Claustre Postgrau "Direcció de Projectes"

Ahir, dijous, va tenir lloc la reunió del Claustre de Professors del Postgrau en Direcció de Projectes, coorganitzat per ASCAMM i les Escoles Universitàries Gimbernat, i del qual en sóc co-director, conjuntament amb en Manel Taboada, d’EU Gimbernat.

El principal objectiu de la trobada consistia en coordinar totes les accions docents que durem a terme durant l’execució del programa, entre els mesos de febrer i juny del 2007.

El claustre està format pels següents professionals:

• − Ramon Costa i Pujol, Enginyer en Informàtica, PDG, Director Serveis de Formació ASCAMM.
• − Lleonard del Río, Enginyer en Informàtica, MCSE, MCSD, Soci Director Raona
• − Toni Díaz, Excel JCI, Assessor CCS
• − Salvi Hernàndez, PDG IESE, Director General SIGMA Consulting Asociados
• − Ricard Jiménez, Doctor en Física, Director Tècnic Plastia
• − Toni Monte, Enginyer Superior en Telecomunicacions, MPM, Director de Projectes UPCPlus,
• − Xavier Plantà. Enginyer Tècnic Industrial, Director d’Innovació ASCAMM
• − Miquel Rodríguez, Enginyer Tècnic en Informàtica, MBA, MGTI, Consultor Independent TIC.
• − Manel Taboada, Llicenciat en Administració d’Empreses, Professor Titular Escoles Universitàries Gimbernat

El Postgrau presenta un currículum formatiu format per 4 mòduls de capacitació generalista en la Definició, Planificació i Gestió de Projectes i dels seus principals aspectes (abast, temps, equip de treball, comunicació, riscs, qualitat,...) i proposa un 5è mòdul, optatiu, d’especialització en l’ús i treball de metodologies de gestió de projectes informàtics.

Els diferents conceptes base i processos treballats en aquest postgrau estan basats en el “Project Management Body of Knowledge” del Project Management Institute (PMI) i durant el curs es comptarà amb la participació de Responsables de Caps de Projecte de diferents organitzacions, per tal de què complementin els aspectes treballats amb la seva experiència.

Podeu consultar el programa a http://formacio.ascamm.com/formacio-superior

Conferència 25-1-07

Per aquest proper dijous, 26 de gener, i emmarcat en les accions de difusió del Centre Tecnològic ASCAMM (http://formacio.ascamm.com) s'ha organitzat una conferència al voltant de la Direcció de Projectes.

En aquesta ocasió, la conferència és coorganitzada amb les Escoles Universitàries Gimbernat (http://www.eugimbernat.com), a Sant Cugat, amb qui ASCAMM ha dissenyat i organitzat el Postgrau en Direcció de Projectes, i es durà a terme a les seves instal·lacions (Avgda. Generaliat, s/n. Polígon Can Sant Joan. 08174 Sant Cugat del Vallés, al costat de TVE).

La conferència porta per títol “La gestió de projectes europeus. Principals reptes i característiques.
Eines col·laboratives de Treball per al Suport de Projectes" i comptarà amb dues presentacions:

• "La gestió de Projectes Europeus. El Rol del Director de Projectes", a càrrec del Dr. Ricard Jiménez. Responsable Científic d’ASCAMM i Director de R+D de Plastia. Doctor en Ciències Físiques
• " PROCEMM. Cas pràctic d’ús i aplicació d’eines col·laboratives per al suport de projectes europeus", a càrrec d'un servidor, en Ramon Costa. Director de Formació i Transferència d’ASCAMM. Enginyer en Informàtica. Professor Associat UPC i EU Gimbernat. Membre del Project Management Institute.

Aquesta tindrà lloc a les 19:00 del vespre i es pot inscriure-s'hi a l'adreça de correu shernandez@ascamm.com

Project Management Glossary (2)

Terms related with Project Planning:

Scope
The set of products and services to be delivered as a result of the project. Sometimes the scope also includes the degree to which the project impacts the performing and/or client organization.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A hierarchical task list created by decomposing the project based on the breakdown of the product into components and the breakdown of the project process into increasingly detailed tasks. The WBS is depicted as a tree diagram (or hierarchy chart) or as a list in outline form with detailed items subordinated to higher level items.

Work Package
A task at a low level of the Work Breakdown Structure at which project accounting is performed. Usually a week or so in duration and performed by an individual or small work group.

Bottom-up Estimating
Approximating the size (duration, and cost) and risk of a project (or phase) by breaking it down into activities, tasks and sub-tasks, estimating the effort, duration and cost of each and rolling them up to determine the full estimate. Determining duration through a bottom-up approach requires sequencing and resource leveling to be done as part of the scheduling process.

Top-down Estimating
Approximating the size (duration, and cost) and risk of a project (or phase) by looking at the project as a whole and comparing it to previously performed similar projects. The comparison may be made directly using "analogous estimating," through an algorithm as in "parametric estimating" or from the memory of estimating experts.

Duration
The length of time required or planned for the execution of a project activity. Measured in calendar time units - days, weeks, months.

Early Start
The earliest time a task can begin - the time at which all the tasks' predecessors have been completed and its resources are planned to be available.

Late Start
The time after which if a task starts, it will cause a delay in the project end date.

Float
The amount of time available for a task to slip before it results in a delay of the project end date. It is the difference between the task's early and late start dates.

Sequencing Tasks
A part of the scheduling process in which the tasks are positioned serially or in parallel to one another based on dependencies between them. Sequencing results in a task network.

Successor
A task or milestone that is logically linked to one or more predecessor tasks.
A relationship in which a task or milestone relies on other tasks to be performed (completely or partially) before it can be performed. Also referred to as a logical relationship.

Effort
The amount of human resource time required to perform an activity. Measured in terms of person hours, person days, etc.

Estimate
An assessment of the duration, effort and/or cost of an effort (e.g., task or project). Since estimates are not actuals, they should always be expressed with some indication of the degree of accuracy.

Network Diagram
A graphical tool for depicting the sequence and relationships between tasks in a project. PERT Diagram, Critical Path Diagram, Arrow Diagram, Precedence Diagram are all forms of network diagrams.

PERT -- Program Evaluation and Review Technique
A scheduling technique that makes use of dependency analysis, critical path, and slack to determine the duration of a project and the priorities of tasks based on slack. In PERT, task durations are computed as (Optimistic + 4xMost likely + Pessimistic estimates) / 6)

PERT Diagram
A type of network diagram deriving its name from the PERT technique. The term is often used as a synonym for network diagram.

Gantt Chart
A bar chart that depicts a schedule of activities and milestones. Generally activities (which may be projects, operational activities, project activities, tasks, etc.) are listed along the left side of the chart and the time line along the top or bottom. The activities are shown as horizontal bars of a length equivalent to the duration of the activity. Gantt Charts may be annotated with dependency relationships and other schedule related information.

Schedule
The project time-line, identifying the dates (absolute or relative to a start date) upon which project tasks will be started and completed, resources will be required and upon which milestones will be reached.

Critical Path
The longest set of tasks in a project which determines the earliest completion of the project. The critical path may also be the longest set of tasks to a milestone.
The tasks on the critical path have zero (or negative) float.
The critical path may change during the course of a project as task durations change or new tasks are identified.

Budget
The estimated cost of a project or activity within a project. May be expressed in terms of money or resource units (effort).

Contigency Reserve
A planned amount of duration and/or budget to account for parts of the project that cannot be fully predicted. For example, it is relatively certain that there will be some rework, but the amount of rework and where it will occur in the project (or phase) are not known. These are sometimes called "known unknowns".
The purpose of the contingency reserve is to provide a more accurate sense of the expected completion date and cost of the project (or phase).

Resource Leveling
The process of adjusting the schedule to insure that resources (people, facilities and equipment) are not over scheduled and that there are minimal peaks and valleys in the staffing of the project.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
A tool used to relate each project activity in the WBS with a responsible organization unit or individual. Its purpose is to insure that every activity is assigned to one or more individuals (only one with primary responsibility) and that the individuals are aware of their responsibilities.

Matrix Organization
A business structure in which people are assigned to both a functional group (departments, disciplines, etc.) and to projects or processes which cut across the organization and require resources from multiple functional groups.

Master Schedule
A schedule of all the work (projects, operational activities, etc.) planned for an individual or organization unit. The purpose is to ensure that resources are not overburdened by inadvertently scheduling project or other work without regard to previously scheduled work. The master schedule is also used to determine the impact of slippage in one project on other projects assigned to the same resources.

Project Management Glossary (1)

Some terms related to Product, Projects, Project Life Cycle and Project Management:

Product
The project's material outcome. It maybe a service, event or any material object (e.g., a machine, computer system, new drug, building, etc.). The product includes all necessary aspects of the deliverable (e.g., training, documentation, etc.).

Product Life Cycle
The time from the delivery of a product until the product is withdrawn from use or sale. There may be many projects during the product life cycle.

Project
An effort to provide a product or service within finite time and cost constraints.

Program
A suite of related projects and ongoing operational activities managed as a whole.

Project Life Cycle
The full set of activities from the beginning to the end of a project. Generally associated with a set of phases which are determined based on the major parts of project performance (e.g., requirements definition, design, construction, deployment) and the need for control by the client organization (checkpoints for Go/No Go decision making).


Phase
A grouping of activities in a project required to meet a major milestone by providing a significant deliverable such as a requirements definition or product design document. A project is broken down into a set of phases for control purposes. The phase is usually the highest level of breakdown of a project in the WBS.

Deliverable
Any item produced as the outcome of a project or any part of a project. The project deliverable is differentiated from interim deliverables that result from activities within the project. A deliverable must be tangible and verifiable. Every element of the WBS (activity or task) must have one or more deliverable.

Milestone
A point in time when a deliverable or set of deliverables is available. Generally used to denote a significant event such as the completion of a phase of the project or of a set of critical activities. A milestone is an event; it has no duration or effort. It must be preceded by one or more tasks (even the beginning of a project is preceded by a set of tasks, which may be implied).

Objective
An objective is something to be achieved. In Project Management, the objectives are the desired outcomes of the project or any part of the project, both in terms of concrete deliverables and behavioral outcomes (e.g., improved service, more money, etc.)

Activity
Any work performed on a project. May be synonymous with task but in some cases it may be a specific level in the WBS (e.g., a phase is broken down into a set of activities, activities into a set of tasks). An activity must have duration and will result in one or more deliverables. An activity will generally have cost and resource requirements. See Task.

Task
A piece of work requiring effort, resources and having a concrete outcome (a deliverable). A task may be of any size (a project is a very large task). Sometimes the term is used to denote a piece of work at a particular level in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) hierarchy - e.g., a phase is broken into a set of activities, and an activity into a set of tasks. Except for this hierarchical usage, activity is synonymous with task.

Sub-task
A breakdown of a task into the work elements that make it up. A task must be broken down into at least two sub-tasks for a meaningful decomposition.

Project Management
The act of managing a project which requires the application of planning, team building, communicating, controlling, decision making and closing skills, principles, tools and techniques.

Project Manager
The person responsible for and accountable for managing a project's planning and performance. The single point of accountability for a project.

Stakeholder
Anybody and everybody with a "stake" in the project - clients, sponsors, performers, the general public and even the family and friends of direct participants can be considered stakeholders. Not to be confused with the guy that holds the stake when the vampire slayer slays the vampire.

Initiating
The process of describing and deciding to begin a project (or phase) and authorizing the project manager to expend resources, effort and money for those that are initiated.

Planning
The process of establishing and maintaining the definition of the scope of a project, the way the project will be performed (procedures and tasks), roles and responsibilities and the time and cost estimates.

Executing
1. The process of coordinating the people and other resources in the performance of the project.
2. The actual performance of the project.

Controlling
The process of monitoring, measuring and reporting on progress and taking corrective action to ensure project objectives are met.

Closing
The process of formally accepting the results of a project or phase and bringing it to an orderly end, including the archiving of project information and post project review.