New Century Health Clinic

PROJECT MANAGEMENT Computerized System

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived constraints. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary and more ambitious challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and integrate them to meet pre-defined objectives

History of PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Until 1900 civil engineering projects were generally managed by creative architects, engineers, and master builders themselves. It was in the 1950s that organizations started to systematically apply project management tools and techniques to complex engineering projects. As a discipline, project management developed from several fields of application including civil construction, engineering, and heavy defense activity. Two forefathers of project management are Henry Gantt, called the father of planning and control techniques, who is famous for his use of the Gantt chart as a project management tool (alternatively Harmonogram first proposed by Karol Adamiecki); and Henri Fayol for his creation of the five management functions that form the foundation of the body of knowledge associated with project and program management. Both Gantt and Fayol were students of Frederick Winslow Taylors theories of scientific management. His work is the forerunner to modern project management tools including work breakdown structure (WBS) and resource allocation.

GANTT CHART
A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart, developed by Henry Gantt in the 1910s, that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e. precedence network) relationships between activities. Gantt charts can be used to show current schedule status using percent-complete shadings and a vertical "TODAY" line as shown here. Although now regarded as a common charting technique, Gantt charts were considered revolutionary when first introduced. In recognition of Henry Gantt s contributions, the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal is awarded for distinguished achievement in management and in community service. This chart is also used in information technology to represent data that has been collected.

History of Project Management (cont.)

The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern project management era where core engineering fields come together to work as one. Project management became recognized as a distinct discipline arising from the management discipline with engineering model. In the United States, prior to the 1950s, projects were managed on an ad-hoc basis, using mostly Gantt charts and informal techniques and tools. At that time, two mathematical project-scheduling models were developed. The Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed as a joint venture between DuPont Corporation and Remington Rand Corporation for managing plant maintenance projects. And the Program Evaluation and Review Technique or (PERT), was developed by Booz Allen Hamilton as part of the United States Navys (in conjunction with the Lockhead Corporation) Polaris missile submarine program; These mathematical techniques quickly spread into many private enterprises.

CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM)

The critical path method (CPM) is an algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. It is an important tool for effective project management.

Activity-on-node diagram showing critical path schedule, along with total float and critical path drag computations

PROGRAM EVALUATION & REVIEW TECHNIQUE (PERT)

The Program (or Project) Evaluation and Review Technique, commonly abbreviated PERT, is a statistical tool, used in project management, that is designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project. First developed by the U. S. Navy in the 1950s, it is commonly used in conjunction with the critical path method (CPM).

PERT chart for a project with five milestones (10 through 50) and six activities (A through F). The project has two critical paths: activities B and C, or A, D, and F giving a minimum project time of 7 months with fast tracking. Activity E is sub-critical, and has a float of 1 month.

TASK IDENTIFICATION
A key to successful project scheduling is to identify all the work of the project before you consider delivery dates and resource constraints. This helps a team objectively identify everything that needs to be done without subconsciously leaving out real work in order to fit pre-determined dates.

The WBS step helps accomplish the following key objectives:

Develops an objective, rational view of the amount of work required Helps team grasp the skills required and amount of resources required for the project Provides a clear framework for assigning to individuals a clear task definition and delegate the responsibility for completion Lays a foundation for analyzing the task dependencies and for isolating and managing risks Lays a foundation for developing a bottom-up estimate for the Project Plan