cost of the
project. This technique can take
into account unique factors
specific to the project. However, it
can also be biased.
TQM can be described as a total integrated
management approach that addresses
system/product quality during all phases of the
life cycle and at each level in the overall system
hierarchical structure.
•
Total Quality is a description of the culture,
attitude and organization of a company that
strives to provide customers with products and
services that satisfy their needs.
•
The culture requires quality in all aspects of
the company’s operations, with processes
being done right the first time and defects and
waste eradicated from operations.

Total Quality
Management
(TQM)
https://www.isixsigma.com/methodology/total-quality-management-tqm/introduction-and-implementation-total-quality-management-tqm/
•
Tools for TQM
In a different vein, manuals and standards
are TQM tools as well, as they give
direction and best practice guidelines to
you and/or your staff.
https://totalqualitymanagement.weebly.com/tqm-tools.html
According to Quality America, Inc. the
number of TQM tools is close to 100 and
come in various forms, such as
brainstorming, focus groups, check lists,
charts and graphs, diagrams and other
analysis tools.
Tools for TQM (more in
class 8)
Pie Charts and Bar Graphs Used to identify and compare data units as they relate to one issue or the whole,
such as budgets, vault space available, extent of funds, etc.
Histograms To illustrate and examine various data element in order to make decisions regarding them.
Effective when comparing statistical, survey, or questionnaire results.
Run Chart Follows a process over a specific period of time, such as accrual rates, to track high and low points
in its run, and ultimately identify trends, shifts and patterns.
Pareto Charts / Analysis Rates issues according to importance and frequency by prioritizing specific problems
or causes in a manner that facilitates problem solving. Identify groupings of qualitative data, such as most
frequent complaint, most commonly purchased preservation aid, etc. in order to measure which have priority.·
They can also be created in retrospect, as a before and after analysis of a process change.
Force Field Analysis To identify driving and restraining forces occurring in a chosen process in order to
understand why that particular process functions as it does. For example, identifying the driving and restraining
forces of catering predominantly to genealogists.
Focus Groups
Useful for marketing or advertising organizations to test products on the general public.
Brainstorming and Affinity Diagrams Teams using creative thinking to identify various aspects surrounding
an issue. An affinity diagram, which can be created using anything from enabling software to post-it notes
organized on a wall, is a tool to organize brainstorming ideas
Tree Diagram To identify the various tasks involved in, and the full scope of, a project. To identify
hierarchies, whether of personnel, business structure, or priorities. To identify inputs and outputs of a project,
procedure, process, etc
•
The objective is to emphasize concurrent
design, related process, manufacture and
support
•
Developers should consider product life
cycle from “conception through disposal”
Section 1.4
Concurrent engineering
Class Discussion
•
Decide which project you will use through the rest of the
class for your assignments.
•
As part of your class participation, post a response in the
Week 3 Discussion Board and/or reply to someone else’s
post. This should be done by midnight June 7 or it will not
be considered as class participation.
 This week we cover a wide range of tools used in Program
Management and System Engineering, some of them are
simply a process, some of them are tools of a specific
purpose which, in turn, use a variety of software tools. If
this ‘loose’ use of the term tool is confusing, please
describe your concern.
 Pick one of the cost estimating tools or one of the TQM
tools, do some research on it and provide the class with
additional information on how that tool is used in
Program Management.
•
Prior to Class 4
 Read Chapter 2 and section 6.2
Next class Class 4
June 8

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