CO826 Final Assignment – Project Management – Nu Rhyme Software Inc.
Jack and Jill, they worked for Phil,
Creating commercial applications,
But Jack was lame,
With half a brain,
From a fall due to excess libations.
And so starts a twisted tale of a software project that demands unusual
attention and management. Jack, Jill and Phil all work for Nu Rhyme
Software Inc. They develop software for bottled water companies.
Jack has a slight disability from a fall when he was in college. The rumour still circulates
on some web sites that Jill pushed him – but that is only a rumour. Phil takes no chances
and does not allow them to work on any tasks together. Since this is only a 3 person
software company, this means that either Jack or Jill must do each task alone. Phil is the
boss and always does the first and last task just to appear busy. Phil does not do any
other work.
Phil just got a new contract from Pale Water Company, a new bottled water company
located on the top of Waterdown Hill. Phil wrote down all the tasks for the project in a
table.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Description
Start
Interview Pale
Fetch Data
Design S/W
Build S/W
Test S/W
Documentation
Install
Critical? Person
Phil
Phil
Length
0
5
4
2
3
2
4
2
Dependencies
1
1
2,3
4
5
4
6,7
Phil does the first and last task. The length of time noted on the table is the time it would
take Jill to complete the task – of course Jack will take twice as long. For example, if Jack
interviews Pale then it will take 10 days instead of 5 days.
Your tasks,
Enter the above data into an mpp file. Then look at the network diagram chart to help you
plan the project in the shortest possible time. For the tasks that Jack performs, put the
new number of days in the length column. Move the numbers around to try and arrive at
the minimum number of days for the entire project.
How long will the project take? ____________
Complete the above chart by entering the person’s name (either Jack or Jill) in the person
column. In the chart above – in the critical column, put an “X” in the tasks that are on the
critical path and put a number of days of slack in the tasks that have slack time.
