Part Three

Initiating and Planning the Project

Written by Seán Butler: Reviewed by Gary Tiscovschi and Mykola Babiy

In the previous blog, we finished with the question, how could the siege be improved?

We will now delve into how Information Systems such as Microsoft Word, Visio, Project, and Excel can help initiate and plan projects, helping to maximize efficiency and mitigate risks.

Without further ado, let’s dive in…

Initiating the Project

Although it is impossible to know exactly how the decision to build the first causeway was reached, it is believed to have been one of rash judgment.

Instead, Microsoft Word could have also been used to draft a document outlining the key stakeholders of the siege. ATG’s failure to do this was one of the major flaws of the siege. It was only after his first attempt failed that ATG sought help from the Kings of Cyprus, who themselves had vested interests in the siege being a success. Perhaps if ATG used this software effectively, he could have identified these vested interests and leveraged his relationship with The Kings of Cyprus earlier, saving time, resources, and bloodshed?

Microsoft Visio could have also been used to carry out group brainstorming sessions with ATG and his council. This would have allowed the council to contribute their ideas to the decision-making process effectively as well as allowing them to digitally save a hard copy of their ideas so that if some of them were found to be infeasible, their other ideas could be drawn upon efficiently. Brainstorming allows for ideas to be challenged and vouched which help to solidify the planning process. It could also act as a pipeline for delegating the oversight of tasks to members of the council who may specialize in certain areas or where they vouch for certain ideas. Such delegation would surely reduce the siege time from 7 months to a much smaller time frame.

“Hypothetical Extract” from ATG’s Brainstorming Session

Planning the Project

Although it is impossible to know exactly how ATG planned the siege, we know that his method was cracked with weaknesses.

ATG failed to mitigate the risks of the Tyrians both attacking the causeway from the sea and the risk of the causeway structures being set on fire. This enabled the Tyrians to tow their combustible-filled ship into the causeway, destroying its catapults, barricades, and building structures. ATG’s methods of communication are said to have mainly revolved around word-of-mouth and messengers carrying letters, which were subject to being intercepted, lost, damaged, and misinterpreted. Progress inspections are considered to have been inefficient, based solely on observation.

Microsoft Excel could have been used to create a risk management plan. Using a template as seen below, risks such as the Tyrians attacking the causeway from the sea could have been identified, ranked according to the scale of their impact and probability of occurring, mitigated, and assigned to individuals to ensure accountability. These plans could be modified easily and saved onto cloud servers, mitigating the risk of plans being lost due to damage, theft, or loss, and allowing them to be accessed by all stakeholders relevant in mitigating the risks of the siege failing. Again, this streamlined approach to risk management could have saved time, resources, and lives...

“Hypothetical Extract” from ATG’s Risk Management Plan

Although it is uncertain if ATG had designed a solid communication plan, the use of Excel in conjunction could have also helped for reasons outlined above. Software such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Outlook and could have been used to create progress reports and distribute them instantly to relevant stakeholders. This could have increased the efficiency of the siege incredibly and perhaps could have allowed ATG to delegate authority more effectively, allowing him to monitor the progress of the siege from afar, thus giving more time to plan future conquests.

“Hypothetical Extract” from ATG’s Communication Plan

Microsoft Project could have also been used to increase the efficiency of the siege by creating a concrete work-breakdown structure. This would have allowed ATG to identify different tasks, their dependencies (to avoid bottlenecking) and set time frames for each task. For instance, ATG relied heavily on The Kings of Cyprus being combat-ready when sieging the fortress for their second time. If ATG had planned a full-scale attack at a certain time but the Cyprians had not completed their naval repairs on time, the attack would have to be postponed. Supplies such as food that was prepared for the duration of the siege may go stale. This leads to bottlenecks as more food would have to be prepared for the next attack, delaying it further. Microsoft Project helps to resolve these problems as it allows a visual representation of tasks, their timeline, and dependencies to be created and modified easily. Plans can also be digitally stored and distributed to relevant stakeholders instantly through the software outlined in the communication plan.

“Hypothetical Extract” from ATG’s Work-Breakdown Structure

Now that ATG’s plans are in place, how could information systems be utilized to execute these plans?

Found out in Part [4/4]…