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PMI: Scheduling Professional (Part 1) Tutorials

Define Activities Tools & Techniques / Templates & Expert Judgment




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So far we've reviewed the first two tools and techniques used by the define activities process: decomposition and rolling wave planning. In order to understand rolling wave planning, we first had looked at the concept of progressive elaboration since they're related. Now we'll briefly cover the remaining two tools and techniques of the define activities process: templates and expert judgment. Let's begin with templates. These are archived within the organizational process assets. Templates use a recurring theme of the PMBOK Guide which is not to recreate the wheel. Don't do extra work when it's not necessary. This concept isn't meant to be a reflection of how lazy you are. We know that there is no slacking in scheduling or project management but instead a reflection of efficiency. Whenever possible we'll take work done in the past and use it as a template and tailor it to our current project. Since learning is an ongoing process, we'll apply the knowledge that we've gained in tailoring this information from past projects to increase the accuracy and efficiency. Now circling this back to the topic of activities, which is our goal here in this process, create the list of activities. We'll use as templates portions or entire activity lists from previous projects. It would only make sense to use these lists from projects that resemble the current one. For instance, if you're building a software application as part of your current project and this is a similar project that your organization manages as a business entity for its customer, the creation of software applications that is, then portions of your WBS will resemble one another, including some of the work packages. The work behind the creation of the deliverables will resemble each other as well. But in addition to using the activity list or portions of the list from previous projects, we can also get valuable information from this historical information. We can even use these templates to identify the typical schedule milestones. Now on to expert judgment. Even if you have the luxury of templates to condense the work, you'll still need expert judgment to help you tailor the work or activities accurately. And if you do not have the use of templates, then expert judgment is more critical than ever. Expert judgment used typically includes the project team members or individuals who will likely be doing the work. Either way these individuals will be extremely familiar with the work itself. You may also need the feedback of experts, even if they're outside of the project. Our goal is to get information and then develop these activities by incorporating skills and expertise. Other experts may simply have the experience and skill in developing project schedules like the scheduler and that would be you. And you can ask those with experience of the actual work the right questions and then orchestrate a fully fleshed-out activity list or at least to the level of detail intended. And that wraps up our list of tools and techniques for the define activities process, bringing this movie and section to a close.

Tutorial Information

Course: PMI: Scheduling Professional (Part 1)
Author: Vanina Mangano
SKU: 34079
ISBN: 1-935320-95-5
Release Date: 2010-01-11
Duration: 8 hrs / 102 lessons
Work Files: Yes
Captions: Available on CD and Online University
Compatibility: Vista/XP/2000, OS X, Linux
QuickTime 7, Flash 8

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