Discussion on PERT and Gantt

charts, along with

identification of critical path
IT414
What does PERT mean?
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique, or PERT, is a way to
estimate the total duration of a project … especially effective for
projects with many moving parts and dependencies.

• A PERT chart helps visualize a project schedule or timeline as a

flowchart. It’s useful during the early stages of planning when sorting
through how all the pieces go together.
What does PERT mean?
• For example, a project with 7 key activities and a total project
duration of 14 days, could have a chart that looks like this:
What does PERT mean?
• The numbers (1-8, in this case) help identify the tasks. The lines show order,
duration, and dependencies.

• For example, you can’t start activity 6 until both 2 and 4 are completed. So, the
team responsible for that activity doesn’t need to start work until 8 days into the
project (2 days for Task 1 plus 6 days for Task 2).

• The PERT framework can also be used for large-scale projects.

• For a longer and more complex project, replace days with weeks or months and
split activities into larger groups. Focus on deliverables rather than the required
tasks will ensure the flowchart doesn’t become a nightmare of lines and bubbles..
The building blocks of PERT
1. Dependencies
A dependency is when one task or project activity can’t happen without a related
activity being kicked into motion first. For example, you can’t launch a new
Facebook ad campaign without a completed landing page.

It’s tempting to think of dependencies in a strictly linear fashion, yet that’s rarely
the case.

Dependencies are often a more complicated relationship. For example, when

creating a new website, every other team is waiting on the initial design.
• Once the design is ready, developers, copywriters, and the marketing team can start working in
tandem.

• After developers have created the website, writers finish the copy. Once the ads are ready, they can
finalize the site and organize a big launch.

• Many projects have more moving parts, and as a result, even messier timelines.
2. PERT events
In PERT, activities or tasks are usually called events, and they include the start, duration,
and finishing times of a task.

3. Time estimates and calculating the final estimate

• According to US Census data, the average construction project takes 7.7
months to complete. That’s after construction itself has begun.
• If you include design, planning, and post-construction work (like selling
apartments), a single project could last for years
• That’s why it’s essential to identify the predecessors and successors of
events based on their dependencies. Then, using this information, along
with the event durations, it’s easier to map out the overall timeline.
• PERT addresses this issue using 3 different time estimates for
durations.

• Optimistic time (O): The minimum possible time estimate for an

activity or whole project. This assumes everything goes unusually
smoothly — no hiccups.
• Pessimistic time (P): The maximum possible time estimate for an
activity or whole project. How long would it take with multiple large
issues and bottlenecks?
• Most likely time (M): The best estimate for an activity or whole
project. Think of an average project where a few things go wrong.
• The combination of these 3 times is used to calculate the PERT
estimate. The final estimate is the number used in the actual flow
chart to find a full project duration.
• The Formula: (O + P + 4M) / 6

• In words, add the optimistic time (O) and the pessimistic time (P) and
4x the most likely time (M) and divide by 6.

• If O is 15, P is 30, and M is 20, the PERT estimate is (15 + 30 + 4(20))/6

= 20.833. The resulting duration is also called “the most expected
estimate.”

• It’s also possible to use different time estimates to deliver a range of

assessments for project completion. However, this method usually
requires advanced simulation software.
How to use PERT to estimate a timeline
• Using PERT to estimate a timeline is quite easy, once you know the formula.

• FIRST: Write down the primary moving parts and how they’ll interact. Start with a simple 3-column table.

• Note: Want to show the 3 different time estimates rather than calculating them separately? Simply add in 3
more columns.

• NEXT: Divide the project into different activities or tasks, and note what dependencies they have.

• THEN: Estimate the task duration for each using the PERT range from optimistic to pessimistic. Calculate the
most expected time using the formula, (O + P + 4M) / 6.

• FINALLY: Complete the table with the resulting duration for each task.
• Once the table looks like the above, it’s time to move on to the next step.

• Now, draw the flowchart manually, or can use any diagram or flowchart
tool.

• The most basic version of the chart includes time as brackets following
activity IDs or task names. For a small-scale project, it doesn’t take long to
draw or mock-up in a program.
• This initial network diagram is the most basic implementation of a
PERT analysis. This visualization can also be used to find the critical
path.
Finding the critical path
• Once the project has been mapped out with PERT, finding the critical path
is straightforward. Just find the longest-lasting string of dependent tasks.
One activity can be longer than many others, so the number of pieces
doesn’t matter.

• In the example above, the maximum project length is 19 days. The longest
path follows the tasks A – B – E.

• Of course, unless the chart is deliberately designed, it will be quite

challenging to find the longest path in the middle. It could hide anywhere in
the graph, depending on dependencies and durations.
What’s the difference between PERT and
Gantt charts?
• PERT charts are flow chart visualizations of an early-stage project
length estimate.

• Gantt charts are more granular visual representations, with bar charts
arranged linearly for every activity in the project.
• Easily see the total duration for the entire project, from the start date until
the last activity is completed.

• Creating a Gantt chart is also a lot easier. Fill out a table with the
dependencies, start dates, and estimated durations. Done!

• A Gantt chart doesn’t include an official formula for calculating expected

durations. A PERT is much better at this.

• HOWEVER, digitized Gantt charts and project management software aren’t

the only reason PERT isn’t as popular.

• There are also new methods for working with and visualizing the critical
path.
The critical path and activity-on-node
diagrams
• While initially using PERT to visualize the critical path was quite
common, most companies have transitioned to using new
CPM-specific diagrams over the last few decades.

• One option is the “Activity-on-node” diagram. It includes metrics

specific to the critical path, like drag, total flow, and latest possible
start estimates.
• There Many resources are available that break down the step-by-step
how to do this. Suffice to say, it’s possible. When done correctly, the
“activity-on-node” diagram provides more information for planning
than the traditional PERT method.

• Again, creating a network diagram or flowchart like this requires

more work than an auto-generated Gantt chart.
An easier way to visualize and estimate
project timelines
• Thankfully, it’s no longer necessary to manually map projects out in a
flowchart or network diagram using nothing but a pen, paper, and …
intuition.

• With monday.com, creating an easily-customizable template that

generates a Gantt chart in minutes is very straightforward.
Additionally, it’s easy to drag and drop tasks and edit durations
directly on the visual timeline.
Start with the project timeline template

• It will create a board with all the variables you need to edit, along
with tasks, dependencies, durations, and more.
Add activities, time estimates, and
dependencies
• Once the board has been created, fill it out with the planned project
activities. At which level you group the project activities or
deliverables depends on a few factors. For example, how early in the
planning process you are, or the project’s overall scope.

• Planning the design and creation of a new product requires sticking to

the original template grouping.

• If using some A/B tests to determine future changes on the website,

single out individual deliverables.
Add Gantt view to the table
• Once the project has been broken down into activities with a given
duration, add a Gantt or timeline view.

• Click the “Main Table” link in the top-left corner of the board. Hover
the mouse over the “+ Add View” link and click “Gantt” to add the
view.
• After you’ve added the view, you can switch between the main table
view and Gantt by clicking the same link. It’s that easy.
Edit the settings to get the overview you
want
• By default, our Gantt and timeline views break down tasks by people, not
projects. That’s because as a manager or team leader, you’re responsible for
people and their actions, not clear-cut pieces of a physical item.

• But for early-stage planning, before even assigning tasks, you can change the
grouping if you want to see tasks.

• Move to the Gantt view, and click the settings link in the top right corner. Then,
set the “Group by” option to “Groups.” That will let you focus on separate tasks or
projects, rather than people.

• You can also change the color settings to showcase the current status of activity.
THANK YOU