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Scheduling Guide
For Program Managers
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1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) REPORT DATE REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
January 2000 Guidebook
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS
William W. Bahnaier
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Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)
Uucl<»MfiiAl
NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18 298-102
USAPPC V1.00
SCHEDULING
GUIDE
FOR
PROGRAM
MANAGERS
January 2000
PUBLISHED BY THE
DEFENSE SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT COLLEGE PRESS
FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-5565
For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20302-9328
11
FOREWORD
This guide provides an introduction to scheduling intended for use by government
program managers and industry program of project managers and their respective staffs.
It is the third version of a 1986 publication prepared by Mr. David D. Acker, Mr. J. Stanley
Baumgartner, and Mr. Michael B. Patterson. A second version, published in 1994, was
prepared by Mr. William W. Bahnmaier and Mr. Paul T. McMahon.
This version addresses many of the topics contained in their earlier versions, especially
those relating to the different types of scheduling techniques. The major difference
between this and the previous versions is the treatment of scheduling as part of the
acquisition process and the overall program management effort, particularly as it relates
to the planning and control functions of program management. Scheduling is discussed
in the context of the development of integrated master plans and schedules, the risk
management process, and earned value management.
The proliferation of microcomputers has greatly enhanced the capability of managers at all
levels to develop and analyze schedules. Chapter 9 provides an overview of the types of
automated tools available and information on desirable features of scheduling software
applications.
This document reflects the efforts of many people. Mr. William W. Bahnmaier and Mr.
Paul T. McMahon and Lt Col. David Bachman, USAF, of the DSMC faculty provided
invaluable strategic guidance and advice. Mr. Gregory T. Caruth of the DSMC Press was
very helpful in the composition of the guide. SFC Frances M. Battle, USA, provided
desktop publishing skills. Mr. Van Kinney, Ms. Joni Forman and Mr. Tom Parry of the OSD
Acquisition, Resources and Analysis staff provided comments on the draft and overall
support for the project. Special recognition also goes to the Institute for Defense Analysis
team of Mr. Lou Simpleman, Mr. Jim Lloyd, Mr. George Tolis, Ms. Patti Phillips, Ms. Tina
Higgins, and Ms. Yolanda Prescott, who wrote, edited, and prepared the major portions
of the text.
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Overview 2
1.2 Purpose of This Guide 2
2
1.3 Guide Content
2
1.4 Other Sources of Data
Chapter 2 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND THE ACQUISITION PROCESS 3
2.1 Program Management Overview 3
2.2 The Evolution of Program Management 4
2.3 The Acquisition Process and Scheduling 5
2.4 Risk Management and Scheduling 6
VI
APPENDIX A INTEGRATED MASTER SCHEDULE 71
77
APPENDIX B TIME ROBBERS
79
APPENDIX C GLOSSARY
83
APPENDIX D BIBLIOGRAPHY
FIGURES
3-1 Generic Aircraft System WBS 9
10
3-2 IMP/IMS Sample
20
4-1 Gantt Chart Example
4-2 Milestone Chart Example 21
22
4-3 Network Schedule Example
25
5-1 Example Gantt Chart Symbols
26
5-2 Example Gantt Chart
27
5-3 Example Milestone Chart Symbols
28
5-4 Example Milestone Chart
29
5-5 Example Combination Chart •
5-6 Gantt Chart with Amplifying Information 30
6-1 Beta Distribution with PERT Time Estimates 37
6-2 Example PDM Relationships/Constraints 39
6-3 Example PDM Constraints with Lag Time 40
40
6-4 Example PDM Activity Node
42
6-5 PERT Example
43
6-6 PERT Example with Slack Time
U
6-7 CPM Example
47
6-8 PDM Example •
6-9 PDM Example—Example and Late Start and Finish Times 47
48
6-10 PDM Example with Lag Time
4
6-11 Network Schedule with Constrained Resources 9
50
6-12 Personnel Loading Chart
51
6-13 Revised Personnel Loading Chart •
6-14 Revised Network Schedule with Constrained Resources 52
7-1 Line of Balance Technique • 55
8-1 Total Cost Analysis for Selecting "Optimum" Program Duration 60
9-1 On-Screen Data Entry Using Gantt Chart Feature
68
(AEC Software Fast Track Schedule)
TABLES
46
6-1 CPM Example Time Estimates
9-1 Project Management Software Functions and Criteria 69
Vll
VUl
1
INTRODUCTION
ENDNOTES
1
DoDD 5000.1, Defense Acquisition, March 15,1996. (Being revised and updated as of 1 January 2000)
2
Ibid.
3
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND SCHEDULING
As discussed in the previous chapters, of the program that functional plans will
scheduling is one of the most powerful lay out in greater detail and reflects the
tools available to the PM, and its effective strategy that will be followed to meet pro-
application is essential to program suc- gram objectives and to handle risk in the
cess. While it is a key element in perform- program. The acquisition strategy in-
ing all program management functions, it cludes a program structure/schedule
is also critical to the accomplishment of which depicts a visual overview and pic-
planning and controlling management ture presentation of the acquisition strat-
functions. This chapter discusses schedul- egy. This schedule is a single diagram
ing in the context of these two functions similar to the diagram shown in Figure 3-3,
and addresses the essential elements and and defines the relationship among acqui-
considerations in schedule planning. sition phases, decision milestones, solici-
tations, contract awards, systems engineer-
3.1 PROGRAM PLANNING AND ing design reviews, contract deliveries, test
SCHEDULING and evaluation activities, production re-
leases, and operational deployment objec-
Program planning is the process of deter- tives. It includes quantities to be procured
mining what needs to be accomplished, by and delivered by fiscal year by phase in
whom, when, and under what resource terms of prototypes, engineering
constraints. It is arguably the most impor- developmemt models, low-rate intitial pro-
tant of the program management functions. duction and full-rate production. The pro-
Without a sound and comprehensive plan, gram structure/schedule is a key decision
it is virtually impossible to develop a mean- review/milestone document; it summa-
ingful budget, effectively organize and staff rizes the program and is built from many
the program office, direct the actions of the other more detailed schedules found in
program office, or monitor and control the functional plans such as test and evalua-
program. In addition to determining the tion, contracting, etc. It is sometimes re-
"what, where, who, with what, and when" ferred to as the Master Program Schedule
of a program, planning also helps to iden- (MPS). In addition to this top level struc-
tify risk areas and ways to handle the risk, ture/schedule, the PM may deem it neces-
and establishes the program baselines. sary to have more detailed program man-
agement Integrated Master Plans (IMP) and
There are a number of products of the Integrated Master Schedules (IMS) pre-
planning process. Among them are: pared and submitted by the contractor
during the proposal process. See the DSMC
• Acquisition Strategy—This is the com- Acquisition Strategy Guide1 for information
prehensive, integrated plan the program on structuring, developing, and executing
will follow. It provides an overall concept an acquisition strategy.
• Functional Plans—These are the de- Scheduling is a critical element in the plan-
tailed plans that lay out the approach to ning process. In addition to being an out-
be taken in the different functional areas. put of the process as discussed above, it
Examples include: the Test and Evalua- also contributes to the development of the
tion Master Plan (TEMP) and Command, other outputs. The early involvement of
Control, Communications, Computers, and people who are knowledgeable and experi-
Intelligence (C4I) Support Plan, which are enced in scheduling techniques can contrib-
required; and the Systems Engineering ute to the effective translation of strategic
Master Plan (SEMP), Logistics Support concepts and ideas into detailed logic dia-
Plan (LSP), etc., which are optional. grams, depicting the program activities
and relationships among activities. This
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)— can be very useful in developing budget
The WBS provides a basic framework for and detailed functional plans, especially
identifying each element of a project in in identifying the required resources and
increasing levels of detail. In essence, it leveling them throughout the activities.
describes the way work is performed. The
WBS also provides a coherent method for The WBS and the IMP/IMS are important
reporting progress toward plan goals. concepts used in the scheduling process
and are described in more detail in the
• Integrated Master Plan (IMP)—The following sections.
IMP is an event-based plan depicting the
overall structure of the program and the 3.2 WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
key processes, activities, and milestones.
It defines accomplishments and criteria for During the 1960s, the impetus to develop a
each event. tool to help project managers define a
project in a cohesive way gave rise to the
• Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)— development of the WBS. WBS use has not
The IMS shows the detailed tasks and been confined to the DoD and its contrac-
timing for events in the IMP and depicts tors; rather, it is now used in many com-
the logical progression of events through- mercial enterprises. Several years after the
out the program. These tasks should be emergence of the WBS concept, DoD pub-
directly traceable to the IMP and the WBS. lished a WBS standard for DoD acquisition
organizations as well as their contractors to
• Schedules—A series of schedules are use: MIL-STD-881B. This standard has
developed during the planning process, been superseded by a handbook, MIL-
all of which are derived from the IMS. HDBK-881, dated 2 January 1998. It con-
These schedules are developed to show tains much of the same information as its
the details required to complete key activi- predecessor but is not directive in nature
ties and milestones. and is for guidance only.
Training Equipment
Services
Facilities
Operational/Site
Activation System Assembly, Installation and
Checkout on Site
Contractor Techincal Support
Site Construction
Site/Ship/Vehicle Conversion
and facilities. The family tree results from needs to go unless the items identified are
systems engineering efforts during the ac- high cost or high risk. In that case, the WBS
quisition of a defense materiel item. should be taken to a lower level of
definition.
• A WBS displays and defines the prod-
uct, or products, to be developed and/or WBS's apply to seven specific categories of
produced. It relates the elements fo work defense materiel systems: aircraft; elec-
to be accoomplished to each other and to tronic/automated software; missile, ord-
the end product. nance; ship; space; and surface vehicle.
The WBS should be developed and main-
• A WBS can be expressed down to any tained based on the systems engineering
level of interest. However, the top three efforts throughout the system's life cycle.
levels are as far as any program or contract
Requirement WBS Elements SOW Task
1 Sys lern Specification 1000 Air Vehicle 3.1 »Vehicle (WBS 1000)
J 1100 Airframe Design, develop, produce
1000 Air Vehicle | mowing and verify, complete air
>■
t >■
v
19XX 19XY 19XZ
Program Events PDR Zi CDR ^
Detailed Tasks
1. Preliminary Design Complete f\. /^
2. Duty Cycle Defined Zh ^
Figure 3-1 is an example of a level 3 program prepared initially by the contractor and
WBS for an aircraft system. The WBS ap- provides the basis for development of sub-
proach provides a powerful technique for ordinate IMPs and other functional plans.
scoping a project in a manner that provides It also identifies those events and activities
management with insight into project re- that will be included in the IMS.
quirements and performance—from the
very top, or systems level, to the lowest The IMS is a networked multi-layered
level of definition of a work product. Plan- schedule generated by the contractor that
ning work using the WBS approach serves begins with all identified IMP events, ac-
as the basis for both estimating and sched- complishments, and criteria. It shows the
uling resource requirement. expected start and finish dates of these
events. It contains all contractually re-
3.2.1 Integrated Master Plans/ quired events/ milestones such as reviews,
Schedules tests, completion dates, and deliveries
specified in the program WBS.
The IMP is a very effective tool of program
management. It is the contractor's event- The IMP is prepared by the contractor dur-
based plan for accomplishing the State- ing the proposal process. It is maintained
ment of Objectives (SOO) and Statement of by the government program office and con-
Work (SOW). It identifies the key activi- tractor through a collaborative effort in-
ties, events, milestones, and reviews that volving all the program "stakeholders." In
make up the program. A program IMP is some cases, a preliminary IMP may be
10
developed by the government, with indus- can be used by the manager as a basis for
try input, during pre-solicitation. The IMP corrective action. However, considering
defines contract requirements stated in the schedule information alone can be mis-
RFP and contractors use it to develop the leading. Successful management requires
IMS and detailed functional schedules. the integration of the technical, schedule,
These integrated schedules tie together all and cost aspects of a program. Thus, some
program tasks by showing their logical form of integrated performance measure-
relationships and any constraints control- ment is needed for monitoring and control-
ling the start or finish of each task. This ling a program. The concept of earned value
process results in a hierarchy of related management provides such a capability.
functional and layered schedules derived
from the WBS that can be used for monitor- 3.3.1 Earned Value Mangement
ing and controlling program progress. An
example (suggested format) of an IMP/ Earned Value Management (EVM) is the
IMS for an aircraft development program use of an integrated management system
is depicted in Figure 3-2. The IMS should that coordinates work scope, schedule, and
be expanded down to the level of detail cost goals and objectively measures pro-
appropriate for the scope and risk of the gress toward these goals.2 The purpose of
program. Programs with high risk should EVM is to provide contractor and gov-
show more detail in the IMS to provide the ernment PMs with accurate data to moni-
visibility necessary to manage risk. A more tor program execution. It is also intended
detailed discussion of IMS's is contained in to provide an adequate basis for sound
contractor and government decision mak-
Appendix A. A Data Item Decription (DID)
ing by requiring that the contractor's inter-
has been developed by the Department of
nal management control systems produce
Defense for the IMS; the identification num-
data that: (1) indicate work progress; (2)
ber is DI-MISC-81183A. This DID is at Tab 1 properly relate cost, schedule, and techni-
to Appendix A. cal accomplishments; (3) are valid, timely,
and able to be audited; and (4) provide
3.3 PROGRAM CONTROLLING DoD component managers with informa-
AND SCHEDULING tion at a practical level of summarization.
The controlling function contains all those The DoD earned value process holds the
activities that a program manager under- contractor responsible for effective imple-
takes in attempting to ensure that the ac- mentation of an EVM system. DoD does not
tual program conforms to the developed prescribe a specific EVM system for con-
plan, to include the implementation of nec- tractors to use; instead, it has established a
essary action to get the program back on set of criteria that the contractors' systems
the plan if possible. To control a program, must meet to be acceptable. The require-
the PM needs the means to monitor pro- ment to use an EVM system that meets the
gram progress against the established plan, criteria is dependent on the type and size
or the program baseline. In its simplest of the contract. DoD Regulation 5000.2-R
form, the program schedule can serve as a defines the contracts that must use such an
baseline against which to measure progress. EVM system as well as the criteria for an
If there are indications that an activity is acceptable system. For contracts that do
falling behind schedule, this information
11
not meet these thresholds, contractor man- Analysis of these data points over time
agement information is provided to the also identifies trends that may affect or
government using a Cost/Schedule Status impact the future performance for the re-
Report (C/SSR). This report should be mainder of the contract. This is important;
based on an underlying management sys- it enables PMs to isolate causes of recur-
tem that uses an earned value approach for ring variations and to take alternative ac-
tracking progress. Such a system does not tions that will improve performance. Quan-
have to meet the EVM criteria of DoD titative techniques can also be applied to
5000.2-R; however, the government should EVM data to predict program performance
negotiate with the contractor to ensure that at completion in terms of cost and sched-
the system does emphasize earned value ule. The DSMC EVM Textbook* provides
methodology. detailed information on the application of
EVM techniques.
Basically, earned value relates resource
planning to schedules and to technical per- Success of EVM techniques is dependent on
formance requirements. All work (identi- several things, not the least of which is
fied in the Program and Contract Work effective and accurate contractor schedul-
Breakdown Structures) is planned, bud- ing. EVM system criteria do not require
geted, and scheduled in time-phased contractors to use specific scheduling tech-
"planned value" increments constituting a niques. However, they do seek formality,
performance measurement baseline. As consistency, and discipline throughout the
work is performed, it is "earned" on the scheduling process. The contractor's sched-
same basis as it was planned, e.g., in bud- uling system:
geted dollars or labor-hours. Planned value
[budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS)] • Provides a summary or master sched-
compared with earned value [budgeted cost ule and related subordinate schedules
of work performed (BCWP)] measures the showing vertical traceability from the mas-
dollar volume of work planned versus the ter to the detailed schedules
equivalent dollar value of work accom-
plished. The difference, if any, is termed • Identifies key milestones and activities
the "schedule" or "accomplishment" vari- and indicates significant constraints and
ance. Earned value (BCWP) compared relationships
with the actual cost of the work performed
(ACWP) provides an objective measure- • Provides current status and forecast of
ment of cost performance. Any difference completion dates of scheduled work that
is called the cost variance. enable comparison of planned and actual
status of program accomplishments
The three data points—BCWS, BCWP, and
ACWP—are outputs of the EVM system and • Establishes a schedule baseline
are provided to the government ona monthly
basis. They, along with the schedule and cost • Provides horizontal traceability show-
variances, provide the basic information ing interrelationships among various ac-
needed to determine program status at a tivities.
given time, and to identify the elements that
are driving each of the variances.
12
The scheduling baseline usually consists more detailed schedule information. The
of a hierarchy of vertically integrated schedule for the out-year phases will be
schedules, with each lower-level sched- adjusted based on the most current infor-
ule more fully identifying and expanding mation. However, this should not be taken
the tasks necessary to meet the program's as a license to make easy changes in the
objectives. Generally, three sets of sched- schedule. Every effort should be made to
ules are prepared: maintain the original schedule.
The output of this step is an estimate of the Other scheduling development techniques
likely amount of time to complete each that are commonly used focus on schedule
activity. These estimates should also in- development in light of resource (time,
clude a range of possible values, e.g., 3 people, funds, material) constraints. These
weeks ± 1 week, and a clear statement of techniques provide the means to manage the
the assumptions made in the estimation affect of these constraints through the com-
process. pression of activity duration and the leveling
of resources throughout activities. Schedule
3.4.4 Schedule Development compression and resource leveling are dis-
cussed in more detail in Chapter 6.
This step involves the development of
realistic start and finish dates for each
15
3.4.5 Schedule Control change control system can also serve as a
good database of lessons learned. Conse-
The final step in the schedule preparation quently, information concerning sched-
process is to identify schedule variations and ule variations, their evaluation, and the
to manage actual changes to the developed development of corrective actions should
schedules. A schedule change control sys- be documented and made readily avail-
tem that defines the procedures by which able to members of the program's man-
changes can be made should be established agement team, and to other programs.
and integrated into the program's overall
change control system. The schedule 3.5 SCHEDULE RISK
change control system should address such
things as the methods of schedule perfor- In Chapter 2, we discussed the relation-
mance tracking and the approval process ship between risk management and pro-
for authorizing changes. The need for sched- gram scheduling. In this section, we dis-
ule changes can be caused by a number of cuss the risk associated with the program
factors, to include: schedule. Uncertainty exists in every
schedule. It is impossible to predict, with
• Failure to achieve planned dates for complete confidence, the length of time
specific activities or events, necessary to complete an activity, meet a
milestone, or deliver a system. Little in-
• Internal program management assess- formation exists in the early phases of a
ment and replanning, and program, and planners must rely on per-
sonal experience and the estimates of ex-
• External direction, such as reallocation perts. As a program progresses through
of funding. the acquisition cycle, more information
becomes available. Schedules developed
When evaluating these factors, it is im- in the latter phases of a program are based
portant to determine what, if any, sched- on more information and analyses, but
ule change is necessary. For example, if they still lack complete certainty. Uncer-
an activity that is not on the critical path is tainty introduces the element of risk in the
planning process. Schedule risk is the
not completed as planned, it may not have
likelihood of failing to meet schedule plans
any effect on the overall program sched-
and the effect of that failure.
ule. Consequently, it may not require any
significant schedule change. When creating a schedule, or when deter-
mining overall program risk, the PM must
The schedule change control system assess the risk associated with the sched-
should also include procedures for imple- ule. One technique for assessing this sched-
menting schedule changes. Such proce- ule risk involves estimate contributions
dures should address the requirement to for each activity's duration and aggregat-
keep all program stakeholders, especially ing these distributions using a Monte Carlo
the users, advised of any significant sched- simulation or other analytical tools. The
ule changes. They should also address the resulting program-level schedule is then
process for adjusting the schedule baseline analyzed to determine the actual sched-
and the overall program plan when neces- ule risk and to identify the schedule risk
sary schedule changes are severe. The drivers.
16
This technique uses a range of times that it planning phase, it contributes to the
will take to complete each activity instead development of detailed functional plans
of single-point estimates. This approach and budgets and to identification and allo-
results in a more realistic estimate of sched- cation of required resources throughout
ule risk because it accounts for much of the program activities. During this phase is
uncertainty inherent in the use of single- developed a set of integrated multi-lay-
point estimates. Their use invariably leads ered schedules that tie together all pro-
to underestimating the time required to gram activities, showing their logical rela-
complete the program and, therefore, tionships and any constraints. The level of
schedule overruns, primarily because the detail developed for these schedules de-
point estimates do not adequately address pends on program scope and risk. This
the uncertainty inherent in the individual process provides a hierarchy of functional
activities. and layered schedules that can be useful in
monitoring and controlling program
This range of values for each activity de- progress.
fines a probability distribution for the du-
ration of the activity. These distributions Effective program control depends on some
are then combined to determine the pro- form of integrated cost, schedule, and tech-
gram-level schedule estimate. This ap- nical performance management, such as
proach enables PMs to estimate early in a the earned value management system
program if there is a significant likelihood (EVMS). Effective scheduling is key to the
of overrunning the program schedule and success of this technique. EVMS criteria do
by how much. It also identifies program not dictate the use of specific scheduling
activities that are on the "highest risk path." techniques. However, they do seek for-
mality, consistency, and discipline
This technique can be used in any acqui- throughout the scheduling process.
sition phase beginning with the comple-
tion of the first statement of work. The A five-step process for schedule prepara-
schedule probability distribution function tion that is commonly used in program/
for each key activity should be developed project management includes:
as soon as the activity is included in the
master schedule. The distribution func- • Activity definition,
tions should be periodically reviewed and
revised, if necessary, at least once per phase. • Activity sequencing,
1
^NGR& MANUFDEV
A0 ~[
A
PRODUCTION
# of Kr's LRIP
A:
IOC
(An example)
Final RFP
Release
(Acq. Strategy
A
PDRR PROD
EMD Disposal/
Approval) Demil
Contract
Award
A
CE/D
A PDRR
A
EMD
A
PROD
Technical
Reviews
A A
ASR SRR
A
SFR
A A A AA
PDR CDR PRR PCA PRR
AAM
Prototype Fly-Off
Al ^A-A
DT/OT DT&E LFT&E
Testing
Deliveries EOA|
EOA
AA
OA IOT&E FOT&E
Funding: (eng dev models) EDM I LRIP Production
ENDNOTES
1
Defense Systems Management College, Acquisition Strategy Guide, Fort Belvoir, VA, January 1998.
2
Defense Systems ManagementCollege, Earned Value Management Textbook, Fort Belvoir, VA, April 16,1998,
3
Ibid.
4
ftogramMamgementlnstitute,AGuictetotheProgramMamgemm
1996.
5
Defense Systems Management College, Risk Management Guidebook, Fort Belvoir, VA, May 1999.
6
Information on schedule risk techniques is in the Risk Assessment Techniques of the Front Line Wisdom
& Advice portion of Section 2.5.2.4, Defense Acquisition Deskbook.
18
4
SCHEDULE TYPES AND THEIR EVOLUTION
|
«■
L:,
Identify User Requirements
20
Event Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Legend
Planned A
Actual A
especially at the "big picture" level. How- Perhaps the biggest shortfall of the Gantt
ever, it does have shortcomings that limit and milestone charts is that neither of
its effectiveness in day-to-day project man- them, nor the combination of both, allow
agement. As shown in Figure 4-2, the mile- detailed schedule analysis. However,
stone chart can depict the events corre- every PM must know and understand
sponding to the completion of an activity. Gantt and milestone charts for two simple
reasons: everybody uses them, and nor-
However, it does not reflect the progress in mally, one of the first steps in the planning
accomplishing the activity. In this case, a process is to construct a schedule using a
manager relying on this milestone chart Gantt chart.
information could be surprised if the
planned completion date is not achieved. 4.2.2 Network Schedules
With no warning or indicators of schedule
slippage, the manager loses any flexibility Network scheduling was developed to
in attacking the underlying problems caus- overcome the primary shortcoming of the
ing the slippage. This shortcoming can be Gantt and milestone charts—the inability
compensated for by the addition of interme- to clearly portray the relationships, depen-
diate events or through the use of combined dencies, and constraints among the project
Gantt and milestone charts. This is discussed activities and events. A network schedule
in more detail in the next chapter. is a graphical display of a project, includ-
ing a representation of these relationships.
Another weakness of the milestone chart is Figure 4-3 shows an example of a network
the difficulty to clearly visualize the schedule for a simple project.
relationships, dependencies, and con-
straints among the various project/pro-
In this example, the lines represent project
gram activities and events. In spite of these
activities A through H; the nodes repre-
shortcomings, the milestone chart can be
an effective way of presenting the project sent the events associated with the begin-
or program status at higher levels of man- ning and end of the activities. The net-
work shows the following constraints
agement review.
21
Figure 4-3. Network Schedule Example
among the activities: activity A must be was being applied to large, complex pro-
completed before activities B, C, or D can grams. The first major network schedul-
begin; B must be completed before E can ing technique developed was the Pro-
begin; F cannot begin until D is completed; gram Evaluation and Review Technique,
G cannot begin until C and E are done, and or PERT, which was used as a manage-
H cannot begin until F and G are com- ment tool for scheduling and controlling
pleted. In addition to showing this type of the Navy's Polaris missile program. PERT
sequencing constraints, network schedules enables managers to visualize the entire
can also show the time and resources program, see interrelationships and de-
planned for each activity and thus provide pendencies, and recognize when and
managers with a mechanism to monitor where delays are acceptable. One of the
and control the project. A later chapter key features of PERT is the use of prob-
covers network schedules in detail. ability techniques to develop a set of time
estimates for each program activity, mak-
The advent of network schedules can be ing it particularly well-suited for pro-
traced back to the 1920s and the evolu- grams where it is difficult to make accu-
tion of operations research. Analysts re- rate estimates with high confidence. Con-
alized the inability to depict dependen- current with the development of PERT,
cies and constraints was a major short- the construction industry developed a
coming of existing scheduling techniques, network scheduling system based on the
and attempted to solve the problem concept of critical path. A project's criti-
through the application of network theory. cal path is the most time-consuming route
The translation of this theory into a usable through the network activities that must
scheduling tool was hindered by the in- be completed in order to finish the project.
ability to process network-related data This approach, named Critical PathMethod
in a timely fashion. The development of (CPM), was designed to focus on perfor-
the computer provided the means to au- mance time and total program cost. Some
tomate this data processing and, by the publications refer to CPM as the Arrow
1950s, the concept of network scheduling Diagram Method (ADM).
22
PERT and CPM scheduling techniques have In spite of the strengths of network schedul-
many similarities. For example, each shows ing techniques, there are some limitations.
the relationships among activities and The value of network schedules is directly
events, both include the projecf s critical dependent on the validity of the time esti-
path, and the structure of each allows analy- mates for each activity. In addition, it is
sis of the tasks to be done, resources as- sometimes difficult to accurately portray
signed to do them, and the time associated all activities and relationships, especially
with each task. Both techniques use nodes to for very large, complex programs. Thus,
represent events (beginning and end of ac- considerable "up front" work is required
tivities) and lines to represent the activities. to develop an effective network schedule.
Detailed networks, once developed, tend
A third network scheduling technique is the to be the focus of management attention
Precedence Diagram Method (PDM), which when, in fact, there will undoubtedly be
was developed subsequent to the PERT/ other factors not on the display that will
CPM techniques. Its function is to permit a require management attention.
more accurate depiction of relationships
among various activities than is possible 4.2.3 Production Schedules
using the other two techniques. PERT/
CPM techniques are essentially limited to Production scheduling involves the plan-
"finish-start" relationships (i.e., activity B ning, execution, and control of repetitive
cannot start until activity A is completed). activities, such as the manufacture of a
The PDM technique can depict other rela- large number of identical items. Efficient
tionships that permit a more accurate and production requires the proper balance of
realistic portrayal of the program's activi- materials, facilities, and personnel skills. It
ties, such as "start-start" (i.e., activity B also requires a means to monitor the
cannot start until activity A starts). The production process.
technique accomplishes this through the
use of nodes to depict activities and lines to The Line of Balance (LOB) technique, while
depict relationships. These three techniques not truly a scheduling tool, is such a moni-
are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 6. toring technique that can provide early
Network scheduling techniques provide warning of potential problems that can
managers with a powerful tool for schedul- affect program schedule. It is especially
ing and controlling their programs /projects. useful for monitoring repetitive processes
In general, they permit the graphic por- where it is essential to balance inventory
trayal of project activities and relationships acquisition with the production process
among the activities. This provides the and delivery requirements. The LOB tech-
basis for determining the project's critical nique consists of four elements: (1) objec-
path, predicting shortages, and identifying tives of the program, i.e., contract sched-
possible reallocation of resources to solve ule and actual deliveries; (2) production
problems. Through the use of readily avail- plan; (3) current program status or inven-
able software, network schedules are fairly tory; and (4) a comparison between where
easy to update and rework, thus providing the program is and where it's supposed to
managers with current program/project be, (that is, program inventories versus
status information and control over activi- the LOB). These elements are discussed in
ties and schedules. more detail in Chapter 7.
23
The origin of LOB is not clear, but it is the method that allows them to meet their
believed it was developed to help manage goals. The choice of schedule type depends
defense-related contracts in the 1940s and on a number of factors, such as, the purpose
50s. It is still used today in both defense and of the schedule, its intended use, and the
commercial industry. While government decisions to be made from the information
PMs or their staffs will probably not need to presented. For example, day-to-day man-
directly develop or apply the LOB tech- agement of a project consisting of a number
nique, they should understand it and real- of related and complex activities may re-
ize that it can be a valuable tool for contrac- quire a schedule that depicts the tasks, their
tors to monitor the status of production planned duration, dependencies, progress,
contracts and to present status information. and resources allocated to each of them. If
a PM must do detailed schedule analysis of
This technique can point out problems be- this type of project, then the PM will most
fore their impact on finished product deliv- likely use a network schedule. This method
eries shows up, thereby allowing managers is the only way to use probability distribu-
to make corrections. It also allows manag- tions for time estimates rather than complet-
ers to see, in the middle of a contract, whether ing an activity and project in a certain time.
they can meet the contract schedule if they
continue working as they have been. An- On the other hand, the management of a
other advantage of LOB is that it focuses single activity may require a schedule that
attention on the production activities where reflects only the time planned for accom-
there are problems, thereby facilitating ini- plishing the task and the current status.
tiation of corrective action. Schedules showing only events, such as the
completion dates of planned activities, or
There are some limitations with the LOB bar charts may be sufficient in those cases
technique. First, it is best suited for produc- when the audience may not be concerned
tion and/or assembly-type processes that with the details of the activities.
are stable. The activities that make up the
production plan must be definable and well As a rule of thumb, Gantt and milestone
understood. Second, while this technique charts are useful to present information and
pinpoints where a problem exists, it cannot summarize program activities. They are
identify the specific problem. also usually the starting points for detailed
planning and creating a network schedule.
4.3 SUMMARY Network schedules are usually created for
detailed planning and analyses. They are
Each scheduling method has strengths and necessary to determine the feasibility of
limitations. Program Mangers must be fa- meeting program goals, assessing risk, and
miliar with all of the techniques and choose conducting sensitivity analyses.
ENDNOTES
1
Quentin W. Fleming, John W. Bronn, and Gary C. Humphries, Project and Production Scheduling, Chicago,
IL, Probus Publishing Co., 1987, p. 45.
24
5
GANTT AND MILESTONE CHARTS
Symbol Meaning
Status of activity
25
N
1 [A] [B]
1 1
Payload Assembly A_
■ V[A1[C1
Test & Rework
1
1
A Y
Guidance & Control
Design
I
I
Now
Figure 5-2. Example Gantt Chart
Based on this information, and an analysis of the guidance and control subsystem is
of the activities, the PM has revised the not going as well as planned. As of late-
planned completion date for the payload March, the fabrication is well behind sched-
fabrication, [B]. In analyzing the current ule, [D]. After reviewing the progress and
status, the PM has determined that much of remaining work, the PM has slipped the
the work in payload assembly will have to planned completion dates for the fabrica-
be done toward the end of the planned tion and assembly activities, [E]. They be-
activity period. (In other words, the work lieve that it is too early to revise the planned
is not uniformly distributed throughout completion dates for test and rework, and
the period.) Thus, even though this activity the system integration and test activities.
is ahead of schedule now, the PM has However, the slippage already experienced
decided not to revise the planned comple- should serve as a warning that this entire
tion date for assembly and test, [C]. This development effort may be in trouble and
Gantt chart also shows that development will require close monitoring.
26
While the Gantt chart focuses on activities The important thing is that the symbols be
and their duration, the milestone chart fo- clearly defined and consistently applied.
cuses on planned significant events sched-
uled to occur at specific times in the pro- Figure 5-4 shows an example milestone
gram. Such events could be the initiation chart for the program described in the
or completion of a particularly important Gantt chart in Figure 5-2. Note that events
or critical activity, equipment deliveries, displayed correspond to the beginning of
reviews, or approval dates. Like the Gantt some activities and the completion of all of
chart, the milestone chart uses symbols them. Other events displayed represent
imposed on a calendar to provide informa- important occurrences and key decision
tion about planned and actual completion points within each of the activities, e.g.,
dates and any revisions to the milestone preliminary and critical design reviews,
schedule. There is no standard set of sym- "make or buy" decision, etc. In this ex-
bols for milestone charts. Figure 5-3 shows ample, we see that as of late-March pay-
the symbols prescribed for reporting mile- load design has progressed on schedule,
stone information within the Air Force [A], and that planned completion date for
Material Command. Different scheduling fabrication has been revised ahead of the
software will often use unique symbols. original schedule, [B]. As discussed in the
Schedule Completion
Actual Completion
u o Continuous Action
27
J F M A M J J A S 0 N D
Payload Design
Begin Payload Design t V
Payload Preliminary Design Review (PDR) t
Payload Critical Design Review (CDR) i
Complete Payload Design
Payload Fabrication
Make or Buy Decision
Tooling Complete \ r [B]
Fabrication Complete ft 0
Assemble Payload
Begin Assembly t
Delivery of Parts Complete ft
Assembly Complete 1>
Payload Test & Rework
Test Plan Complete i
Test Readiness Review
Test & Rework Complete ft
Fabricate G&C
Make or Buy Decision 1 hg
Tooling Complete t [D]
Fabrication Complete 0 0
Assemble G&C
Begin Assembly t [D]
Delivery of Parts Complete 0 ft [D]
Assembly Complete 0 ft
Payload Design
G&C PDR
G&C CDR
Complete G&C Design \
Fabricate G&C
ft
Assemble G&C
1
Delivery of Parts Complete O ft
Assembly Complete o ft
S ®
» O)
O T # ^o ^P
5 o O CO
3 o
1— O
O)
o
1—
■""
CD
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(0 o o o o o
o o o o_ o o
Ü o" o_ CM" N."
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CO CO CO to CO CO CO
♦4
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Ol o o O o o o o
■o o o O o o o CD
3 o o CM CO T— LO CM
m T-
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■« <E eco
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Reqiuiremtsnts S|
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perform an ce
z 10 CD
requireme nt
.22 o O CD C
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Preptare S'
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Software
■> E -!2 Q. = E
Identify
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t CO
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DC en CL CO 2
DC CL
30
As discussed in the Gantt chart example, activity, is a standard feature of the par-
there are problems in the fabrication of the ticular program used to create this Gantt
guidance and control subsystem. One of chart.1 The Assignment, Cost, and Cost/Bud-
the events selected as a milestone was the get ratio columns are not standard features
completion of the tooling necessary for but were added to the database to demon-
fabrication. From the example, we see that strate how the charts may be customized to
this event experienced an actual slip of meet individual needs. Note that the user
approximately one month, [C]; this, in turn, may create computation fields, such as the
has caused the Program Manager to revise percentage and totals fields shown in the
the scheduled completion dates for fabri- figure.
cation, parts delivery, and assembly, [D].
5.2 CONSTRUCTING GANTT AND
Managers rarely use pure Gantt or mile- MILESTONE CHARTS
stone charts. Normally they integrate the
information from these charts and display Gantt and milestone charts are relatively
it in a combination chart. Such a chart can easy to construct when compared to the
be useful in displaying the planned and complexity of network charts. The first
actual duration of activities using the Gantt step is to decide the level at which the
chart symbols and in monitoring the project is to be planned, tracked, and re-
progress for completing key events in these ported. This decision should consider such
activities using the milestone symbols. Fig- things as the needs of the entire project
ure 5-5 is a combination chart showing the team, and the degree of risk associated
activities and events described in Figures with the various program activities. Most
5-2 and 5-4. likely there will be a need to manage and
track at a low level and report at a higher
Whereas the simple Gantt, milestone, or level. Current scheduling software has the
combination charts may be suitable for capability to handle activities at various
reporting program status, most managers program levels allowing insight and man-
need additional information to plan, moni- agement at the lower levels and permitting
tor, and control activities. New software roll up of information at higher levels for
applications increase the utility of these reporting purposes. To accomplish this,
charts by making it easy to add informa- charts must be developed in a logical and
tion, such as budget, cost, resources, etc. consistent manner.
Today's programs use databases to store The next step in constructing the charts is
related schedule information and then al- the identification of activities and mile-
low users to filter, sort, and display infor- stones to be displayed, tracked, and moni-
mation in a variety of ways. They also tored. The WBS should be used as the
allow users to tailor the software to their primary source for this identification. If a
needs by adding customized information WBS is not available, or if it does not go
to the database. Figure 5-6 shows how to down to the necessary level, additional
display the relationship of one activity with planning must be done to clearly define
another by drawing lines between related and identify activities to be managed,
activities. The Budget column, in which the tracked, and reported. Other sources for
manager enters the budgeted cost for the identifying activities and events include
31
the Acquisition Strategy, the Acquisition 5.3.2 Disadvantages
Program Baseline, the Risk Management
Plan, and the Integrated Management Plan, (1) Difficult to use for detailed sched-
and the Integrated Management Plan. ule analysis
5.3 GANTT AND MILESTONE (2) Do not show the effects of late or
CHART ADVANTAGES AND early activity starts
DISADVANTAGES
Gantt and milestone (or combination) charts (3) Do not represent dependencies
provide a simple, effective means to present among activities as well as other schedul-
project information, and a way to monitor ing methods
and control smaller projects. Using these (4) Do not reflect the uncertainty in the
charts as scheduling tools has many advan- planned activity duration or event date
tages, but also limitations that should be
understood. These pros and cons are pre- (5) Only as reliable as the estimates on
sented below. Evolving scheduling soft- which they are based; looking at the chart
ware includes features that overcome some doesn't indicate which estimates are the
of the shortcomings to varying degrees. most reliable
(2) Information portrayed in easily un- 5.4 HOW AND WHEN GANTT AND
derstood format, MILESTONE CHARTS ARE
EMPLOYED
(3) Relatively inexpensive to prepare
using software tools, Gantt and milestone charts are best used
for displaying the planned activities and
(4) Relate activities and calendar dates, events of a project and the progress in
meeting them. This makes them very use-
(5) Easy to roll up information into sum- ful for presenting schedule and program
mary form, status information in a concise simple for-
mat at such things as programor activity
(6) Useful first step for preparation of reviews.
more complex type schedules
Because of its simplicity and ease of inter-
(7) Reliable estimates canbe developed pretation, it is a particularly good tool for
when the work is repetitive and when the communicating to higher management
product is easy to measure quantitatively. when information must be presented
32
quickly and efficiently. These charts may 5.5 SUMMARY
also be sufficient for management and con-
trol of simple projects. However, they As scheduling tools, Gantt and milestone
have limited utility for managing more charts provide a simple and effective means
complex projects, since they do not easily for displaying actual versus planned
capture interrelationships among activi- progress of a program and for showing
ties and events or reflect the uncertainty schedule changes that have occurred. The
associated with time and resource esti- major drawback of Gannt and milestone
mates. Generally, they do not provide the charts is the limited degree fo detail and
level of information necessary for the effec- dependency information they can portray.
tive monitoring and control of such projects. However, recently developed software
scheduling applications now make it pos-
sible to show more of the relationships
among project activities and events.
33
ENDNOTES
This figure is an adaptation of sample charts from Fast Track Schedule sample charts.
34
6
NETWORK SCHEDULING
6.1 DESCRIPTION Accomplishingthese things may requirethat
can be delayed) without affecting the over-
Driven by the increase in project complex- all scheduled completion date for the pro-
ity, managers developed the need for bet- gram?
ter schedule and control methods than those
provided by Gantt and milestone charts. • Among program tasks, where should
The shortcomings of these charts gave rise management efforts be concentrated at any
to network scheduling. Over time, differ- particular time?
ent applications of network theory were
developed to address the needs of manag- Networks are a graphical portrayal of the
ers. Today, essentially three networking activities and events of a project. They show
techniques are in use: the Program Evalu- how each activity relates to others in the
ation and Review Technique (PERT); the project, the sequence of activities, and the
Critical Path Method (CPM) [these two need to perform some tasks before others.
techniques are also known as Arrow Dia- Figure 4-3 is an example of an ADM net-
gram Methods (ADM)] and the Precedence work schedule. Networks also facilitate the
Diagram Method (PDM). Each is discussed determination of the impact of early or late
later in this chapter. starts or finishes, provide information about
the allocation of resources, and allow man-
All of these techniques provide the man- agers to do "what if" analyses. With this
ager with powerful tools to plan, analyze, information, managers may view the status
monitor, and control the project and to of the plan, analyze progress, and evaluate
manage the resources necessary to accom- alternatives.
plish project tasks. They can help the man-
ager answer the following questions: To apply these networking techniques, the
following conditions must exist:
• When is each activity or task of the
program scheduled to begin and end? • All program activities must be clearly
defined, including identifiable start and
• Which activities must be finished on completion points.
time to avoid missing the scheduled pro-
gram completion date? • A logic diagram showing the sequence
and interrelationships of activities must be
• Can resources be shifted to critical parts developed.
of the program (those that must be com-
pleted on time) from noncritical parts (those • The time to complete each activity must
considerable effort and the involvement of be estimated as accurately as possible.
35
people familiar with the overall project and The expected time, t is the weighted aver-
those responsible for executing various age, or mean time, for an activity based on
groups of activities. This up-front effort the beta distribution and is determined
provides an understanding of project re- from the following formula:
quirements and early identification of a + 4m + b
potential problem areas. t=
36
Probability
of Meeting
Schedule
other networking software programs that Although CPM and PERT are conceptu-
can be run on microcomputers. ally similar, some significant differences
exist, most as a result of the type of projects
In spite of misuses that have occurred in best suited for each technique. As discussed
PERT applications, the technique can be a earlier, PERT is better to use when there is
very useful tool because it enables the man- much uncertainty and when control over
ager to visualize the entire program, see time outweighs control over costs. PERT
interrelationships and dependencies, and handles uncertainty of the time required to
recognize when delays are acceptable. complete an activity by developing three
Thus, the manager is better able to assess estimates and then computing an expected
problems as the program evolves. time using the beta distribution. CPM is
better suited for well-defined projects and
6.1.2 CPMorPERT activities with little uncertainty, where ac-
curate time and resource estimates can be
The CPM scheduling technique was intro- made, and the percentage of completion of
duced at approximately the same time as an activity can be determined. In CPM,
PERT. 'It was developed by J. E. Kelly of because of the greater certainty, a single
Remington-Rand and M. R. Walker of time estimate is used. This estimate is the
DuPont to aid in scheduling maintenance time planned for the activity under normal
shutdowns in chemical processing plants. conditions; it approximates the most likely
Over the years, CPM has enjoyed more use time estimate in PERT. The normal cost
than any other network scheduling tech- estimate is the cost associated with finish-
nique. It is based on the concept of critical ing the program in the normal time. A
path and was designed to focus on the time second time and cost estimate, the crash
and resources, particularly cost, necessary estimate, is also used in the CPM tech-
to complete the activities of a project. nique. The crash time estimate is the time
37
that will be required to finish an activity if start of an activity is the slack or float. The
a special effort is made to reduce program critical path contains no slack or float time.
time; crash cost is the cost associated with For PERT, the difference between the earli-
performing the effort on a crash basis so as est event time and the latest event is the
to reduce the time to completion. This is slack /float time.
discussed in more detail with a later ex-
ample. The use of these procedures is illustrated
in a later example.
CPM is activity-oriented, concentrating on
activity start (early start, late start) and 6.1.3 PDM
finish times (early finish, late finish);
whereas PERT is event-oriented, concen- PDM is an activity-oriented technique that
trating on early event time and late event was developed subsequent to PERT and
time. The network diagrams used for CPM CPM. The impetus behind this develop-
and PERT are essentially the same (see ment was the need for greater flexibility in
Figure 4-3), as are the procedures for using dealing with relationships and constraints
them. As discussed earlier, certain actions between project activities. PERT/CPM, or
are essential to applying network schedul- the arrow diagram method (ADM), essen-
ing techniques. The activities/events com- tially treats all relationships as "finish-to-
posing the project, the relationships among start" constraints; that is, Activity A must be
them, and their time estimates must be completed before Activity B begins. There
identified, and a network diagram devel- are ways within PERT/CPM to circumvent
oped. Once the diagram is completed, the this limitation, but they are cumbersome
following procedures are applied: and add more complexity to the technique.
• Complete and annotate the cumulative The PDM technique provides the capability
time required to reach each node along the to treat other types of relationships that
paths—this will indicate the earliest time occur in complex projects. Figure 6-2 shows
work can start on the next activity. The final examples of these types of relationships or
number will indicate total time required to constraints.
complete a particular path.
In addition to depicting different rela-
• Identify the critical path—this is the tionship between activities, PDM also
sequence of events, or route, taking the handles time lags that would normally oc-
longest time to complete. cur as the project progresses. Examples of
such lags are the time required for the move-
• Starting at the program completion node ment of parts or components from one activ-
on the right side of the diagram, begin ity site to another, or the timeinvolved in the
working backward and compute the latest reallocation of resources—people, equip-
time an activity can start without delaying ment, and facilities. Figure 6-3 shows ex-
the overall program—for example, if the amples of constraint lags and how they can
total program takes 40 weeks and the final be depicted. These lags could be repre-
activity requires 5 weeks, this activity can- sented as activities in either ADM or PDM
not begin later than week 35. For CPM, the techniques, but this could add needless
difference between the latest and earliest complexity to the schedule.
38
Symbols Constraint
Finish-to-Start .
A Hfffl B cannot start until A is finished-
normal PERT/CPM constraint
A Finish-to-Finish
i1 B cannot finish until A is finished
ABB Start-to-Start
B cannot start until A starts
— w B'
A
Start-to-Finish
B cannot finish until A is started
1r (Rarely used)
äÄ
Percent Complete
-»WU 1
/ u vt> —
Remaining 40% of B cannot be
+ 40% started until 70% of A is completed
*ilHBi
Figure 6-2. Example PDM Relationships/Constraints
PDM uses the same underlying principles lines represent the activities and the rela-
as the other networking techniques: clearly tionship/constraints. Activity time and
defined activities, accurate time estimates, resource estimates are normally shown on
critical path, etc. The difference between the lines. In PDM, the nodes represent the
PERT/CPM/ADM and PDM is in the way activities and are normally shown as rect-
the network is portrayed. In PERT/CPM, angles. Activity identifiers, time and re-
the network nodes represent the events as- source estimates, early and late start and
sociated with activities (i.e., the beginning finish dates, and other appropriate infor-
and end of activities), and the connecting mation are normally shown in the boxes.
39
Figure 6-4 is an example of an activity 6.2 NETWORK SCHEDULING
node. The lines connecting the nodes rep- ADVANTAGES AND
resent the relationships between the activi- DISADVATAGES
ties, e.g., finish-to-start, start-to-start, etc.
The use of PDM is demonstrated later. Network scheduling techniques provide
the mechanisms necessary to conduct a
Symbols Constraint
A
Start-to-Start with Lag
B cannot start until 7
Lagnh 7 days days after A has started
^
w B
Duration
3 Days
Resource
Requirements
Late Start Time Late Finish Time
7/14/99 7/16/99
^K
(2,3,4) y \ (1,2,3)
\F1=2
(T\ A
(^s c
-®-
F
Tft H
-®
W (1,2,3) ^ (2, 3, 4) >& (3, 4, 5)
t=2 \ t=4 t=3 / t=4
To determine the latest starting times for The concept of slack and TE and TL can be
each activity, begin at the completion of the very useful to managers, providing the
project and work backward through the basis for resource allocation and also pro-
activities. Since Activity H is on the critical viding the means to determine the prob-
path, its value of TL=19. Activity E is not on ability of meeting the project schedule.
TE=5
TL=17
ß}
(2,3,4) y \ (1,2,3)
t=3R/ \£t=2
TE=0 TE=2 TE=6 ^v TE=19 T6=23
TL=0 TL=2 TL=16 \T,=19 TL=23
c F H
W (1,2,3) ^^v (3, 4, 5) (2,3,4) J&
m (3,4,5)
(^
^
t=2 N. t=4 t=3 / t=4
XIX
3^> &y&
among activities. This technique is used in work with these values, using the activity
many scheduling software applications, format shown in Figure 6-4. Using the
and it relies on the same concepts—critical formula for slack,
path, slack time, etc., as the other network
scheduling techniques. Slack=LS-ES=LF-EF,
Figure 6-8 shows a PDM network for a we see that on path B-D-G-I, activities B, D,
project with Activities A-I. Note that Activ- and G each have a slack of 3 weeks. This
ity B cannot start until Activity A starts, and slack is not additive; if Activity D starts at
Activity D cannot end until Activity C ends. week 8 vice week 7, then Activity G has only
The critical path is determined in essen- 2 weeks of slack remaining. We also see that
tially the same way. In PDM, however, one Activities B, E, and H have 3 weeks of slack
must account for the different types of con- on their path. If Activity B uses 3 weeks of
straints; e.g., Activity D cannot be com- slack, none will be left for either path.
pleted until Activity C is finished—in this
case, 9 weeks. The critical path for this Another concept that can be useful is that of
example is determined as follows: lag time. Lag time reflects the time required
to transition from one activity to another,
Path A-C-F-I=5+4+5+3+17 weeks such as machine set-up time or movement
Path B-D-G-I=4+(2+3)+2+3=14 weeks of material, parts, or components from one
Path B-E-H-I=4+5+2+3=14 weeks site to another. It can be shown on the net-
work and must be accounted for in deter-
Thus, Path A-C-F-I is the critical path. mining critical path and values of ES, EF, LS
and LF. Figure 6-10 shows that in moving
The slack times for the activities are deter- from Activity D to Activity G, there will be
mined in the same way as in the CPM a lag of 1 week. The figure also shows the
technique, using earliest and latest start effect of this lag time on the earliest and
and finish times, ES, EF, LS, LF. Earliest latest start and finish times. The resulting
times are computed by making a forward slack for Activities D and G is now 2 weeks.
pass through the networks paths, and lat- This example shows that the PDM tech-
est times are determined making a back- nique provides considerably greater flex-
ward pass. Figure 6-9 shows the PDM net- ibility in handling different types of
46
5 4 5
'W w c
n > \j
r
> f
4 2 2
V. ~w "W
r D r D r G
W
"w i
3
^
r
5 2
E ■w, H
> r
1 5 6 9 10 14
5 5 5
^ ^
A r C F
1 5 6 9 10 1<1
1 4 1
5 9>l> 10 11
4 2 2
"w B D ^ G
> r r
15 17
4 7 11 3
12 13 14 >
r I
fi Q -in 11 v
r
ES EF 5 2 is
Duration
> C H
1-3
8 12 14
LS LF
Figure 6-9. PDM Example—Early and Late Start and Finish Times
47
1 5 6 9 10 14
5 4 5
^ r* c
A
r r
1 5 c) 10 14
1 i. 9> f 10 11
4 2 2
V LAG+1 ^
■^
> D r D ^ G
15 17
4 7 11 > 3
12 13 14
r I
4 Q Q 11 v
r
5 2 15 17
> E V
> H
8 12 13 14
constraints than does ADM. Consequently, • Reducing the scope of the program
it is better suited for in complex projects,
particularly those with a lot of parallel Adjusting the schedule to accommodate
activities and constraints other than finish- the resource shortfall. In this section, we
to-start. show how network schedules and the con-
cepts of critical path and slack (float) can be
6.4 NETWORK SCHEDULING WHEN applied to make better use of limited re-
RESOURCES ARE LIMITED sources. Figure 6-11 shows a PDM net-
work with activities A through J. Each
In the previous discussion, the assump- node of the network shows the number of
tion was that a new activity could start as
soon as any constraints were satisfied be- people required to complete the activity
cause sufficient resources were available along with the activity duration and
to perform the work. In practice, however, earliest and latest start and finish times.
resources to proceed are not always avail-
able. To determine adequacy of resources
(people in this example), assume each ac-
In those situations, PMs can take one or tivity will start as early as possible and
more different actions to reduce the ad- determine the resource requirements over
verse impact on the program. time. Figure 6-12 shows personnel load-
ing requirements by time for the duration
Those actions include: of the program. During week one, 11 people
are required to work on activities A, B, and
• Adding additional resources
48
1 2
2
A
3 4 4
People
1
8 9
D
2
9 9
4 5 6 9 10 11
2 4 1 2
E F €
V J
1 3 6 5
r i
3 4 5 6 9
B 10 11
4 4 5 6
6
1 3 1 2
G H
3 4
7 7 8 9
4 5
2
I
1 1 4
1 8 9
C
2
9 9
C. Now, let's suppose only nine people are are evened out without scheduling more
available to work during this 11 week pe- work than nine people can do. In this ex-
riod. The chart shows there will not be ample, this rearrangement can be accom-
sufficient workers during the first, fourth, plished quickly by hand. However, with
and fifth weeks. There will be sufficient many activities, it becomes very difficult to
workers to perform the work scheduled find the optimum answer. Fortunately,
during the second and sixth week. During scheduling software applications are avail-
the third and seventh throughout eleventh able to assist in solving the problem. Re-
weeks, there will be a surplus of workers gardless of the approach used (manual or
for the work scheduled. The task becomes automated), the resource-leveling process
one of rearranging the schedule so that, is an iterative step-by-step process using a
insofar as possible, the peaks and valleys set of rules to establish the priority of the
49
16
15
14
13 Personnel Shortage
12 H
■o 11
53 10
o- 9 Personnel Available
0
cc 8 -
tt)
a 7 -
o 6 Personnel
a> <- Surplus
a. 5 B
4
3 B :E-
2
1 H
0
123456789 10 11
Time (Weeks)
activities requiring the constrained resource, In this example, the approach is to find activi-
and the actions to be taken. ties having the most free float and try to delay
them as long as possible without delaying
As discussed earlier, the concept of float (or the entire program. By delaying the start of
slack) can be useful in the efficient allocation activity C for 2 weeks, Activities A and B can
of resources, and it should be considered in begin simultaneously without exceeding the
establishing the rules to be followed. The limit of nine workers. Similarly, Activities D,
float demonstrated in earlier examples is H, and I can be delayed, resulting in the
commonly called path float. Another type of revised personnel loading chart shown in
float that is particularly useful in resource Figure 6-13.
allocation is free float. Free float is the slack
that a single activity can experience without Figure 6-14 shows the revised schedule
affecting any other activity.1 The free float of using lag times to reflect the delays. It may
a given activity is defined as the difference not always be possible to rearrange the
between earliest start of the succeeding activ- schedule to stay within the resource con-
ity and earliest finish of the given activity. In straints. In those cases, other steps, such as
our example, the free float for Activity A is adding more resources or extending the
schedule, will have to be taken to mini-
FF(A)=ES(J)-EF(A)=9-2=7. mize the adverse impact on the program.
50
ity times and if control of the program
6.5 SUMMARY schedule outweighs other factors. On the
other hand, CPM is more appropriate when
Network scheduling techniques (PERT, activity times can be adjusted readily and
CPM, and PDM) are much alike in provid- when it is important to plan an appropriate
ing such things as interdependences, depth tradeoff between program time and cost.
of detail, a critical path, and slack. The The PDM technique is best suited for com-
choice among these three techniques de- plex projects with different types of rela-
pends primarily on the type of program tionships/constraints between activities.
and managerial objectives. ThePERT In reality, the proliferation of scheduling
method is particularly useful if there is software has blurred many of the differ-
considerable uncertainty in program activ- ences among network scheduling, Gantt,
and milestone techniques.
51
1 2
2
A
3 5 5
Peop e
1
8 9 Lag+1
D
2
9 9
4 5 6 9 10 11
■W
2 4 £ 2
F
J
6 5
3 4 5 6 9 4
B 10 11
6 4 4 6 7
1 3 1 2
Lag+1
G H
3 4
6 6 8 9
Lag+2
8 9
2
Lag+4
I
3 3
4
1
8 9
2
9 9
ENDNOTES
1
Fleming, Bonn, and Humphreys, Project and Production Scheduling, Probus Publishing Co., Chicago, IL, 1987,
Chapter 8.
52
7
PRODUCTION SCHEDULING
53
plant facilities to be used, and personnel 7.1.1 Objective Chart
skills required should be developed as early
as possible in the development process and An Objective Chart (Figure 7-1A) is a dis-
included in the manufacturing plan. play of the cumulative contract delivery
schedule over time. It shows cumulative
Once the planning and scheduling are com- units on the vertical scale and dates of
plete and production begins, managers delivery along the horizontal scale. It also
need the means to monitor progress and to shows actual cumulative deliveries to date.
identify problem areas in the process that
could adversely affect the delivery sched- 7.1.2 Production Plan Chart
ule. A technique that is commonly used for
this purpose is the Line of Balance (LOB) This chart (Figure 7-1B) shows the major
technique. It graphically portrays the key production process activities and events
activities of the production plan relative to (control points) that are to be monitored
a required delivery schedule and provides using this technique. It also shows the lead-
a view of the progress being made in each time associated with each of the control
activity. This enables managers to focus points.
their attention on specific problem areas in
the process. The more steps that are monitored, the more
sensitive and more complicated the chart
Government PMs, except those associated becomes. Generally, control points on a
with an activity that builds or re-builds single chart should be limited to 50. If there
equipment, will never be responsible for are more than 50, subsidiary production
developing a production schedule. How- plans can be used to feed the top plan. Thus,
ever, they should understand the process each chart can be kept simple and easy to
of creating one because the success of a understand. The shipping date of subsid-
program is very dependent upon the pro- iary charts is the point at which a subpro-
ducer to plan, schedule, and implement a gram must be ready to join the overall
production plan. schedule.
The ensuing discussion provides a basis On the production plan chart, each moni-
for understanding the fundamentals of tored step is numbered, left to right. Step 1
production planning and monitoring. Most has the longest lead time; the shipping date
companies have tailored planning software is the highest-numbered step. When two
programs to fit their needs, however the steps are done at the same time, they are
principles are the same as those used in the numbered from top to bottom, such as steps
LOB approach. For that reason, LOB is the 8,9, and 10. These control points can also be
subject of discussion. given symbols that show whether they in-
volve purchased items, subcontracted parts,
The LOB technique consists of four ele- or parts and assemblies produced in-house.
ments as described below and shown in Assemblies break down into subassemblies,
Figure 7-1. The application and use of this which break down into parts or operations.
technique is demonstrated in a later sec- Thus, one can develop a production plan for
tion of this chapter. any part or level of assembly.
54
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CM
1ct =na.
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55
The production plan chart shows the 7.1.4 Line of Balance
interrelationships and the sequence of
major steps, as well as lead times required The LOB represents the number of units that
for each step. An understanding of the should have passed through each control
manufacturing processes involved and point (cumulatively) to satisfy the contract
sound judgment are required to know delivery schedule. Managers use it to ana-
which step and how many steps must be lyze how the status of each control point on a
monitored. Slack or float times for activi- given date will affect future schedules. This
ties are not considered when plotting the LOB is drawn on the Program Status Chart
production/lead-time chart; only the esti- (Figure7-lC)usingthefollowingprocedures:
mated time (and latest finish point) for
each activity is used. (1) Select a control point; for example, 7.
The 12 control points in the production (2) From the production plan/lead-time
plan chart shown in Figure 7-IB represent chart (Figure 7-1B), determine the lead time—
key tasks in manufacturing one lot of mis- the time from control point 7 to the shipment
siles. The plan indicates that control point point, Government Acceptance (12
(1), fabricate ballistics shell, must begin 24 workdays).
workdays before 1 January to meet the first
scheduled delivery of five units by the end (3) Using this number, determine the date
of December (see the objective chart). The that the unit now at control point 7 should be
lead time for other control points can be completed. (May 1 + 12 workdays=just over
related to the scheduled delivery in a simi- halfway through a 22-workday month.)
lar manner. Time for in-house transfer and
storage must be allowed in addition to the (4) Find the point corresponding to this
processing time. date, approximately May 17, on the contract
schedule line and determine how many units
7.1.3 Program Status Chart scheduled for completion this represents by
moving horizontally from the objective chart
This chart (Figure 7-1C) shows the cumula- to the program status chart (they share the
tive inventory status at each control point in same vertical scale).
the process at a given time (in this case, 1
May). Looking at control point 12, we see (5) Draw a line on the program status
that the government has accepted 14 units of chart (Figure 7-1C) at the level (43 units) over
the product. The bar for control point 9 shows control point 7.
that 40 units of the guidance section have
been assembled, and the bar for control point (6) Repeat the above for each control
4 shows that in-house fabrication has begun point and connect the horizontal lines over
on 60 fins. the control points. The resulting line is the
LOB, indicating the quantities of (1) units
The cumulative numbers of units through that should have passed through each con-
every control point can and should be meas- trol point on the date of the study or inven-
ured monthly. Final deliveries (government tory (1 May) if the contract delivery schedule
acceptances) are shown month-by-month on were being met.
the objective chart as actual deliveries.
56
The difference between the LOB and the 7.2.2 Analysis
top of the bar for each control point is the
number of units behind or ahead of sched- Using the LOB charts in Figure 7-1, man-
ule as of 1 May. Thus, control point 12 is 16 agement can tell at a glance how actual
units behind schedule, control point 9 is 5 progress compares with planned progress.
units ahead of schedule, and control point Analysis of the charts can pinpoint prob-
7 is 21 units behind schedule. The main lem areas. Delays at control point 7 in the
impact of control point 7 being behind example may have been causing final de-
schedule will be felt in 12 workdays, which livery problems throughout the contract.
is the lead time for control point 7. As of 1 However, the purpose of LOB analysis is
April, an insufficient number of air vehicle not to show what caused the slippage in the
components (shell, fins, engine) had passed shipping date, but to detect potential fu-
into the assembly (air vehicle body) phase. ture problems.
This will adversely affect final deliveries
12 workdays hence. All other control points In the example, the Government accep-
can be analyzed in the same way. tance point is control point 12. The bar
doesn't reach the LOB; therefore, deliver-
7.2 WHEN AND HOW TO USE THE ies are behind schedule. Control points 10
LINE OF BALANCE TECHNIQUES and 11 are short. However, point 9 is on
schedule. Since point 10 depends on points
7.2.1 General 8 and 9, we know control point 8 is the
offender. Both points 7 and 8 are short, but
The LOB technique should be considered there are more than enough purchased
for use in any project requiring the manu- items (engines) at control point 6.
facture of a specific quantity of a product
using repetitive processes. It is an effective What's the problem with control point 8?
technique for identifying those activities Trace it back to control point 7, which is
that require attention and possibly correc- seriously short. It is obvious that not hav-
tive action and can also be used for report- ing enough completed fins is holding up
ing the status of the manufacturing process the whole process. Control points 2,3 and
and delivery schedule to higher manage- 5 are short, but are not directly responsible
ment. The LOB charts should be updated for the failure to meet the delivery sched-
on a periodic basis (weekly or monthly, ule since 9 is ahead of schedule. Neverthe-
depending on such factors as the size of the less shortages at 2, 3, and 5 could soon
production run, the number of activities/ cause problems at 9. The problem with the
control points, and the level of automated fins 7 should be addressed before manage-
data management). ment attention is devoted to other short
operations. The overages at control points
Government managers will probably not 1 and 6 may be examined from the point of
be involved with the LOB technique in the view of inventory control. Updating the
day-to-day management of their programs. charts requires a good status-reporting sys-
However, they should have a basic under- tem, which can be mechanized if the pro-
standing of the technique, the type of infor- gram is large and complex.
mation it can convey, and its applicability.
57
7.3 LINE OF BALANCE ADVANTAGES Think of the production process as a natu-
AND DISADVANTAGES ral gas pipeline. If a bubble of air gets
into the pipeline, it will eventually be
7.3.1 Advantages carried to the gas users, and the users
will find their burners extinguished as
(1) Points out problems before their the nonflammable air reaches them. The
impact on finished product deliveries show manager of the pipeline company or the
up, thereby allowing managers to correct natural gas utility doesn't want clients to
problems earlier. suffer blowouts from air bubbles in their
lines. The same holds true for the manag-
(2) Allows managers to see, in the ers of a continuous production process.
middle of a contract, whether they can Waiting for problems to show up at the
meet the contract schedule if they continue end of the line is a mistake. Problems
working as they have been. need to be detected when they begin so
corrections are faster, before too much
(3) Focuses attention on those pro- damage (to cost, performance, or sched-
duction control points where there are prob-
ule) is done, and production schedules
lems; this allows a senior manager to pin-
fall too far off contract.
point responsibility for slippages.
58
8
TIME MANAGEMENT
In most programs, especially in DoD and (1) Most PMs establish a time reserve of
defense-related industries, time is a re- about 10 percent. On a 40-month program,
source that must be carefully managed. If for example, a 4-month time reserve would
it is not, it can become a serious constraint be established.
that can threaten the success of the pro-
gram. This chapter addresses time man- (2) The time reserve must be held closely
agement from two perspectives: first, as it by the PM. Otherwise, every manager on
relates to a program, and second, as it his/her program may think "I know there's
relates to the PMs use of time. a time reserve; therefore, I don't really
have to meet my schedule." The PM may
8.1 TIME MANAGEMENT AND place this reserve under "additional sys-
THE PROGRAM tem tests" or another downstream activity.
The point is, it shouldn't be visible. (A
This section concerns three aspects of time built-in safety factor between the manufac-
management related to programs: turing schedule and the delivery schedule
is often used.)
(1) Time reserve
(3) A tough and disciplined approach to
(2) "Now" schedule meeting the published schedule is required
from the start of a program in order to
(3) Value of time. maintain the reserve and, consequently, to
meet the program schedule in spite of slip-
8.1.1 Time Reserve pages caused by the unknown unknowns
(unk-unks) that inevitably arise.
In contractor performance measurement,
much emphasis is placed on "management 8.1.2 "Now" Schedule
reserve," the reserve budget controlled by
the industry PM. What isn't always recog- There is a direct relationship between time
nized is that a time reserve is also needed in and cost for any activity. This relationship
order to accommodate unknowns in the pro- takes into account the people, resources,
gram. However, use of a time reserve should and method used. It also considers the
be approached with caution, because mem- efficiency achieved. Generally, the least
bers of a program office team may be tempted costly schedule is the current one. Speed-
to fall back on it prematurely. ing up the schedule costs more; stretching
out the schedule also costs more.
Literature describing time reserve is scarce.
However, there are some aspects of a time The sum of the direct and indirect costs
reserve that are clear. gives a U-shaped total program cost curve.
59
The optimum schedule for implementing organization causing a slip in schedule
the program is the schedule corresponding becomes a repeat offender. The principal
to the minimum point on this curve. The value of retaining a former schedule lies in
relationship among direct, indirect, and being able to hold the offender's feet to the
total program cost is shown graphically in fire, thus making schedule slips less
Figure 8-1. palatable.
Total Program
Cost
Indirect Cost
Direct Cost
Optimum,
Time
60
indifference or used well like any other forgottenis the fact that a month's delay in the
resource. For projects not yet in full swing, early stages of development is exactly as
it is important to recognize that time has long as a month's delay in the later stages.
economic value, and that we may be taking While it may seem innocuous to put off a
time too much for granted."1 decision for a month or two in the early years
of a project (or program) with an uncertain
(1) Funding could create a problem. In future, that delay may turn out to be just as
hungry years, the schedule is often stretched costly as is procrastination when the final
because of reduced funding. decisions are made. In short, a sense of ur-
gency is essential to decision making in all
(2) A better product could be developed stages of a new venture, not just the later
if it were more thoroughly debugged and stages."3
tested. However, a system does not really
get wrung-out until it is in the user's hands, The useful life of a defense system must be
regardless of advance debugging. taken into consideration. Concentration on
the system or product often overlooks a key
(3) Cost of concurrency (overlap of devel- point: whether the buyer obtains value upon
opment and production) might lead to a delivery. The most costly product is one that
decision not to overlap program phases. appears when it no longer fulfills a useful
Such a decision might be popular in many purpose, even though it has been produced
cases, but it could never be tolerated when at minimum cost. Each month added to the
the pendulum swings toward the impor- development and production of a new high-
tance of time; that is, when top manage- technology system or product tends to re-
ment says, "Get the system out the door, duce by 1 month the operational life of the
never mind what it costs."2 system or product.
Stretched-out schedules incur cost penal- In spite of the 10-20 percent cost premium
ties because of inflation, additional engi- that may be paid for tight scheduling (as
neering changes, and changes in key pro- compared to orderly but stretched-out sched-
gram management office positions. An- uling), the resulting longer operational life
other near-term cost is due to the increased may provide greater economic value. This is
chance that a program will be canceled looking at time only from the viewpoint of
because of obsolescence or competing tech- economies', i.e., acquisition cost per year of
nology. Stretch-outs invite cancellation. operational availabil survival insurance.
Also, long schedules with no opportunities
for incorporation of improvements are a Consideration of alternative plans and sched-
negative factor when considering a new ules will also help; e.g., if event so-and-so
start. occurs, proceed with plan A; if event such-
and-such occurs, proceed with plan B and so
Delayed decisions increase costs. Accord- on. Anticipation and preparation for most-
ing to R. W. Peterson, former DuPont execu- likely events, along with the tools described,
tive, "All businessmen are concerned, and and coupled with effective communication
properly so, about the long time it takes to of the plans, can change the management
move a new development from its incep- style from crisis management to skillful
tion to a profit status. But frequently management.
61
8.2 TIME MANAGEMENT AND THE inability or reluctance to say no. If a subor-
PROGRAM MANAGER4 dinate brings a problem to the PM, the
Manager must be alert to make sure not to
PMs are busy people. They have the re- assume responsibility for the problem,
sponsibility for the management of a unless, of course, the situation warrants
myriad of activities and the resources that such action. If subordinates believe that
make up the program. In addition, they are PMs will assume responsibility for their
often required to perform specific program problems, needless demands on the PM's
activities, especially in smaller programs. time will increase.
Thus, it is important that they manage their
time well. Some managers could be more Meetings are a fact of life in program man-
productive, perhaps as much as 20-40 per- agement. However, unless they are effec-
cent, by better managing their time. A major tively planned and conducted, they can be
difficulty in accomplishing this is the fail- a severe drain on time and resources. A
ure to realize that there is a time manage- number of common pitfalls, if not avoided,
ment problem and that solutions are pos- can turn meetings into a complete waste of
sible. This section discusses various as- time. Among them are: not having a clear
pects of time management and identifies and focused agenda; spending too much
ways to better accomplish it. time on trivial matters; having too many or
too few meetings; not having the right
In the early 1980s, a time management people at the meetings; and not keeping an
survey was conducted to identify the prob- accurate record of decisions and actions
lems in achieving effective time manage- assigned.
ment. More than 300 project managers in
24 industries, including the government, To get the most value out of meetings, the
participated in the survey, which investi- following actions should be considered:
gated 15 different areas. The survey iden-
tified several time management problem (1) Understand the purpose of the meeting
areas. Among the most common were time and what results are expected
robbers and meetings.
(2) Minimize the number of people attend-
Time robbers are simply those things that ing the meeting
can occur on a day-to-day basis that can
take away from the PMs ability and time to (3) Hold the meeting in a setting appro-
accomplish his/her work. There are liter- priate for the meeting objectives
ally dozens, if not hundreds, of such things,
such as incomplete work, delayed deci- (4) Develop and distribute the agenda
sions, poor communications channels, ca-
sual visitors, lack of effective program (5) Start and finish on time
management tools, etc. Appendix B con-
tains a list of common time robbers. The (6) Summarize meeting results and pre-
survey found that delayed decisions and pare and distribute minutes.
poor communications were the most com-
monly cited time robbers. Another com- In addition to focusing on time robbers
mon problem that affects a PMs time is the and the conduct of meetings, PMs should
62
also concentrate on other effective time make the least desirable decision because
management techniques, such as: of lack of time. Establishing a time reserve
. and a "now" schedule, and recognizing the
(7) Prioritize activities value of time in decision making all con-
tribute to the PMs repertoire of good tools.
(8) Devote solid time blocks for important
activities Sir Jeffrey Quill, manager of the British
Spitfire Development Program, com-
(9) Maintain "to do" lists and time logs mented during a visit to DSMC that; "After
1935, costs weren't particularly important.
(10) Delegate What mattered was time. We worked three
shifts a day. Everything was time. Quan-
(11) Manage by exception tity and time. It turned out that we prob-
ably produced at the lowest cost, too; but
(12) Practice calculated neglect the emphasis was on time."
(13) Control access—limit casual visits and PMs must manage their time effectively if
telephone calls. they are to be successful. They must be
alert to those time robbers that affect their
8.3 SUMMARY ability to accomplish their work and un-
derstand the value of proven time manage-
Planning and scheduling can do much to ment techniques.
prevent running out of time and having to
63
ENDNOTES
John H. Richardson, Time Defeats Technology, Hughes Aircraft Company, Culver City, Calif., date
unknown.
Ibid.
Russell W. Peterson, former DuPont executive, Governor of Delaware and White House advisor, "New
Venture Management in a Large Company," Harvard Business Review, May-June 1967, p. 72.
Harold Kerzner, Project Management, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1998, Chapter 6.
64
9
AUTOMATED SCHEDULING TOOLS
Previous chapters have shown that manag- 9.1 AUTOMATED PLANNING AIDS
ers use schedules in a variety of ways for a
wide range of purposes. Schedules are an The idea to use the power of the computer
integral part of the program planning and to assist in the planning and tracking pro-
decision processes. Managers use them to cess is not new. Industry has used auto-
track progress, predict future work, man- mated scheduling software for at least the
age resources, analyze alternatives, iden- past 30 years. Early versions of these tools,
tify risk, and report program status. In however, usually employed a mainframe
most cases, it is the PMs responsibility to computer that batch processed data off-
construct, revise, maintain, and report line and spewed reams of information for
schedule information. managers to analyze when they arrived at
work on a Monday morning. Despite the
The PM must do these things in a complex automated tools, the process of creating,
environment that cuts across contractor maintaining, and reporting schedule in-
and government boundaries and includes formation was a daunting task.
a wide geographical area. The challenge is
complicated even further by the need for The advent of PCs/workstations and net-
instant information that must be available work technologies has made life easier for
to a wide audience that usually requires managers. The market encourages soft-
the information in a specific format to suit ware vendors to develop a wide range of
unique needs. programs readily available to P Ms to aid
them in effectively and efficiently dealing
It would be impossible to meet these chal- with the details involved in creating a pro-
lenges without automated tools.The gram plan, then tracking progress.
remainder of this chapter discusses charac-
teristics and features of some tools avail- The introductory paragraph of this chap-
able on the market today and suggests ter lists many uses of a "schedule." Soft-
criteria that anyone searching for a tool ware developers have responded to the
should consider. The intent is to provide an managers' needs by creating programs
overview of the types of products that are that build schedules and support pro-
available and the range of functions these gram management functions. Even the
products support. The level of detail pre- simplest program includes some program
sented is keyed to what would be useful to management features. The focus of the
know about the program management soft- following discussion, therefore, is on the
ware tools that would likely be used in a broad category of Program (often called
mid-to-large Program Office. Project) Management Software.
65
The focus is on providing a brief descrip- (1) System-Level Characteristics
tion of the functionality of these products,
highlighting some of the desirable features (2) Project Management/Scheduling
that are available to support program Characteristics
management, and identifying sources that
may be useful in determining what prod- (3) Ease of Use.
ucts are available and how their features
and performance might be assessed. System-level features have a general
applicability, independent of any of the
9.2 FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS specific project-management activities sup-
AND FEATURES ported, that add to the overall capability
and desirability of the product. These fea-
Most of the Program Management Soft- tures include, but may not be limited to:
ware that is available today is based on a
relational database design and is therefore • Collaboration/Workgroup—Enables
able to support a broad range of program managers/team members to use a com-
management activities including: mon system of communication and allow
access to common databases for the pur-
(1) Scheduling/Tracking pose of assigning tasks, updating project
data, assigning resources, and reporting
(2) Resource Planning/Management status.
Program features, the way in which activi- • Open Data Base Connectivity
ties are implemented, are an important (ODBC)—Enables users to import data
factor in considering the usefulness of a from other data sources and in various
program. A convenient way to profile the formats into their scheduling applications
functional characteristics and associated (e.g., data from your contractor's project
features of automated program manage- database). This is a Microsoft-developed
ment tools is to do so from these three standard for exchanging data with a vari-
perspectives: ety of databases.
66
Most programs include features that focus • Import/Export—Import/Export data
on program management and schedule from/to an external source, such as an-
functions. Some features offered are: other database or spread sheets, facilitates
the ability to create custom reports or con-
• Project Scheduling/Tracking—Data duct analyses.
Entry Templates facilitate the entry of the
initial task, time, and resource data. On- Finally, ease of use or user friendliness, is
Screen Tracking facilitates comparison of the set of qualities that represent the degree
actual performance versus the planned and in which people can employ the software
allows tracking of progress by cost, time, or without an inordinate amount of training
achievement. or regular reference to user's manuals. User
friendliness is an important consideration
• Resource Planning/Management—Re- because program management software
source Leveling is a capability that resolves products can be complicated. Regardless
resource conflicts by delaying tasks and of how powerful a program may be, if it is
assignments as well as by task splitting, difficult to use, managers probably will
which entails dividing tasks into segments not spend the time to learn it. Consequently,
with time gaps as necessary. Resource Cal- PM software is likely to be effective and
endars provide insight into the availability desirable if users can easily learn to use it.
of a particular resource by showing work-
ing and non-working times. Free/Total Slack The following features typify user-friendly
Time is a feature that is useful for adjusting systems:
under-or-over allocated resources.
• Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)—
• Cost/Performance Analysis—Earned These are the screens in which a user inter-
Value Tools are essential for comparing ac- acts with the program. The operating envi-
tual performance with expected perform- ronments in use today have led to the
ance. Cost Analysis Tool Kits are tools for development of interface screens that en-
analyzing data and making forecasts. This able the user to interact with the software
feature may be integral to the product or in an intuitive way, using a variety of
available by virtue of "exporting" data to buttons, menu lists, and wizards.
another application with this capability.
• On-Screen Data Entry—The capability
• Reports and Graphics—Pre-Defined Re- to create schedule information by using
ports facilitate the presentation of project tools to create an on-screen graph. See Fig-
data. Customization Controls provide users ure 9-1 for an example.
with a convenient way to format reports to
their own specifications. Filters enable the • Help Function—On-screen docu-
user to screen information, e.g., tasks or mentation as well as "context-sensitive"
resources, before capturing a screen-view help in which the software displays the
or preparing a report. Embedded Graphics applicable text based on the functions be-
and Text capability allows a user to import ing performed. This is a particularly useful
data from other applications for inclusion feature for someone learning to use it.
in a project report.
67
j»3 Hast 1 rack Schedule b 0 - [hob li BSD;
9 01» Ed* Sotmdule Bars Arrange Qplions Xaxt fcieJp ■-. '■ 'v' . ^Äjxj
I
1
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Perform work flow analysis
Model process
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11; 1
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1i 13; IT"
14; T ™» Actual I [
-T
15
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18! ! 1
19; ; 1
20
21
22; I
23
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26 ;
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^ M ; ! ; 3 ! 4 ; S i 6 ; J : B
r=]csM (—.. .' \*\ .... __ .. !►
USER FRIENDUNESS
Feature Consideration
Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) Logical, intuitive, all inclusive, windows compliant
Robust Help Function Complete, easy to access, context based, examples
Wizards Exist for major functional areas, intuitive, tailorable results
Tools Exist for major functional areas, intuitive
Tutorials Complete and examples
On-Screen Data Entry Simple, logical, complete, intuitive
SYSTEM LEVEL FEATURES
Collaboration/Workgroup Support Desired capabilities available, non-proprietary
Integral e-mail Exists, simple, compatibility with existing e-mail
Multi-Project & Task Support Roll-up to higher levels, supported by reporting features
Security Meets specific security needs, compatible w/ existing system
Open Data Base Connectivity Data transfer with other program management S/W
PROJECT MANAGEMENT/SCHEDULING FUNCTIONS
Project Scheduling/Tracking
Multiple Schedule Methods Create Gantt, network charts, and go from one to the other
Roll-Up Display and report different levels
Ability to Tailor to Specific Needs Add/delete/modify activity and event information
Relationships Display and report dependencies among events/activities
Progress Tracking Compare and display plans and actual progress
Critical Path Display Highlight critical path
Interoperability w/ Other Programs Import and export data from other programs
Total Free/Slack Time Compute and display free and slack time
Time Estimates Use probability distributions to compute time to complete
Time Roll-Up Use statistical methods to compute roll-up times
Resource Planning/Management
Resource Determination Assist in determining resources needed
Resource Assignment Allow assignment and notification of assignment to activities
Interoperability w/ Other Programs Import and export resource data
Resource Leveling Easy to access, permits "what if" excursions
Resource Calendars Display resources overtime
Task Assignment Filter and display assignment of responsibility
Analysis
Schedule Analysis Allow analysis and comparison of alternative schedules
Earned Value Analysis Assist in complete and accurate EV analysis
Cost Analysis Includes tool kits for analysis of program cost
Resource Analysis Compute resource utilization, identify conflicts
Reports
Pre-Defined Report Formats Automatically create reports based on program data
Customization Controls Allow reports to be tailored for specific purposes
Embedded Graphics and Text Add text and graphics to reports
69
Analyses of requirements and software offices are going to share information, it is
evaluation are beyond the scope of this prudent to use the same software, if pos-
discussion. However, Table 9-1 shows some sible. At the very least, compatibility and
of the functions that are available in avail- interoperability must be demonstrated be-
able program management software and fore making a decision to buy a particular
lists some ideas for consideration when product.
searching for the right software.
There is a considerable information on
9.4 FINDING OUT MORE project management and scheduling soft-
ware from a variety of sources. The Defense
The best method of gaining information Acquisition Deskbook (DAD) has a list of
about a potential project management tool tools that are being used by program of-
is to talk to someone who is using the fices. From a commercial aspect, specific
product. APM in the next office may have product information is available on most
a perfectly acceptable and proven product companies' World Wide Web home pages.
that he/she is using. The company under Virtually all developers provide informa-
contract may have a product that it uses. If tion about their products on a web site and
the government and contractor program show links/contact to additional sources.
70
APPENDIX A
INTEGRATED MASTER SCHEDULE DESCRIPTION
The Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) for a format that greatly facilitates the tracking
program should be a time reference baseline and execution of the program.
for the activities and events that make up
the program. It should be incorporated In some cases, a preliminary IMP and its
into the program plan and linked to ap- corresponding IMS may be developed by
proved performance and cost objectives. the government but include industry in-
The IMS is developed by the contractor puts obtained through open communica-
from the Integrated Master Plan (IMP), tions with potential sources during the
which documents all the tasks required to pre-solicitation phase of the acquisition.
deliver a high quality product and to facili- Contractors are normally required to sub-
tate success throughout the product's life mit formal IMP and IMS with their propos-
cycle. In an Integrated Product and Process als and to develop more detailed IMP/
Development (IPPD) environment, which IMS versions after the contract is awarded.
is the standard approach for all DoD pro-
grams, the IMP and IMS provide an The IMS is event driven and is developed
overarching framework against which the with participation of all program stake-
Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) can func- holders. It should identify all tasks that
tion, helping them understand their work need to be accomplished, their logical or-
within the context of the total program. der, and the input conditions necessary to
complete each task. When documented in
The IMP and IMS evolve as the program a formal plan and schedule, this event-
matures. During the initial stages of Con- driven approach can help ensure that all
cept Exploration, the integrated plan is tasks are integrated properly and that the
preliminary and its purpose is to provide management process is based on signifi-
an understanding of the scope of work cant events in the acquisition life cycle and
required and the likely structure of the not on arbitrary calendar events. Develop-
program. It is constructed to depict a likely ing the program schedule presents an op-
progression of work through the remain- portunity to identify critical risk areas. As
ing phases, with the most emphasis on the IPT members estimate the times to com-
current and/orupcomingphase(especially plete specific tasks, events that may cause
the period to be contracted for next). As the delays will become apparent. These events
program is defined, the IMP is iterated are potential areas of risk that the IPT
several times, each time increasing the level should consider for further analysis.
of detail and confidence at which all essen-
tial work has been identified. The specific The IMS begins as an IMP with dates—the
format for this plan is not critical; however, starting points are the events, accomplish-
it usually reflects an Event/Accomplish- ments, and criteria that make up the plan.
ment/Criteria hierarchical structure—a At a minimum, an IMS shows the expected
71
Start and stop dates for each activity in the they were obtained at the right time. In
plan, but each activity may be broken down addition, the IMS can be useful for the
into lower-level tasks that will be used to following events/activities that are com-
manage the program on a day-to-day ba* mon to all programs.
sis. The schedule can be expanded down-
ward to the level of detail appropriate for PROGRAM REVIEWS
the scope and risk of the program. Pro-
grams with high risk show much lower The IMS can be a framework for periodic
levels of detail in the integrated master program reviews within the program man-
schedule in order to give the visibility agement office (PMO). If constructed prop-
necessary to manage risk. The more de- erly, the schedule will illustrate the vari-
tailed the IMS, however, the greater the ous levels of the program and will be com-
cost to track and update the schedule. patible with the program cost/schedule
Under acquisition reform initiatives, the control system reports.
dates in the IMS usually are not made
contractually binding so as to allow the Program reviews can be an excellent forum
flexibility to take full advantage of event- for resolution of schedule conflicts and the
driven scheduling. genesis for controlled changes to the sched-
ule from within the PMO. Most key mem-
Additional information on the development bers of the PMO team are present at these
of IMSs can be found in various sections of reviews; therefore, proposed schedule
the Defense Acquisition Deskbook and in the changes or slips can receive wide dissemi-
DoD Integrated Product and Process Develop- nation within the organization.
ment Handbook dated August 1998. Com-
mercial standards EIA 632 and IEEE 1220- WHAT IF" EXERCISES
1994 can also be consulted for more infor-
mation on developing master plans and The IMS can serve as the framework for
schedules. See http: / /wwW.eia.org/eng/ "what if" exercises imposed on programs
published.htma nd http:// from outside the PMO. Schedule changes
standards.ieee.org for information on can be plotted manually by using over-
how to obtain these standards. A DoD lays. Using the same grid coordinates on
Data Item Descriptor (DI-MISC-81183A) an overlay allows the PMO team to see,
has been developed for IMS guidance; clearly and graphically, the effect of the
it is attached to this Appendix as Tab 1. compressions or extensions of sub-mile-
stones on the program. It may be even
USE OF INTEGRATED MASTER easier (and more productive) for the PMO
SCHEDULES team to run "what if" exercises on a com-
puterized schedule. Without a master
The primary purpose of the IMS is to track schedule as a baseline, these exercises can
schedule variations. By linking the IMS to take longer to accomplish and they may
the IMP, it can also be used to track the overlook important variances from the
activities that provide functional and life- program's established baseline schedule
cycle inputs to product development. In or plan.
this role it provides a crosscheck not only
that the inputs were obtained, but also that
72
PROGRAM BRIEFINGS justification and an understanding of the
impact of the changes on the overall pro-
The IMS can serve as a baseline for pro- gram. Following are examples of some
gram reviews at higher headquarters and simple procedures that, if practiced, will
other reviews or briefings outside the PMO. instill discipline and prevent the unautho-
Most programs have key milestones taken rized release of schedule information that
from the master schedule and presented in has not been approved for inclusion in the
summary form on viewgraphs or slides. If IMS.
these do not show the detail required to
make a point, the time span shown can be • Program changes, whatever the source,
reduced to the point where the details should start as proposals and, if approved,
become visible. grow into a firm plan. Eventually, they are
incorporated into the IMS as changes. The
SCHEDULE DISCIPLINE question of when to plot these changes is a
matter of judgment and should reflect the
To be effective, an IMS must be kept up- PM's policy. Each change should be plot-
to-date and accurate. Maintenance of the ted as a proposed or tentative change until
IMS requires a process similar to that approved.
inherent in configuration control—one
that establishes discipline through a set of • A permanent record of each change
rigorous procedures for managing sched- should be maintained. If the program
ule change. The degree of schedule disci- schedule slips, it should be documented
pline imposed within the PMO can be a until documentation no longer serves a
major factor in the success of a program. useful purpose.
The underlying philosophy of the sched-
ule control process should reflect central- • Whenever copies of the IMS are made,
ized control of the IMS. That is, changes to they should be dated and authenticated by
the IMS baseline should be made only the signature of the PM or the appointed
with the approval of the PM or his/her schedule manager. Undated and unauthen-
designated representative and with full ticated schedules should not be released
outside the PMO.
73
Form Approved
DATA ITEM DESCRIPTION OMB NO. 07040188
I Publioreportingburden for thiscdledion of information iseSi mated toavetage 1 lOhouraper response, indudingthetimefor reviewing instrudions, searching existing data sources, sphering and mantajningihe
IdataneaS.aidccmpiaingändreviemngthecdledicndirt^^
| butden.loDspa.1mmt of Drfanse, Washington H<BdquartersSarvio«e.Diredcrate1or Intomation OperalionsandRapefls. 1216Jefferson Davi»Highway.Sute12<M Arlington, VA 222024308andtolheOfficeol
| Manaaanait and Budget. Paperwork Redudion Proied (07040168. Washington. DC 20503
!. IDENTIFICATION NUMBER
1. TITLE
Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) DI-MISC-81183A
3. DESCRIPTION/PURPOSE _
The IMS is an integrated schedule developed by logically networking detailed program
activities. The contract Integrated Master Plan (IMP)is the foundation of the program
schedule and provides a hierarchy for schedule traceability and summarization. IMP events,
accomplishments, and criteria are included in the schedule to monitor progress. This
information will be used to verify attainability of program objectives, evaluate the progress
of the government and contractor team toward meeting the program objectives, and to integrate
program schedule among all related components.
5. OFFICE OF PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY (OPR) 6a DTICAPPLICABLE 6b. GIDEPAPPLICABLE
| 4. APPROVA L DATE (YYMMDD)
960209 F/ASC/FMCS
I 7. APPLICATION/INTERRELATIONSHIP
7.1 This Data Item Description (DID) contains the format and content preparation
instructions for the data product generated by the specific and discrete task requirement as
I delineated in the contract.
7.2 This DID may be applied to programs which utilize the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
I during the concept exploration, demonstration and validation, engineering and manufacturing
and development, and production phases.
7.3 This DID supersedes DI-MISC-81183.
IB. APPROVAL LIMITATION 9a APPLICABLE FORMS 9b. AMSCNUMBER
F7180
10. PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS . ,
10.1 Format . This precedence logic diagram shall be in the contractor's format in the form
of a network, milestone, and Gantt chart. This diagram shall be provided in digital format.
10.2 Content . The schedule shall contain all of the contract IMP events and milestones,
accomplishments, criteria, and activities from contract award to the completion of the
contract. The schedule shall be an integrated, logical network-based schedule that
correlates to the program WBS, and is vertically and horizontally traceable to the
cost/schedule reporting instrument used to address variances (such as Cost Performance Report
(CPR), Cost/Schedule Status Report (C/SSR), etc.) It shall have a numbering system that
provides traceability through the IMP and Statement of Work (SOW). It shall contain program
events and milestones and definitions, summary, intermediate and detailed schedules, and
periodic analysis of progress to date. It shall be possible to access the information by
product, process, or organizational lines. Descriptions of the key elements are as follows:
10.2.1 Program milestones and definitions. Key programmatic events defined by IMP, the
contracting agency or weapon system contractor which define progress and completion in each
WBS element along with the definition for successful completion of the milestone.
10.2.2 Summary master schedules. A graphical display of top-level program activities and
key events and milestones of the IMP which depict major work activities in an integrated
fashion at the summary level of the WBS, e.g. level 1 -3 of the WBS.
S10.2.3 Intermediate schedules. A graphical display of top-level program activities and key
milestones which includes all associated accomplishments of the IMP, traceable to the WBS
element as necessary to display the work effort at the intermediate level of summarization,
e.g. level 3-5 of the WBS as appropriately tailored.
10.2.4 Detailed schedules. A graphical display of detailed activities and milestones which
depict work activities in a particular work breakdown structure element, to include the
criteria associated with each accomplishment of the WBS element as well as any additional
activities necessary to display the work effort to detailed WBS levels, e.g. level 4-8 of the
WBS as appropriately tailored.
It. DISTRIBUTIONSTATEMENT
Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
DD Form 1664, APR 89 Previous editions are obsolete RageJLo. _3_
74
04/15/91
DI-MISC-81183
1
0-2.5 Periodic analysis. A brief summary which identifies progress to date, variances to the planned
schedule, causes for the variance, potential impacts and recommended corrective action to avoid
schedule delays. For each program milestone planned, forecasted and actual completion dates shall be
reported. The analysis shall also identify potential problems and a continuing assessment of the network
critical path. Thresholds for impact reporting shall be identified on the DD Form 1423, CDRL.
10.2.6 Integrated program network. Logical diagram of all activities in the program. The key elements of
the integrated network to be constructed in the diagram are as follows:
b. Activity or task - A time consuming element, e.g. work in progress between interdependent events,
represented by an activity box.
d. Relationships - A line that defines how two activities or events are logically linked. It can take up to
four (4) forms:
(1) FS (finish to start) - An activity must finish before another can start.
(3) FF (finish to finish) - One activity cannot finish until another activity
is finished.
e. Slack or Float - Extra time available on an activity before it will impact an activity on the critical path.
g. Critical Path - A sequence of activities in the network that has the longest total duration through the
program or project. Activities along the critical path have zero or negative slack/float. It should be easily
distinguished on the report formats, e.g. a thick line, patterned or in red ink. This should be calculated by
computer-based software.
h. Target Start (TS) - A program defined date of when an activity should start. This is an operator-
defined date rather than a computer-calculated date.
i. Target Complete (TC) - A program defined date of when an activity should finish. This is an operator-
defined date rather than a computer-calculated date.
I. Early Start (ES) - The earliest start date an activity can begin the precedence relationships. Computer-
calculated date.
m. Early Finish (EF) - The earliest finish date an activity can end. Computer-calculated date.
n. Late Start (LS) - The latest start date an activity can start without delaying the program or project
target completion date. Computer-calculated date.
Page 2 of 3
75
04/15/91
DI-MISC-81183
o. Late Finish (LF) - The latest finish date an activity can have without affecting the program or project target completion date.
Computer-calculated date.
p. Percent Complete (PC) - Actual progress of an activity from its start to its finish.
10.3 Master Integrated Program Schedule. It shall display all of the proposed activities, events, and milestones
from contract award to the completion of the contract.
10.4 Descriptive titles. Activities, tasks, events, and milestones shall be labeled with a brief descriptive title,
numbered of coded and contain time constraints (e.g. duration, TS, ES, EF, LS, LF, etc.). Standard abbreviations may be
used to conserve space. Descriptive titles used on activities, events, and milestones shall be identical on all program schedules.
A legend shall be provided to aid in ease of reading the schedules.
1
0-5 Schedule risk. The schedule shall include a description of the approach that will be taken to limit the schedule
risks identified as a result of the contractor's risk assessment. Risk shall be defined considering impact on cost and technical
performance and assessing the probability of schedule change. Additionally, technical performance measurement tasks and
their correlation with contractual cost/schedule elements permit assessment of the program effort in terms of the schedule
as well as cost of work increments. As technical performance measurement tasks, as well as cost reviews, reveal potential
impacts to the schedule these risks will be identified.
10
-5-1 Schedule Risk Assessment (SRA). Optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely durations for each MIPS
activity/task and milestone/event shall be provided as the basis for determining the probability of meeting schedule dates.
The government will assess the durations and use an appropriate cumulative probability (0-100%) for the chosen milestones
to determine expected completion dates.
Page 3 of 3
76
APPENDIX B
Common Time Robbers 1
Incomplete work Misplaced information
A job poorly done that must be done Record keeping
over
Shifting priorities
Poor communications channels
Indecision or delaying decisions
Uncontrolled telephone calls
Procrastination
Lack of adequate responsibility and
commensurate authority Setting up appointments
Poor functional performance and Too many meetings
status reporting
Monitoring delegated work
Changes without direct notification/
explanation Unclear roles/job descriptions
Casual visitors and conversations Unnecessary crisis intervention
Waiting for people Need to get involved in details to get
job done
Failure to delegate, or unwise
delegation Not enough proven or trustworthy
managers
Poor retrieval systems
Vague goals and objectives
Lack of information in a ready-to-use
format Too many people involved in minor
decision making
Day-to-day administration
Lack of technical knowledge
Spending more time than anticipated
in answering questions Lack of authorization to make
judgment decisions
Late appointments
Unreasonable time constraints
Impromptu tasks
Lack of commitment from higher
Having to explain "thinking" to authorities
superiors
Too much travel
Too many levels of review
Lack of adequate project management
Too many people in a small area tools
77
• Poor functional communications/ writ Dealing with unreliable subcontractors
ing skills
Personnel not willing to take risks
• Inability to relate to peers in a personal
Demand for short-term results
way
Lack of long-range planning
• Rush into decisions/beat the deadline
Being overdirected
• Lack of reward ("a pat on the back can
do wonders") Overreacting management
• Expecting too much from one's staff Poor lead time on projects
and oneself
Documentation (reports/red tape)
• Going from crisis to crisis
Large number of projects
• Conflicting directives
Inadequate or inappropriate require-
• Fire drills ments
• Lack of privacy Desire for perfection
• Lack of challenge in job duties Lack of dedication by technical experts
• Bureaucratic roadblocks ("ego") Lack of project organization
• Empire-building line managers Constant pressure
• Too much work for one person to handle Constant interruptions
effectively
Project budget problems
• Excessive paperwork
Shifting of functional personnel
• Lackofclerical/administrativesupport
Lack of qualified manpower
• Workload growing faster than capacity
ENDNOTES
1
Harold Kerzner, Project Management, Van Norstand Reinhold, New York, NY, 1998, Chapter 6.
78
APPENDIX C
GLOSSARY
83
DSMC PRESS
WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU
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How can we improve this publication? Provide any constructive criticism for us to
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