Risk Register from Task 1

This has been posted in case it was not adequately legible within the submitted document.

Please click on the image for a full screen view

Chapter 10 - Exercise 3

How many different communication channels does a project team with six people have? How many more communications channels would there be if the team grew to 10 people?

Number of communications channels =

Therefore:

With 6 team members -

communication channels = (6*(6-1))/2 = 30/2 = 15

With 10 team members -

communication channels = (10*(10-1))/2 = 90/2 = 45

This model of representing communication channels provides a clear visual and mathematical representation of the different communication paths available within a team environment.

Chapter 9 - Exercise 1

Your company is preparing to launch an important new project starting January 1, which will last 1 year. You estimate that you will need one full-time project manager, two full-time business analysts for the first six-months, two full-time senior programmers for the whole year, four full-time junior programmers for the months of July, August and September, and one full-time technical writer for the last three months. Use Microsoft Excel to create a stacked column chart showing a resource histogram for this project, similar to the one shown in Figure 9-6. Be sure to include a legend to label the types of resources needed. Use appropriate titles and axis labels.

Please click on the image for a full screen view

This chart is a useful tool, which at a glance enables project managers to determine which staff will be where, and when.

Chapter 8 - Exercise 3

To illustrate a normal distribution, shake and roll a pair of dice 30 times and graph the results. It is more likely for someone to roll a six, seven or eight than a two or twelve, so these numbers should come up more often. To create the graph, use graph paper or draw a grid. Label the x-axis with the numbers 2 through 12. Label the y-axis with the numbers 1 through 30. Fill the appropriate grid for each roll of the dice. Do your results resemble normal distribution? Who or why not?

Please click on the image for a full screen view

As predicted there were more 6, 7 and 8’s rolled in this test and only one 2 and one 12.
Therefore I would say that this graph is representative of a normal distribution.

I found this task to be an insightful demonstration of applied statistics. I've often found this an area which is difficult to grasp, however this exercise makes sense of the theory.

Chapter 8 - Exercise 2

Create a pareto diagram based on the information in the table below. Add a column for “% of total” and “cumulative %”.

Please click on the image for a full screen view

Chapter 7 - Exercise 5

Create a spreadsheet to calculate you projected total costs, total revenues, and total profits for giving a seminar on cost estimating. Below are some of your assumptions:

• You will charge $600 per person for a two-day class


• You estimate that 30 people will register for and attend the class, but you want to change this input.


• Your fixed costs include $500 total to rent a room for both days, setup fees of $400 for registration, and $300 for designing a postcard for advertising.


• You will not include any labour costs for this estimate, but you estimate that you will spend at least 150 hours developing materials,, managing the project, and giving the actual class. You would like to know what your time is worth given different scenarios.


• You will order 5000 postcards, mail 4000, and distribute the rest to friends and colleagues.


• Your variable casts include the following:
  a. $5 per person for registration plus four percent of the class fee per person to handle credit card processing; assume everyone pays be credit card.
  b. $0.40 per postcard if you order 500 or more.
  c. $0.25 per postcard for mailing and postage
  d. $25 per person for lunch and beverages
  e. $30 per person for class handouts

Be sure to have input cells for any variable that might change, such as the cost of postage, handouts and so on. Calculate your profits based on the following number of people who might attend: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60. In addition, calculate what your time would be worth per hour based on the number of students. Try to use the Excel data table feature showing the profits based on the number of students. If you are unfamiliar with data tables, just repeat the calculations for each possibility of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 students. Print your results on one page, highlighting the profits for each scenario and what your time is worth.

Please click on the image for a full screen view

This was of tabulating data is a nice way of showing a range of outcomes for a cost estimate model. It particularly highlights the value increase in labour as the attendees increase.

Chapter 5 – Exercise 1

Use PowerPoint, Visio or similar software to create a WBS in chart form (similar to an organizational chart – see the example in Figure 5-2). Assume the level 1 categories are initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing. Under the executing section, include level 2 categories of analysis, design, prototyping, testing, implementation, and support. Assume the support category includes level 3 items called training, documentation, user support, and enhancements.

Please click on the image for a full screen view

This form of the WBS gives a very good visual representation of the work involved at each level and the relationships between levels.

Chapter 4 – Exercise 4

Create a weighted scoring model to determine grades for a course. Final grades are based on three exams worth 15%, 20% and 25%, respectively; homework is worth 20%; and a group project is worth 20%. Enter scores for three students. Assume Student 1 earns 100% (or 100) on every item. Assume Student 2 earns 80% on each of the exams, 90% on the homework and 95% on the group project. Assume student 3 earns 90% on Exam1, 75% on Exam 2, 80% on Exam 3, 90% on the homework and 70% on the group project. You can use the weighted scoring model template, create your own spreadsheet, or make the matrix by hand.

Please click on the image for a full screen view

Chapter 4 – Exercise 3

Perform a financial analysis for a project using the format provided in Figure 4-3. Assume the projected costs and benefits for this project are spread over four years as follows: Estimated costs are $100,000 in Year 1 and $25,000 each year in Years 2, 3 and 4. Use an 8% discount rate. Create a spreadsheet (or use the business case financials template provided on the companion Web site) to calculate and clearly display the NPV, ROI and year in which payback occurs. In addition, write a paragraph explaining whether you would recommend investing in this project based on your financial analysis

Please click on the image for a full screen view


Based on the results of the financial analysis for this project we can see that NPV (an indicator of how much value an investment or project adds to the value of the company*1) = $41,740, ROI (the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment relative to the amount of money invested*2) = 25% and payback occurs in the third year. While both the NPV and ROI indicate that the project will have a positive financial impact, the fact that the payback will not occur until the third year means that the company will need to wait a long period of time before the benefits of the project are realised. Based upon the payback period I would recommend that other projects be sought unless this was one of major importance to the company for non-financial reasons ie; compliance with new legislation, etc.

*1 Net present value. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved September 3, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_present_value
*2 Rate of return. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved September 3, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate_of_return_on_investment

Chapter 4 – Exercise 2

Use spreadsheet software to create Figures 4-2 through 4-5 in this text. Make sure your formulas work correctly.

Please click on the pictures to see a full size image
Fig 4-2


Fig 4-3


Fig 4-4


Fig 4-5

In this exercise I found that in some cases my figures differed slightly from those published in the text (Figures 4-3 and 4-4 specifically). I believe this is due to rounding being used in those charts published, whereas no rounding was used in my own spreadsheets. The effects on the final outcome however were negligible.

Chapter 3 – Exercise 1

Study the WBS and Gantt charts provided in Figures 3-3 and 3-4. Enter the WBS into Project 2003, indenting tasks as shown to create the WBS hierarchy. Then enter durations and dependencies to try to reproduce the Gantt chart. Check your work with the files available on the companion Web site for this text.

Please click on the image below for full screen view:

Whilst this task at surface level seems straight forward enough, I found it required a fairly detailed analysis of the information provided especially in the network diagram, to accurately replicate the Gantt chart. It was also a good exercise in ‘getting to know’ Project 2003.