Changes between Version 64 and Version 65 of ProjectManagementIdeas

Timestamp:

May 8, 2009, 4:59:21 PM (15 years ago)

Author:

Greg Troxel

Comment:

EV, resources.

ProjectManagementIdeas

@@ -35 +35 @@
  Original Work Estimate:: The amount of work believed to be needed to complete the task as of before the task was started.  This is ''not'', necessarily, the time it will take to complete the task (duration).  The task may be unassigned (and will take forever to complete), may have a resource assigned only part-time (so it will take longer to complete than the amount of work indicates), or have multiple resources assigned (so it may take less time to complete than the amount of work indicates).  Typically work will be expressed in hours of effort of a resource.
 
- Current Work Estimate: The total time the task is expected to take, as of now.  Like Original Work Estimate, but may be modified.
+ Current Work Estimate:: The total time the task is expected to take, as of now.  Like Original Work Estimate, but may be modified.
 
  Expended effort:: The amount of work expended against this task so far.
@@ -80 +80 @@
 
 == Task Scheduling ==
+
+There are two fundamental ways to approach scheduling.  One is to assume that all tasks are small and to divide total estimates by resource rate.  Then, one compares earned value to cost, computes CPF, and computes an estimated end time.  This is far simpler, but fails to capture tasks that only some people can work on and other complexities.   The other is to create an actual plan that shows when each resource will work on tasks.
 
 The basic answer to "When will my project be done?" is generally ''displayed in'' a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantt_chart Gantt chart] which shows tasks, their dependencies, their duration (scaled by resource availability), and milestones.  [http://groups.google.com/group/trac-users/browse_thread/thread/83c0b6a248040542?hl=en Two] [http://groups.google.com/group/trac-users/browse_thread/thread/3084796acbc7233c/3f393a18f99cfebd?hl=en&tvc=2#3f393a18f99cfebd}}} threads] on the Trac Users mailing list, suggest that a Gantt chart is a fundamental requirement for project management but scheduling tasks is even more fundamental and a necessary precondition for producing a Gantt chart.
@@ -245 +247 @@
 
 [[Image(resource-utilization.PNG)]]
+
+== Earned Value ==
+
+To compute earned value, we need unchanged original estimates, and probably also some way to estimate remaining time.
+
+== Resource Description and Allocation ==
+
+We need a proposal for how to describe available resources within trac.
+
+If we use tickets to express tasks, then one could assume that a ticket will be worked on by the ticket's owner.  It might then be necessary to allow tickets to have multiple owners.   Or, we might want to have a way to have a list of (resource,hours) pairs independent of the owner.
 
 = Related Work =