The WBS shows how the project is subdivided into control packages, components that
can be further divided into work packages, the lowest level of work managed by the
project manager. Work packages are comprised of individual tasks that managers can
schedule. The WBS list of packages works much like a book’s table of contents, showing
chapters, sections and subsections. The WBS doesn’t just show the manager’s plan for
accomplishing tasks, it also briefl y describes each task.
Within its task-by-task breakdown, project planning has fi ve parts:
1. Subdivision of work.
2. Quantification.
3. Sequencing of work.
4. Budgeting.
5. Scheduling.
The project management team must understand the project’s objectives and responsibilities.
Managers must ascertain that planning and control remain consistent and continuous
throughout the entire project schedule or project execution, which also has fi ve parts:
1. Cost accounting.
2. Progress measurement.
3. Variance tracking and change control.
4. Performance evaluation.
5. Productivity measurement.
Desktop computer tools can help you with every step of project planning and execution,
specifi cally Modern Project Toolset, version 1.0, which has been designed for Microsoft
Windows, and works with Microsoft Access and Microsoft Project.
Project Monitoring and Evaluation
Managers should monitor projects by collecting information regularly about actual
expenditures, project progress and variances. During the project, managers must evaluate
performance and measure productivity.
During a performance evaluation, actual progress and expenditures are compared to
the project plan to identify any deviations from the plan. Managers can then single
out any problems that have caused deviations or that have arisen because of them, and
can determine solutions to these problems. To help with this process, Modern Project
software can produce several kinds of performance reports, including: an earned value
report, a cost and schedule variance report, a schedule performance trend chart and a
productivity report.
Productivity Measurement
Once work on a project has begun, productivity is more directly affected by the skills
of the project manager than by any other facet of the project. Productivity measurement
shows how well the workers on the project are performing. Productivity is most infl uenced
by the workforce’s attitudes and motivation, so good project managers seize opportunities
to motivate the people who work for them, thereby enhancing productivity.
Most productivity measurements are only able to demonstrate if actual productivity
exceeds or falls short of planned productivity. Improving productivity depends upon the
creative skills of the project manager.
Government Projects
Project management for government projects and for commercial, non-government
projects has developed along two separate and distinct paths.
Commercial project management has made signifi cant contributions to the practice
of project management, particularly in budgeting, while government projects have
given birth to many technological innovations. Technological advances generated
by government projects in recent decades have spread widely to commercial nongovernment
projects.
Many of today’s specifi c cost and schedule variance analysis methods and other technical
project management techniques originated within government projects or were developed
through them. On the whole, excellence and innovation in technological areas has its
roots in government project management.
Government projects have legal requirements that may make the managerial experience
overly restrictive for those who have previously managed only commercial nongovernment
projects.
Government project managers say that commercial companies don’t provide the
productivity, accountability and cost containment that government often – but not
always – requires. Commercial companies that deal with government projects fi nd that
government management and reporting requirements are so restrictive that they interfere
with high performance. Another signifi cant contrast from the project manager’s point of
view is that the commercial sector is much bigger than the governmental sector, and it
accepts a far less rigid management style.
The difference between commercial and government project management comes down
to emphasis. While the basics are the same, differences are found in how the commercial
and government sectors put those ideas into practice.
Those doing business with the government also have to learn the government’s
vocabulary and project management models. Once all the parties speak the same
language and understand each other’s methods, they often fi nd that their underlying
goals are more compatible than they had previously realized. Project managers working
on government projects use a specifi c WBS designed for government projects so project
management for government is included on the Modern Project software.