MAKING THE MOST OF MS PROJECT 98 - YOU'VE BOUGHT IT, NOW MAKE IT PAY!

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1 Hellpiing tto Creatte Vallue ffrom Your Projjectt Managementt Programs MAKING THE MOST OF MS PROJECT 98 - YOU'VE BOUGHT IT, NOW MAKE IT PAY! If yours is like most organizations, Microsoft Project 98 has offered the greatest opportunity for dynamic change in your project management information system -- for replanning schedules based on actual schedule variance - for defining work requirements to meet project schedules, and for creating the ability to use timescaled resource data to manage workload peaks and valleys. And, if yours is like most organizations, you are seeing only some of the benefits that this exceptional software, combined with project management best practices, can provide. The investment has been made, now it can be made to work for you. This newsletter (and the one that will follow it) is designed to provide useful, cost effective and practical information on making the most of your investment in MS Project 98. But, information is only the beginning. Getting comfortable with the new features that have been incorporated can pay off in ways that you may never have imagined: Project initiation that can be achieved as much as five times faster while including best practices of all cross functional processes and tasks Actual project status tracking to prevent project delays, by utilizing "slippage visibility" tools The ability to integrate subprojects into a master program in as little as one-tenth of the time when compared to some manual methods commonly utilized; and the omission of key integration steps can be avoided Resource management and forecasting for accurate advance timescaled resource information, help in planning what resource is required when, and improved on-time completion by better utilization of resources. A planning horizon that allows the time to adjust for adequate technical/professional skills and reduction of inefficient resource utilization MS Project 98 Provides Realistic Planning & Forecasting Benefits Manufacturing and Engineering companies have, for many years, wanted a single software tool - and method - for forecasting and planning their wide swings in resources and requirements. It is both impractical and time consuming for these organizations to develop, on their own, an understanding of how these requirements can be met; and, even if they could, the synergy of a universal method would be lost. Today, however, there is a straightforward, step-bystep approach, and full functionality, already provided as part of the new architecture of MS Project 98. Resource sharing of multiple projects (thirty to fifty projects or more is no longer a problem) with a single company standard pool of resources. The standard pool allows all resource requirements across all projects to be summarized for the total workload in manhours. "A publication of BnW Associates, Toledo, Ohio" Vol. 2 Issue 2 Copyright 1999 BnW Associates

2 Planning & Forecasting Benefits (Cont. from Pg. 1) The application of the work formula has been redesigned so that once resources have been assigned, the Project Manager has choices on controlling the work formula -- does he/she want to revise the budgeted man-hours or add additional manpower and shorten duration. The ability to export timescaled resource manhours so that both the individual project contribution and the total resource requirements vs. net capacity can be graphed and analyzed. Historically, the barrier to realistic resource planning has been the complexity of the available alternatives. Many Engineering and Manufacturing companies have found the project planning steps unclear, and there was not a single easy-to-use software tool to implement effective resource planning. Since most Manufacturing and Engineering companies use MS Project software, those attempting to implement functional department or company wide resource planning have found the process too complex and have found MS Project version #4.1 (Windows 95 platform) had too many obstacles to provide the functionality. These obstacles include single/multi-tasking "How- To" issues; multiple project consolidation; and software inability to handle more than five to ten projects without "choking". These resource planning obstacles have caused Manufacturing and Engineering companies to either abandon their attempts to implement resource planning and forecasting or attempt using two methods/software approaches - MS Project for scheduling and manual/spreadsheet method for resource planning and posting -- and lose the data integration capability. There is now a straightforward approach to implement resource planning and forecasting and integrate it with project scheduling. This approach utilizes most Manufacturing and Engineering's software tool of choice - MS Project 98. Why does this version work and how come no one knows about it? MS Project 98 has done a major overhaul, 2 redesign, and "architectural" changes to the MS Project 98 version compared to version #4.1 (Windows 95 operating platform). In addition, neither Microsoft nor MS Project software training companies (Sarcom, Executrain, Productivity Point, etc.) are aware of the pent up demand for resource planning by Manufacturing and Engineering companies nor market this new MS Project 98 capability. How This Can Work For You A project scheduling and resource planning "system" can be developed and installed in as little as 8 weeks to manage thirty (30) projects. All projects have their status updated and need to be tracked only once per month by the Project Manager. The planning horizon varies, but for Manufacturing and Engineering companies controlling projects with 4 to 12 months lead-time, an appropriate planning horizon is twelve (12) months. The monthly administration time to extract timescaled data from Project 98 into a customized Excel resource planning tool for ten (10) resources is less than ten (10) hours per month. Use Project Information to Make Faster and Better Decisions There are a variety of benefits for the Project Manager and Resource Manager. Project Managers benefit by providing a 12-month planning horizon to Resource Managers so that the Resource Manager have advance notice and leadtime to plan for the amount of resource skills when they are needed. There is also the advantage that the resource owner can provide realistic man-hour estimating that the Project Manager may not be aware of or may have overlooked. The Resource Manager benefits. He gets a (12) month planning forecast for his resources -- updated every month. He can see the big picture of resource requirements for purposes of timely planning of overtime or regular hours; employee hiring or attrition; and subcontractor additions or reductions.

3 Faster & Better Decisions (Cont. from Pg. 2) He can "zoom-in" on any month with a peak or a valley and identify which project or projects and their Project Manager are impacting the month or months that are problems (see chart below). Once he knows the source of requirements he can work with the Project Managers to accelerate or decelerate specific projects or specific project tasks to level the peaks and valleys. The Resource Manager can work within his function or with other Resource Managers to move and cross train resource skills into "valley" requirement time periods in advance of "peak" requirement time periods. Integrated project scheduling, tracking, and resource planning has a straightforward step-by-step approach and full functionality in MS Project 98. Manufacturing and Engineering companies have wanted for many years a single software tool and method to plan and forecast their many times wide swings of resource man-hour. These companies do not have the time to figure out on their own what these steps are in Project 98 to provide the functionality. The first step is for the company to be aware that this functionality exists. That is the purpose of this article. Would you like more information on resource planning & forecasting? See the back of this newsletter for bottom line examples, or return the enclosed reply card for more information. MS Project 98 - Are You Using It To Track Actual Project Status? Most Project Managers do not track actual -- but just replan their projects as they go along. Many who want to track actual -- do so improperly. They use the Gantt chart to track progress and replan. The problem is that a Project Manager cannot see his project schedule variance or slippage on the Gantt chart. To do this, the Project Manager needs to freeze a baseline. "Freezing" a baseline is like taking a snapshot -- which stays frozen -- at the beginning of the project. The Project Manager then switches to the tracking Gantt. The tracking Gantt is different from the Gantt chart in that it has the "frozen plan" and the planned schedules side by side. The result is that the tracking Gantt shows the Project Manager the planned (or replanned) task activities compared to the frozen plan -- which graphically displays the schedule variance. This "variance visibility" provides the Project Manager with critical path slippage and becomes a motivator and a "good information allows good decisions" factor. In addition, in the tracking Gantt, the Project Manager can track actual and remaining work; replanned starts/replanned finishes; and actual starts/actual finishes. Good Project Managers track actual status on their projects. Using MS Project 98 as the administrative tool to track in the tracking Gantt simplifies this task. Knowing status on present and future critical path tasks allows the Project Manager to be more knowledgeable and more proactive -- and therefore, more effective. Would you like more information tracking project status using MS Project 98? See the back of this newsletter for bottom line examples, or return the enclosed reply card for more information. 3

4 Keeping Integrated Project Management from Becoming Meaningless Buzzwords in Your Organization The ultimate use of a software tool like MS Project 98 is a step-by-step implementation of all elements customized to your company. These elements are templates (Launching New Projects Utilizing "Copy Same As Except Templates", next issue), forward planned schedules, subprojects integrated into master projects (Linking Satellite Projects To Master Programs, next issue), resource planning and forecasting, (see MS Project 98 Provides Realistic Planning & Forecasting Benefits, this issue, pg. 1), and actual status tracking, (see MS Project 98 - Are You Using it to Track Actual Project Status?, this issue, pg. 3). correct the unfavorable variances before they impact the project finish. In conclusion, MS Project 98 software tool combined with a step-by-step "maturity process" that can be easily absorbed by your organization can provide major solutions to planning, scheduling, integration, resource management, and tracking of multiple projects. Custom application specific templates accelerates project initiation and allows less than seasoned Project/Program Managers to use the template to create project plans with minimum skill and experience. Good forward planned schedules allow Project/Program Managers to plan realistic schedules using the "thinking Project Managers" approach. Subprojects integrated into master projects/programs allows "bottom up" project planning by independent Project Engineers/Managers into a major program involving all of the subprojects. Resource planning and forecasting allows the use of a single company standard pool of resources to plan and forecast all of a company's projects into a planning horizon. These project and timescaled planning tools allows a Resource Manager to review the "big picture" monthly; by exception select the "problem peak and valley" months; and act on the projects contributing in an intelligent manner. Actual tracking allows the Project Manager to identify project timing slippage against a frozen baseline so that proactive decisions can be made to 4

5 THE RIGHT RESOURCE CAN OPTIMIZE YOUR MS PROJECT 98 INVESTMENT BnW Associates Can Achieve Bottom Line Results Making the best use of MS Project 98 relies on experience. BnW Associates has the kind of experience that makes the difference for this and other program and project management initiatives. The results speak for themselves: A multi-billion dollar producer of truck systems developed an effective supplier phase gate process for product development encompassing APQP, role/responsibility and risk assessment tools. It was adopted company wide and is now the firm s model product development tool. By incorporating one company s own Quality Operating System (QOS) into project schedules using MS Project 98, templates allowed less than seasoned program managers to immediately initiate and utilize templates that provided comprehensive, one-year project schedules with a 1% accuracy of major milestone dates. An automotive supplier used MS Project 98 technology to develop a resource planning and forecasting tool that provides resource managers a 12-month planning horizon showing peaks/valleys in requirements vs. capacity "at-aglance" and allows projects by exception choices that provide the most significant solutions to the resource manager's organization and the projects. A CNC machine tool company was able to re quote and gain acceptance of addendum's (based upon technical integration issues) totaling 8% of more than $15 million on two orders using assold systems integration tools A European design/build special machine company was able to use MS Project to close on contracts that generated more than $5-million in accounts receivable payments over five months Using MS Project 98, one firm successfully implemented two projects related to legal/accounting transition and one contractual EPA liability exit plan related to their acquisition as well as a system for combining the two database systems into one -- within the 30-day window after acquisition startup. A large plastics packaging company adopted an across-the-board approach to using MS Project 98, working with BnW Associates, implementing a product development phase-gate process, project management skill development, and deployment and training with hundreds of employees. One of many successes: a $4- million capital investment project in an overseas location was completed on time 20% under budget. Every organization is different, and results will vary from company to company and program to program. With BnW Associates help, however, an assessment can be easily made to evaluate where and how the new architecture of MS Project 98, Project Manager Best Practices, and skill enhancements can be made to promote better bottom line returns on your MS Project 98 investment. For more information on how you can get a better return from your investment in MS Project 98, contact BnW Associates by phone (419/ ), fax (419/ ) or (tabarth@bnwassociates.com). Or, return the enclosed business reply card for more information. 5

6 Ted A. Barth, President of BnW Associates, as a Plant Manager of seven plants, discovered most Engineers do not have the appropriate skills on how to manage a project. The ideas and steps he developed to train Project Managers were sorely needed by all Manufacturing, Engineering, and information technology (IT). This demand started his thriving consulting and training business in Project Management and Problem Solving. Insights in Project Management Excellence is published by BnW Associates West Central Avenue Toledo, OH Phone/Fax: 419/ tabarth@bnwassociates.com 6