Project Planning

Post date: Oct 1, 2017 2:47:09 PM

1. There was an interesting but short discussion in one of the threads in my post about project planning in Malaysia. It was an interesting discourse of opinions.

2. Project management is very subjective and the styling depends on school of thought. There is no specific way to determine the sequence when constructing a project, however it should make sense and constructable within the allowed time frame.

3. What are the school of thoughts in project management? It depends on what is the focus when a project manager or project planner plans a project sequence. Engineers by trade mostly will ensure the sequence is appropriate based on drawings. Quantity surveyors have different approach whereby a project should be completed with cost saving in mind.

4. A learned project manager or planner approach it in a different manner. It depends on what the client need, technical need and financial need. The client need is usually is relatively close to financial need. The loading of each activity and phase have significance on the cashflow budget and taking into consideration on NPV, IRR, credit facilities' interest and limit, and value management.

5. Client need considerations depend on the site condition, operation size, construction risks and outsourcing terms. This usually tie down to financial dispersion in procurement unit(s) and sequencing/coordination at site. Storage size will determine the availability for stockyard space and the possibility in adopting the just-in-time approach for constant use raw materials or work-in-progress (if using IBS techniques). Operation size and outsourcing will determine the availability of resources and possible leveraging and crashing. Construction risks are risks when sequencing and erecting. It can be technical acts eg. involving static, dynamic and temporary load(s) during construction phase. Apart from that, general acts which are safety related.

6. Although these are rarely portrayed in the work program, these are premeditated considerations for sequential activities which formed a formal modus operandi for contract dossier or privately controlled and working plan.

7. Some other considerations which may differ from project are the cost loading, where some are in milestone basis and payment is not in pro-rated, unlike in most conventional projects which opt for progressive or interim payment type where cost can be spread.

8. Resources distribution is unique where rates are usually different from one place to another but the productivity rate should be rational.

9. Time is of the essence and that is the fundamental of every project, regardless of the level of uniqueness. Nevertheless, it is essential to check the critical path to ensure that the rational of critical activities are justified and controlled or scrutinized periodically.

10. When project risks are identified during the initial stage of the project, it should be handled carefully. Each stage of activities have their set of risks which should be eliminated or controlled. Each risk have their own time frame to resolved and it should be micromanaged.

11. Therefore in this stage of micromanagement, the agile project management techniques can be deployed with set of sprints which form level 6 and level 7 (since most work program are developed until level 5). Risk duration is usually quite a complicated process where it can be assess in risk management software by having each activity's risk based on statistical distribution graph with slight change to the level of skewness and kurtosis. In this case, for worst case scenario, the sigma value can be at 1.64 or any value which is predetermined that may fit the possible duration.

12. Pareto principle is another tool which can be utilize when trying to focus on main risks and/or project disruptions. Tripod-beta technique can be deploy for mitigating risk of an event for micromanagement phase.

13. At the end of the day, project planning is very subjective but with one vision; that is to complete the project within given time, given quality, and given cost.