Five Day Intensive CAM Certification Classroom Agenda

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Five Day Intensive CAM Certification Classroom Agenda

Part 1 – Earned Value Management System

Introduction

  • Overview - purpose and scope of the classroom session.
  • Review of notebook contents.

Introduction to Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS)

  • The essential features of a disciplined Earned Value Management System.
  • Objectives and policies of customer-implemented requirements.
  • What are the benefits to the Customer?
  • Why should the seller implement an Earned Value Management System?
  • Who uses Earned Value?
  • The evolution of Earned Value Management.

Introduction to the Earned Value Concept

  • Problems with comparing plan versus actual to ascertain performance.
  • Earned Value - An essential parameter.

The Brick Wall - An illustrative example of Earned Value methods.

Organization and Work Definition

  • WBS defined.
  • Purposes of a WBS.
  • Developing a WBS for standard and non-standard systems.
  • Trade-off assessments on determining the number of levels in the WBS.
  • Negotiating the WBS with the customer.
  • Purpose and importance of defining WBS elements.

Work Breakdown Structure Case Study #1: A concise exercise in developing a WBS considering conflicting purposes, alternative orientations and varying levels of detail.

Responsibility Assignment

  • Matrixing the organization structure with the WBS.
  • Essential features of a Control Account.
  • Guidance in the identification of Control Account levels and contents.
  • Why the Control Account is the driving factor in system cost and how to minimize this cost.
  • Integrating management subsystems around the WBS and Control Accounts.

Control Account Definition Case Study #2: An exercise involving relating the WBS developed previously to the organization structure, taking into consideration the trade-offs between detailed or summary Control Accounts.

Work Teams

  • Work Teams defined.
  • Characteristics of a Work Team.
  • The Work Team Leader.
  • Why organize utilizing Work Teams.
  • The Control Account in a Work Team environment.

Planning, Scheduling and Budgeting

  • Planning, Scheduling and Budgeting - A three-stage iterative process.
  • Proper design of a scheduling system.
  • Integrating cost and schedule.
  • Management philosophies on Management Reserve and Undistributed Budgets.

Measuring Accomplishment

  • Description of Work Measurement classifications.
  • Work Packages defined.
  • Discrete Work Measurement techniques.
  • Milestone Characteristics.
  • Rolling Wave - How far in the future must you plan?
  • Summary Planning Packages and their use.

Transmission Design Control Account Plan Case Study #3: A comprehensive, but concise, exercise involving selecting appropriate Earned Value methodologies and calculating the budget and Earned Value for a sample Control Account.

Accounting

  • Why Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) is different from "actual costs".
  • Structuring an effective cost control code for accumulating Actual Costs for Work Performed.
  • Common problems and solutions to accumulating material costs for performance measurement.
  • "Enlightened" customer requirements on material costs.
  • How to identify meaningful material variances.

Analysis

  • Identifying cost and schedule variances.
  • Methods of portraying variances.

Variance Calculation Exercise Case Study #4: A simplistic exercise in the calculation of cost and schedule variances.

Earned Value Methods Case Study #5: An exercise involving the determination of BCWS and BCWP based on selected Earned Value Methods.

Variance Analysis Reports

  • Interpreting cost and schedule variance.
  • What constitutes a significant variance?
  • Writing useful Variance Analysis Reports.
  • Comparing past and future efficiency factors.

Variance Analysis Report Critique Case Study #6: A comparison and evaluation of alternative Variance Analysis Reports.

Estimates, Indices and Forecasts

  • Developing Estimates at Completion (EAC)
  • Utilization of Performance Indices

Performance Efficiency Factors and Estimate at Completion Case Study #7: A simplistic exercise requiring the calculation of past and future efficiency factors and an Estimate At Completion forecast.

Highway Case Study #8: A reinforcement of variance calculation, performance indices, and EAC analysis.

Revisions

  • The importance of baseline management.
  • Obtaining a balance between a firm baseline and the requirement for replanning flexibility.
  • How the baseline is affected by various changes.
  • Acceptable reasons for retroactive changes to the baseline.

Contract Budget Base (CBB) Log Preparation Case Study #9: A concise exercise on how changes affect the budget and how to document them.

System Development

  • How to implement an EVM System.
  • Cost factors to develop and operate an EVM System.
  • Common problems and solutions.

The Validation Process - What to expect during the Validation Process.

Integrated Baseline Review - What to expect during the IBR Process.

The Use of Performance Measurement Data

  • Definition of key data elements.
  • Review of course to date.

Reporting

  • What types of financial reports are required and what is their purpose?
  • How to prepare and interpret the various reports.
  • Reconciling funds reports with performance reports - An accuracy check.
  • Differences in reporting requirements.

Top Management Use of Earned Value Data

Graphical presentations.

 

Part 2 – Project Scheduling

Introduction to Project Scheduling

  • What is a schedule?
  • Why is a schedule necessary?
  • What will it take to schedule?

The Scheduling Process

  • Nine steps in developing a schedule.
  • Define the objective.
  • Document the environment.
  • Establish the key events to satisfy the objective.
  • Put key events in order of occurrence.
  • Determine the activities required to accomplish the key events.
  • Estimate the duration of each activity.
  • Establish the plan for performing the detailed activities.
  • Load and level resources.
  • Commitment and approval.

Project Scope Definition

  • Define the requirements.
  • Establish a disciplined approach.
  • Define core requirement.
  • Planning the program.
  • Integrated product development framework.
  • Integrated Master Plan (IMP)
  • Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)

Network Diagramming

  • Network components.
  • History of PERT.
  • Critical Path Method.
  • Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM).
  • Activity relationships (FS, FF, SS, SF).
  • PERT vs. PDM/CPM.

Case Studies #1 & #2: Constructing PDM Networks

Critical Path Method

  • Definitions and critical path determination.
  • Determining early and late schedule dates
  • Calculating and using total and free float.

Case Study #4: CPM Network Construction

Case Study #5: Date, Float, and Critical Path Calculations

Case Study #7: Float Analysis

Special Networking Considerations

  • Secondary float.
  • Parallel, SS/FF relationships.
  • Level-of-Effort.

Case Study #8: Constructing a More Complex PDM Network

Project Modeling Techniques

  • Lags.
  • Directed dates.
  • Hammocks, summary tasks and fragnets

Case Study #9: Use of Direct Dates

Resource Loading and Leveling

  • Resource loading, profiling, and time/resource constraints.
  • Resource leveling and S-curves.

Schedule Baseline

  • Definition and purpose of the schedule baseline.
  • Baseline development, maintenance, and revision.

Schedule Traceability

  • Definitions, requirements, and methods.

Case Study #11: Vertical and Horizontal Schedule Traceability

Schedule Audit

Schedule Statusing

  • Statusing techniques and results.

Case Study #12: Determining Status and Forecasting

Impact of Schedule Changes

  • Routine Updates
  • Formal changes and their effects
  • What are informal changes and how do they infect the schedule.

Case Study #14: Analyzing Schedule Changes

Combining CPM Schedule and Performance Measurement Data

  • CPM Data
  • SPI and CPI Data Review
  • Combining the data

Case Study #15: Control Account Analysis

Implementation

  • The scheduling function.
  • Calendar considerations.
  • Scheduling abuses.
  • The key aspects of successful scheduling.
  • Final points.

 

Part 3 – Control Account Manager (CAM)

IBR Surveillance Discussion

The CAM IBR Surveillance Discussion is a video training aid to gain a better understanding of the process for demonstrating and explaining the use of an Earned Value Management System.  It provides a realistic simulation of a typical CAM documentation review, data trace, and interview session with a government customer for an integrated baseline review (IBR), compliance review, or surveillance review.  It demonstrates how a well prepared CAM successfully conducts an interview with a government customer. 

 




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