Schedule and Budget

Week 1:

The Work Breakdown Structure breaks the work into discrete tasks, and groups them into a logical
hierarchy.

A work package is a deliverable at the lowest level of the WBS, that can be assigned to and managed by
a single person.

An activity is a work performed to complete a deliverable.

Creating the WBS

 Approaches:
 Templates from previous projects or industry sources
 Hybrid: Similar projects and tailor
 Top-down: Large deliverables and break them down
 Bottom-up: Start with specific tasks and roll them up
 Mind-mapping: Branches radiating our from a core idea to structure deliverables.

A WBS Dictionary describes the deliverables in more detail.

Duration= Effort

% Average Productivity

Availability---portion of time that can be dedicated to project work (as opposed to other commitments)

Productivity---proportion of actual time spent working on deliverables.

Mandatory (must do): Inherent in the nature of the work.

Discretionary (should do): Defined by project team, based on Industry best practices

External (involves someone else): Deliveries from external sources.

WEEK 3:-

Six Processes (in PMI methodology)

1. Define Activities
2. Sequence Activities
3. Estimate Activity Resources
4. Estimate Activity Durations
5. Develop Schedule
6. Control Schedule

Total amount of time for a task includes Work involved+ Elapsed time.
Work packages (WBS) decomposed into smaller components called ‘activities’.

Milestones: significant points or events in the project.

Four types of dependencies

1. Finish to Start (FS): Later task does not start until the previous task is finished
2. Finish to Finish (FF): Later task does not finish until the previous task is finished
3. Start to Start (SS): Later task does not start until the previous task starts
4. Start to Finish (SF) Later task does not finish before previous task starts

The time between the start dates of the two tasks can be defined as a lag.
If the relationship between task A and B was Finish to Start (FS), then the 'lead'.

Estimate = (O + 4 x ML + P) / 6

Three point estimate includes a contingency in every task.

Two point estimate = another option.

Use the 8/80 hour rule to estimate activities:


No less than 8 hours

No more than 80 hours (2 weeks)

WEEK 4:-

1. Which activities must be completed immediately before this one? (predecessor)

2. Which activities must immediately follow this one? ( Successor)
3. Which activities can occur while this one takes place? (concurrent or parallel)

Critical Path: Longest path through the network shortest project duration.
Non Critical Path: Sequence of activities with float or slack time.

EF = ES+DUR-1

LS = LF-DUR+1

Slack or Float = LS – ES or LF – EF
Slack or Float is the amount of time that a task may be delayed before delaying a subsequent task or the
end of the project.

Sensitivity: The likelihood the original critical path(s) will change once the project is initiated.

Adequate resources but demand varies over time = resources Leveling

Resource levelling: Erratic demand for resources -more difficult to manage & inefficient.

Delay non critical activities by using positive slack. (Aka smoothing.

Goal: Look for critical activities that can be shortened with the smallest increase in cost (per unit of
time).

Crashing is used to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost.

Difficult to determine which activities and how much to shorten duration Terminology.

Crashing shortening an activity.

Crash time shortest possible time to complete activity.

Crash cost direct costs for completing activity in its crash time.

Crash point max time an activity can be compressed.

Choice of activities to crash Consider more than costs risks, timing of activities, over allocation of
activities.
The critical chain refers to the longest string of dependencies that exist on the project. Chain is used
instead of path, since the latter tends to be associated with just technical dependencies not resource
dependencies.

Parkinson's law: Work fills the time available.

Self protection: Participants fail to report early finishes out of fear that management will adjust their
future standards and demand more next time.

Dropped baton: Goldratt uses the metaphor of project as relay race to illustrate the impact of poor
coordination.

Excessive multitasking: The norm in most organizations is to have project personnel work on several
projects, activities, or assignments at the same time.

Resource bottlenecks: In multiproject organizations projects are frequently delayed because test
equipment or other necessary resources are tied up onother project work.

Student syndrome (procrastination): Goldratt asserts that just as students delay writing a term paper
until the last minute, workers delay starting tasks when they perceive that they have more than enough
time to complete the task.

Use the “true 50/50” activity time estimates.

Result in a project duration about one half the low risk of 80 to 90 percent estimates.

Take out all of the “safety” in individual tasks.

Insert time buffers into the schedule to act as “shock absorbers”.

Use portions of this collective safety strategically by inserting time buffers where potential problems are
likely to occur.

Project buffer: First, since all activities along the critical chain have inherent uncertainty that is difficult to
predict, project duration is uncertain. Therefore, a project time buffer is added to the expected project
duration . 50 percent of the aggregate safety.

Feeder buffers: Buffers are added to the network where noncritical paths merge with the critical chain.
These buffers protect the critical chain from being delayed.

Resource buffers: Time buffers are inserted where scarce resources are needed for an activity. Two
forms. 1) a time buffer attached to a critical resource to ensure that the resource is on call and available
when needed. 2) a time buffer is added to activities preceding the work of a scarce resource, protecting
against resource bottlenecks by increasing the likelihood that the preceding activity will be completed
when the resource is available.