Reference no: EM132339222

Exercise

1. Enter the below tasks into MS Project (Do not enter the start and end dates, MS Project will automatically schedule these later)

Task Name	Duration
A	2 days
B	1 day
C	3 days
D	1 day
E	11 days
F	7 days
G	22 days
H	12 days
I	12 days
J	18 days
K	10 days
L	7 days
M	38 days
N	24 days
O	28 days
P	8 days
Q	3 days

When you enter the tasks and their respective lengths, the Gantt chart appears as below (see screenshot). All tasks beginning at the same date. What are missing are the dependencies of the tasks

2. Now let us enter the dependencies of the tasks. Enter the "Predecessors" column to your task list. (For example, now Task C has Task A (#1) and Task B (#2) as predecessor. In other words, Task C cannot start until both Task A and Task B are completed.) Note how the Gantt chart has updated to reflect these dependencies. Note also that MS Project automatically updated the start and finish dates of each activity.

Task Name	Duration	Predecessors
A	2 days
B	1 day
C	3 days	1,2
D	1 day	3
E	11 days	4
F	7 days	4
G	22 days	5
H	12 days	5
I	12 days	6
J	18 days	7
K	10 days	6
L	7 days	7,8,9
M	38 days	8,11
N	24 days	10,12
O	28 days	10,12
P	8 days	13,14
Q	3 days	15,16

Our draft project plan is now ready. Let us now undertake some modifications that may commonly occur.

3. Suppose we forgot to add a task to the project. Let us assume that we missed a kickoff meeting at the onset of the project, and want to add it now before all tasks. Select the first row with your mouse and right click to "Insert Task."

a. As the Task Name enter "Kickoff Meeting" which takes 3 hours and has no predecessors

b. Note on the Gantt chart that the "Kickoff Meeting" task floats above the project. We need to specify that both Task A and Task B has the "Kickoff Meeting" as their predecessor (which is now the #1 task). Your task list should appear as below (updated fields in yellow).

Task Name	Duration	Predecessors
Kickoff Meeting	3 hrs
A	2 days	1
B	1 day	1
C	3 days	2,3
D	1 day	4
E	11 days	5
F	7 days	5
G	22 days	6
H	12 days	6
I	12 days	7
J	18 days	8
K	10 days	7
L	7 days	8,9,10
M	38 days	9,12
N	24 days	11,13
O	28 days	11,13
P	8 days	14,15
Q	3 days	16,17

4. Note however that Task C and all its subsequent tasks' predecessor have not automatically updated. For example, Task C still shows as its predecessors 2 and 3, which were previously Task A and B but are now instead the "Kickoff Meeting and Task A. This could create a scheduling problem. MS Project also alerts us to this issue in the Gantt chart. (Notice how the Tasks C line is no longer smooth.) As the Gantt chart clearly shows: Task C has Task A as a predecessor, yet Task C is scheduled to start before Task A is completed!

5. The reason for this issue is that we are manually scheduling the tasks, and MS Project keeps the dates fixed in manual scheduling. One way to overcome this issue is to use the "Auto Schedule" feature. Select all tasks with your mouse → Click "Auto Schedule under the "Task" tab.

6. Now suppose that this project is postponed to 2019 due to budget constraints in this calendar year. Go to the "Project" tab and select "Move Project." Enter the project start date as 11/4/2019.

7. As the project is now scheduled over major holiday period, you might want to account for these downtimes. (By default, MS Project does not account for public holidays.) Go to the "Project" tab and select "Working times." Under "Exceptions" add the first holiday period from 11/21/2019 to 11/22/2019 and the second holiday period from 12/24/2019 to 12/26/2019. (Note that you can make these holidays recurring. Also, here you can customize working schedule of each week.)

Assignment

The project sponsor thinks that the project finish date is too close to the customer's deadline. Although the project is currently scheduled to be finished before the deadline, the margin is just by one day. The project sponsor is concerned that a delay in any of the tasks might result in missing the customer's deadline. She therefore wants to be proactive in reducing this risk, and believes that Task M, at 38 days the longest task, can be reduced in length. She therefore suggests that more external resources (e.g., labor and equipment) should employed at Task M. This, however, will be not cheap; it will cost an additional $50,000 to reduce the Task M by a day. The project sponsor believes that this cost is "worth it." She observes that missing the customer deadline would cost $250,000 for each day of delay, not to mention the reputational loss to the organization. As an alternative to employing outside resources, another idea she suggests might be to pull some resources from Task A and Task C to work on Task M. Although this will delay Task A and C, the project sponsor observes that these two tasks, at only 2 days and 3 days respectively, are already much shorter than Task M.

Suppose you are the project manager of this project. What is your response to the project sponsor? Should outside resources be employed at Task M? Or should resources from Task A and C be allocated to Task M? What is your decision? What data, if any, do you need to improve your decision? What are the assumptions behind your decision?

Attachment:- MS Project Exercise.rar