Hi All ,

Can some one tell me . how to input these weightages against each actvity in the programs and in which form ?

 

For eg in a program of 10 actvities , I have calculated that 1st actvity is 50% value for me  and balance 50% the remaing items.

How do i input this 50% in P3 / P6  so that program automatically calculates that once the 1st actvity is complete , we have achieved 50% of the value.

 

Thanks ,

Regards,

Vinod

Hi Hemanth,

I do agree and disagree with your last postings. Here are my replies:

1.0 "It is not necessary to be fully familier with the terms like " float " to be an effective project manager." Wrong, PM should know about float to manage his project effectively. Float is a PM tool which can be used to make calculated decisions."

2.0 "and the "weight" of a planning manger or planner will be less than 10 in a scale of 100 if the PM is smart and know how to run the project.( and 90% goes to him )." I would say some projects it’s 0. My stand here is, PM only needs a good scheduler not a planner. PM in close coordination with his specialists(subcon, construction managers etc.) should always be the planner himself.

3.0 "You cant plan effectievely if you know only Planning sotwares and some jargons and import export gimmicks and some weird curves." Correct, that’s why PM should be the planner.

4.0 "From my experiance the greatest project managers use MS Excel and the novice M.S project goes in that order ..the worst play with P6". To rephrase the question, Will a PM be a better Project Manager if he use P3, P4, P5, P6? My answer is no.


5.0 "It not logical to link cost to evaluate a project s physical progress , give weight according to WORK include" It is logical to link it, but the question should be, is it necessary? Float/planning skill is a requirement to be more effective project manager. If a PM wants to evaluate the schedule status of your project, he should ask the scheduler and make his own calculated decisions. Knowledge of PM software is a requirement if PM wants to ask the right questions to the scheduler. A lot of PMs ask the wrong questions because they lack this skill. Ask the QS , if PM wants to to know if the project is overspending or not. PMs should know spreadsheet in this case. There’s a logic to it, but I don’t think its necessary to link schedule and cost.

6.0 "as % progress is a complex issue you could have 1000 perspectives" Agree, because % progress is subjective. and it is only an indicator nothing else. So everyone will have his own opinion on the progress, and the one who speaks louder and is on top of the food chain will always dictate what the % accomplishment should be not the planner.

hey hemanth,

whatever u hav told is partially correct.... i hav to use the word "partially" coz... many a time .. we dont have complete information abt our project at the planning stage.
but i wouldnt agree that its not possible to monitor our work... coz wherever we dont hav information, our experience comes for aid... tht means we need the experience of all the disciplines which is again not possible, so co-ordination of the total project mngt team is needed..

its true tht many people do manage with xcel sheets...for sometime even i hav used it... however i can assure you using the planning softwares, many time consuming situations can be done in no time... however when it comes to implementing weightages, we will use the infomation frm both software and our practical situationss... then only our final objective can be achieved.

ultimately, wht i want to tell is .. it is the lack of information tht is creating problem for u... but not the method of calculating and monitoring progress... so it would be better to concentrate on how and wht type of info is needed for ur convenience... it may be time, cost etc..

Hemant,
I ignore your pretty basic questions to answer even if you are less knowledgable on that. I still assume that you are a professional planner to understand all these basics.
As a planner you receive the info from cost managers but your responsiblity is to distribute on the activies you have in your plan very properly and keep track of project’s health. You can not leave your plan on their mercy and get weird result at he end of day. As a planner, to meet the contractual requirement you have to creat s curves and make available other info as required by PM or magmt. It is so rediculous to know that most of PM you’ve worked don’t understand ’float’! God help them.
cheers

Hemant,
If so, we are far away from the project reality. Planning can not serve your project objectives. Planning for planning sake. How does you interprete your s -curve then?
All I wanted to say is if you don’t distribute the money properly then there is no use of drawing s curve.
cheers

what i have presented in the discussion may be generalised in a more robust way...
i have considered synergy of only time and money.... coz i was clear abt both of them... however ... if a new factor is also clear.. we can include it.. isnt it..

i.e. if f1,f2,f3... are factors which are clear and constant... i can also do in this way..

(f1*C1+f2*C2+f3*C3....)/(f1+f2+f3...)

where C1,C2... represents civil weightages considering money, cost and priority...etc

or else if priority is given using the ranking method...say R1,R2,R3..... influence of each can be obtained by R1/(R1+R2+R3...)..

this is my opinion regarding calculation of weightages...
generally we incline to incur the weihgtage depending on the level of effort involved... however i opine that this cannot be yardstick because the level of effort depends on my understanding abt the work and how easily i can get it done....

so, i feel tht weightages have to be calculated considering the synergitic effect of both time and money...
again.. to be combined on some proportion....
i.e. for example let us assume a project is involving only two disciplines namely civil and mechanical... let us assume tht civil works cost 100$ but takes 90 days of time and the mechanical work costs 400$ but takes only 10 days of time.

w.r.t cost , civil = 100/(100+400) = 20%
Mech = 400/ (100+400) = 80%

w.r.t time, civil = 90/ (90+10) = 90%
mech = 10/(90+10) = 10%

so now my new weightage should be calculated combining both of them,

if time is important for me, i will assign more weightage out of 100% to time and vice versa, this may become more complex when more disciplines are involved, in that case we can use ranking system may be used to do the same....

for the present condition, i assume that money is more imp for me.. so i assign more weightage to it.. i.e. 25% to time and 75% towards cost..

so my weightage for civil =
(0.75*20+0.25*90)/(0.75+0.25) = 37.5%

similarily weightage for mech =
(0.75*80+0.25*10)/(0.75+0.25) = 62.5%

this gives a reasonable weightage to civil works, else lets see wht happens...

suppose u consider only cost as progress,
even after completing 90% of time, i.e ur civil works only will complete giving you only 20% progress.

suppose u consider only time as a function of progress,
by just spending 20% of money we can achieve 90% progress.

at the end of this discussion the beauty is, an expert can play a game using this and can hide all the delays... and take more money for lesser work...

i hope what i am thinking is not logically incorrect...

Which software & version of software you are asking for ?

Thanx buddy,

But we have set norms for engineering,procurement and construction.. and we know what weigatgae is to be given to engineering, procurement and construciton......but the things he is explaning is only for procurement & construction....

Thanx mate,

Normally engineering weightages are put in as Lumpsum depeding upon the time available and contractor has always that flexibility to squeez the duration by putting more manpower and getting the work done at the earliest. (Either by outsourcing it)

So, a LS weightage is given, say 3% - 6% depending upon the duration available and engineering cost w.r.t. total duration and cost of the project.

I thought this thread is about construction works only, as the originator is programming in primavera.

Well, anyway thats d answer

Hope I am clear,

Cheers,

O dear,

Putting in weightages based on manhours is not a great idea!! The quantum of job involved / cost associated with it, is independent of manpower.

e.g. you can give more weightages for concreting / design phases than brick works.

Normally weightages are given in terms of cost involved.

e.g. Even though the installation of machinaries takes more manpower than procurement, but still procurement will always carry more weightage than installation on account of cost involved.

Cheers,

Ravi

Hi
are u asking it how to enter it in software or for planning purposes;

kindly explain

tc
mangesh