M
mwebergo
I have a project that is tasked with completing a current state assessment of
multiple applications (36 total apps). I have 4 business analysts charged
with completing the assessments. In estimating the work required to complete
a current state assessment we came up with an estimate of 52 hours per
application. Each assessment is an independent task. There is no
requirement for completing one before another. I would like to be able to
track the actual effort for each application so that we can refine our
estimates for the specific application for later phases of the project.
The primary factor for scheduling of the assessments is the availability of
IT and business subject matter experts for the applications. Given the
fluidity of people's schedules I don't think it is possible to accurately
pre-schedule the order of the completion of the assessments. Rather, I would
like to provide my BA's the flexibility in scheduling the assessments based
on SME availability. Similarly, I would like to be able to change the
assigned BA on a given application in a easy fashion as I expect this to
fluid as well. Essentially the BA's self select the applications they are
going to work on next. I expect the BA's will work on multiple assessments
in parallel so that if a delay in one application is encountered (such as lag
waiting for review/signoff of the assessment from the SME's) is not lost time.
Given these considerations, I am trying to come up with the best way to
setup the tasks in MS Project so that I can track earned value throughout the
entire 3 month duration of the project and report status of earned value on a
weekly basis. A couple of options I have considered:
1. Create 36 separate fixed work tasks with the work setup to match our
estimate of 52 hours. Set the duration of each task to be the total 3 month
duration of the assessment period. Essentially each of the 36 tasks
contributes a small amount of the BCWS each week whereas only those
assessments that are in progress will show the ACWP and BCWP. Seems kind of
hokey but avoids having to try to schedule or move assessments around based
on which ones actually are in progress.
2. Create 36 separate fixed work tasks with the work setup to match our
estimate of 52 hours. Set the duration of each task to the actual duration
expected for a given assessment (i.e. 1.5 weeks). Arbitrarily assign the
applications to a given time period. In this case, the BCWS will be
determined based on the scheduling of the apps but it's likely that the ACWP
and BCWP will be driven by different applications than what I scheduled.
3. Other options????
On a related note, what is the best approach for the BA assignment? Assign
all 4 BA's to each task and expect that only the one who is actually working
on it will enter his work? Don't pre-assign the BA's and only add them after
they have "signed up" for a given application?
multiple applications (36 total apps). I have 4 business analysts charged
with completing the assessments. In estimating the work required to complete
a current state assessment we came up with an estimate of 52 hours per
application. Each assessment is an independent task. There is no
requirement for completing one before another. I would like to be able to
track the actual effort for each application so that we can refine our
estimates for the specific application for later phases of the project.
The primary factor for scheduling of the assessments is the availability of
IT and business subject matter experts for the applications. Given the
fluidity of people's schedules I don't think it is possible to accurately
pre-schedule the order of the completion of the assessments. Rather, I would
like to provide my BA's the flexibility in scheduling the assessments based
on SME availability. Similarly, I would like to be able to change the
assigned BA on a given application in a easy fashion as I expect this to
fluid as well. Essentially the BA's self select the applications they are
going to work on next. I expect the BA's will work on multiple assessments
in parallel so that if a delay in one application is encountered (such as lag
waiting for review/signoff of the assessment from the SME's) is not lost time.
Given these considerations, I am trying to come up with the best way to
setup the tasks in MS Project so that I can track earned value throughout the
entire 3 month duration of the project and report status of earned value on a
weekly basis. A couple of options I have considered:
1. Create 36 separate fixed work tasks with the work setup to match our
estimate of 52 hours. Set the duration of each task to be the total 3 month
duration of the assessment period. Essentially each of the 36 tasks
contributes a small amount of the BCWS each week whereas only those
assessments that are in progress will show the ACWP and BCWP. Seems kind of
hokey but avoids having to try to schedule or move assessments around based
on which ones actually are in progress.
2. Create 36 separate fixed work tasks with the work setup to match our
estimate of 52 hours. Set the duration of each task to the actual duration
expected for a given assessment (i.e. 1.5 weeks). Arbitrarily assign the
applications to a given time period. In this case, the BCWS will be
determined based on the scheduling of the apps but it's likely that the ACWP
and BCWP will be driven by different applications than what I scheduled.
3. Other options????
On a related note, what is the best approach for the BA assignment? Assign
all 4 BA's to each task and expect that only the one who is actually working
on it will enter his work? Don't pre-assign the BA's and only add them after
they have "signed up" for a given application?