project management notes

Scheduling the Project

Purpose of a Schedule:
●​ Ensures the timely completion of a project
●​ Identifies what needs to get done and when
●​ Shows how all the pieces of the project fit together
●​ Team members see how their work affects others
●​ Used to monitor and control the project

Formats to create a Project Schedule:
●​ Gantt Charts
●​ Network Diagram
-​ PERT Network
-​ CPM Network


Network Diagrams
(Developed in the 1950s)
• Developed in the 1950’s
– A diagram of nodes and arrows (directional arcs)
– Illustrate the flow of activities
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
– U.S. Navy, Booz-Allen Hamilton, and Lockheed Aircraft
– Probabilistic activity durations (randomness)
– AOA
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
– Dupont De Nemours Inc.
– Deterministic activity durations (originally)
– AON


Event vs. Milestone
(0” duration – 0 hours or days)
Event
• An identifiable state
– Result of completing one or more activities
• Predecessor activities must be completed
Milestone
• Noteworthy event
• Marks significant progress

, Task Dependencies
(Precedence Diagram)
• Finish to Start
– Activity (predecessor) must finish before the successor can start.
– Dig hole – plant tree
• Start to Start
– Activity (predecessor) must start before the successor can start.
– Design code - code
• Finish to Finish
– Activity (predecessor) must finish before the successor can finish
– Test - documentation
• Start to Finish
– Activity (predecessor) must start before the successor can finish.
– Software cutover; new system implementation




An activity is an element of work that has:
– an expected duration
– a cost
– resource requirements
– predecessor
– successor
Sequencing Events (CPM)

, ●​ Path: A series of connected activities between two events (i.e. start/finish)
-​ Helps calculate Project Duration

Merge vs. Burst
Merge: An event which represents the joint completion of multiple activities.
Burst: An event which represents the beginning of multiple activities.



Critical Path

“Critical path”
-​ Series of activities (path) that determines the earliest time project can be completed
-​ Longest path through the network diagram
-​ Has the least amount of slack or float
What is Slack or Float?
-​ Amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying project finish date
●​ Free – impacts successor
●​ Total – impacts total project

Critical Path Calculations
●​ First develop a good network diagram




●​ Add the duration estimates for all activities
●​ Calculated Early Start/Finish and Late Start/Finish/Slack
●​ The longest path is the critical path
-​ Activities have no slack
-​ If activities on the critical path slips, the whole project will be delayed
-​ Alerts PM to take corrective action

●​ Activities on all paths must be completed to finish the project
●​ The critical path is not the one with all the critical activities; it only accounts for time
●​ There can be more than one critical path if the lengths of two or more paths are the
same
●​ The critical path can change as the project progresses