IST 302 : Project Time Management Developing quality schedules is important. 1
Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts on projects There are five core project time management process groups. Activity Definition Define specific activities to be performed to produce project artifacts Activity Sequencing Identify and document relationships between project activities Activity Duration Estimating Estimating number of work periods to complete each activity Activity Resource Estimating Estimating how many resources a team should use to perform each activity Schedule Development Using activity sequences, duration estimates and resource requirements to create project schedule Schedule Control Controlling and managing changes to the project schedule 2
Activity Definition Begins with : Results in : Activity sequencing requires identifying the dependencies between activities. Mandatory Dependencies Inherent in the nature of the work (hard logic) Discretionary Dependencies Defined by project team (soft logic) External Dependencies Relationships between project and nonproject activities 3
Dependency Examples Mandatory Dependencies Discretionary Dependencies External Dependencies Inherent in the nature of the work (hard logic) Defined by project team; process related (soft logic) Relationships between project and nonproject activities Example Example Example The duration of a project is not the same as the effort required to complete the project. Duration: The time span from the moment you start work on a project or activity to the moment the activity is complete. Effort: The number of work periods required to complete the project or activity. 4
Try this! It took four people 15 (business) days to complete Activity X Person 1 : 60 hours Person 2 : 15 hours Person 3 : 72 hours Person 4 : 31 hours Identify Duration Effort Hmmm. Can duration be greater than effort? 5
The goal is to a realistic schedule. There are several tools and techniques that can aid in schedule creation. Activity resource estimating depends on the nature of the project and the organization. Questions to consider: How difficult will it be to do specific tasks on the project? Is there anything unique in this project s scope statement that will affect resources? What is the organization s history in doing similar tasks? Does the organization have or can they acquire the people, equipment, and materials that are capable and available for performing the work? 6
Controlling the schedule is fundamental to enabling project success. We now start looking at the tools and techniques that aid in schedule management. 7
A project network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities. Two Common Approaches Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) Arrow Diagramming Method 1 A=1 B=2 2 3 D=4 E=5 5 H=6 6 J=3 8 C=3 4 G=6 7 I=2 Activities are arrows. Labels are <task name> = <duration> Nodes are start/ending points. 8
Sample PDM Network Diagram for Project X A Start: 6/1/05 ID: 1 Finish: 6/1/05 Dur: 1d B Start: 6/1/05 ID: 2 Finish: 6/2/05 Dur: 2d C Start: 6/1/05 ID: 3 Finish: 6/3/05 Dur: 3d D Start: 6/2/05 ID: 4 Finish: 6/7/05 Dur: 4d E Start: 6/3/05 ID: 5 Finish: 6/9/05 Dur: 5d F Start: 6/3/05 ID: 6 Finish: 6/8/05 Dur: 4d G Start: 6/6/05 ID: 7 Finish: 6/13/05 Dur: 6d H Start: 6/10/05 ID: 8 Finish: 6/17/05 Dur: 6d J Start: 6/20/05 ID: 10 Finish: 6/22/05 Dur: 3d I Start: 6/14/05 ID: 9 Finish: 6/15/05 Dur: 2d Activities are boxes. Arrows are dependencies. Create an ADM and PDM. Activity Predecessors Duration A 2 B A 2 C A 3 D A 4 E B 2 F C 3 G D 6 H E, F 2 I E, F 5 J G, I 1 K H, J 2 9
Chap. 6, Exer. 2 ADM A=2 1 2 B=2 C=3 3 4 E=2 F=3 6 I=5 H=2 K=2 8 9 D=4 5 7 G=6 J=1 Chap. 6, Exer. 2 PDM A B E H 2 2 2 2 C F I K 3 3 5 2 D 4 G 6 J 1 10
Gantt Charts map activities to a calendar. 11
Figure 6 3. Task Dependency Types Gantt Charts can also so task completion. 12
Critical Path Analysis is used to predict the total project duration. Critical path: Determining the Critical Path C=2 4 E=1 A=2 B=5 1 2 3 6 D=7 5 F=2 a. How many paths are on this network diagram? b. How long is each path? c. Which is the critical path? d. What is the shortest amount of time needed to complete this project? 13
What s the critical path? A=2 1 2 B=2 C=3 3 4 E=2 F=3 6 I=5 H=2 K=2 8 9 D=4 5 7 G=6 J=1 The start/finish times of tasks not on a critical path may be changeable. Free slack : Total Slack : 14
Determine the free slack and the total slack. Planning a schedule requires knowing schedule constraints. Forward Pass : Determines the earliest start and finish for each activity Backward Pass : Determines the latest start and finish for each activity. 15
Complete the diagram. ES EF A = 3 <task> = <duration> Start C = 5 LS LF B = 2 ES : Early Start EF : Early Finish LS : Late Start LS : Late Finish Changing activity or project duration requires additional resources. Original 16
Caution: Multitasking is not always optimal. Multitasking requires ramp up time. Some companies moving away from 5/40 work week. We ve beat this to death. 17
Duration Estimates : Fact or WAG? PERT : Program Evaluation and Review Technique 18