Lesson video

Welcome, my name is Steve, and I'm your computing teacher.

In this unit, we're looking at IT project management, and this is Lesson 4: Tools for Planning.

Make sure you have the work we've done from previous lessons.

Pause the video quickly if you haven't got that and get them ready.

You will need it today.

Also, make sure that you've got nothing to distract you so that you can stay fully focused on the tasks we're doing.

Let's go.

In this lesson, you are going to create a Gantt chart and a PERT chart.

I'll explain what those are later on.

And you're going to be using some evaluating tools for planning.

So this is all about planning for time.

Why do we incorporate time in planning tools? We have seen that time is a part of SMART goals, and if it missed out, the project is likely to fail.

Most projects have a team that will work on it and a clear start and end date with date and time milestones.

With this in mind, having time linked to tasks mapped out over the course of a project means that the project manager can keep track of the progress of a project.

It also means that team members have a clear understanding of how long they have to complete the task.

And when some tasks can be carried out at the same time as others.

There are lots of digital tools we can use, but we're going to focus on two: Gantt and PERT charts.

There are websites that you can use to produce these charts with templates provided.

Let's focus on Gantt charts first.

A Gantt chart presents each task as a block of time.

It shows how much time it will take to complete a task.

A Gantt chart shows which tasks are dependent on another one being completed before they can begin.

It also shows which tasks can be completed at the same time as others, in other words, concurrently.

A Gantt chart also shows the buffer or contingency time.

Extra time should be included in every project just in case.

It highlights key aspects of the project that needs to be completed at a specific time, the milestones.

So here is a Gantt chart that has been started for you.

In that first column is the work breakdown structure, the WBS.

In the second column is the task breakdown linked to the SMART goals.

If you look in that first column, Project initiation has been labelled as section 1, and then the project initiation has been split into separate tasks, each with a numbered code, the work breakdown structure number.

In the next column along, we then got the task owner, a start time, a due time, and a duration.

And the last bit is calculated using functions, a PCT, the percentage of the task that is complete.

So that section would be automated in some way based on the information you've put in on your start time and due time.

The last section is the lessons time broken into 10-minutes slots, presuming we didn't forget that we have four lessons to complete the task in.

As you can see, the green squares are spread out to demonstrate where and when each of those things will be completed.

If you were working on a team, you would name the person responsible for the task in the Task Owner column.

In the example, the tasks for the initiation stage have been broken into 10-minute slots.

The start time for each consecutive task is the same as the due time of the previous task.

The duration of the task is labelled very clearly, and that duration section is calculated automatically based on the start and due time you've put in.

Let's have a look at PERT chart as an alternative.

PERT stands for Project Evaluation Review Technique.

This one uses rectangles or circles to represent tasks, and these are called nodes.

They are numbered according to the task number.

These shapes then link using arrows.

The arrows indicate the path and the order in which tasks should be completed.

They also indicate the time to be taken between tasks.

It identifies dependent tasks.

In this example, task 5 cannot start until both tasks 3 and 4 are complete.

It also represents tasks that can run concurrently.

So for example, 3 and 4 can run at the same time.

Here's our example.

For number one, we analyse the brief.

Step two, identify the user requirements.

Step three and four can happen at the same time, identifying user constraints and creating the feasibility report.

Step five, create those SMART goals.

And step six, we deliver to the team.

Here's an example in a bit more detail.

We have a numbered task list.

We have clear nodes indicating what those tasks are and arrows with time on them to show how long each task will take.

In reality, the initiation stage is normally much longer than this, but this is an example.

Task 1, create a PERT chart.

Create your own PERT chart for the Delicious Desserts project.

You will need to create a numbered task list, format your chart to meet the house style you identified in the planning task in Lesson 3.

Remember, the house style are the colours and fonts that you would use.

And allocate sufficient time to complete the tasks.

Pause the video now to complete your task.

Gantt versus PERT.

The advantages of a Gantt chart are that they help you organise your thoughts.

Comments can be added during the run of the project, and it has the potential to set realistic timeframes.

The project tasks are shown against time in blocks, and it is highly visible to everyone in a team.

The advantages of a PERT chart, however, are that they are useful for planning large projects.

They support activity analysis, breaking down activities into much smaller components, and they answer the what if questions.

It is easy to identify which tasks are dependent and which are concurrent, and timescales can be planned accurately.

However, disadvantages of a Gantt chart include as the task time is estimated, the plan may be unrealistic.

The size of the bar per task does not indicate the amount of work needed.

A Gantt chart can be difficult to see on one sheet of paper, and it can be difficult to see the dependencies.

Meanwhile, with a PERT chart, it can take a lot of time to develop an accurate PERT chart.

And if you lack experience in creating one, you might end up with an overly complex chart with inaccurate timings, which means it has the potential to become incredibly confusing.

So, Task 2, choose a project planning tool.

Which tool for project planning would you prefer to use? I want you to explain why and use the worksheet provided to record your thoughts.

Pause the video to complete your task.

Well done, make sure you share your work with Oak National if your parents give you permission, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

See you in Lesson 5.