ANSWER FOR QUESTION-2

Joe should Brainstorming to identify reasonable worst, most likely, and best case scenarios for

each activity duration. And based on this he must decide as below

Expert opinion involves using experience to estimate activity duration and would be a valuable

tool for the beginning scheduling of this project. Especially considering that this is Joe’s first

project management role, using advice from past project managers on duration estimates can be

helpful. Based on Joe’s own lack of experience, this may prove to be one of the more useful tools

he can implement early on in his planning. Joe should seek expert opinions from Jill and the

other project managers in his team to ensure a smooth transition. He is not limited to experts

within the organization.

He can do Expert Opinion in 2 ways as below

1. Professional Analysis

2. Expert experience

Past History: Records of the past finished projects can be seen which have the same project

scope and constraints. Moreover, it can be seen as a reference to estimate duration of each

activity.

Past history within his own firm and that of the contractors, could be used as well. BCC has

likely completed similar contracts and may very well be using subcontractors with whom they

have experience with. This past experience can be used to glean information about project

duration as well as any lags or overlaps that might occur naturally on a project of this scope.

Joe can have the opportunity to research and review the success or fail of past projects. He can

learn from the past projects by studying their project network the techniques of past PMs. Joe’s

current project can benefit tremendously with research of scheduling, budgeting, and managing

resources from past history.

Mathematical derivation provides an objective alternative to past history and expert opinion. It

involves using probability distributions to find the most likely timeline for an activity. It can be

useful because the method shows a range for which each activity is likely to occur and can allow

the project manager to choose either an optimistic, neutral, or pessimistic view of project

duration. It can even be tweaked to allow for assumptions about certain activities, but not others.

This method could lead to more confidence for Joe, however, it may be a tall task for his first

project.

Joe can use mathematical derivation to view which activities will be focused upon based on

events that may or may not happen. The probability of events that may not occur will make it

easier for Joe to determine which activity will be best suited for the project starting point.

ANSWER FOR QUESTION-3

In choosing between AOA and AON networks for analysis of the critical path Joe should

consider the complexity of the project and the level of understanding, as well as the generally

accepted practices in his industry. First and foremost, AOA is a common method used in

construction and simply might be better understood by the team members involved. However,

the AOA might contain information that gets a little too complicated for some and might prevent

them from clearly seeing where their responsibility falls in the overall scope of the project. AON

could also be considered, as it is the simpler if the network tools. AON is displayed often using a

Gantt chart. Again, considering that Joe is a novice project manager, despite its uncommon use

in construction, the tool might be best for his success in this new endeavor.