MS Project Practical Assignment - Project Management Analysis

This document presents a comprehensive solution to an MS Project practical assignment. It begins with creating and analyzing a Gantt chart, identifying the critical path, and evaluating the impact of changes in task durations. The solution then explores Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) diagrams and project crashing, calculating crashing costs and illustrating the crashed project with a Gantt chart. Further, it delves into resource management, including creating Gantt charts using earliest and latest start/finish times, identifying the critical path, determining project duration, calculating floats for non-critical tasks, and creating resource aggregation charts. The assignment concludes with resource leveling and an earned value analysis (EVA), providing insights into cost and schedule variances, ultimately demonstrating project efficiency. This assignment covers key project management concepts and practical application using MS Project.

Running head: MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
Ms-Project Practical
Name of the Student
Student ID:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
Question 1
a. Gantt Chart of the Project
ID Task
Mode
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
0 0 Project 140 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 11/12/18
1 A Draw up a functional requirements specification20 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/28/18
2 B Consider various relevant software
packages and select one
15 days Tue 5/29/18 Mon 6/18/18
3 C Identify and specify the necessary
hardware and communications
equipment
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18
4 D Order the hardware and equipment 5 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 7/9/18
5 E Identify the key package
modifications needed to meet the
functionality required
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18
6 F Modify the software package as necessary40 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 8/27/18
7 G Accept delivery and install all
hardware and equipment needed for
the package
50 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 9/17/18
8 H Design a training plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18
9 I Set up a testing plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18
10 J Unit test all the amended package modules20 days Tue 9/18/18 Mon 10/15/18
11 K Train the users 15 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 7/30/18
12 L Full integration and acceptance testing15 days Tue 10/16/18 Mon 11/5/18
13 M Implement the new system 5 days Tue 11/6/18 Mon 11/12/18
T W T F S S M T W T F
Mar 18, '18 May 6, '18 Jun 24, '18 Aug 12, '18 Sep 30, '18 Nov 18, '18
The time for completion of the project is 140 days
b. Critical Path and Slack
ID Task
Mode
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish Total Slack
0 0 Project 140 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 11/12/180 days
1 A Draw up a functional requirements specification20 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/28/18 0 days
2 B Consider various relevant software
packages and select one
15 days Tue 5/29/18 Mon 6/18/18 0 days
3 C Identify and specify the necessary
hardware and communications
equipment
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18 0 days
4 D Order the hardware and equipment 5 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 7/9/18 0 days
5 E Identify the key package
modifications needed to meet the
functionality required
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18 15 days
6 F Modify the software package as necessary40 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 8/27/18 15 days
7 G Accept delivery and install all
hardware and equipment needed for
the package
50 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 9/17/18 0 days
8 H Design a training plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18 55 days
9 I Set up a testing plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18 50 days
10 J Unit test all the amended package modules20 days Tue 9/18/18 Mon 10/15/18 0 days
11 K Train the users 15 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 7/30/18 55 days
12 L Full integration and acceptance testing15 days Tue 10/16/18 Mon 11/5/18 0 days
13 M Implement the new system 5 days Tue 11/6/18 Mon 11/12/18 0 days
T W T F S S M T W T F S
Mar 18, '18 May 6, '18 Jun 24, '18 Aug 12, '18 Sep 30, '18 Nov 18, '18
The critical path has been highlighted using red bars and the slacks in project are shown using
the deep colour lines.
Project Duration is 140 days and Critical path is A>B>C>D>G>J>L>M
Slacks

2MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
c. Changes in Duration
Condition 1: Task B - reduced to 5 days
New Gantt chart
ID Task
Mode
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
0 0 Project 130 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 10/29/18
1 A Draw up a functional requirements specification20 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/28/18
2 B Consider various relevant software
packages and select one
5 days Tue 5/29/18 Mon 6/4/18
3 C Identify and specify the necessary
hardware and communications
equipment
10 days Tue 6/5/18 Mon 6/18/18
4 D Order the hardware and equipment 5 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 6/25/18
5 E Identify the key package
modifications needed to meet the
functionality required
10 days Tue 6/5/18 Mon 6/18/18
6 F Modify the software package as necessary40 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 8/13/18
7 G Accept delivery and install all
hardware and equipment needed for
the package
50 days Tue 6/26/18 Mon 9/3/18
8 H Design a training plan 15 days Tue 6/5/18 Mon 6/25/18
9 I Set up a testing plan 15 days Tue 6/5/18 Mon 6/25/18
10 J Unit test all the amended package modules20 days Tue 9/4/18 Mon 10/1/18
11 K Train the users 15 days Tue 6/26/18 Mon 7/16/18
12 L Full integration and acceptance testing15 days Tue 10/2/18 Mon 10/22/18
13 M Implement the new system 5 days Tue 10/23/18 Mon 10/29/18
20 2 14 26 7 19 1 13 25 6 18 30 11 23 5 17 29 10 22 4
Apr 8, '18 May 6, '18 Jun 3, '18 Jul 1, '18 Jul 29, '18 Aug 26, '18 Sep 23, '18 Oct 21, '18 Nov 18, '18
Total Duration: 130 days (previously 140 days)
Critical Path: A>B>C>D>G>J>L>M (same)
The total duration has decreased as B was a critical task and decreasing its value by 10 days
resulted in decreasing the total duration by 10 days
Task F - increased to 55 days
New Gantt chart

3MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
ID Task
Mode
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
0 0 Project 140 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 11/12/18
1 A Draw up a functional requirements specification20 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/28/18
2 B Consider various relevant software
packages and select one
15 days Tue 5/29/18 Mon 6/18/18
3 C Identify and specify the necessary
hardware and communications
equipment
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18
4 D Order the hardware and equipment 5 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 7/9/18
5 E Identify the key package
modifications needed to meet the
functionality required
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18
6 F Modify the software package as necessary55 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 9/17/18
7 G Accept delivery and install all
hardware and equipment needed for
the package
50 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 9/17/18
8 H Design a training plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18
9 I Set up a testing plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18
10 J Unit test all the amended package modules20 days Tue 9/18/18 Mon 10/15/18
11 K Train the users 15 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 7/30/18
12 L Full integration and acceptance testing15 days Tue 10/16/18 Mon 11/5/18
13 M Implement the new system 5 days Tue 11/6/18 Mon 11/12/18
20 8 26 13 1 19 6 24 11 29 17 4 22 10
Apr 8, '18 May 20, '18 Jul 1, '18 Aug 12, '18 Sep 23, '18 Nov 4, '18
Total Duration: 140 days (same as F was not a critical task)
Critical Path: A>B>C> (E>F/D>G) >J>L>M (now either E, F or D, G can be considered as the
critical task for the project
Task G - reduced to 35 days
New Gantt chart,
ID Task
Mode
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
0 0 Project 125 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 10/22/18
1 A Draw up a functional requirements specification20 days Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/28/18
2 B Consider various relevant software
packages and select one
15 days Tue 5/29/18 Mon 6/18/18
3 C Identify and specify the necessary
hardware and communications
equipment
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18
4 D Order the hardware and equipment 5 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 7/9/18
5 E Identify the key package
modifications needed to meet the
functionality required
10 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/2/18
6 F Modify the software package as necessary40 days Tue 7/3/18 Mon 8/27/18
7 G Accept delivery and install all
hardware and equipment needed for
the package
35 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 8/27/18
8 H Design a training plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18
9 I Set up a testing plan 15 days Tue 6/19/18 Mon 7/9/18
10 J Unit test all the amended package modules20 days Tue 8/28/18 Mon 9/24/18
11 K Train the users 15 days Tue 7/10/18 Mon 7/30/18
12 L Full integration and acceptance testing15 days Tue 9/25/18 Mon 10/15/18
13 M Implement the new system 5 days Tue 10/16/18 Mon 10/22/18
20 8 26 13 1 19 6 24 11 29 17 4 22 10
Apr 8, '18 May 20, '18 Jul 1, '18 Aug 12, '18 Sep 23, '18 Nov 4, '18
Total Duration: 125 days (same as G was a critical task)
Critical Path: A>B>C> (E>F/D>G) >J>L>M (now either E, F or D, G can be considered as the
critical task for the project

4MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
A C E G
B D F
5
4
4
4
4
5
5
10
10
Question 2
a. AOA diagram
ID Task
Mode
Task
Name
Duration Start Finish Predecessors
0 msproj1128 wks Tue 5/1/18 Mon 11/12/18
1 A 5 wks Tue 5/1/18 Mon 6/4/18
2 B 4 wks Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/28/18
3 C 10 wks Tue 6/5/18 Mon 8/13/18 1,2
4 D 5 wks Tue 5/29/18 Mon 7/2/18 2
5 E 7 wks Tue 8/14/18 Mon 10/1/18 3,4
6 F 5 wks Tue 8/14/18 Mon 9/17/18 3
7 G 6 wks Tue 10/2/18 Mon 11/12/18 5,6
W S T M F T S W S
Feb 11, '18 Apr 22, '18 Jul 1, '18 Sep 9, '18 Nov 18, '18
The time required for completion of the project activities are 28 weeks and the identified critical
path of the project is A>C>E>G
b. Crashing
Task Original Duration Crashed Duration Original Cost Crashed Cost
A 5 wks 2 wks $25,000 $34,000.00
B 4 wks 2 wks $30,000 $40,000.00
C 10 wks 6 wks $45,000 $81,000.00

5MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
D 5 wks 5 wks $30,000 $30,000.00
E 7 wks 6 wks $30,000 $37,000.00
F 5 wks 5 wks $20,000 $20,000.00
G 6 wks 6 wks $35,000 $35,000.00
Activity Normal
time
Crashed
time
Normal
cost
Crashed
Cost
Total
Allowable
crashed
time
Crashed
cost per
week
A 5 wks 2 wks $25,000 $34,000 3wks $3000
B 4 wks 2 wks $30,000 $40,000 2wks $5000
C 10 wks 6 wks $45,000 $81,000 4wks $9000
E 7 wks 6 wks $30,000 $37,000 1wk $7000
c. Total Crashing Cost
Total Project Cost before crashing= $215,000
Total Project Cost after crashing= $277,000
Hence, Cost of crashing= $277,000-$215,000
= $62,000

6MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
d. Gantt chart of crashed project
ID Task
Mode
Task
Name
Duration Start Finish Predecessors Cost Free Slack
1 A 2 wks Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/14/18 $34,000.00 0 wks
2 B 2 wks Tue 5/1/18 Mon 5/14/18 $40,000.00 0 wks
3 C 6 wks Tue 5/15/18 Mon 6/25/18 1,2 $81,000.00 0 wks
4 D 5 wks Tue 5/15/18 Mon 6/18/18 2 $30,000.00 1 wk
5 E 6 wks Tue 6/26/18 Mon 8/6/18 3,4 $37,000.00 0 wks
6 F 5 wks Tue 6/26/18 Mon 7/30/18 3 $20,000.00 1 wk
7 G 6 wks Tue 8/7/18 Mon 9/17/18 5,6 $35,000.00 0 wks
W S T M F T S W S
Feb 11, '18 Apr 22, '18 Jul 1, '18 Sep 9, '18 Nov 18, '18
Question 3
a. Gantt chart (using earliest Start/Finish Times)
ID Task
Mode
Task Name Duration Early Start Early Finish
0 msproj11 32 days Tue 5/1/18 Wed 6/1...
1 Test Module A 4 days Tue 5/1/18 Fri 5/4/18
2 Test Module B 6 days Mon 5/7/18 Mon 5/14/18
3 Test Module C 7 days Tue 5/1/18 Wed 5/9/18
4 Test Combined
Modules
4 days Tue 5/15/18 Fri 5/18/18
5 Check User
Documents
5 days Mon 5/21/18Fri 5/25/18
6 Print User Documents2 days Mon 5/28/18Tue 5/29/18
7 Final System Checks9 days Wed 5/30/... Mon 6/11/18
8 Prepare Invoice 1 day Tue 6/12/18 Tue 6/12/18
9 Ship to Customer2 days Tue 6/12/18 Wed 6/13/...
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[10]
Resource[15]
Resource[10]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
S W S T M F T S W S T M F T S W
Apr 22, '18 May 6, '18 May 20, '18 Jun 3, '18 Jun 17, '18
b. Critical path

7MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
ID Task
Mode
Task Name Duration Early Start Early Finish
0 msproj11 32 days Tue 5/1/18 Wed 6/1...
1 Test Module A 4 days Tue 5/1/18 Fri 5/4/18
2 Test Module B 6 days Mon 5/7/18 Mon 5/14/18
3 Test Module C 7 days Tue 5/1/18 Wed 5/9/18
4 Test Combined
Modules
4 days Tue 5/15/18 Fri 5/18/18
5 Check User
Documents
5 days Mon 5/21/18Fri 5/25/18
6 Print User Documents2 days Mon 5/28/18Tue 5/29/18
7 Final System Checks9 days Wed 5/30/... Mon 6/11/18
8 Prepare Invoice 1 day Tue 6/12/18 Tue 6/12/18
9 Ship to Customer2 days Tue 6/12/18 Wed 6/13/...
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[10]
Resource[15]
Resource[10]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
S W S T M F T S W S T M F T S W
Apr 22, '18 May 6, '18 May 20, '18 Jun 3, '18 Jun 17, '18
c. Minimum Duration of the Project
The minimum duration of the project is 32 days
d. Floats for non critical tasks
ID Task
Mode
Task Name Duration Early Start Early Finish
0 msproj11 32 days Tue 5/1/18 Wed 6/1...
1 Test Module A 4 days Tue 5/1/18 Fri 5/4/18
2 Test Module B 6 days Mon 5/7/18 Mon 5/14/18
3 Test Module C 7 days Tue 5/1/18 Wed 5/9/18
4 Test Combined
Modules
4 days Tue 5/15/18 Fri 5/18/18
5 Check User
Documents
5 days Mon 5/21/18Fri 5/25/18
6 Print User Documents2 days Mon 5/28/18Tue 5/29/18
7 Final System Checks9 days Wed 5/30/... Mon 6/11/18
8 Prepare Invoice 1 day Tue 6/12/18 Tue 6/12/18
9 Ship to Customer2 days Tue 6/12/18 Wed 6/13/...
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[10]
Resource[15]
Resource[10]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
S W S T M F T S W S T M F T S W
Apr 22, '18 May 6, '18 May 20, '18 Jun 3, '18 Jun 17, '18
e. Resource Aggregation Chart
Floats

8MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
April 29, 2018 May 6, 2018 May 13, 2018 May 20, 2018 May 27, 2018 June 3, 2018 June 10, 2018
0 hrs
2 hrs
4 hrs
6 hrs
8 hrs
10 hrs
12 hrs
14 hrs
16 hrs
18 hrs
11 hrs 8 hrs
16 hrs
10 hrs
7 hrs
3 hrs
11 hrs
Work (Resource)
Work (Resource)
The highest fluctuation of the resource is in between May first and second week and it is of 8
hours. The second week of June has a value of 3 hours which is 8 less than the total duration of
the second week of June with value of 11 hrs. There is 13 hours of difference between May first
and June first weeks.
f. Gantt chart (using latest Start/Finish)
ID Task
Mode
Task Name Duration Start Finish Total Slack
0 msproj11 32 days Tue 5/1/18 Wed 6/13/180 days
1 Test Module A 4 days Tue 5/1/18 Fri 5/4/18 0 days
2 Test Module B 6 days Mon 5/7/18 Mon 5/14/180 days
3 Test Module C 7 days Fri 5/4/18 Mon 5/14/180 days
4 Test Combined
Modules
4 days Tue 5/15/18 Fri 5/18/18 0 days
5 Check User
Documents
5 days Mon 5/21/18Fri 5/25/18 0 days
6 Print User Documents2 days Mon 5/28/18Tue 5/29/18 0 days
7 Final System Checks9 days Wed 5/30/18Mon 6/11/180 days
8 Prepare Invoice 1 day Wed 6/13/18Wed 6/13/180 days
9 Ship to Customer2 days Tue 6/12/18 Wed 6/13/180 days
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[10]
Resource[15]
Resource[10]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
Resource[5]
S W S T M F T S W S T M F T S
Apr 22, '18 May 6, '18 May 20, '18 Jun 3, '18 Jun 17, '18
g. Resource Aggregation Chart

9MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
April 29, 2018 May 6, 2018 May 13, 2018 May 20, 2018 May 27, 2018 June 3, 2018 June 10, 2018
0 hrs
5 hrs
10 hrs
15 hrs
20 hrs
6 hrs
11 hrs
17 hrs
10 hrs
7 hrs
3 hrs
11 hrs
Work (Resource)
Work (Resource)
The highest fluctuation of the resource is in between May second (17hrs) and June first (3 hrs)
weeks as the gap is of 14 hours.
h. Resource Levelling
29-Apr-18
2-May-18
5-May-18
8-May-18
11-May-18
14-May-18
17-May-18
20-May-18
23-May-18
26-May-18
29-May-18
1-Jun-18
4-Jun-18
7-Jun-18
10-Jun-18
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
9.29 9.29 9.29 9.29 9.29 9.29 9.29
The levelling of the resource would provide an usage of the resources limited to 9.29 for each of
the weeks. The sum of the duration has been divided equally for all quarters of weeks. The total
working hours was 65. It was divided in the 7 intervals at an average of 9.29.

10MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
Question 4
a.
Tas
k
DU
R
E
S
E
F
L
S
L
F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A 3 0 3 0 3 1000
0
1000
0
500
0
B 2 3 5 3 5 1100
0
1100
0
C 1 3 4 5 6 2800
0
D 3 4 7 5 8 1500
0
1500
0
1000
0
E 1 4 5 6 7 1000
0
F 1 5 6 7 8 1500
0
G 2 6 8 6 8 2000
0

11MS-PROJECT PRACTICAL
b.
TASK %Complete EV AC PV CV SV
A 100 30000 25000 30000 5000 0
B 100 20000 22000 20000 2000 3
C 100 30000 28000 30000 2000 1
D 55 22000 30000 22000 8000 0
E 100 10000 9000 10000 1000 0
F 65 0 0 0 0 0
G 0 0 0 0 0 0
c. The analysis of the table has shown that the project has seen positive variances for both cost
and schedule. The analysis would show that the implication of the activities would form the
implication of the activities would form the utilization. The project is efficient as there is a
positive variance value for the activities.