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Managing a Project - The Time Factor

February 3, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management for Beginners, Time Management

Managing a Project - The Time Factor (#10 in the Hut Project Management Handbook)
By Wouter Baars

The time factor manifests itself in a project in the form of deadlines for tasks and the amount of time that these tasks may take. Managing time involves ensuring that tasks are completed on time.

Time in project plans:

  • Determine which activities should take place in which phase.
  • Estimate how long each activity will take
  • Determine the order in which activities should be completed.
  • Allocate people and materials.
  • Allocate activities over time.
  • Determine the (most important) deadlines.

Time in progress monitoring:

  • Monitor progress.
  • Monitor deadlines.
  • Adjust schedules.

Time in project reporting:

  • Report on the actual timeline.
  • Analyse and explain why some tasks proceeded much more quickly or much more slowly than expected.

Time schedules are based on a work-breakdown structure (WBS). A WBS is a decomposition of the tasks that must be completed in order to achieve the project result. Developing a time schedule requires knowing the amount of time that is needed for each task, who will complete each task and when. One frequently used tool for planning time is the bar chart or Gantt chart.

Next in the Hut Project Management Handbook:

Managing a Project - The Money Factor

Previously in the Hut Project Management Handbook:

Managing a Project - Introduction

Wouter Baars has a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Science. He has been a project manager for several years for The European commission, Waag Society, KPN (Dutch telecom provider) and many smaller organizations. He is specialized in creative projects such as serious game development, e-learning and software development. Currently he is teaching project management and coaching organizations that are working on their project management. More info on his work: www.projectmanagement-training.net.

Originally published by DANS – Data Archiving and Networked Services - The Hague

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 and is filed under Project Management for Beginners, Time Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Managing a Project - The Money Factor - PM Hut wrote on February 8, 2009 - 6:42 pm | Visit Link

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