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Reporting whether project can sustain with 15% growth?

12 replies [Last post]
Thu, 2009-06-25 09:57
SHERELL ESTRADA
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Where would you begin? I have a project that is very critical and my manager would like to see whether it can sustain with 15% schedule growth. I have to report this in some way in graph/ visual aid.
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Fri, 2009-06-26 04:15
#1
Anoon Iimos
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Sherell,

For me it’s like population growth, sustainability will depend on your capital, if it is replenishable then fine, if it just evaporate with the expenses for your resources,..is the earth getting bigger?
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Thu, 2009-06-25 15:42
#2
Mike Testro
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Hi Sherell

We are all getting together to try to ansewer your problem.

One of your threads was:

"We are currently using Deltek OpenPlan. Increasing the resources does not affect the duration of the project."

Why not? in every other usefull form of software increasing the resources WILL reduce the duration - maybe you are using the wrong software OR not using it correctly with regard to Resource Modelling.

"This is to be a what if scenario. If we have a 15% resource growth to nonplanned work,"

Why are you trying to increase 15% to "Non Planned" work. What is Non Planned Work?

"Could we manage the growth w/o impacting the completion of the project? Those are questions that would need to be answered."

Again the growth in resources is the only way that you are going to impact the completion of the project.

Sherell - you are creating circular argumants that are self defeating.

We will help where we can but cannot solve riddles.

Best regards

Mike Testro
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Thu, 2009-06-25 12:54
#3
Samer Zawaydeh
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Dear Sherell,

We are missing a point here that you are repeating.

To make things simple, each schedule consist of scope, time and cost.

You want to study the following:

1. Increase in scope without the increase of resources adequately. This might be done by asking the people to work extra hours.

2. Increase in scope with the increase in resources. Hopefully this can be done without affecting the critical path and delaying the project.

How can you study this? You need to evaluate how many manhours you need to complete the extra 15% of scope and if you can divide the work on the same people that you have already.

With kind regards,

Samer
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Thu, 2009-06-25 12:39
#4
SHERELL ESTRADA
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This would help if the assignment was to keep track/record of growth. However, I am to project whether or not the project can sustain with nonplanned work at an assumption of 15% of growth.
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Thu, 2009-06-25 12:34
#5
Samer Zawaydeh
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Dear Sherell,

What you are descriping is scope creep. It would be recommended that you monitor the extra work and keep track of it in a separate schedule (if you can). Then you can study it and allocate the resources without impacting the original schedule.

One option is to say No to new work. If your project is very critical. Then your resources will be able to complete the project on time. But if this extra work is a must to complete the critical project, then this Extra Scope can be solve through extra resources or improved construction methods.

You want to use the visual aids. What you can do is to have an Excel sheet with the resources per month or week. All types of resources in a single column, with the total number per period. Then you can add the additional resources next to it in a separate column. This way you can visually see how many resourcing you are adding per period of work.

With kind regards,

Samer
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Thu, 2009-06-25 12:26
#6
SHERELL ESTRADA
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We are currently using Deltek OpenPlan. Increasing the resources does not affect the duration of the project. This is to be a what if scenario. If we have a 15% resource growth to nonplanned work, how could that be visualually plotted. Could we manage the growth w/o impacting the completion of the project? Those are questions that would need to be answered.
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Thu, 2009-06-25 12:26
#7
Samer Zawaydeh
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Dear Mike,

Maybe what Sherell wants to say that she is increasing the manpower without increasing the productivity. So you have to account for the extra cost of the resources. Maybe that is why they are worried.

Can the project Sustain the cost of the extra resources. If you can figure out the number of manhours that are remaining with the unit cost of each manhour, of the total cost of the resources; then you can mutliply them by 1.15 and figure out what is the new profit margin.

With kind regards,

Samer
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Thu, 2009-06-25 12:20
#8
Mike Testro
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Hi Sherell

If you have a properly resourced modelling system set up in your software then increasing the resources will reduce the durations and thus the scheduled completion date.

You only need to increase resources on the critical path.

A very simple way to achieve the same effect is to switch from an 8 hr day to a 9 hr day.

Best regards

Mike Testro
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Thu, 2009-06-25 11:16
#9
SHERELL ESTRADA
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A growth of resources within the allotted schedule dates. With no change in Milestones...the scheduled completion date will not change with aforementioned growth.
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Thu, 2009-06-25 11:14
#10
SHERELL ESTRADA
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Increased resources
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Thu, 2009-06-25 11:14
#11
Mike Testro
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Hi Sherell

What sort of "Growth" are you talking about?

Increase resources?
Increase production rate?
Increase working time?

Or anything else.

Is it a flat 15% or cumulative?

Best regards

Mike Testro
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Thu, 2009-06-25 13:53
#12
Gary Whitehead
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Q: If we have a 15% resource growth to nonplanned work, how could that be visualually plotted?
A: Because it is non-planned work, you don’t know when it will happen, or what pre-requesites & successors it may have. You could make the assumption that 15% increased resources = 15% increased scope = 15% increased duration of your critical path, and add a ’buffer’ activity to represent this, but that is a very big assumption indeed. Apart from that, I cannot think of a way to represent it in schedule form or using any graph with a time axis. All that is really left is very basic financial graphs comparing different profit margins or labour costs as a %age of the whole project or something equally banal.

Q: Could we manage the growth w/o impacting the completion of the project?
A: You cannot determin this with the information at hand, without making the assumption I mentioned above. Trying to estimate schedule impact of unknown extra work of unknown duration and unknown logical links into the schedule is an excercise in futility. The best you can do is tell your boss:
"We have x days total float on the project. Thay represents y% of the critical path. In the scenario where an average %age of the unplanned work must be added to the critical path, we can absorb an additional y% of increased work (measured in time). If we assume the nature and productivity of this extra work is consistent with the rest of the critical path, then we could manage a growth of y% to our resources without impacting the completion (date) of the project."

Ultimately I feel you’ve been asked a question which is both meaningless and impossible to answer. I have never met your boss, but I have a strong suspicion (s)he has very little understanding of project planning.
Good luck with that.
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