Create an Example Project

We will follow that outline and simply update those parts that are affected by the new interface for ProjectLibre. “The best way to understand how a project plan may be created using ProjectLibre is to study a realistic example such as the one that follows. This example, while simple, provides a step by step description of typical actions that a project manager might use to establish a viable project plan using (ProjectLibre).” This example likely will not fit your project perfectly, so you may want to either modify this example or initiate your own to fit your needs more specifically. However, the basic steps are still likely to apply.

A relatively small set of assumptions is given for the example project to be exercised here. It includes:

1. ProjectLibre has been installed and configured as described above and is connected to a usable printer (or at least to a pseudo printer like PDF Creator).
2. The example project, called “New Shower” is a marketing effort lasting 6 months.
3. Three full-time people resources, counting the project manager are assigned to New Shower.
4. There is no budget constraint assigned for “New Shower”; the organization is fully behind this effort but schedule is very important. It must be completed within 6 months.
5. The required (mandatory) completion date is no more than six months from the start date.

Step 1: Create the project plan shell

The first step is to identify the basic parameters of the project. The analyst begins this step with ProjectLibre as described starting on page 6. We saw how this process began in figures 4 and 5. Now we name the new project “New Shower” and enter it in the top line as indicated above figure 5. We also add a start date as shown in figure 16. You could also deselect the “Forward scheduled” box, which is the default selection. Doing so will allow you to select a finish date and have ProjectLibre work backwards after you enter the required tasks. This alternate method is primarily for those projects that have a firm finish date that must be met, one like “New Shower”, which has a mandatory completion date. It is perhaps a bit more common to leave the default checked action as shown in figure 16, enter the required tasks, and use the software to calculate a completion date. But, for our example we will uncheck “Forward scheduled” to be sure we satisfy that mandatory completion date. This change makes our example slightly different from the original one. As you develop your own learning example, you will need to interpret your own organizational environment and utilize features of ProjectLibre that meet your own needs. Setting down the assumptions and constraints is a bit like developing, refining, and validating requirements for a system. The notes on the dialog box used to name the project are a good place to start documenting some of these constraints and assumptions.

Figure 16. Starting the example project

Once “OK” is clicked, a blank Gantt chart like the one shown in figure 6, but with a new project name inserted, is opened.

Step 2: Identify the project resources

Figure 17. Resource spreadsheet for information about people resources

The next step is to identify and name the available resources. For New Shower all the resources are people resources and we can enter all the necessary information by navigating to the “Resources” spreadsheet in one of the ways we described under the paragraph on navigation within ProjectLibre. The best way to navigate to this spreadsheet is to select “Resource” in the top line and click on the “Resources” icon on the left side of the second line. These two actions bring up the spreadsheet shown in figure 17.

Figure 18. More categories of information in the “Resource” spreadsheet

The left portion of the “Resource” spreadsheet (figure 17) is only part of the information that can be stored there. One other way to see more of the possible information that can be maintained here is to simply scroll to the right using the bottom bar in this window, as suggested in figure 18. This right side of the spreadsheet can hold information like pay rate and calendar as suggested in the titles of the columns.

Figure 19. Assigning resources from the Resource spreadsheet

Values entered in the cells of this spreadsheet must be of a specified format or else an error message of the type shown in figure 19 warns of inconsistent entries. So this spreadsheet becomes the central source of information about the available resources – both human and material – available for the project.

Figure 20. Alternate means of entering Resource information

Incidentally, you can also reach the Resource spreadsheet by choosing “View” from the top line of the control bar and clicking on the “Resources” icon in the second line in the “Resource” views block just on block to the right of the “Task” views block (containing the “Gantt” icon).

Additionally, the analyst can also input specific resource characteristics – sometimes more conveniently – by left clicking on a resource name in the “Resources” spreadsheet and making entries in the dialog box (figure 20) for that named resource. This entry method may be more efficient and easier to organize than making them directly in the spreadsheet. Clearly, each of these tabs and the large space for notes allow a variety of ways to tailor the resource inputs to your project. We need to examine each of the tabs at the top of this dialogue box to elaborate on why this alternative entry method may be useful for your project.

Figure 21. “General” tab for alternate dialogue box

First, we look carefully at the “General” tab (figure 21) and note that many details can be added about each resource that is part of the project resource database. You can specify specific work groups, contact information, material descriptions, and even personalized work calendars (think flex time, if you need to do so) and the usual identifiers like RBS identifier.

Figure 22. “Costs” tab for alternate dialogue box

The “Costs” tab allows the analyst to spell out individual labour rates for any given resource on any effective date. In fact the five sub-tabs (A-E) even allow the analyst to set five different cost rates for a given person resource. Also, it is possible to give the resource a “raise” by simply stepping up the rate at an appropriate “Effective Date” in the left column of a given tab.

Figure 23. “Resource Availability” tab for alternate dialogue box

The “Resource Availability” tab (figure 23) gives other options for elaborating on the resource database. The tab also includes an entry setting the upper limit on the use of this resource. This limit is usually set in terms of the maximum percentage of time this resource can be used.

The “Tasks” sub-tab (figure 24) presents a list of all the commitments or assignments made for each person in the Resources database. The columns give details about each of these assignments (start and end dates, for example) regarding each task on each page of the tab for each resource.

Lastly, the “Notes” sub-tab is shown in figure 25. Obviously, its primary function is to give space to describe any characteristic of the resource that needs to be documented – hence, there is plenty of white space for a narrative description or any other notation.

Figure 24. “Tasks” tab for alternate dialogue box

Figure 25. “Notes” tab for alternate dialogue box

Step 3: Identify the project’s high-level tasks

Figure 26. High-level tasks for the “New Shower” example

The “New Shower’’ example project is assumed to be similar to an earlier one successfully completed by the organization. The project, like almost all projects, can be described with five generic tasks: Initiation, Research, Contracting, Development, and Launch. These generic tags are not as unambiguously descriptive as one might like to see, but they do outline a general way to categorize upper level tasks. So the analyst enters more descriptive task titles, but you will recognize that these tasks fit this generic description (figure 26). Observe that all task bars used so far are red. This kick coloring means that all tasks are part of the critical task, which has no meaning at this point in the analysis. When we finish the critical path will be in red and all non-critical task bars will be blue, but it is way too early to identify a critical path at this stage of developing the project plan.

Step 4: Identify task dependencies

Some tasks cannot start until other tasks have completed; that is, the second task is dependent on another task being completed before the second one can be started. In our “New Shower” example, it is obvious that the application cannot be marketed worldwide until after the beta testing has been completed and the beta testing cannot begin until the application is developed. Finally, of course, the starting approval (implied by the kick-off meeting having occurred) must occur before any of the other tasks can start. These dependencies show up in figure 27.

Figure 27. Task dependencies

The color code now shows the critical path in read; the logic of the dependencies shows that critical path. This critical path has three elements now and the non-critical path does not affect the critical path. There are several other nuances about how to deal with tasks that will be dealt with in the next section. But first we have to assign resources and decompose the upper level tasks where necessary.

Step 5: Assign project resources to appropriate tasks

Each task is likely to need one or more resources for completion. Columns on the Gantt chart may be hidden unless the vertical slider is moved to the right. The names of the resource elements can be directly typed into the column named “Name”. The default option is to allot 100% of their time to the assigned task, but this option can be changed in the assignment dialogue. The “Name” field allows direct entry of multiple resources, along with the percentage of time assigned to each task. Each resource name is separated by a semi-colon as shown in the top part of figure 28 (yellow rectangle). In this chart, the default value of 100% for the percentage of time devoted to the project was accepted. By choosing “Task Usage” from the second line of the command ribbon (magenta rectangle), the resources allotted (in hours) are shown at the bottom left of the display. This provides a convenient way to illustrate how each task is covered. You might want to manipulate the hours to relieve the project leader of time for other tasks; try that by changing the hours manually in the appropriate yellow line. Making changes of this nature is likely to alter the total number of days applied to the task; choosing appropriate percentage may be a better way to start this kind of resource leveling. We will come back to that point shortly.

Figure 28. Resource assignment based on task usage

We can also choose the “Resource Usage” option (green rectangle in figure 29) to see how each person is loaded up for each task. This perspective may be an easier place to start prioritizing workload for each individual. When you start this work prioritization, it is likely that as you adjust percentages of effort, some tasks will be shortened as ProjectLibre attempts to automatically schedule. It may be necessary to choose manual scheduling to accommodate part-time work on desired tasks, level the workload, and still maintain the desired schedule. We will have more to say about this kind of activity when we discuss the use of the “Histogram” function and filtering activities.

Figure 29. Resource assignment based on individual resource load

Step 6: Elaborate and decompose tasks

Figure 30. Decomposition of high-level project tasks

Being agile in splitting up tasks is an important characteristic for a good manager. ProjectLibre facilitates this kind of activity on the part of the analyst. Decomposing a complex task into simpler ones allows better understanding of interrelationships and provides insight on estimating resource needs. It brings just-in-time utilization of resources (both people and facilities) into the scheduling picture in almost every case. Four such task decompositions are shown for our “New Shower” example in figure 30. For more complicated projects, many more decompositions are likely to be used, but these simple ones suffice to illustrate use of the program. Notice that ProjectLibre uses indentation to indicate the hierarchy for sub-tasks; this feature also feeds development of the Work Breakdown Structure, as we will see later on in the manual, when we re-examine how tasks are used.

Step 7: Evaluate the project plan

With a representative set of the tasks entered and a few sub-tasks spelled out, the project plan is well underway. The critical path is perhaps the most significant piece of information in this rudimentary structure. This knowledge is quite important to the project manager. Analysis and leveling of workloads can be carried out based on the resource information in the ProjectLibre spreadsheets after those entries are completed. In the example, this information is minimal, just enough to show how this effort can be completed. For most projects, laying out the needed resources is one of the most important (and most tedious) tasks. Task and sub-task reports can be printed at any snapshot in time. Later on, if completion percentages are entered and kept current for each task, status reports can be generated that show progress and permit evaluation of schedule completion. The best way to use ProjectLibre is as a tool to continuously evaluate progress toward project goals.